The end is near for Artist August, as we have one last big week of artist interviews to go before the month wraps, and with it, Artist August. To kick off the last week of material, we have a special Sunday edition interview with “Enormous” artist Mehdi Cheggour. “Enormous” is a Shadowline special treasury edition GN from Cheggour and writer Tim Daniel, and it was a real coming out party for both of them. Cheggour really took the book to another level with his photo realistic imagery that adds a ton of weight to Daniel’s post apocalyptic world.
Today, we talk with Cheggour about the project, breaking in to comics all the way from Morocco, and much, much more.
Can you look back on your life and recall the single moment or work that made you want to work in comics? Or was it more of a natural progression that led you here?
It was more or less a natural progression for me. I’ve always been drawn to anything that had to do with being creative since I was a kid. But I’ve particularly been really obsessed with drawing when I was growing up. I remember spending entire afternoons just drawing, that was pure escapism for me. And not only that, I would be sketching scenes with all kinds of crazy characters, in an almost sequential way. It was almost similar to playing with toys, except in this case they were characters that I created and that I would have complete control over.
Then, back when I was in junior high (Puberty just hit and my raging hormones just kicked in) I sort of stumbled into comic books in order to learn how to draw. Actually, that’s not entirely true; I had a burning desire to learn how to draw chicks… What?!! Didn’t mean to say that out loud, sorry.
During my entire academic run, I’ve always been the kid in the back of the classroom drawing stuff, making caricatures of the teachers in order to make my buddies laugh. I’ve never been exactly “the popular guy” but being able to express myself in this way was really invigorating and almost empowering in a way, so I was known for that. Illustration became a part of my personality.
Now, I remember that I was more into anime at the time, but the artwork in US comics was more realistic and detailed and that’s what drew me to the medium at first. Then little by little, I started to become more interested in the stories behind the characters. That whole aspect of superhero comics was just fascinating to me; it was a grand, majestic bigger than life universe. Those heroes were the pillars of modern mythology.
Things got serious when I first got my hands on a bunch of issues of “Teen Titans” illustrated by José Luis GarcÃa-López, I just couldn’t help but fall in love with the stories themselves even more than the artwork (which was just stunning), and upon gobbling more stories from different creative teams, I eventually fell in love with the medium. I’ve always wanted to tell my own stories, and all the little comic strips I drew in the back of my notebooks are a testament to that. This eventually led me to start developing my technique, style and storytelling chops and it all went from there.
But the biggest and most influential piece of art that jam-packed me with a burning desire to be part of this fascinating world of comic books would have to be Kirkman and Adlard’s the WALKING DEAD. It was literally a punch to the guts! I’ve never read anything like that, and the cheer idea of being able to tell a BIG suspenseful story that people would relate to, and look forward to know more about was just amazing to me!
Nothing beats creating an entirely fleshed out world filled with real, three dimensional characters. It just fueled me with tremendous passion and creative energy and a yearning to be part of this industry.
Who or what has influenced the development of your art the most?
When I first started becoming invested in improving my artistic skills, I didn’t have a whole lot of information about how vast and varied the comics industry really is. I mostly learned to draw from the popular guys that were working for marvel and DC like Jim Lee, basically the mainstream. But as I kept exploring and finding out about more and more artists, each with a different flair and set of skills, I discovered people like Alex Maleev(Daredevil), Tony Harris(Ex Machina) and Tim Bradstreet(Punisher) and I was just blown away by their styles. The realism in their art was the main difference they had with most of the conventional superhero artists, it just added a whole new dimension to the stories they were illustrating, and basically grounded them in reality. Those fantasy stories suddenly became imaginable, plausible and real. And that’s basically what influences my style the most.
Continued belowI would also say that the visual style of Video games played a big role in my artistic development. I’ve always been an avid gamer, and the little details and the rich colorful environments you see in video games really influenced my approach and attempt to go ahead and create an immersive environment for my stories.
I basically have an unconventional taste in comic art, I do love all kinds of art styles from the cartoony to the very standard comic book”y”, but something about realistic artwork or realistic rendering that makes the reading experience closer to a cinematic experience really has that allure that throws me aback and makes my jaw drop to the floor. I just think that particular style allows artists to translate epic scopes that we see in the big screen, to the page.
In the digital age, new tools are available to artists of all types, from Wacom tablets to digital coloring and beyond.. How does that affect and expand your work?
I’m always trying to explore all the tools available, and I’ve certainly dabbled in watercolors and ink and a lot of traditional mediums but since I’ve never been to art school, and the only time I could sit down and draw was after classes at night or in the weekends, I’ve chosen the easy way out and
I just opted for digital mediums that basically simulate every single other tool.
Single best thing about digital? You heard it here first. Ctrl + Z!! THAT’S IT!!
No, there are a lot of things that can be accomplished using these tools, and that are really hard to do with traditional mediums, or more time consuming, for me at least. I consider myself very, very clumsy and working with any irreversible tools would be a big mistake on my part. At least when working with a tablet in Photoshop, I can always go back and tweak without affecting or ruining the entire piece. I’m also very fond of the use of layers, and how they could be exploited. I usually work with more than a hundred layers at times, per panel. And that is a very easy way to create that immersive, rich atmosphere that creates the illusion that there is a lot going on between the foreground and the background. The digital rendering makes the finished product look slick and the use of Lens flares, light effects and all of that really helps enhance the artwork.
Does feedback (both positive and negative) with fans, other artists and critics via social media push you as an artist? How does that aspect affect your art?
It absolutely does, I mean before the internet came along my only critiques were my parents and my friends. Then I found out about Deviantart and that played a big part in my growth as an artist.
As far as Enormous goes, it’s truly overwhelming to see people that have been reading comic books for a long time criticize and talk about my work. It makes me feel relevant in a way, whatever that means.
For instance, I’ve been following your site for a long time, Multiversity was bookmarked in my browser pre-Enormous, now imagine the thrill of seeing my artwork pop up on your page.
Feedback is very important to any artist. Sometimes people point out things that I couldn’t have noticed, and that might be recurring and glaring in my work. That, allows me to address those “mistakes” and take a step back to look at my own work from a different and more critical point of view.
Those pointers and notes really give me that push or sometimes that “feeling of pride and accomplishment” that allows me to keep moving forward and trying to surpass myself.
Enormous is truly your coming out party. Your art is amazing and has earned a ton of praise from reviewers and other artists everywhere. For you as a newcomer to the industry, how exciting is that? How do you feel the response has been?
Well thank you David, that is very nice of you to say.
Exciting would be an understatement. This is a dream come true to say the least. Since I was a kid I really knew that I would someday make a comic book, it didn’t matter what it was about or who publishes it. I just wanted to have a book that I would’ve created, and it’s just unbelievable to realize that it actually happened. I still pinch myself from time to time… Damn, this is really happening, so gratifying!
Continued belowI think that the response has been really great for the most part, and that is a relief because I worked hard to give Enormous a unique feel and apparently I succeeded in doing that. I think that I can rest easy now, Enormous turned out okay; it isn’t half that bad, Phew!
There’s always room for improvement, and hopefully people will get the chance to see me evolve and judge my evolution for themselves.
For the most part, Enormous was a book created by two brand new creators, as it was Tim’s first time writing and your first major release. How was it working with Tim, and did the two of you being pretty fresh add any excitement to the experience you feel?
Working with Tim is literally the best creative collaboration I’ve had in my entire life. Tim is the nicest guy I know, we’ve become really good friends during the creation of this book and I consider him almost like a mentor figure to me. It was a very, very collaborative process. We’ve gone through creating Enormous literally panel by panel, literally; I would email him every finished panel and we’d discuss it, then he would add some stuff here and there or tweak parts of it. It was awesome!
That said, there’s always trouble in paradise. How do I put this? There’s obviously a conflict of generations because, well, he is old. HAHAHA, no, I’m just kidding, it was just perfect in every sense of the word.
Tim comes up with the most exciting ideas and man, what a blast it has been to bring them to life. This book has become such a huge part of our daily lives for the past year and a half that I can’t imagine myself not working with him again on something Enormous related.
Let me paint you a picture, here’s how I spent most of 2012; I would part with my friends and get home from school only to be greeted by Ellen Grace and James Coyle. How cool is it being able to just jump into a fantasy world that you can control fully? I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.
We were both living the dream; it’s been also a big learning experience and such a great, Epic Journey.
Being based out of Morocco, you’re obviously a long ways from the heart of the American comic industry. Do you feel that disconnect makes it any harder to find work, or do you think that with the connective nature of the Internet, it isn’t really a big deal these days?
I literally never imagined that I’d get a job in the US comics industry or a company like Image comics. It’s PRIME time man, the BIG league. We have few to no publishers here, and since I was dying to make a comic book, I was considering that maybe someday in the future I might coble something together and self-publish it, just to see if that was going to peek anyone’s interest.
But right after I became an avid reader of almost everything Image comics was putting out, I started to do research to learn more about the company and that’s when I realized that it was possible to send unsolicited submissions to them and numerous other publishers for that matter. That was just amazing information for me since I couldn’t go to any conventions or physically meet with publishers.
I took a leap of faith and submitted my first pitch to Jim Valentino over at Shadowline, and to my big surprise he actually responded and gave me some great feedback, and that was a revelation to me. Jim Valentino literally gave me HOPE, none of this would have happened if not for him. I was so driven since then (Insert video montage of me drawing with eye of the tiger playing), and I just kept pitching him projects that I wrote for the next couple of years, until Enormous came along.
So, definitely, the internet has made things a whole lot easier, but I can’t deny that I’ve been very, very lucky as well.
What would be a dream project for you? Any particular writers you’re dying to work with or titles you’d like to take a stab at? Perhaps a personal project you just want to see come to fruition?
Continued belowA dream project for me? Alright, here comes the cliché. I would just love to continue on expanding on the world of Enormous, seriously we’ve planted some big seeds and raised some big questions and there’s a big opportunity for us to expand on this.
But to answer your question, I would say that I’d love to draw the Walking Dead. That would be just nuts! Given Kirkman’s (The baby killer) twisted mind, it would be so much fun.
As for other projects, I actually have a giant Sci-fi epic that I’ve been writing as a novel for 3 years now. I ditched it and just left it to collect dust somewhere, but those ideas are still brewing in my mind and they reemerge whenever I’m in the shower. It would be really cool, if I ever get to tell that tale.
Desert Island question: one book, one album, one film and one comic. What do you take with you?
That calls for some serious escapism doesn’t it.
Twilight dude, come on, nothing better than glittery vampires desperately in love to make you appreciate the little things in life. No, that would be horrible, I was joking.
Here goes: Ender’s Game, Heavenly ecstasy, The Road and Y the Last Man.
Who are your favorite artists working in comics today?
Oh man, where do I start!
Well my number one artist would be Alex Maleev. Photorealism man, that’s my thang!
Naturally, guys like Adam Hughes, Brian Hitch, Tony Harris, Tim Bradstreet and Michael Kormarck come to mind as well… But, I have many, many favorites.
Now that Enormous is wrapped, I’m curious as to what you have coming as a follow-up. Do you have any projects lined up yet?
Not really, nope. I’d love to just stick to Giant beasts and plant people for now, and that’s entirely in between the hands of readers and whether or not they want more Enormous. So, readers, please demand more Enormous!
Let’s see what the future brings.
