How
are you George what projects are you currently working
on?
I’m fine, working away. Right now I’m
working on one issue of a new series that DC Comics
is putting out called SOLO. These are 48-page books
that are given to one artist to do with pretty much
as they please. We can jump genres and styles, techniques
and tell short stories. Only one of the stories has
to actually feature a DC character.
My first story is a 12-page Civil War tale and I have
finished that. Next up is a Sgt. Rock tale that I’ll
do, and I have some shorter pieces that will be more
personal, more autobiographical. I plan on really
getting into playing with various media on these stories
and having a good time.
I’m
also doing a good bit of teaching. Right now I’m
working on the second semester of a 1-year position
at Virginia Commonwealth University teaching in the
brand new Illustration Department. I’ve been
asked to apply there for the full-time position and
I’m now just waiting on whether I got the job
or not. VCU hired me because they saw my dog and pony
show at the Illustration Academy, where I also teach
once a year.
The Illustration Academy is a fantastic program. It
brings together some of the top illustrators working
today and students get to learn from each of them
over a 7-week course of intensive study. It’s
really great. Definitely check out their web site
Illustrationacademy.com.
For myself I’m working on a series of landscape
paintings for a show with John English. I’m
loving painting again! And I’m also writing
on an epic WWI saga that I’d love to do sometime
in the near future. And, last but not least, I’m
working on a new documentary film with the same partners
I did the “See You In Hell, Blind Boy”
film with. This time we’re working on the 8
artists sent to the front during WWI. The film really
focuses on Harvey Dunn and his art and experiences
in the trenches. Such powerful work!
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You work
in a variety of mediums. Which is your favourite?
That’s a tough question.
I find that when I’m working in one medium
I’m wishing I was already onto something
else. Watercolor is very natural for me, very
intuitive and easy. But oils are the things
that get me going. Maybe it’s because
I have to struggle with it, so it’s earned
my respect more. Who knows? But oils are the
thing I love the most and want to work with
most. I also love pen and ink. Bottom line —
I love it all. |
You
won the Eisner award for best painter/multimedia artist
for Wolverine: Nestuke in 2003. How did that feel
and has it altered your artistic process in any way?
If felt incredibly wonderful, but it hasn’t
altered my process in the slightest. In the end you
still have to shut the door, sit down and do the work.
It’s hard being your own boss, managing your
time. I’m not that great at it. I’m really
good at creative procrastination.
I never believed I would win an Eisner. I’ve
always considered myself fortunate to have been nominated
for each of my projects, and that’s something
in itself. So just to be nominated was a thrill. I
was speechless when I heard my name called. I almost
didn’t even go to the ceremony that year but
a buddy twisted my arm. Everyone that was nominated
fully deserved the award, of course. It’s nice
to be noticed.
Where
do you display your award?
The Eisner sits on one of my bookcases in my studio.
My son likes to spin the globe.
Becoming
a professional writer or artist is a tricky affair.
You have achieved both. What advice can you give to
aspiring writers and artists?
Write and draw all the time. Read all the time. Be
aware and interested in the world around you. Don’t
put blinders on and just focus on the stuff you love,
take everything in. As a writer I love to listen to
people talk around me. I love being the fly on the
wall and overhearing what’s being said. Great
fodder for dialogue and stories.
As an artist I love to people watch. That’s
real life. The everyday humdrum of life is very interesting
visually, if you’re willing to take it all in.
I carry a sketchbook with me everywhere I go. I have
pens and pencils, crayons on hand and sketch as often
as I can. Nothing beats drawing from life. But the
key is drawing all the time. It has to be a habit,
an unconscious act.
You
create images based on provocative subject matter,
such as September 11th, the Holocaust and the Iraq
war. How important a role does art play in social
commentary?
It plays a huge role, I believe. Just look at the
whole hullabaloo over Mel Gibson’s new movie
“The Passion.” Art is so much more integrated
into our lives now in ways that are a lot more subtle
than ever before, yet much more powerful than ever
before. Music, of course, is the most powerful and
pervasive, it seems to me. You cannot escape it, it’s
everywhere. And it’s feeding our perceptions
of the world around us. But drawing and painting,
movie-making, all are contributing to a world that
is much more aware of things than previous generations.
We’re being bombarded with imagery and sounds
all demanding our attention, demanding that we confront
serious issues.
Who
is your favourite comic book character from your own
work and which character would you most like to work
on from the world of comics?
Well, Enemy Ace is pretty close to my heart. But Batman
was the reason I ever wanted to be an artist in the
first place. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve
gotten to play with the characters that nailed me
as a kid. So I can’t say there’s any one
character that I feel I’ve missed. Now that
I’m going to do my Sgt. Rock story, I’m
a pretty happy guy. I got to do my Doc Savage cover
years ago and that was fun, I loved those books.
Film
conversions of comic books make for mixed viewing.
Do you feel the silver screen can ever truly do justice
to the comic format and how do you think they should
approach the new batman film?
Well, the original Batman television series is what
got me into all this and I still love that thing.
I’ve not been into the newer Batman flicks because
they got too goofy with the gadgets and a costume
where the guy could barely move. I wish they’d
just lose all the wacky villains and lose all the
gimmicks and tell a Batman story that’s just
a straight up mystery/thriller. Show me, as a viewer,
why Batman is someone to strike fear into the hearts
of criminals. Make him mysterious, dark, sort of walking
a razor’s edge of sanity.
I thought Mystery Men was fun and captured a lot of
the essence of the comics. But I think that the movies
will never truly capture the true spirit of the comics.
They’re very different mediums and they’re
strengths are so varied and disparate that they don’t
meet in the middle. Comics are called “movies
on paper” sometimes and I don’t think
that’s a very apt analogy. They’re not
movies on paper at all. Comics has strengths that
movies can only hope to attain. We can play with our
format in ways that make moviemakers drool. They’re
stuck with that rectangular widescreen format and
you can see these guys struggling with that limitation
all the time. We, as comic artists, can chop up our
pages any way we wish, as long as the story is served.
Which
artists inspire you?
The list is too long and extensive. I love so many
painters and printmakers, comic artists, draughtsmen.
I love so much of it, am inspired by so much it’s
hard to nail it all down. As a painter I’m moved
by the Impressionists, the Expressionists, etc. Pissarro,
Monet, Whistler, Sargent, James Ensor, Gustav Klimt,
Egon Schiele, Kathe Kollwitz, Lovis Corinth, Eduard
Thony, Bruno Paul, Maria Fortuny, Franz Kline, Howard
Pyle, NC Wyeth, Harvey Dunn, Dean Cornwell, Bastien
LePage, Heinrich Kely, Willy Pogany, Joseph Clement
Coll, Daniel Vierge, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac,
etc. etc. etc.
As a comic guy I’m blown away by a lot of the
foreign material, guys like Hugo Pratt, Alberto Breccia,
Dino Battaglia, Jose Munoz, Jacques Tardi, Atillio
Micheluzzi, on and on. And there’s some wonderful
American artists, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Dave
Mazzuchelli, Will Eisner, Joe Kubert, Angelo Torres….
And this isn’t even cracking the historical
vault of the comics and newspaper strip artists. It’s
such a wonderfully rich and diverse history.
Have
you had any strange experiences with the occult?
Only peripherally. Dated a girl who professed to be
a white witch. Saw some wacky stuff, so I believe
in it all. Always have, even if I hadn’t seen
these goofy things. The world is so big, the universe
even bigger, so there’s definitely a ton of
shit we don’t know about. I believe in ghosts,
Loch Ness, Big Foot, Yeti, Space Aliens, you name
it.
Fancy
joining the cult of the Drunken Prophet?
What does it entail?
Do
you have a favourite city to get drunk in?
Any city you get drunk in sort of immediately becomes
your favourite city, at least for a little while,
right? New York was a great place to get trashed and
wander about. People just let you be an asshole and
goof off and stumble around. Not bad.
Do
you have any decent cocktail recipes?
Wow, not really, though I make a pretty decent Martini
and can pour a solid glass of Jack Daniels.
What’s
your favourite alcoholic beverage?
I prefer to drink Martinis. Bombay Sapphire, extra
dirty. Can’t get enough of them. I also am very
partial to Jack Daniels, either straight up or on
the rocks, or just a splash of water.
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