For the ninth edition of Comic Book Conversations, I’m
thrilled to welcome Andrea Sorrentino to the interview segment! Best known for
his work on Green Arrow, Old Man Logan, Gideon Falls, and I,Vampire, the artist
shares details about his creative process, explains why he reads reviews of his
work, and gives aspiring artists some great advice. Plus, he offers some
insight into one of Old Man Logan’s unforgettable double-page spreads. Now, let’s
get to know Andrea a little better!
GREGG KATZMAN: When
did you realize you wanted to become an artist and what inspired you?
ANDREA SORRENTINO:
I’ve always liked to draw, since when I was a kid. I clearly remember this
drawing I did when I was at the primary school, I think it was an animal in a
jungle, and everyone liked it so much that it remained hooked in our room for a
while. I think that was the very first push I had to keep drawing.
But talking about comics, I’m not sure. I grew up reading
Disney comics during my childhood and my primary school diaries were already
full of sketches of characters for stories I had in my mind that I wanted to
put on paper. And I think I simply never stopped doing it.
GK: You've worked for
the two biggest publishers in the comic book industry and you're working with
Jeff Lemire on a brand new Image Comics series, Gideon Falls. You're doing
great, but did you ever question wanting to become an artist, and if so, what
helped you stay positive and pursue your dream?
AS: Well, you can
face a lot of negative answers in the beginning, especially during your
artistic maturation progress and this can become frustrating at some point. I
think I just kept doing it cause I really wanted to do it. I did it for my
whole life and I would keep doing it even if it was just a hobby.
I think something that helped me to stay positive about it
was that, the paradox, especially in the beginning, I’ve never really thought
that my art was good enough to be published. So I didn’t really feel
disappointed by the negative answer because I felt I had to study more and
improve myself.
GK: How'd you break
into the comics industry?
AS: I had my
first professional work for a line of American horror role game books (it was
the ‘World of Darkness’ line by White Wolf) where they asked me to do some
illustrations. I think it was probably 2009. I remember they had this email
address where everyone could submit some samples and had some old drawings that
I sent them, sure that nobody would ever answer. I was ready to try to prepare
some better artwork and send them again but, instead, I had an answer in 3-4
days and I started providing artwork for some of their books in a month or so.
Then I received an email from Eric Denton, who was working
at Wildstorm at that time, and I think he saw my art for White Wolf, cause he
asked me if I was up for some covers for a horror crossover between X-Files and
30 Days of Night. After the covers work, I had the chance to submit DC some of
my black & white pages and they gave me a chance on I,Vampire, one of the
titles of the New 52 initiative in 2011. And this is where everything started.
GK: I'm sure there
are some people reading this who want to become artists. What advice can you
give them?
AS: Don’t
overestimate your art. Don’t underestimate other pros’ art (especially pros
with many years of work under the belt). Instead, study and learn from them.
Try to understand what made them a pro and what is not making you one yet. May
it be some storytelling ability, a clear exposition, good designs, backgrounds,
expressivity. There will be something. Put yourself in a place where you know
that you’ve still got a lot to learn. It’s the only way to improve.
GK: How much time
goes into creating each issue and what is your process like?
AS: I work at a
5-pages-a-week speed. I’m pretty methodic about it and every writer and editor I’ve
ever worked with could tell you that I really rarely missed a page from these 5
I send every Monday. I feel like if I start to miss this kind of self-imposed
deadline I’ll become lazy and would lose myself behind other activities.
About the process, I usually read a whole issue in advance
and a big part of my work is far from the drawing table. I try to visually the scene
as it would be a movie, or an animated sequence and then I try to convey it on
the page. This often means that I have to add or remove some panels in order to
give a sense of pace and consequentiality between what happens in a panel and
what happen in next one, especially in action sequences.
I also like to try to ‘surprise’ the reader (but also the
writer, or the editor) in each issue, giving him or her something a bit
different. I like to experiment with the layouts or the design, maybe
incorporating some elements you would normally see in other kinds of media. I
think art should never pose a limit on itself. It’s a place where we should be
free to think outside the box.
GK: You've created some amazing splash pages
and double page spreads. Which one is your favorite and why?
AS: One of the
most popular DSP I’ve drawn is probably the Green Arrow ‘mind-blowing’ scene,
in the issue where he was fighting against Count Vertigo. And it’s definitely
also one of my favorites. But if I should pick one above the other ones it’s
probably the one in Old Man Logan #7, the one with a giant Wolverine skeleton
with the throat engulfed by the skulls of his friends and relatives.
I like to convey pain, and I like failed characters. That
moment was totally unscripted and I tried to convey the state of mind of Logan
in the best possible way. A man who feels intoxicated by all the pain that (he
thinks to) inflict to everyone around him.
(I know, that’s sad :P)
GK: What's the most
difficult part about being an artist? What's the best part?
AS: Sometimes you
argue with an editor because you really want to do things in some way and
he\she wants another solution. It can happen, not too often, but with some
editors it happened, especially in my early years. I think it’s also because I
tend to claim some freedom from the script in some specific moments, to try to
convey the things my way. But luckily 90% of the editors I worked with have
always appreciated it, so it’s something that happened rarely.
Apart from this, I can't think of any real bad or difficult
parts, to be honest. I love this work, I love the people I work with, I love
the idea to live doing something I like so much.
GK: Do you read
reviews of your work?
AS: I do. I
actually read every review I find online about my work. I know many creators
don’t cause it can be very painful to read one single criticism even if it’s
between hundreds of good words.
But I need to know what readers think of my work. If I’m
doing fine, if I’ve overestimated the effect of a certain page or if readers
loved something I did in a just released issue. For me it’s still part of the
learning and growing process, and with time I was used to about every kind of
comment, so now I understand when I should care and when I should not.
AS: I think there
are many elements that can make a great cover. It’s not really an exact
science. They tell you that the main role of a cover is to make a potential new
reader grab the comic from the shelf, so you’d think that making something
different (like an unusual design) could make it work, but I’ve also seen, more
than once, new readers grabbing a cover because it features some exciting event
happening inside the comic (like... Punisher VS Deadpool? Wow, I wanna see it,
no matter the design of the cover).
So I guess there’s no rule. Different covers appeal to
different targets so it’s more about which kind of readers you want to attract.
For Gideon Falls I roundly wanted to go for some cryptic
covers. I didn’t want to give anything to the readers if not an ‘unusual cover’
for an unusual comic book. I wanted them to dive in not knowing what they would
find and experience it page after page.
GK: I believe you've
been to at least one signing over in Italy. What was it like meeting fans of
your work?
AS: I like to
meet fans. Actually, my brother has a comic shop so I’m used to meeting and
talking with readers pretty often. It’s nice. Again, it gives me some different
points of view on things. Even if I may not always agree it’s interesting to
know why a certain reader loves this movie, this comic or this or that artist.
I’m just veeeeeery lazy and I recently discovered that I
hate to travel. This is why I don’t normally do many conventions or signings.
GK: Is there anything
else you'd like to say about your career and upcoming work?
AS: Gideon Falls!
I’m still doing some covers for Marvel and DC here or there but for now I’m
fully committed to it. I’m halfway through the second arc, finished issue #9
just this week, and I feel like I just started. We’ve got already 4-5 arcs
lined up as we talk now, so it’s going to be a long-lasting, scary and crazy
ongoing (wait till someone finally enters the barn..).
GK: Thanks, Andrea!
Thank you for reading the ninth edition of Comic Book
Conversations – links for the other interviews are below. Be sure to follow Andrea on Twitter and you
can follow me on Twitter or like the Comic Book
Conversations Facebook page for site updates!
This is fantastic. I wish Sorrentino would draw my life. He can probably make sitting at a desk look siiiiiiiick.
ReplyDeleteYeah, his work is great. Thank you for reading the interview!
DeleteAwesome interview
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading it, Michael!
DeleteI didn't know role playing books was how Sorrentino got his break into the comics industry. Seeing him explain his drawing process and his favourite splash page made for a change from the usual comic site cliche interview questions as well. And I'm impressed Sorrentino reads a lot of reviews, presumably both good and bad, of his work, his willingness to see the negative things said about him, even if they're underserved given his obvious talent, shows he's open minded to feedback. Great interview.
ReplyDeleteLvenger
Thank you, Lvenger. I'm glad you enjoyed the interview!
Delete