BEYOND THE SHROUD…
…An Interview With VANESSA WELLS
I actually came upon the work of Vanessa Wells quite by accident over at Comic Space. Initially,I thought that she must be an American and professional comics artist and I was surprised to learn she was neither!
How could I not interview this great British talent? So,see the art,learn about the artist!
TH:Vanessa,I always like to ask questions about how creators got into comics. So,how did you get into comics –as a child or later on?
VW:I think I’ve always been into comics – well since I could read anyway. My Nan used to buy me a kids comic for every Sunday that we went to dinner, and I loved reading those more than any book at the time.
I think my love of comics as a narrative medium probably came about when I actually got into creating Art, which was about the age of 15. At the time I loved X-Men and the Marvel comics and would read the same issues over and over again. I was so sad, but then comic episodes would never come out frequently enough!!
TH:At what point did you think you might like trying your hand at writing/drawing comics?
VW:That was more when I was studying at university. Before I’d been quite content with the idea of writing and illustrating stories (really awful stories – but hey!!), but at university I discovered anime (my other love is animation – though I’ve never wanted to do my own!!). I’d seen an anime that I’d wanted to continue the story of and created a fan comic. I loved doing it, but after a while I did want to do my own. There’s only so far you can go with fan stuff, even if anything you do with comics is mostly in your spare time.
TH:What were your first efforts like and do you flinch when you look at the work now?
VW:Not too bad I think in hindsight. Of course, I’ve got better since then, but I do look back on them more as a step on the ladder of learning as an artist – and so I don’t hate them. I usually get annoyed with things I’ve done only recently – it takes me years to see what I’ve drawn as any good!! That said, I’m a pretty fierce critic of my own work, though I usually always try to make the next picture better rather than faff forever on a current piece.. otherwise I’d never show anyone anything I’d done.
TH:With no real comics industry in the UK,you obviously decided that you’d become a comic book creator –writing,drawing,packaging and I hope not having to also stand at the photocopier! At what point did you decide to take this step?
VW:When I was drawing my fan comic, I met other people into the same thing – the anime ‘Cyber City Oedo 808’. As a show of camaraderie we created a fanzine called CyberAge, which I organised and we printed all our inane fan based musings through that. It was no conscious decision to become a comic creator, I merely fell into as the best means of telling my stories. I just enjoyed it far too much!!
TH:So,let’s say you have the story and you then draw the comic. Are you thinking all the time about a deadline you have set yourself –I assume [which I really should not] before you start work the whole comic has been worked out on thumbnail pages,etc?
VW:Yeah, I always thumbnail out each issue first so I know how pages will look and what I will need to draw. I couldn’t imagine doing it any other way!! As for deadlines, in my own mind every issue is drawn as soon as possible – regardless of what events are happening. That way I don’t get disillusioned when I miss one through real life shenanigans creeping in.
TH:You self publish so the obvious question has to be when you get down to thinking about the printing side of things –you know,who is going to print your book,how many copies oh,and,of course,that nasty little thing:the money for printing!!
VW:Last issue I had no idea who was going to print my book. Like all good disorganised artists, I drew it and prepared it first. I did manage to find a great printer, and for a good price, but I do work fairly backwards in this. Nearly always seems to work out OK though. As for price.. the prices have come down considerably thanks to digital printing.
TH:Vanessa,you are a Small Presser,now that means you have to go out and sell your own comic –has this been fairly straight forward or have you had any nightmare problems?
VW:Well last year I had the problem of not being available to promote it. Trying to move house took the whole year!! But generally, it’s usually being able to go to events – and organising all the other side issues you never think of like accommodation!!
TH:This is possibly the silliest question I could ever ask another publisher but here goes:do you ever manage to sell enough copies to break even on costs?
VW:Breaking even depends on what you include in your costs – if you mean cost of printing vs comics sold then I kind of have. I sold enough of issue 1 to break even, but issue 2 is still not quite there. I expect breaking even to take a long time in small press, but then others I know are far better at selling their comics than me.
One person I know, who I’ll be sharing a table with at an upcoming convention, sells out of their print run (100) within a convention!! I shall be making notes!! But otherwise you’d never break even if you included hotel bills, petrol and table costs!! However, it is a ‘hobby’ in that respect, and as cost goes, it’s pretty middling compared to some ‘hobbies’ 
I just don’t think of it as my ‘hobby’.
TH:You’ve done a lot of illustrative work outside of comics;can you tell me a bit about this?
VW:I’ve mainly been involved in work for games. I used to do concept work, but trained myself up in 3d software and continued as a character artist instead. My last project in games was for Silent Hill Origins for PSP where I made a lot of the monsters.
I miss doing 2D stuff, but usually that kind of work is usually freelance now. However 3D modelling is fun still – and the texturing side has improved my draughtsmanship skills. I have also illustrated a book by Roger McGough, who is one of
TH: Ahh,Roger McGough,former member of the 1970s pop trio The Scaffold who brought us “Lily The Pink”!
Anyhow,The comic you produce is titled SHROUDED –can you tell me what it’s about?
VW:Shrouded is my reaction to our world, but set in a modern fantasy environment. The current story is following 3 sisters who are on a mission to see the King of their country. The plot takes a few twists and turns as you have to work out whose side you are on, and that might not always be obvious. That’s all I can say, as the rest is all in the story.
TH:I believe you are up to no.3 at the moment? Do you see this as an ongoing project or is there a set start and end point for the series?
VW:Yes, it’s all planned out, but it’s a long series!! However, the series will be broken up into 4 chunks of 6 chapters – which have an open ending (but an ending none the less). Therefore making it easier on me – and easier on the reader J
TH:Now to get to the art nitty-gritty! Are you one of those “draws everything on a computer” types who might just doodle thumbnails on paper first or do you draw using pencils,inks and paper?
VW:Although I see the lure and advantages of drawing it all by computer (and for some professional illustrations I have done) I draw Shrouded in pencil on a pad, in front of the TV!! So far I have also inked each page in a similar manner (although I trace the pencil art onto a some Bristol Board using a lightbox - and then ink it), though every issue I consider switching this part of the process to digital. However so far, the fact I do not have to spend even more time on the computer has kept me off of it – as 8+ hours a day for my full-time job seems enough sometimes!!
TH:How do you set about the preliminary work/roughs once you’ve had the idea,written the script and said “Okay,let’s get started!”?
VW:I thumbnail out the pages first. Only I can decipher them as they are very rough, and I have been known to actually forget what it is I’ve drawn!! I have to keep it rough though, as I often change things many times. I then write notes about dialogue by the side of them.
TH:And once satisfied that everything looks okay and will work out how do you pencil/ink –lettering?
VW:I just translate my rough tiny doodling into A3 page size monsters. The actual comic is A5 in size, but I hate drawing on small pieces of paper, so whatever I draw is always on A3. After that, as mentioned elsewhere I trace onto Bristol Board and ink. I then scan this into computer (in 2 halves – not yet had the foresight to get an A3 scanner, even though it’s on my wishlist) to add tone and lettering via Photoshop.
TH:I’ve seen your colour work which looks superb and this, I would guess, is done using computer –is this difficult to get used to and do you ever traditionally colour using inks/paints?
VW:I’ve been using the computer to colour for a long time and am only just trying to go back to my roots and get into traditional art again. (I’m currently taking a watercolour course). I think the computer is fairly straightforward to get used to for Art, but the software is so powerful it takes you a long time to get to know all the ‘cheats’ to faster quality work!! Though anyone seeking to do illustration on computer should invest in a good tablet. Wacom do some good cheaper ones!! Art with a mouse is near impossible.. though I have seen it done.
I’m not saying computer Art is easy, but put it this way - traditional art has no undo. It’s taking me some time to get used to that, but I think I’ll get better for it.
TH:The other thing I’ve noted about the pages of SHROUDED is that it is not strainght black and white –the use of grey-tones is almost perfection. I nearly drooled when I saw them for the first time [though that might just be age!]. How do you produce such great toning and how long did it take you to perfect?
VW:*Shucks* Thanks!! The toning is just a greyscale version of anime style cel shading which I’ve been doing for years. I just think it’s a fairly quick way of plushing up my line art J I use photoshop and 2 layer on top of my line art, one for each gradation of tone. I then paint the greys on top of the line art. I think the key to it is knowing where the light source is in every frame – and making sure all the shapes you draw emphasise the shape of whatever you’re toning.
TH:for those interested you have an online portfolio ,which I highly recommend to everyone,at:
http://www.vanessa.withbits.com/
Then there is your Comic Space page at:
http://www.comicspace.com/ness/
Again,worth looking over once or twice. Info on buying Shrouded can be found at both of these.
So,what can we expect to see in the way of new project[s] from you in future,or is Shrouded the main one you want to concentrate on?
VW:Shrouded is my main comic project. I have a few ideas for a few short comic projects, but anything the length of Shrouded needs a lot of time devoted to it.
TH:If you were given the chance to go full time into comic work would you? Is there a genre your work could best be adapted to?
VW:I’ve worked on girl’s games and horror games, so I guess I can be versatile if I try. That said, I would like to work full-time in comics if I could. I’d miss the freedom of small press though.
TH:”My Dream” time:if there was one comic title or character you would drop everything to work on which would it be and why?
VW:Ooooh.. a tough one!! I dunno if I could drop everything to work on them any of those comics. It was the reason I stopped doing fan comics in that I like doing my own ideas.. even if everyone else would think I was mad!!
Mind you I always loved X-men when I was a nipper, so it’d be a nostalgic thing. Not that my work would be suited to it – but hey, you said ‘dream time’ 
TH:Any chance that you might attend the May International Comic Expo and Manga Festival in Bristol –have you attended this before?
VW:Yeah, I plan on being at the May Expo. I have been before but never as a exhibitor!! I really liked it. I’m booked up for one event this year, but am planning to try and get a table for this one too.
TH:Right,I’m taking up a lot of your time here so I’ll ask my final two questions. Firstly,comic-work wise,where would you like to see yourself in five years time?
VW:To me, just getting better at comic drawing and writing is all I wish for, but I’d love to have two graphic novels of collected Shrouded comics by then.
TH:the last question is;do you have any words for already existing Vanessa Wells fans out there –and for people who haven’t readed Shrouded yet?
VW:Read my comic!! J Please .. pretty please!! Oh and if I do have fans I am unaware of this,so I’d love to hear from you
TH:Vanessa Wells –thank you very much for taking the time out to answer these questions and all the best for the future!
Comic Bits Online is the web version of the Comic Bits magazine Edited and run by Terry Hooper. Currently Interviews Editor at Manga Life,Terry has over thirty years experience in the comic industry as script writer,artist,freelance Editor,publisher and much more. But if you want the facts:
Curriculum vitae Name:Terry HooperDob:6th June 1957 [50 yrs]Currently living Ashton Vale,Bristol,United Kingdom ...
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Posted on March 26th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
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