Ashley Wood is a brilliant artist of many styles and talents. He has illustrated the various characters in the IMAGE Spawn mythos as well as the two detectives from that mythos, Sam and Twitch with Brian Michael Bendis. His two excellent series POPBOT and AUTOMATIC KAFKA struck many as amazing post modern works. His work on covers and interiors of IDW’s Steve Niles books Savage Membrane and Guns Drugs and Monsters set a mood that words alone cannot describe. Also at IDW he has had three collections of his work come out and he has illustrated the covers and interior flash back scenes for CSI. At this time he is kicking serious ass with his tale LORE, which explores a mythic world that I think would be true to describe as only from the pen and mind of Ashley Wood. He is among the best talents in the field of comics but his work strikes people in many ways, as he is not content to leave it in the hands of reader to look at the page content, they must think about and consider his page content.
ADULT LANGUAGE Warning, Ashley speaks expressively
Are you married, have kids? I know you have a cat from our discussions at SDCC, what is the cat’s name?
AW: Yup I’m married and have 2 young lads, everyone knows my wife's name is Paula. My cat’s name is Eddy, he is the inspiration behind kitty, from Popbot.
AN: You are from Perth, on the western coast of Australia and I wonder how that geographic placement has effected your perspectives and influences. How might you say that it has affected you in ways different from US or European artists?
AW: I am not really sure, Australia gets product and cultural fallout from the entire globe, which is great, I am pretty sure there's not many places where there is such a melting pot of cultures and ideas. So I am guessing I have a pretty rounded set of influences, Asian comics and cartoons were always accessible in my home town way before they became cool, European comics such as Tintin and Asterix are staples of school libraries, and of course news agents and specialty shops brought in American comics, I got it all, loved it all. English comics such as 2000AD, Commando, Starblazer etc., were gnawing on my brain from early on too, ...I think I’ve got a very broad showing of material, that no doubt influences me today,
AN: How does your particular region affect work, is it more expensive working out of Australia?
AW: Nah. Pretty much the same, different time zone makes it a wee bit difficult to talk some times, but email fixes that… I'll be back stateside soon enough.
AN: What artists (not necessarily comics artists) awed you as a young fellow?
AW: As mentioned those who worked on Tintin, Asterix, 2000AD had very profound effects on me, I sure didn't comprehend the class and skill of Tintin and Asterix while reading them as a kid, but they still were great reads, today I now understand what stellar works they are while reading them to my own kids… 2000AD is the comic that me want to be a comic artist, it blew me away, Mike McMahon, Bolland, Ezquezzera fried my mind, and gave me the comics hard on, I still cherish those comics... awwwwwwww.
AN: Where did you learn your craft? University or tech school or self taught?
AW: Drawing everyday since I can remember, I studied Graphic design when I finished high school, but this was just before the computer design boom, so I was saddled with out of date production skills, and teachers who, looking back today were broken people, and shit artists themselves who were bestowing there bilge on unsuspecting kids such as myself ... bastards ... so I left … and just did it myself, worked for night clubs doing ad's, creating artwork for bands, had exhibitions and after a couple of years scored work with the 2000AD guys, I was very happy that day!!!
AN: Artists want to work and get paid obviously but why did you choose to enter the field of comics as an avenue of employment? I look at your work as being more of the fine art category than I do that of commercial or certainly cartooning art. What made you want to draw or paint in a medium that is not yet regarded in America at least as a high-minded medium?
AW: Shit I enjoy it, plus I never considered myself a comic book artist, I'm an artist who does comics, because I love them, and believe their place and effect on culture is much more important and far reaching than anyone understands yet. In fact I believe comics are pretty well part of the mainstream entertainment world, you only have to look around from movies to toys to video games to fucking everything, wait that wasn't the question... Fuck high-minded mediums anyway, what is that, comics, movies, books, original art, music all sit on the same shelf, great stuff floats to the top, shit drowns, move on… Sometimes I think people in some comic scenes will only be happy and believe the craft is being accepted is when 'Mainstream Joeblow' can name all the members of the X-Men since issue 94, and repeat at least 5 Spider-man quips... Fuck them, they’re like the snaggled tooth inbred, who at family gatherings should be left in the car.
AN: Any time an artist with a new style comes into the field folks seem to want to label him. I have heard that you are a Sienkiewicz clone yet I think that both of your styles are unique and fascinating, if also a bit similar. Is/was Mr. Sienkiewicz an influence upon your work and if yes how important are influences to note, I mean at some point unless you are swiping which I do not think you do, your work is your own. Is it merely convenient to label or is there something worthwhile in noting such things?
AW: I think its kinda irrelevant , I love Sienkiewicz, he was a trailblazer in pushing comic art, he opened many eyes to a new way of seeing, and don't believe we can thank him enough, go Bill… He certainly inspired my work early on, he did most things better than anyone else. Sure wasn't a clone because my worked didn't look as good, must have fucked up on the DNA transfer, or maybe I’m not Jewish… :)
I think influences are great, nothing really can grow in a vacuum, and you would be hard pressed to find many artists or musicians who have..Bill had a Neal adams touch early on, then a Bob Peak feel, then a Sienkiewicz... So what? It all looked great. Ashley Wood is no different, I figure start with something already great, odds are in your favour. But you are always gonna get dickheads who want to sling shit out of jealousy, or whatever, if calling me a Sienkiewicz clone is the best they can do, I am very honored.
AN: Your work on Spawn and Sam and Twitch were noteworthy for the use of painted covers and mind bending interiors but they were not nearly so unusual as your later work. Was that a result of working with writers like Bendis and Niles and their particular styles of storytelling or was it that the books were for a more mainstream audience than say AUTOMATIC KAFKA or POPBOT? Do you alter your style for the perceived audience?
AW: Didn't have the balls do be myself I guess, up until Popbot, I always tried to strike a balance, some of what Ash wants, some of what publisher want, or what I think they want. So in my headed I wanted to bust loose and retrospect should have. The main reason I moved on from Toddy, was a yearning to do more ASH WOOD stuff, where I could be free so to speak. Popbot and Automatic Kafka were the first steps in that direction. Of course the irony is, once I started saying fuck'em, I’ll do it my way, the reader response support was great... FUCK'EM, best advice I can give..
AN: I have heard from sources that your experience at WILDSTORM on AUTOMATIC KAFKA was brutal, and that however brilliant a book it was, the experience left you quite sour towards WILDSTORM. How was it working with Joe Casey? I doubt that he was the problem because he later worked on WILDCATS 3.0 so I am assuming problems went higher up. What were you and Joe trying to accomplish on the book, do you feel even with a truncated run it was accomplished, and with the problems did cancellation come as a result of sales or editorial intrusion?
AW: Well I was soured that it didn't get fuck all promotion and it got cut at issue 9 when 12 were promised… It was a hard book to do, from the outset, it got bagged by certain useless critics, which seemed to create a landslide against it, which was hard to fight against. It was hard to figure out where the support was. It wasn't selling great so no one cared much about it, either way, which left me and Joe to just have fun. Joe put his heart and soul into this book, as did I, I believe it will stand out as one of my best works. We had so much to tell with kafka, and it was a creative blow at the time. I still laugh at what we got away with, and what people have missed, Joe put a lot of cryptic shit in there that nobody has still cottoned on too.
My problems with Wildstorm/ DC is that when you lose favour with them, even signed contracts and promised books are thrown in the bin… That doesn't leave a good taste in my mouth.
AN: Why don’t many readers understand POPBOT? I realize that that is a broad paintbrush I just used for that statement but many people do not seem to understand the work despite its beauty and interesting concepts. Are readers too used to being spoon-fed in comics and popular culture in general?
AW: But so many do, its a funny thing, I dunno, I don't make it easy, yet if you read them, really read them and look at the purdy pictures, the story is there. I do believe mainstream American comic readers in particular need to be spoon-fed, because that's what they’re used too, and that's great, sometimes its nice to be led, but my style is different as I take a more European outlook on comic creation, involve the reader, make them a part of the creative process, their imagination is as much a part of Popbot as mine. A conversation between two people is a lot more satisfying than one. Popbot will last 13 x48 pages books, and it will all make sense, its just Mickey Mouse with nekkid girls..gotta love that.
AN: LORE was Mythica but the name/title was changed... why?
AW: Well Microsoft pretty much owned the name due to a game they were gonna release, then didn't...but I like LORE better..nice feel etc..
AN: Do you sell artwork from your site Ashley Wood, do you do commissions or sketches?
AW: Sometimes, never have much left too sell, have regulars who buy it all!! Sometimes I take commissions but not often…
AN: What do your fans not know about you or your work that would make them appreciate either more?
AW: I care deeply about everything I do, it is art to me, not a product...
AN: Your favorite beer?
AW: Mmm prolly Corona, coz back in Oz in considered a classy beer, but stateside it seems to be thought of as a crap beer ... I dunno, who cares, I like Fanta.
AN: What mainstream character would you like to work on most?
AW: None, mmm maybe Magnus Robot Fighter, but it would have to jazzed up, then all the old school moaners would bitch how it sucks, blah blah blah..so I'll stick to my own...DANTE REX ROBOT PUNCHER
AN: What would your greatest hope be for the comics industry?
AW: That it becomes a mainstream part of publishing, where trades, comics are reviewed alongside other publications not special sections or whatever… we don’t marginalize our own craft with stupid out of date fandom ideals, and fix the distrib system, for fuck's sake...
AN: Any books on the horizon you can pimp?
AW: Buy Metal Gear Solid its gonna be cool, buy LORE its fucking great, buy Popbot coz its ma babee, there's some other stuff that cant mentioned, you know the drill ... I'm going to da daily web strip… tons of shit, Ness!!!
1 comment:
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
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