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1 – To Start, tell us a bit about yourself where you were born and where you live…
I grew up in Brooklyn and also lived in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC for many years. Did some stints in Jersey as well. In the ‘90s, I attended The School of Visual Arts in NYC on scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. I studied mostly illustration and cartooning. Straight out of college, my band Life of Agony, got signed to Roadrunner Records and we hit the road touring with bands like Ozzy Osbourne, Korn and System of a Down. We built a cult following over the years. I focused on my music career for a long time and we ended up releasing 4 studio albums, a bunch of live records, several music videos and DVDs.
In addition to LOA, I started a punk band called, Spoiler NYC, in 2007 and we put out a record called “Grease Fire in Hell’s Kitchen” (SOS Records/I Scream Records). We’re working on a follow-up album right now with Grammy-Award winning producer, Ken Lewis (Lenny Kravitz, Beastie Boys).
Recently, I signed a comic book deal with IDW Publishing to release my creator-owned “Wire Hangers” series. It’s a pretty dark, horror/conspiracy type story. I’m handling all the art and script. It’s a ton of work, but I love every minute of it. Check out the trailer for the book here: http://www.wirehangerscomic.com
2 – How did you get started in the arts?
I’ve always been drawing, ever since I was a kid. I can remember back in grade school, during lunch hour I would doodle away to pass the time and my friends would gather around the table and really enjoy it. I would always draw violent scenes or characters I made up off the top of my head, so I’m sure that was more interesting for the kids than playing dodge ball or something. Since I was into metal, in high school, I would paint the backs of denim jackets with album art for friends. I actually made a pretty good business out of it back then, and it was a lot of fun painting my favorite covers, as well. One that stands out was Iron Maiden “Killers.” Maiden always had great album art. That’s probably what drew me into the music in the first place. It’s funny, being able to share the same stage with a lot of the bands I grew up with. Kinda surreal.
3- Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I’m inspired by so many different types of art and artists. I’m a fan of everything from street art to photo-realistic style painting to illustration, toy design and sculptures. I have a deep passion for comics, too, especially for the darker, less-traditional style comics. I enjoy works from Ben Templesmith, Dave Mckean, Bill Sienkiewicz and Ash Wood, mostly. There’s an artist from the UK named Paul Insect that does some really amazing work. I actually got one of his pieces tattooed on my arm. It’s a tribute to legendary punk icon, Sid Vicious. Paul Insect was nice enough to send me a giant print of the Sid design, once he heard I got inked with his artwork. Pretty cool. http://www.twitpic.com/f9dy4
4- Can you describe for us what a regular day is like for you?
Well, when I’m touring with the band, believe it or not, I get a ton of comic art done. You’d be very surprised just how much time there is to kill on the road. You arrive at the venue in the morning and basically sit around and wait until to sound-check in the afternoon and then wait some more until show-time, which can be around 11pm. So, it gives me a lot of time to work on the artwork and to be productive. I usually draw right up until the show and then maybe even color some pages after the gig if my adrenaline’s still pumping.
5- What is your most common approach for completing a project?
With the comic art, I draw every panel by hand using black, white and gray ink on gray tonal paper. Then, I scan in that artwork and color everything in Photoshop. I tend to use a lot of photographic textures to give the work a lot of grit, as well. Sometimes I’ll even add actual photos for background and treat them with filters so they blend in nicely with the painted imagery. I play around with layer modes for coloring. I find that it brings out a lot of the natural textures of the watercolors when you play with it just right. I use a ton of layers. I rarely flatten the artwork. I always like the ability to go back and edit, if a shadow or specific color isn’t just right. Extra hard drives are the way to go!
6- Out of all your work what is your favorite piece and why?
Hmmm. There are a few panels in issue #1 of Wire Hangers that I really dig. I treat each panel like it is its own piece of art. Some of the double-page spreads stand out, especially. But, other than the comic stuff, I once painted a mural in L’Amours (the famous rock club) in Brooklyn where I used all black-light paint. I painted the entire lobby of the club with giant faces on each wall. These were like 12ft ceilings so it was really something to see. I hung black-light bulbs above it and the artwork really popped. I’m pretty proud of that. I took the idea to another level when I designed Life of Agony’s stage scrims in the ‘90s, on the Ugly tour. I used the same black-light theme with the faces. I’ll try to dig up a photo if I can…
7- Is it easy to make a living in the work that you do?
I’ve worked in the design field for many years doing all types of roles. I’ve worked full-time as an illustrator and animator and even as a Creative Director. What I’ve learned is that working full-time doing interactive and commercial advertising design suits me best. Freelancing is great and fun when you need flexibility on your schedule but you’re always chasing down the next gig and trying to get paid from the last one. Everything else that I do outside of that is strictly out of passion. Music has always been my bread and butter, though.
8- Who is your biggest influence?
With comics, I’d have to say Mike Zeck. Without his Punisher limited-series (Marvel Comics: 1986) I would have never been inspired to create my own comic series. I used to get all of my books signed by him at the conventions when I was a kid and I even have some original art from him. I hope that I wasn’t too much of a pain in the ass! But, he definitely was my hero back then. Also, I’d have to say Dave McKean who illustrated the acclaimed Arkham Asylum graphic novel, is right up there for me. I remember seeing that book and being completely blown away by it. There was so much texture and emotion in the art, I couldn’t comprehend how it was created back then. It really made me interested in the computer aspect of creating artwork.
These days, I’m a big fan of Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night) and he’s the reason I was so excited about putting Wire Hangers out through IDW Publishing. Templesmith has several creator-owned properties through them and never ceases to amaze me.
9- How important is technology for the work that you do? What tools could you not live with out?
I rely on it tremendously. I love the fact that you can go back an edit something digitally and it’s seamless, you just can’t do that organically. But, the human element cannot be looked down upon. Hand-drawn art is undeniable, so, I enjoy mixing the two. That’s the best scenario for me.
10- How important is color in your work and why?
For me, color really sets the mood in comics. In the issue I just finished, each scene has its own atmosphere and its own palette. It creates a visual language without using any dialog at all. The color adds that emotional element to the art that really draws me in. I enjoy black and white art as well, so that translates into different moods, as well.
11- Whats your favorite color?
Probably blood red..heh..heh.
12- Where can people get in contact with you?
I have a personal site http://www.alanrobert.com which has links to my Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking sites. Links to all three main projects I’m working on right now are ther, too: http://www.lifeofagony.com, http://www.spoilernyc.com, and http://www.wirehangerscomic.com
Thanks for the interview and best of luck with Colorvision!
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Damn… nice interview! you art is awesome.
LOA rocks! Alan is awesome. Hoping your comic will be a huge success!
That looks awesome! Can’t wait to check it out!
Great read! thx