When I was little, my family called me play queen, my imagination took me places past possibility. If I wasn't in my own world playing store or stylist, I was next to my brother watching cartoons. Do you remember how much fun you had sitting there watching; Doug, Looney Tunes, Darkwing Duck. . need I go on ? Jen Lee has a talent I admire with all my being, she has a mind of animation . She tells stories through illustrations.
I fell in love with her 'After Love in the Asylum' comic, and ventured into her animated world ending in Thunderpaw. Her work takes you to a great place and makes you stop to think about the different perspectives you have had in life. Cartoons were the center of your world at one point in time, hold on to your youth . . :-)
HH: Tell us a little about yourself. When did you know illustration was your calling?
JL: Around seven or so I remember being completely enraptured by cartoons and storybooks- like we all were- but when I attempted making stories out of images myself something wonderful happened. My schoolmates were completely into the world I had created in one picture, whether it be humorous or very dangerous. I found it hard to relate to other kids, so this was my way of interacting with my peers. I guess from then on I was just conditioned to feel good about responses to my drawings, even when they would creep or gross other kids out.
HH: You have a few different comics; can you tell us a little about each one?
JL: After Love in the Asylum (http://afterloveintheasylum.tumblr.com/)
After Love in the Asylum was meant to be a short warmup comic and it's based on my friend Kyle's (http://rundxdi.tumblr.com/) poem of the same name. It is my interpretation of this poem, and I still don't know if I got it "right."
(http://www.etsy.com/listing/101320004/rruffurr-book-one)
The Old Kind of Summer appears in an anthology called RRUFFURR. It deals with nostalgia, but not the comfortable kind. The kind that will haunt you if you don't let yourself come to terms with whatever happened. It's similar to the themes in After Love in the Asylum.
Thunderpaw: In The Ashes of Fire Mountain (http://Thunderpaw.co, *Seizure warning: may contain flashing lights and patterns*)
This is my current project, and my first bigger webcomic that is continually updated. It features the use of animated GIFs which isn't new at all, there are a lot of great cartoonists who do this. My intention with these simple animations are to make it like you're watching a cartoon show. The story is ultimately my love letter to all those movies that deal with domestic animals surviving in the wild or trying to make sense of the human world. I want to kind of make fun of the tropes in these movies but I am also trying to recreate the emotions I felt at that age too.
HH : Did you have any favorite comics growing up ? Do you see any similarities
between their work and your own?
JL: When I was very little I would sneak into my older brothers room and dig out his copies of The Sandman and Akira. I had no clue what was going on these stories because I was too young and lazy to read. Instead, I'd be consumed by each panel and make it up in my head. The first comic I actually read was Maus by Art Spiegelman. It completely blew me away as a kid, because I experienced something cinematic for the first time from just text and pictures. Similarities might be the cartoon animals in Maus and maybe my interest in unhealthy friendships like in Akira.
HH: Do you believe art has the ability to enrich life? If so, in what way?
JL: Yes definitely. The more you draw your surroundings you start seeing the world differently. There's so much problem solving involved, you have to somewhat understand how machinery works just to fake it while drawing. I feel not only more creative after I make something, but smarter too!
HH: What draws you to this genre of art? Do you remember your first creation?
JL: I am drawn to a lot of raw if not crude styles of drawing. Cartoons can fall into this, because they are meant to be fun and be loose- but they also should have appealing design. I suppose what draws me to these art forms is that I can make something ugly but still be aesthetically pleasing. Sharing a narrative through pictures I can make people laugh or feel bummed. When I was in elementary school my first creation was a booklet of poorly drawn parodies on fables. This was stabled together and given to some of my friends. I think that must have also been my first zine, too. One parody was on The Boy Who Cried Wolf, instead of the boy claiming to have seen a wolf he claimed to have smelled flatulence and this really upset the village because nobody knew who did it. Yes they were all like this I was in elementary school! Goldilocks and The Three Toilets was even worse.
HH: I loved your ‘After Love in the Asylum piece’! How did you come up with the
storyline?
JL: Since it was based on a friend's poem, I had create a storyline out of my interpretation. To me Asylum was about memories and how they can clutter your mind at late hours of night when you're trying to fall asleep. I wanted to show how horrible and terrifying a night like this can be.
HH: Where do you want your illustrations to take you? Where can we follow your
work ?
JL: I'd like my work to just keep taking me forward. Forward in opportunities and new ideas. My work can be followed at Repoghost.com and my current webcomic is at thunderpaw.co
0 comments:
Post a Comment