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Pirate King

Welcome to the latest edition of the DCG Artist Spotlight!

Our victim today is Pirate King.

Comics2Film (C2F):How and when did you start manipping?

Pirate King (PK):I'd done some really primitive stuff years ago when I was at high school - realprimitive... but then I went to Uni and discovered the internet, and it was whilesearching for news on the first X-men movie I discovered Comics2Film, and itsFan Art Gallery (as it was then). It took me about a year of looking at otherpeople's stuff before deciding 'I can do that'... and the rest, as they say, ishistory.

C2F:What software do you use to make your art?

PK:Corel PhotoPaint. I'm on Version 12 now, but I've been using it since aboutVersion 8, I think. I tried Photoshop, but it felt I was trying to playguitar chords on a banjo, if you catch my meaning.

C2F:What inspires you? Where do you get your ideas from?

PK:All sorts of stuff inspires me- I guess I take my inspiration from what'sgoing on around me. It's either stuff I'm reading, like my Invincible picearlier this year- man that's a good book. Or it's this piece of news, or thatrumour- some sort of reaction to the real C2F's out there. Or sometimes it'sjust wanting to do something I've never tried, experimenting with lighting,or composition. Or maybe reacting to some of the pic's in the gallery in someway, either agreeing or disagreeing, or intentionally not doing charactersbecause so many others are doing them.

C2F:What's your favourite part of doing a manip?

PK:I think it has to be the prep. Casting, finding source pics, findingreference material. I was never a boy scout, but 'be prepared' is anexcellent phrase to live by in this game. And it's not just the 'what amI doing?' side of things, but the 'why?' as well- if I'm doing a scene,what's the story. Heck, even doing a poster means I've got to think up arough plot so I know which characters to do, who's gonna be the big starsand who the support players... sometimes I can finish the pic feeling likethe movie's real.

C2F:What was your favourite theme day?

PK:I'd love to say 'Martial Law' 1 & 2, but I'm pretty sure thet don't count. Manwe had a blast with those pics, the seven of us conspiring, dropping hints aboutthe sequel with fake posts in the forums and everything. Sounds a bit like whatDC have done with Infinite Crisis. But if I can't say that, I think it would haveto be the 'Mantle' day, cos I had a real blast working with Strangefish, and I know that together we made something betterthan we would have done separately.

C2F:What annoys you most about manipped images?

PK:I have a big problem with airbrushing- not when it's done well, but when it justlooks like an airbrushed image, when it doesn't look real. It's not really likethat these days, with so many artists creating such realistic images, but if iteven looks slightly fake it blows the whole thing for me. Same thing goes for thereliance of poser. It's made things perhaps too easy- not like in my day when frankensteining was the only way to get them in the pose in my day.

C2F:What do you think is your greatest asset as an artist?

PK:I think it goes back to the prep side of things. I try and make sure I knowwhat I'm doing, where I'm going with it. Not that I don't think the art itselfis good, but I know it wouldn't be as good without that extra effort I put in toorganise things, making sure I have all the right pieces.

C2F:What do you still need to work on?

PK:Lighting. Lighting is my worst enemy, but it pretends to be my friend. I'll have so much going right, and then,boom, this arm or that hat will have the wrong lighting and mess up the wholething for me. I've also been having a real problem with jaggies, but I'm gettingbetter at that.

C2F:What's your favourite of your own work?

PK: No doubt- it'smy Modern-dayLeague of Extraordinary Gentlemenpic from February this year. I did a solid 6-8 weeks prep on that. Re-readingthe books, looking up all the references, and trying to keep up the spirit ofwhat Alan Moore had created. And I had as much fun doing the text as doing theart.

C2F:Who are your favourite DCG artists?

PK:Welshcatwas always the man (cat?) I looked up to in terms of scenes, in termsof drama. Ditto forMarcelo Gomes,as my recent Flashback entry will testify.Kev,Zac,Essex,Bearbot,Lady D...that was my 'generation' and they're the onesI always got excited about seeing new work from. Bearbot could put 100 charactersinto a pic and still make it work. Lady D could do 100 pics a week without losingquality on any of them. These days,Shaylinngets my vote, andBill Turnerjust gets better and better. And I'm lovingDarkBlade's'30 Manips in 30 Days'.

C2F:What about favourite mainstream and/or comic book artists?

PK:Alex Ross, Brian Hitch, George Perez, Phil Jimenez, Adam Hughes, David Finch, hil Hester, Terry & Rachel Dodson, and big shout out to Mark Bagley- his workon USM is brilliant. And even though these days it's more the writer that getsme onto a book, Jim Lee's Batman is the best I've ever seen- it got me readingBatman again for the first time since Knightfall.

C2F:What's your least favourite of your own work?

PK:Probably my Watchmen pic.My earlier ones might be pretty bad, but I thought they were good at the time.This one is the only one I was disappointed with at the time.

C2F:Where do you think the DCG should be headed?

PK:I'm not sure. It seems to be headed in a different direction these days thanit was a few years ago. It used to be all about bringing these characters tolife - live action photomanips- posters, portraits, scenes. These days it seemsthere's more and more 'traditional' art work- more comics, less film, if you getmy meaning. I think it's lost its way a little from the real aim and focus of thesite, and I'd love to see more manipping done. Not that the traditional art isn'tgood- some of it is great. It's just not what I think 'Comics2Film' should be about. But, like the f-steining thing, I guess I'm a little set in my ways.

C2F:Which characters do you want to manip?

PK:I really wanna do the Shadowpact from Day of Vengeance, and possibly theNew Avengers because we haven't really seen them as a team yet. The Ultimates,too, if I could come up with a new slant on that. And I still haven't done myBreakfast-Club-As-the-X-Men that I've been promising for about 3 years!

C2F:What's your favourite comic book?

PK:There's so many, especially at the moment cos I'm getting, like, 20 titles aweek (darn summer crossovers!). As someone who grew up on the Giffen-DeMatteisJustice League, Identity/Infinite Crisis is really hitting me emotionally,more than anything else because these are characters that I genuinely careabout, especially Beetle. First time I've come close to crying reading a comic.I think, if I had to choose one title though, it would be Invincible - Kirkmanis making what should be old hat so fresh.

C2F:And your favourite comic book movie?

PK:Batman Begins. No doubt. As cool as X2 was, Batman Begins really felt likethe Batman I loved, the Batman I was reading. There wasn't one bad performance,not one plot-hole. Faultless in my eyes.

For more of Pirate King's art,check out his DCGgallery.

Interviewer: Blazej Szpakowicz