This week, as part of our “How Many Artists Does It Take to Make a Comic Book” is the first of a three part interview with Gates of Midnight artist Amelia Woo by Staff Writer Autumn Daughetee.
By Autumn Daughetee
The incredibly talented Amelia Woo has been integral to the creation of Gates of Midnight. In fact, she worked as both the penciller and the inker for Gates. I recently had the opportunity to interview Amelia about her role with Gates, comic books, and much more.
When did you first decide to pursue a career as a comic book artist?
“I’ve always liked to write stories and telling them in a visual way felt the most appealing. So, I decided to learn how to draw. As an author, becoming a comic book creator was what I wanted. Eventually I found that working for publishers was the best way to learn and practice my storytelling techniques in a visual way.”
How did you go about it?
“I started working in a manga style. At the time, western audiences didn’t look kindly on western artists working in an eastern style, so I adopted the name ‘Woo’ to fit in as an artist. I started getting jobs under this name and later couldn’t disassociate myself from it.
“The start, as always, is the hardest part of anything. I spent many months trying to find a job within the comic book industry. My name is now on the Glass House Graphics artist list and having an agent makes my life much easier.”
You work as both penciller and inker for Gates of Midnight. Can you describe your process for me?
“First off, is the layout step. I read the script and try to create a picture in my mind, separating the scenes into sequences. I try to identify the ‘flow’ from the writer’s storytelling and determine how I can translate, as near as possible, the writer’s intentions into a visual product.
“After this, I go to the details (from macro to micro), selecting what is the most important element of each page (the panel key), trying to make all of the other panels on the page converge to this ‘panel key.’ Every scene has a hook for the next one, and the pages have the same logic. Sometimes I try to emphasize this panel key with some movement.
“For me, the layout step is the slowest process, because it is the base, the foundation for the following steps. If something doesn’t work in the layout process, it won’t work later. I usually like to send the layouts in a batch of pages, because it works better for me and is easier for me to figure out the whole picture. After everything is done, I send it back to the writer and editor, Debbie and Valerie in this case, and wait for more instructions. If there is nothing to change, I go to the next step—the sketching. If there is something to edit, I redo it until it is approved.
“The next part of the process is the sketch. Each artist has different ways to do this. Some of them have rough lines and others use solid technique to end up with nearly finished work. I belong to the first group, using rough lines for a far-from-final result. I choose to do this because it is faster to make changes to the drawing later. Working in a team, I prefer to leave the drawing ‘flexible,’ allowing quick changes. Again, I prefer to send in pages in a batch instead of one at a time.
“My technique is 100 percent digital. I do all my sketches directly onto a computer, using a Wacom tablet. When they are approved, I print only the character sketches in black and white for the next step. The backgrounds (architecture and props) are done on the computer. It saves me from having to use rulers and squares. Doing straight lines on a computer is faster for me than doing it the ‘analog’ way.
“And that brings us to step three—the inking. Some artists’ sketches are very near to the final art. Also, some publishers ask for the pencils to be very close to the final product, skipping the inking process. As my sketches are a mess and the styles selected by my clients have ‘clean’ lines, I don’t skip the inking process.
“For Gates of Midnight, I’m using brushes and China ink (Nankin) on a good quality tracing paper. I’ve tried a light table, but I didn’t adapt well to the light in my eyes all the time. I also spent years working with materials, such as acrylic and gauche and it made things smoother for me when I switched to brushes and ink. I found the inspiration from one of my favorite artists, Takehiko Inoue, and it gave me the courage to try using the brushes and Nankin. It’s still kind of new for me, because it is the first time I’ve done the inking for a comic book without also doing the coloring. Usually I work simultaneously on the coloring and inking. Gates of Midnight was a new challenge for me.”
Tune in next week for Part II of this fascinating interview.
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