Beginning today is a series of interviews with the guest artists who are featured in Zero Sum Bubblegum. First up is Eileen Budd…
DR: Have you always been
interested in comics?
EB: Yes, as far back as I
can remember!
It all started with a road safety film with Tufty the Squirrel in it,
projected on a wall in the town hall used for my playgroup. There we
were, me and all the other kids sitting in the dark, staring at this
blank wall, then suddenly they turned the projector on and the wall
came to life. I was 3 and I didn't understand what a projector was, I
thought it was some sort of magical device that could send a beam of
light to burn through reality, revealing the secret lives of cartoons
living in a parallel universe to ours. My mind was blown.
I was an incredibly shy kid so my mum was completely taken aback by
how animated and expressive I suddenly became trying to explain what
I thought I had seen. A road safety film? What? No! A portal into
another dimension! She had no idea what I was babbling on about, I
imagine it must have been similar to a cave man (or woman) seeing
fire for the first time and having to explain it to others once it
had gone out. (Mostly sound effects and arm waving.) But, she picked
up some of what I was saying and gave me a Rupert the Bear annual. I
was hooked.
The comic book seemed like a low tech version of the projector
portal, more of a newspaper version of another reality for those
people who aren't playgroup leaders and can't gain access to a
projector. And there wasn't just one other reality, I discovered.
Daily trips to the library with my mum and brother introduced me to
the world of Asterix, TinTin, Garfield, Calvin & Hobbes. I
borrowed them all. I became obsessed with writing and illustrating my
own stories.
At primary school, my news jotters filled with stories about stolen
vans and pigeon kidnappings, all highly illustrated with crayon and
colouring pencil. I would ask other kids at school to do drawings for
my stories and asked my family to write new stories I could draw for.
I got a camera one birthday and started making photo stories, gluing
the photos onto paper and writing captions for them.
In high school I drew comic strips of my friends, making fun of
teachers and teenage life in a tiny farming town. It got me in
trouble a few times but it was a massively important outlet for my
busy brain. Still is.
Comics have always been this magical storytelling medium to me and
ever since that wall projection of Tufty the Squirrel I've been
trying to make art that tells stories and tell stories using art.
DR: That's a great story, and it was thoughtful of your Mum
to give you a Rupert the Bear Annual.
EB: Yeah, I guess a projector was out of the question!
DR: Which work by other people are you a fan of, and has
served as an inspiration?
EB: Moebius is a huge inspiration, The Incal is a
masterpiece and something I re-read regularly. He's my number 1!
Winsor MacKay's Little Nemo in Slumberland and Bill Waterstone's
Calvin & Hobbes. The artwork in both these comics is beautifully
coloured and drawn and the daydreaming quality of the stories in both
are pretty special.
Mike Mignola because I am a massive Hell Boy fan, I really like how
Mignola writes too, not hung up on complex ways of keeping the action
going, every now and then a ghost or zombie will just point the way.
Doug Tennapel's Earthboy Jacobus - I have read this so many times, I
love it. I'm not going to talk about but if you haven't read it, get
a copy.
Kate Beaton's Hark a Vagrant always makes me laugh.
Robert Crumb - the piece he did on Philip K Dick in particular is
nuts and so well done.
Dave Sim and Gerhard for Cerebus. Gerhard's line work is superb, the
backgrounds are stunning and the stories are ace.
Halo Jones and Tank Girl are two comics I've always loved. They make
good Winter reading if that makes sense?
Greg Hinkle, Airboy is a brilliant piece of writing by James Robinson
and Hinkle's art is gorgeous.
More recently I've been looking at Greg Tocchini's work in Low
because the colour palette is stunning and Zach Howard's art in Wild
Blue Yonder - Its a good story and the artwork is really nice
combination of things slightly reminiscent of 1950's WWII comic
annuals.
I could go on and on before we even touch on the long list of fine
artists and illustrators.
DR: What had been
your experience in making comics yourself before your contribution to
Zero Sum Bubblegum?
EB: My art practise is fine
art and illustration, so before you asked me to do a strip for Zero
Sum, artistically my experience of creating comic strips was pretty
limited.
It's a medium I'm a big fan of so I've always felt I needed to take
it seriously and learn more about the discipline and structure before
I embarked on making anything I would let anyone else see!
Its only been this past year that I've really started openly
venturing into making comic art, starting with a series of 10 strips
called Lonely Hearts From History commissioned by the Curator of
Comedy website.
I've also been working on a couple of projects of my
own, which hopefully you'll see more of towards the end of the year.
DR: What can you tell me
about the comics projects you're working on?
EB: Err, not much right now,
but once I've finished this first chapter I'll be ready to share it,
so check back in with me in two months time!
DR: How
did you find the process of drawing your story for Zero Sum
Bubblegum? Any behind the scenes insights to offer?
EB: Insider insights, eh? When I got the script for Zero Sum I started thinking about the photo stories I used
to make, the overly posed, awkward teenage acting. It’s that kind
of freeze frame action you might create in your mind when you’ve
lost an object and are trying to remember where you put it. I wanted
to use a bit of that and give it a slightly nostalgic feel.
So, I
got my partner and friend to pose for me while I was working on the
character artwork, which was really good fun. A lot of leaping
around the flat and pulling faces and a couple of times when I was
asked, in total seriousness, “What’s my motivation?” teehee.
And, while digging through the kitchen drawers, my method actors
found a long lost cookie cutter!
DR: Ha! I'd like to see some of those photos!
And you used to make photo stories? What context were you doing
that in?
EB: I made photo stories
from when I first got a camera as a kid to probably the end of high
school, purely for my own entertainment and before I got into
painting. I still do make photo stories from time to time but it's
only ever for my own amusement or for that of my friends and family.
Eileen
Budd is
a
freelance artist / illustrator from Edinburgh and a serious
comic
book fan. See http://www.eileenbudd.org/ When not making art she's
writing about it on the artist
run website redbirdreview.com. Get in
touch with her at artist@redbirdreview.com
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