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| Interview by Burt Wolf with Illustrator & Cartoonist, Eric Maruscak! Interview done 7-17-07 |
| PLEASE GIVE US A LITTLE INTRODUCTION TO YOURSELF? My name is Eric Maruscak. I am an illustrator from upstate New York with interests in cartooning, fantasy art & comic book art. I also work as a graphic design & pre-press manager at a print company. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING IN THE ART FIELD? I have been drawing all my life. I have worked as a graphic artists since graduating college in 1994, so approximately 13 years. Within the past 4 & a half years, I have been creating giant chalk art illustrations. I began doing work on pavement at art festivals in upstate New York. In the past year I have also moved into creating them on paper for indoor conventions, but the giant size has remained, often averaging 10'x15' in size. My day job is behind the computer, but my freelance is illustration. Of course, I am hoping that someday the illustration over takes the day job & I can draw full time. |
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| WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD SOME IMPACT OR INFLUENCE ON YOU CREATING YOUR ART? I have some major influences in various areas of illustration & art. As an overall painter, you can not beat Norman Rockwell for pure storytelling genius & artistic talent. See his paintings in person & you'll know what I mean. When I was younger, Berkeley Breathed just changed my whole outlook on cartooning with Bloom County. It was so unique & you just wanted to know & be friends with those characters. For the longest time I wanted to create a comic strip for newspapers. I was very into a number of comic strip artists from Charles Schultz to Gary Larson to Bill Watterson. When it comes to comic books I like Alex Ross (purely one of the most talented artists out there), Mike Magnola, Joe Madureira & Dale Keown. And in recent years I have more & more been studying concept art work for movies, video games & books. No major stand outs there, I admire a whole range of people across the industry. |
| HAVE YOU HAD ANY FORMAL SCHOOLING OR ARE YOU SELF TAUGHT? I went to Binghamton University where I took Studio Art (concentration in Graphic Design). It was a local & I couldn't afford much, so I was limited in my choice at the time, but I think education at that level is a lot of what you make of it. I took as many internships as I could during that time & tried to educate myself on everything that was out there. The classes were good & my teachers instilled me with a lot of basics, but you learn that the real working world, even when it comes to art, is nothing like the school environment. When it comes to storytelling, comic art, fantasy & concept work...all of that is self taught. I learned by looking at those I thought were good & studying what I admired in their styles. Not the best way to learn, but certainly helpful in many regards. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF ART THAT YOU WORK IN? DO YOU PREFER ONE STYLE OVER ANOTHER? I started off as a pure cartoonist, so my styles have all drawn from that. Two of the most important things in cartooning are simplicity & exaggeration & I know that those two rules show in almost all of the work I do. I like cartooning for it's emphasis on line work, how simple shapes can create all that you need to convey people, clothing, environment & movement. My fantasy work is where I can let my imagination explode & in many ways that is greatly freeing. But I have always felt that, compared to a lot of artists out there, my rendering abilities just weren't up to par with them, so I feel my fantasy work doesn't reach the level I would really like it to. The concept artwork is a lot of fun & it's much more "painterly" in it's style & form. Having moved to a digital workspace & using a drawing tablet, I love digital painting & the limitless materials at your fingertips. In all of my styles though, most people seem to agree that i have an obsession (I prefer love affair) with lighting & light sources. I can't fault them on that...I love the way light plays off of objects & through various atmospheres. let's face it, light is art...without it we would see nothing. |
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| YOUR COMPANY IS CALLED PEPPER INK "ART WITH A LITTLE EXTRA FLAVOR". WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS NAME? In high school & college I had a comic strip called "Pepper" whiach was loosly based on a dog I had when I was a kid named "Peppy". The comic strip never really found it's voice, but I had turned most of my friends into characters & I loved the director like way you could control the acting & the dialog in a strip, so I modified it...and it gradually turned into a strip first called "The Cartoon Studio" & finally became "Just Renting"! |
| WHO ARE SOME OF THE OTHER COMPANIES YOU'VE DONE WORK FOR? I've worked for Wizard Entertainment doing chalk art at their conventions for the past year now. I am coming up on the one year anniversary as I return to Chicago to make another piece for them this upcoming August. I have done some cartooning work for Visions Federal Credit Union doing advertising images on their quarterly promotions. I created a few fantasy themed greeting cards for a small local company named Gryphon Gift & Graphics, which can be found on my website & will be creating an advertising chalk art image coming up for a promotional company out of New Jersey for a major Xbox 360 game release in the next month. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT THE "CREATURE OF THE WEEK" THAT YOU DO FOR CONCEPTART.ORG? I was turned onto conceptart.org about a year & a half ago. This is an amazing community of some of the best artists out there. A gathering point to share work, ideas & industry information & one of the best sites I've come acorss for up & coming artists. They feature a weekly competition called "Creature Of The Week", where both professional & non-professional artists generate their own creature concept from just a one or two word description. Posts are judged by the online community & winners are chosen. It was something I was doing every week for a while, do to other commitments I haven't been able to get back to it as much as I'd like. I was very pleased with the pieces I ended up with though, so I also featured them on my website. YOU ALSO DO SOME COMIC BOOK & FANTASY ART. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THESE AS WELL? Most of that work has been spec work for projects that never really saw the light of day. It happens a lot in the industry. Get involved in a project, put intense work in for awhile, then someone higher up makes a decision & the rest of the project just falls away. I have used a lot of this to lead me into other areas though, including the Wizard Entertainment chalk art pieces. |
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| GIVE US SOME INFORMATION ON YOUR COMIC STRIP "JUST RENTING". WHERE CAN WE FIND IT? Currently there are just samples on my website. I submitted the strip to a number of large publishers invluding King Features Syndicate & although I had positive feedback it has never been icked up. With Ling reveiving over 6000 submissions a year & going with 2 or 3. Those odds made me feel good about the small success I did get. The strip may go digital & become an internet project of mine. It will simply depend upon when the heck I get some free time! YOUR STREET ART IS AMAZING! HOW DID YOU GET INTO DOING THIS? WHICH ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITES YOU'VE DONE? |
| Well, first off thank you for your compliment. I am glad you liked it. I started about 4 1/2 years ago at a local art festival that was just beginning in my home town. I had a lot of art connections, so as they were trying to line people up to create the art & they asked me...I had never done it before, but I figured I would give it a shot. The first piece I ever did was a small simple fantasy cartoon, but I immediately decided to go larger because it was so much fun. After that, I went right into comic book art. I have always loved the art form & felt it is greatly under appreciated. Plus, when you are spending 30 + hours lying on the street in the sun creatinga piece of art, it had better be something you like & are interested in. Since then I have created a number of pieces, my two favorites being the Dale Keown Incredible Hulk which was for that very same art festival two years later & the John Cassiday Captain America piece I did for Wizard World L.A., which just so happened to be the same week he had been shot in his book. The piece turned out to be a really nice memorial image. YOU'VE DONE SOME GREAT WORK FOR WIZARD WORLD CONVENTIONS. HOW DID YOU GET HOOKED UP WITH THEM? A lot of determination, a LOT of phone calls...and some serious luck. They actually first saw some of my chalk art as I was showing my portfolio around the convention. I was at the booth of a fantastic artist named Franchesco (check out his work, he rocks big time) and he actually turned my portfolio to the guy next to me & said "This guy should come & create these at the Wizard Conventions." Turns out the guy next to me was in charge of the Wizard Conventions tour & I had no idea. (You never know who is standing next to you at a convention, so be nice to everyone!) He handed me his card, said to get in touch with him...and after 2 months of wrangling i got a foot in at Wizard World Chicago in 2006. I've been going to the shows ever since. I MET YOU @ THE PHILLY WIZARD WORLD THIS YEAR. ONCE AGAIN, YOUR FANTASTIC FOUR & SILVER SURFER ART WAS AMAZING! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE PHILLY SHOW THIS YEAR? Thanks AGAIN for the kind words. The Fantastic Four & Silver Surfer was nerve racking for me for a number of reasons... it was my first time INSIDE the actual convention hall as part of the show & it was the first time I was working off my original art & not the art of an all ready established comic book illustrator. The response was totally positive though & that was a big relief. So I guess I am biased when it comes to my opinion of the show, I had so much fun & it was such an important event for me that I can't say anything bad about it. I met tons of great people, made more contacts & actually got to see a tiny bit of the show. I never really have the time to walk around, if I did that I'd never get the art done. The Philly piece took me just under 31 hours to do, which is a large portion of the actual length of the show & the hours it is open. |
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| ARE YOU A COMIC BOOK COLLECTOR? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE COMICS YOUR INTO? I collected a LOT in the mid 80s & early 90s & got out just before the industry took back then. I collected a LOT of Marvel, most of the titles you can name at the time, as well as some Batman & smaller indy stuff is where most of my interests lies, the stories you get there are most original & have the most amount of unexpected turns & real surprises. The level of talent coming out of indy comics & self published work really blows my mind. I like what the guys at Silent Devil are doing a lot. I also follow a number of the trades for things like The Walking Dead & Hellboy & for awhile I was following THe Red Star & simply letting my jaw hang at some of the visuals. Which reminds me, next show I gotta find thier booth & catch up on all their stuff. WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE COMIC BOOK ARTISTS & ARTISTS IN GENERAL? |
| Oops, I pretty much answered this in the question about influences. But Dale Keown is, in my opinion, so incredibly under rated as an artist...pencil work so tight & amazing I can't believe he isn't talked about more often. And I am really excited to see what Joe Madureira does with his return of The Ultimates for Marvel...that book has my interest all ready. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU'D THINK PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? Um...I watch Naruto & like it? (Sigh, that's lost me a lot of fans I am sure.) Actually, in general, I seem to like a TON of things that most people laugh off...I don't know, maybe it's just a way to keep myself feeling younger than I am. SINCE THIS IS A MUSIC ZINE, WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU HAVE CURRENTLY BEEN LISTENING TO? I don't follow any one genre, to give you an idea, my iTunes has everything from UNION UNDERGROUND, FLOGGING MOLLY, THE WHITE STRIPES, MUSE, METALLICA, PSYCHO LE CEMU (Japanese band), GORILLAZ, BARENAKED LADIES, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS & RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS. Lately I have been listening a bit to a band called SCISSOR SISTERS, which has a heavy BEE-GEE's vibe (no, really) but a modern feel. And even though I mentioned them above, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS would be my favorite band & their brand new album "THE ELSE" has been getting a lot of play in my car CD player. Oh, & if you REALLY want to beat me up...I listen to WEIRD ALL YANKOVIC...yeah, that's right...c'mon, hit me right here on the chin! Of course, there is a GWAR concert locally in the next few nights...not sure if I am going to be in town for it, but man, what an experience! |
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| WHAT CAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING FROM YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE? Wizard World Chicago in August, where it looks like I might actually be creating TWO pieces over the four days of the show...but I am not 100% sure on that, things are still being finalized. I am also trying to set up some work for shows in the fall including some horror conventions. Now THAT would be fun & the art would simply be a blast to do. Hope I get it! WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE THIS INTERVIEW? WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW THAT IT'S DONE? |
| Just before I was actually searching up reference material for my next advertising piece that is coming up. (HINT: I need to find some good reference images for pools of water.) After the interview, I will be shutting off my iTunes...currently playing "Nobody Told Me There Be Days Like These" by John Lennon...& probably getting some sleep...it's going on 10:45 pm & I get up for work at 6:30 in the morning. Although I may get a few pages done in the Dean Koontz book I am reading currently, "Odd Thomas". I know this is all ready a three book series, but I never read them before. THANX A LOT FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS. IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DO SO. THANX! I was glad to do it. I'd simply like to thank everyone for all of the interest they have show in my work I am doing & I appreciate it a TON. Keep circulating the photos & telling people about what I do. Oh & I wanted to let everyone know that I am NOT Julian BEEVER...that guy who does the 3-D chalk art, but I am flattered that some people have mistaken me for him, I take that as a compliment! |
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| ERIC@PEPPERINK.com www.PEPPERINK.com ALL PHOTOS & GRAPHICS COURTESY OF ERIC MARUSCAK & PEPPERINK INTERVIEWS MAIN PAGE |