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Rob
Hooper - Artist
[Strange Things]
Name: Rob Hooper
Hometown: Johannesburg
Tools: Pencil/paper and MacIntosh G4 with Photoshop
and Freehand 10 among others.
Food: Ah, well, let's see now - uhm, well basically
anything not too weird
Music: Anything musical and with hot drumming in
it.
Contact Info: rob@flamingpencil.com
Website: www.flamingpencil.com
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Iain: Can you describe a typical workday for you?
Rob: It depends on how busy I am - but as a rule I try
to get started by 9 in the morning and from there it's roughly until
5. If things are busy I will work late, but I try to be disciplined
about stopping at 5 - I have yet to get it right! Since I work from
home it's a balance of home and business. My mornings are my most
productive and the afternoons are chaotic with kids and everything
- so I try to do meetings in the afternoons if I can. I sit at my
desk or at my computer most of the tie and ferret away until I feel
like a cuppa tea or something and go and get it. My evenings and
weekends I use to pursue my passions like family, drawing, music,
old VW Beetles, running and stuff. I feel the more I explore and
discover, the better I will be at drawing things and achieve believability
in my work.
Iain: How and when did you start seriously drawing/designing?
Rob: Haven't started yet! Seriously, uhm... err.... well I would
say I became know as someone who could draw in primary school already,
but I only began to get inspired at college I think. I was exposed
to such incredible things, the wheels began to turn then, but in
all honesty, there are so many GREAT artists out there I still think
I am on the learning curve, when I grow up I'll start doing seriously
hot stuff, until then I keep trying!
Iain: What tools do you use to create your work?
Rob: I begin by drawing by hand and then committing it to computer
via a scanner. From there I create paths or ink it - and then it's
Photoshop or Freehand depending on what format the client wants
the artwork in.
Iain: Do you enjoy coloring your projects as much as you
enjoy the pencilling stages?
Rob: Yes I do. Sometimes I have a plan in mind that I want to try
out, and I can hardly wait for the finished art to start!
Iain: Your vector work is stunning, do you enjoy doing vector
based stuff over photoshopped raster based work or vice versa and
why?
Rob: Thanks! Hrmmpphh... hard to say, I love each discipline for
what it is, each has it's strengths and weaknesses, I love combining
the two if I can - that's where I get the most pleasing results!
Vectors are great for clean designed & crafted linework, and
Photoshop is untouchable for molded finishes and highlights and
so forth. When I get to use them both it's magic what can be achieved.
I almost always feel like a kid just beginning to discover what
can be achieved each time I start - I hope I never get to know it
all or get blasé about it.
Iain: You have a lot of varied styles in your portfolio,
what is your favorite style of cartooning/art and why?
Rob: I love the quirky lines and cute kids - the more loose, instinctive
and funky, the better I like my art. When I almost instinctively
draw and object and it works I am the proudest. That to me is the
essence of all the hard work and drawing and drawing and drawing
- to get to the place where drawing is a smooth flow from my imagination
to the paper. [You know lake: "Zen and the art of... no wait
- that can't lake work out hey..]
Iain: I've seen some of your latest work up on comic jams
on the internet, what do you think of the future of online publishing?
Rob: Wow! Is there enough paper in the magazine to answer that?
Truth is I can't say how long it will last and how successful it
will be. We have seen the internet fail to deliver on so many things,
and it seems to defy all attempts to harness it. Here's the upside:
it's world-wide exposure, it's exciting, immediate, happening and
very funky. It's a total mind blast. I am constantly finding amazing
artists all over the world who remind me that we are always following
and leading. We never arrive, we are always discipling and being
discipled. I think because of that online publishing must survive
and flourish - I think both cartoons and the internet belong together
- they both are by their very nature subversive and free spirited
- so they will always flow around the obstacles to find a place
to express themselves.
Iain: What stuff are you currently working on?
Rob: I want to submit a 5 page short story to quantum if I can squeeze
in the time between now and the end of the month...
Iain: What presents the biggest challenge to you?
Rob: Drawing people.
Iain: What's been your favourite project to date?
Rob: Ouch - tough call...[thinks] I would say Strange
things
[check out www.strangethings.co.za]
so far - it has been fun and really exciting to see how it's taken
off. But as a whole and without sounding schmultzy or anything,
I love everything I do.
 Iain:
What would be your dream project?
Rob: To work on a Disney animation or something of that size and
quality.
Iain: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Rob: I would say: [in order of appearance] Charles Schultz, Walt
Disney, Will Eisner, Walt Kelly, Robert Crumb, Ralph Bakshi, Mark
& Shaun Bod and more recently Shane Glines & Bruce Timms.
Iain: How long have you been creating comic related artwork?
Rob: I remember drawing Snoopy at the Glen Fair Art Competition
in Pretoria at the tender age of about 9 or 10...
Iain: Are you keen to work exclusively in the comics world
or keep branching out into other areas?
Rob: I will always be one to explore new things - so I am afraid
I will always wander into the arms of whatever is new and exciting
and beautiful.
Iain: Ok, name me 3 things you hate about being an illustrator/artist?
Rob: ...hmm...uhm...[*sighh*] nope, can't think of anything.
Iain: So, if you weren't an artist, what would you be?
Rob: A marine biologist. I love the sea, and I hate what big money
does to the world and it's people. Failing that: a motor mechanic.
Iain: Are you collecting any comics these days?
Rob: You betcha life I am! I LOVE the original animated
Batman series!!! [Quick note to anyone out there who knows if I
can buy the whole series in comic form or on DVD: Please call me?]
Iain: Would you like to work exclusively in comics, i.e.
pencil a monthly book or would you rather jump around on different
projects and focus more on a continually active creation process?
Rob: I haven't thought about it seriously, but if my life
grows in that direction, I would embrace it - one thing I would
dearly miss is the buzz at agencies and meeting hot hot hot designers
- they are very inspiring and challenging, two such people I love
are Lisa Greenberg - a designer in Canada I had the pleasure of
working with, and Adrian Henning who continually humiliates and
inspires me. Their talent, enthusiasm and energy are overwhelming.
Working for any passionate talented individual stretches and grows
me, and I wouldn't want to lose that - albeit rather painful at
times.
Iain: Your favourite comic character is?
Rob: George Bush - no really: I have so many it's hard
to say, but at a push the short list would include Hobbes, Harley
Quinn and Pogo.
Iain: What do you think of local South African comics and
what of the future for the medium in this country?
Rob: I think they are in their infancy, there is such a wonderful
time ahead with incredible talent out there. We need to get it all
together so we can strengthen the comics culture (and our arts culture
in general) in South Africa. At the moment I think we are visually
parasitic and culturally bankrupt. We have borrowed so much from
so many different cultures we don't have a unique voice of our own
- but wait: that's how all existing cultures have been formed so
what am I saying? Forget that comment...
Iain: Thanks so much Rob, good luck for the future.
Rob: Thanks Iain, wait till I tell the guys I got interviewed!
Interview by: Iain Duncan
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Comic Reviews
