Bill Nichols’ Prescription:
Comics 10ccs of the Process with
Paul Renaud

What inspires you to create and keeps you going?

Mostly the pleasure I get to tell stories visually. I’ve always loved comics, and I enjoy playing with different universes from Marvel to Star Wars, to Red Sonja and Tarzan… It’s very nice to be able to draw all the stuff I read as a kid, and that I keep reading.

 

Do you have a set routine? 

Not really. I mean I need to check my emails before anything else, to see if I have notes/approvals or requests from the editors I’m working on any particular day. Then I try to look at yesterday’s work with a fresh eye, and I get back to work.

On any given comic book, I read the script in full first. Then I do the layouts, 2 to 4 pages at a time.  Then I ink them. On Avengers/Defenders : Tarot, I was able to do the full layouts of the first issue and then inked the 30 pages. It was very interesting, but I keep a fresher eye doing 2 pages by 2 pages.

If I can do the coloring myself, I start when then book is fully drawn and do all the pages in a row.

 

What kind of output do you try to achieve?

It largely depends on what kind of project I’m working on. My covers take me 3 days to complete. A page of comics is a day and a half if I’m just inking, and 2 days and a half if I’m coloring it too.

 

What inspires you WHEN you create? Music? Noise? Silence?

 

I listen to podcasts, and sometimes movie commentaries. Everything that helps me work long hours. I listen to music for sure. But when I’m doing concept sketches for covers, I need silence. Same thing when I do breakdowns from a given script. I need to be focused.

 

Who was the first comic book creator who influenced you to pursue this?

Well, there’s a certain number of artists that I was really a big fan of when I was a kid, but I think Jean Giraud aka Moebius has to be the one that made it certain I wanted to be an artist.

 

When did you realize you could follow this path yourself?

I must have been 15 or 16. My mom asked me to finish high school and get my degree first. Then I started working on fanzines and got noticed by publishers.

 

What do you find to be a challenge in creating?

A number of things. Certainly the long hours, and repetitiveness of creating pages. It’s hard to stay fresh and energized when deadlines are looming. The goal is to serve the script and make the storytelling flow while keeping the best quality in your art. As an artist, you always want to grow and improve, but as a professional, you need to be reliable and flexible. So I’d say the biggest challenge is to find a good compromise between speed and quality.

 

What else do you have to learn?

To be better at everything? In all seriousness, I’d love to teach myself to paint. I used to work with watercolor inks a lot before I switched to computer coloring. I miss that a lot.

 

What keeps you motivated to get better?

Well, just looking at my previous work is a huge pain. I can see everything I should have paid more attention to. It’s a never-ending torture. But I think doing my own coloring helps me reach a better result, and it helps refresh my mind.

 

Can you turn your brain (creativity) off (and on)? 

No, I keep thinking about the work all the time, long after I put the pencil down. It’s how it works.

 

 

Booster Shots

 

What advice do you have for aspiring creators?

Try to ask yourself the right questions, and be merciless with the answers. Try to understand why any popular artist is popular, even when you don’t like their work. Why does it work? Try to learn how to produce finished art on your own. Show « them » that you can build something to the end. That you are reliable.

 

Do you ever worry about running out of ideas?

On the contrary. I’m frustrated because I always want to do so many other things while working on a given project.

 

How do you handle the slow times?

Do you mean, when I get free time between jobs?

They are the best times! I can experiment, and work on my own projects. Write, and play with copic markers. I love it!

 

Do you have a website or link to promote your work?

You can find my original art at

https://kirbyscomicartshop.com/collections/paul-renaud

My Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/artofpaulrenaud/?hl=fr

And Twitter page :

https://twitter.com/PaulRENAUDart

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by the above creator are theirs. This interview may not be reprinted or reposted without permission.