We did it! Thank you all so very much for supporting the Goblins Drool, Fairies Rule, Art and Coloring Books Kickstarter project. With the help of our fans, the project reached over 200% funding! We are looking forward to delivering the finished books to our Kickstarter backers, and will be keeping you updated on our progress as we get them ready for printing.
In the meantime, we’ve got an artist interview for you… in addition to doing a fantastic job finishing up the remaining Coloring Book pages, Josh Ulrich has found the time to answer a few questions so you can get to know him better. Here’s some life experience and wisdom from Josh:
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David: Josh, your illustration style is very clean, with an emphasis on bold inking. How did you develop this style?
Josh: I suppose it just developed slowly over time. The biggest change came when I switched to digital inking and I was able to get much more comfortable with brush style inking.
David: Did you have any formal art training, or are you self-taught? In what ways do you feel that this education has benefited you?
Josh: I studied fine art and graphic design at a public college and I also did plenty of self-teaching. Both had a big impact on me, especially the three years of figuring drawing.
David: When did you decide that you wanted to create art professionally, and how did you go about making that happen?
Josh: About half way through college. Making it happen was really just an 8 year process of working really hard day and night until things started to work.
David: Tell us about your original comics, Newman and Jackie Rose. How did these projects come about?
Josh: Newman is my oldest running comic that has seen many evolutions and changes throughout the years. The very first iteration started out as just a test for myself to make a short comic and play around with color. From there I just kept changing the characters and getting to know them better. Jackie Rose had a bit of a similar path. I did a lot of early work on Jackie that I didn’t release, and then created a whole 100 page webcomic, all before I finally created the Jackie Rose graphic novel series that we know today. Those early comics provided me with a training ground to really learn the craft of making comics.
David: Earlier this year, you ran your own Kickstarter project. What was that like? Will you use Kickstarter again to fund future projects?
Josh: I ran Kickstarters for both Jackie Rose and Newman, and they were both great successes. My experiences with Kickstarter have been awesome and I will definitely continue to use them so long as people keep showing up to support me!
David: You have done an excellent job inking the coloring book pages for Goblins Drool, Fairies Rule! What process do you use to translate already-existing art into line drawings?
Josh: I do all my inking (line work) in a program called Manga Studio EX4, and use a Cintiq 21ux Tablet monitor for all my drawing.
David: Some of our backers may be considering a career in art, themselves. What are three important things that an aspiring artist should focus on?
Josh: 1. Work really, really hard.
2. Stay out of debt. Art doesn’t pay very well early on, but if you’re smart with your money, you can live off of little.
3. Enjoy your life. Don’t forget that this is a long process and not everything in the world is about your career. Spend time with your friends and family. Be patient, and enjoy the years of just toiling away on your own. You will look back fondly on those early years, I guarantee it.
David: What are three pitfalls that an aspiring artist should avoid like the plague?
Josh: I’ll narrow it down to one: chasing success. You can’t force fame and success. You’ll end up depressed if you go down that road because you have no control over your success. You can’t force people to fall in love with your work. Don’t focus on getting famous, just focus on getting better. Success follows the patient, hard working artist. Expect your journey to take a minimum of 5-10 years.
David: Last question, where can all of your new fans interact with you and see more of your work?
Josh: Well, you can check out my comics at http://www.jackierosecomic.com and http://www.newmancomic.com And you can hit me up on Twitter at @JoshUlrich
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Once again, a big “THANK YOU” to our community for your support. We’re looking forward to sharing progress with you on the publication of these beautiful children’s books, as well as sharing news about future Game-O-Gami projects. Stay tuned!
– Sanhueza