Art & Story Podcast
If you have ever been even remotely curious about comics and the creative process, I highly recommend that you listen to the Art & Story podcast with Mark Rudolph and Jerzy Drozd. ( Just click on their logo above to check it out!)
There. Now that I’ve gotten that out, I can go into greater detail for those who are interested.
To be honest, it has taken me a long time to warm up to the comics genre. Admittedly, I had a comic book collection when I was a boy, but I never really read them. I mostly just stared at the covers and flipped through the selections in my suitcase like a record collection. Yes, I kept my comic book collection in a suitcase. I was always enthralled by the cover art, but I was repeatedly disappointed when I opened them, because what I found inside was never able to live up to my expectations. I wanted the interior artwork to be as developed and beautiful as the cover. I felt at times cheated by the more simplistic styles used to tell the sequential side of the stories. So I paid more attention to the look and feel of my collection, bought them for their covers, and never read them.
The reason I tell you all this is because most likely, if you are an avid comics geek you wouldn’t even be reading this now. You’d be listening to Art & Story. I figure that many of the readers who have made it this far are either closet comic skeptics, ready to open your arms again to the sense of wonder to be found in this medium, or you are a fellow creator who is trying to find an opening into a world you want to understand.
In Art & Story, I have found the doorway back to comics.
A couple of years ago, I read my first full comic series when I discovered Preacher, and I was blown away. Not only were the covers incredible, but the interior artwork and storytelling were refreshing and inspiring. Reading these comics, my eyes were opened to the possibilities inherent in this medium. Since then, I’ve been keeping one eye on comics as I create my own illustrations, because my interest has been piqued.
When I came accross the Art & Story podcast, I was thrilled not only because I’m a podcast junkie, but because I get to listen to Mark and Jerzy pontificate on the ins and outs of the craft of comics, like a fly on the wall of their basement studio. Moreover, I get to revel in the glory that yes, I am a geek too, and I’m not alone. I watch He-Man DVDs, I have plastic astronaut toys on display, and if I had my druthers, every freelance illustration gig from here on out would include at least one robot. And, as if that weren’t enough, they also conduct a regular podcast called Art & Story Alive, in which you can participate in real time through telephone or text.
Jerzy Drozd makes you feel at home in your geekdom, and Mark Rudolph is the tougher, more stoic best friend you always wished you could be like. I can and do listen to these two passionate creators for hours on end, for many of the same reasons that I also love the Big Illustration Party Time podcast.
I get to work in my studio on my Illustration projects and listen in on the intriguing conversations of my imaginary studio friends.
Thank you Mark and Jerzy.
