We come from all over the world, DC fans in all different forms. We choose to express our passion, and love for the DC world through different mediums. They range from short film, blogging, online discussions, collecting merchandise, watching motion pictures, art, and much more. This week we travel to the far side of the world all the way to Melbourne Australia and chat with DC fan Manuel Sison on his DC Comics Art.
Manuel expresses his passion for the DC world through his talent in the Arts. When we saw his work, we asked if he wanted to be interviewed so we could share his talents with the rest of our fans. See our interview below.
DF: Manuel, thanks for making time to chat with DC Comics News can you give us an introduction and a short bio on yourself?
MS: I grew up and currently live in the western suburbs of Melbourne. Started drawing in my notebooks in primary school when classes were dry, which was 90% of the time. Cartoons are what got me interested in art. When I was a kid, I wanted to become a cartoonist or an animator because they are forms of entertainment that have the power to make people happy. I was the only child until I was fifteen, so I watched a lot of cartoons and drew to escape boredom. Cartoons that inspire me are The Tick, Gargoyles, 1990’s Nickelodeon cartoons, The Simpsons, Mighty Max, Johnny Quest, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Biker Mice From Mars. I could go on and on!
DF: How did you get into the Arts?
MS: In high school, I did all the typical art subjects and continued to draw in my notebooks during classes. After VCE, I got into a Multimedia course at Victoria University and was introduced to vector art through Adobe Flash. I became comfortable with Flash very quickly and began designing and animating my own characters. The program really opened my eyes to the possibilities of digital illustration, so after the course finished I transferred into Graphic Design to focus on my 2D art. I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator which is what I use now to produce my digital pieces.
DF: Can you take us and our fans through the background and an insight into the style of Art you use when expressing the passion you have for DC?
MS: The style of my drawings borrow elements from my favourite artists Sean ‘Cheeks’ Galloway, Tracy Tubera and Humberto Ramos. I love these guys in particular because their style has a cartoon look and most importantly, they are accessible. Other artists who I look up to are Ed McGuiness, Mike Mignola, Otis Frampton, Genndy Tartakovsky and local Melbourne artists Frank Candiloro and Erin Hunting.  I draw using vectors as a way to deconstruct characters and interpret them in a way that makes sense to me in Illustrator. Essentially, drawings are shapes that are combined to form a final image. The pieces I submitted were all built-in Illustrator by manipulating basic shapes such as circles, triangles
and squares. Once built, they are taken into Photoshop for the final touches. Like my heroes, I want to create work that is simple enough for everyone to appreciate and inspire others to give drawing a go. I will never possess the illustration skills of Jim Lee or Todd McFarlane, so I continue to develop my own creative way of interpreting characters and just have fun.
DF: Can you give us an insight into the theme of the drawings we have shared with the fans?
MS: Batman is my favourite comic book hero of all time. The first Batman film came out when I was two years old, so my first cinematic introduction to Batman was in Batman Returns. Not long after, the Batman Animated Series came out and I watched it religiously every day after school, 4:30pm channel 9 on What’s Up Doc. But it was during VCE when I started reading the books. I remember borrowing HUSH volume 1 and 2 from the Sydenham library and staying up until 3am that day to finish reading them. The combination of Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb was magical! I then back tracked and bought the classics The Long Halloween, Year One, The Dark Knight Returns in trade form. Everyone knows Batman doesn’t have any super powers, but what he lacks in power he makes for in intellect. Batman represents what we can be if we commit ourselves to a craft. That’s one of the things that appeal to me about Batman. Also, what super hero is complete without a rogue’s gallery? Batman has THE BEST rogue’s gallery out of all the comic book heroes in my opinion.
End.
We would like to thank Manuel for sharing his exclusive collection.
