the corner store
louie joyce
it’s a pleasure to welcome you to powder louie. you’re illustrations, that seem to shed light on shadowy landscapes, have certainly captured our attention.
It's a pleasure to be here, thanks for having me :)
firstly, i’d like to ask what you are working on at the moment and what projects or exhibitions you have coming up in the future?
I've been working on a series of short comics which I'm hoping to collect in a printed edition early next year (but I’ll be putting online for free first). I also just finished a short story with writer Ryan K Lindsay for the Australian Anthology Homebrew Vampire Bullets and I’m working on the first issue of a mini-series with Eric Ditloff. Non-comics wise, I’m doing illustration work and just started planning out an exhibition for early next year.
you conjure up beings and creatures from dark and sinister realities. how do you tap into these realms?
Most of the inspiration for my work comes from things I observe in real life. Be it places, people, interactions, scenarios etc. I just take these things and distort them a little, imagining that same thing happening in another world or reality.
how do you describe your style of illustration?
It's very graphic I would say. I used to work as a graphic designer so that way of thinking has influenced my drawing a fair bit. My work is very much focused on the narrative, story is always king.
when you’re creating a work how do you approach it and what’s the process you undertake?
Well, if it's for a particular theme or brief I normally do a series of small thumbnails of any and all ideas that come into my mind. Then I'll pick the one that works best and do some more thumbnails of different versions of that idea, focusing on the composition, lighting and flow of the image. Then I'll move onto a larger more refined rough of the image, usually drawn digitally so I can work fast and easily make changes where needed. From here I'll do the final linework, sometimes digitally and sometimes traditionally (usually depends on what I'm going for with my final result and timing), and then I'll colour it up in Photoshop using a series of textures and brushes I've created from traditional mediums.
you recently won the ace comics best short australian comic prize for your piece the corner store. how’d it feel to win the award and what’s the corner store about?
It felt great to win! There was a bunch of great entries so I was very pleased. The Corner Store is about this local corner store I used to frequent. I don't think I ever saw anyone else in there. Never! And I went there for years. So I got to thinking, how do they manage to stay in business? Certainly I’m not keeping them afloat so they must have some inter-dimensional portal for a door which allows patronage from all sorts of different realities. Maybe.
what lead you down the path to become an illustrator? how did you start out?
I've been drawing as long as I can remember. My parents have always been very encouraging and got me into comics and anime at an early age so I always wanted to draw X-Men when I grew up. It's only in the last few years that I've really focused on my art full-time, completing the illustration course at Enmore Design Centre and developing my skills as much as possible.
which artists have inspired you in the past and which contemporary artists do you keep an eye out for now?
Guys like Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki, Stan Sakai, Frank Miller, Chris Bachalo were a huge influence on me growing up. Right now I’m really inspired by the work of Brandon Graham, Yuko Shimizu, Tomer Hanuka, Paul Pope and I could just keep going and going but I’ll leave it there. There's so much great work out there to see.
what other cultural influences shape your work?
Japanese culture has always influenced me, originally through Anime and Manga, and then after visiting and getting to know the people and culture better. I've also spent a fair bit of time in Indonesia and met a bunch of musicians and artists over there. They're so passionate about their art it's always an incredibly inspirational place to visit.
you’ve done an illustration of the hindu deity kali. how and why did this come about?
That was done for a brief given to me while I was studying. We had to pick a mythical being to create a book jacket design for and I chose Kali because she's so visually incredible. And I love Temple of Doom.
another piece called one trick pony seems to portray a group of alien beings waiting in line with something hectic happening in the background. what’s the story behind this piece?
This is a good example of what I mentioned earlier with looking at another version of our world. This is Town Hall station in Sydney at peak hour. The nice thing with this one was a few people when they saw it noticed that's where it was and had that connection with it. As for what's happening in the illustration itself, that's totally up to the viewer. Hopefully they'll find something new each time they look at it.
you’ve exhibited around australia and the world. which were the most memorable and do you have any experiences from these events that particularly stand out?
A few years back I participated in an arts festival in Jogyakarta. I met artists from all around the world and got to see the different approaches and attitudes they had towards creating their work. It was an amazing experience and one that's greatly affected how I approach my own work.
once again louie thanks for speaking with us here at powder. we look forward to the alien worlds you lead us into in the future.
Thanks heaps!
check out the louie joyce site
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