Artist Interview: Ben Bates
To kick off the Artist Interview Series of blog postings, we present to you a pleasant interview with one of the studio’s newer members, a rising star in the comics community, Ben Bates.
Photo by Bill Eckerson
Ben’s current projects are Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog, an upcoming story for Darkhorse Presents issue no. 35, and fantastic future projects with the estimable David Hahn.
Q. What got you into comics?
A. I wanted to draw manga but found there just aren’t a lot of opportunities for americans in the manga industry. I then wanted to be a concept artist in the videogame industry but my painting skills aren’t what they need to be. I didn’t think I’d ever draw American comics because I lean towards clean, stylized art and my perception was that comics needed to be realistic, have lines all over everything, and be about superheroes. I also got it into my head that I just wasn’t good enough to be doing 2D art professionally so I started teaching myself 3D modeling. While I was doing that the Stumptown Comics Convention came up featuring portfolio reviews and I thought it was my chance to find out exactly what I do wrong and what I need to fix to become good enough as a 2D artist. To my surprise I was told what I was doing was professional looking work, I had great storytelling and that I just needed to put a new “surface” on the art; that I needed to drop the manga.
One of my reviewers was Steve Lieber who boosted my confidence and let me know about the coveted internships Periscope offered. I managed to land one and powered on by the knowledge and support I received, I put my stuff out there again. I’m finding that there are all kinds of excellent artists in the comic industry right now with a huge variety of styles. I lucked out to do a Dark Horse Presents story and thanks to another aspiring comics creator, Tadd Galusha, I got my work in front of Archie Comics to do Sonic the Hedgehog. It was a fourteen year goal and I finally made it!
Q.What is your favorite comics series?
A. Deathnote.
Q. Whats the most difficult part about working in the comics industry today?
A. That’s easy! Trying to draw in a style that keeps me both excited about my work, and is acceptable in the American comics industry. I’m still trying hard to find out just what I want to do.
Q.What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A. Reading. That, and working on developing as a creator and as an artist. I used to play videogames and if I can figure out how to balance out doing really great work and playing games, I’d like to someday play them again.
Q. What is one bit of advice you would offer to aspiring comics creators?
A. Draw…everything. Learn to draw everything, not just what you like. A lot of people say that and it is tough. But if you really want to become a super strong artist you’ve got to be able to draw everything super cool.
Oh yeah, and don’t give up. Start making comics, manga, whatever you’re interested in right now. Don’t wait until somebody’s gonna pay you to do it. The sooner you get started the more powerful you’ll be!
