Eisner Award Winning team of Dustin Nguyen and Jeff Lemire turn to Zoop for the release of their latest project, The Art Of Descender!
The book, led by Dustin Nguyen with a foreword by Jeff Lemire, includes covers, select artwork, process and preliminary illustrations, and behind-the-scenes material from the Eisner Award-winning series published by Image Comics.
The Beat reached out to Nguyen over email to interview them about this new project and the process that it took to get it out!
DIEGO HIGUERA: The Art of Descender showcases your work throughout the series. How has your artistic approach or style evolved from the beginning of the series to the end?
DUSTING NGUYEN: I definitely learned a lot throughout the course of the series, or at least got better at pretending to know what I was doing. Overall my choices in storytelling and decisions in color theory changed considerably from issue one of Descender to the final issue of Ascender. If anything, I was more bold in the beginning which sometimes helped propel me into learning new things, other times it created roadblocks that ate up our already tight schedule. Overall I wouldn’t have done it any other way, the final outcome of our book was just as satisfying as the journey and I loved it.
HIGUERA: Can you talk about the techniques and mediums you used to bring the world of Descender to life? Were there any specific inspirations for the visual design of the characters and environments?
NGUYEN: For the entire run of both our series( Descender and Ascender) I painted using traditional watercolors- the only difference being for Descender I used a 300lb softpress watercolor paper stock, and for Ascender I used a 300lb hotpress version of the same. For anyone wondering, hotpress is a smoother watercolor paper, softpress is a paper with a bit more tooth/texture on the surface ( it’s a roughness between hotpress and coldpress, I’ve only seen this available through the Italian brand Fabriano Artistico). My choice in this was because Ascender being a bit more fantasy, I wanted to work a bit more smoother? I honestly can’t remember what my reasoning was at the time, but it was also a way I felt could help differentiate the two series should I ever run into a debate with myself down the road which original art page belonged to which series.
I imagined myself in my late 90s, barely able to sit at the desk, adjusting my bifocals as I hold a page back and saying” ahh.. based on the texture.. the toothiness of the paper and how the paint here roughs across the panel… I would say this belonged to… our run on Descender, Jeff. ” and then I’d turn to a sealed acrylic jar next to my desk with a floating brain inside attached to wires and a wireless speaker next to my desk, I’d hear Jeff’s response, ” ..huh..? what…? ” then I’d have to adjust some settings so he could hear me clearer, and finally he’ll say” ahhh!! yes, Minor Arcana was a great series, Justin!”
As far as visual inspirations, I grew up heavily on a balanced diet of G1 Transformers, Robotech, and 80s/90s comics and manga like 2001 Nights and Heavy Metal Magazine. Hopefully readers were able to notice some of inspirations in this book.
HIGUERA: The book includes behind-the-scenes material and preliminary illustrations. Could you share a bit about your creative process when developing a new character or setting for the series?
NGUYEN: Jeff and I collaborate on the overall feel of the series, its planets and the world our characters lived in from the very start. We start out by figuring out what the surroundings of a character is like, the way they lived, what role they played in society, and pretty much down to how they would interact with others around them. Once we have that down, figuring out how they could/ might look becomes a bit easier, and from there you just got to make them look cool haha. For me at least, it would also have to be a design I would enjoy drawing every day without getting bored or annoyed (or too complicated to hit deadlines )
HIGUERA: How has your collaboration with Jeff Lemire influenced your work on Descender? Were there any moments where his writing pushed you to explore new artistic territories?
NGUYEN: Every script pushed me further I felt, it’s what made Descender such an important book for me in my career. I feel if I had never gotten together with Jeff, if we had never created Descender together, if Image (Comics) had never given us the freedom to do EXACTLY what we wanted- I would never have become the person and artist I am today.
HIGUERA: Is there a particular piece or scene in the book that holds special significance for you? What makes it stand out?
NGUYEN: I really couldn’t pick out just one to be honest. There were a lot of scenes, pages, and covers that I would think of weeks- or even months before I could get to them and I would get so excited to catch up on deadlines or the story so I could finally get to drawing them. So I guess maybe that’s the significance of each of these pieces I’ve selected for this collection.
HIGUERA: Your painted style is distinct and widely recognized. How do you balance maintaining your signature look while adapting to the different tones and themes within Descender?
NGUYEN: I’d like to think no matter what style I drew in, whatever type of medium, the way I draw my characters and tell my stories would still always come through as my own. I think writers have the same in their brand/ style of writing whether it be sci-fi/ horror/ superhero? Either that or it’s true what we used to joke about when I worked at Wildstorm Studios, that all comic artists have maybe like.. 2 different faces we keep drawing with different costumes on.
HIGUERA: Is there anything you want to say to your fans and backers?
NGUYEN: I definitely want to thank everyone for their support throughout the years on all our projects. Thank you for reading, spreading the word, and sharing your love of our stories with your friends and families. Your support of projects like this one is what allows creators like myself to be able to financially move forward with our dreams to continue to create the best work we can. Thank you from the very bottom of our hearts into the deepest of space, and beyond.
Don’t miss out on The Art of Descender’s campaign, check it out here!
Freakin love Descender and Dustin! Love the look behind the scenes with this interview.
Comments are closed.