Get to Know the Artist Behind the Fantastic Depiction of the Wild West
We are very excited to bring you a series of Creator Spotlight articles that focus on our new title, Savage Bastards; A story as wild as it is twisted. Today, Chris Sanchez was joined by series artist, Carlos Angeli, to discuss a little about winning Mad Cave’s talent search and what gets his gears turning…
ART AND TALENT SEARCH
Chris Sanchez: Hey, Carlos, glad to have you on our Creator Spotlight. To start things off,Where did you grow up?
Carlos Angeli: Thanks, Chris. I grew up in Mar del Plata, which is a city on the coast of Argentina.
CS: What made you become an artist?
CA: Drawing is something I’ve always loved, even as a kid. At age 27, I was working as a technical illustrator at a factory, but then I had a sort of early mid-life crisis. I quit and eventually crossed paths with comic book artist Enrique Breccia and started considering illustration and more specifically comics as a way of living.
CS: What are some of your major influences (they don’t have to be from comics)?
CA: I love movies and in a way, I feel they’ve influenced the way I approach storytelling. Also, painting has a strong influence on my work in terms of composition.
CS: How has your experience as one of Mad Cave’s First Talent Search Winners been?
CA: It’s been great! I found about the search by chance and suddenly I was given the opportunity to work on this great comic in a genre I’ve always been fascinated by.
CS: What’s a weird fact about yourself that you’d like to share with the Cave Dwellers?
CA: After graduating from high school, I was on my way to study engineering. I didn’t think of drawing as an actual job at the time.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
CS: Tell us a little bit about how you approached the design of this particular cast of characters. Are there any that stand out to you personally?
CA: It was quite a challenge because there are so many of them, but a character that stands out to me is probably Rose.
I wanted to stay as true as possible to the clothing and looks of that period, with some creative licenses here and there. So basically I did a whole lot of research. David (Galiano), had also written down very detailed descriptions of everything.
CS: What is your favorite part of the creative process and why?
CA: All the analog/old school parts. I guess I’m old school myself so I just love working on the drawing board.
CS: What is the least favorite part of the creative process and why?
CA: I have to say the digital part, though mandatory these days, is my least favorite. I need that tangibility that comes with working on an actual piece of paper as opposed to working on a screen.
CS: What was your favorite page or panel to draw in Savage Bastards and why?
CA: There’s a sequence on issue #1, page 2. Three panels actually, when Rose is about to open fire. The way she throws her poncho over her shoulder before she draws and the close-up on her hand… I was thinking of Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone the whole time.
CS: You ink and color your own work, many artists leave color to someone else. Why do you choose to do it yourself?
CA: It’s both a matter of preference and the way I learned to do it. Luckily, Mad Cave was generous enough to give me the
time for it.
CS: What do we have to look forward to in this series?
CA: An adventure filled with those good old spaghetti western elements with some very interesting twists. That and a lot of hard work and passion from the entire creative team.
FREE PREVIEW
Want to see what all the fuss is about? Download a sneak peek of the first issue of Savage Bastards right here.
Share: