Anna Fitzpatrick is an illustrator,
comic artist and designer.
She is originally from Dublin,
Ireland, and is currently living
and working in Cambridge, UK.
She currently works on her
graphic novel
Between Worlds
as well as many other projects
with the UK-based small press
comics circle IndieManga.
Anna Fitzpatrick
www.annafitzpatrickart.com
Anna Fitzpatrick 29
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031 Where do the ideas for your draWings come
from? hoW do you do your research? I get most
of my ideas from my dreams. As soon as my
head hits the pillow my imagination goes into
overdrive (meaning I often end up getting no
sleep!) When I’m awake, I look at many different
sources for research, from other artists and
creators to artistic movements.
032 W
ho are your favorite illustrators? are
you trying to folloW in their footsteps? When I first
started creating comics, my biggest influence
was Miwa Ueda. These days, I love the work of
Kenji Tsuruta, his work is highly underrated. He
blends a beautiful detailed manga style with soft
watercolors in his cover work and his stories are
wacky and wonderful!
033 W
hat does your Work desk look like? What
can We come across? My desk looks different every
day! It depends on whatever I’m working on at
the time. Usually I’ll have my laptop there as I’m
either using it to draw, do some research or just to
play videos or music while I work. I always have
sketchbooks nearby to jot down any ideas I get. I
usually forget ideas fast, so I need to get them on
paper as soon as I can!
034 d
o you alWays use the same tools or do you
change depending on the piece you’re Working on? I
use something different for every project. Every
time I create something new, I want to learn
something new. I like to experiment between
both traditional and digital media. So in some
comics I’ve used nothing but ink and paper,
others I’ve done on my computer from scratch.
035 W
hat are your favorite tools or draWing
programs, and Why? I absolutely love to use pencil,
watercolors and inks. Though it’s hard to create
a full comic with these. I usually use them for
illustrations or for short comics. I would like to do
a more ambitious project using watercolors and
pencils someday. I love working digitally also for
its ease and speed.
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Anna Fitzpatrick 31
040 What is the greatest acknoWledgement you could hope
to achieve for your Work? To find others who do the same
and work alongside them. Being a comic artist can be very
lonely work. It’s long hours and no one to talk to! Having
other comic artists as my friends means that I can share
my thoughts on life as a comic artist.
036 What do you like about manga? What does
m
anga have that european or american comics don’t?
I love the reach manga has. I love how there is
a manga for everyone. It never talks down to
its audience, it respects it. I love the pacing in
manga. How it takes its time to give us the right
atmosphere, using clever panelling and layouts
to set the perfect scene.
037 W
hat differentiates you from manga’s
other illustrators? I think every artist gives their
own slant on manga. When I first began, I was
obsessed with following the rules of manga, but
as I’ve grown and gained experience, I’ve learned
that one of the most important things is to create
art that people can look at and instantly know
who created it.
038 W
hat advice Would you give to a novice
illustrator trying to make a name for himself? Don’t
worry so much about a “name” and focus your
energy on creating something great. Put work
into study of anatomy and environments. Look
further than manga style and into great artists.
Be constantly critical of your work, but don’t be
so critical you’re too afraid to put pen to paper!
Get a trusted friend to read your work and tell
you honestly if it reads well. If you create great
work, put it online, print it, sell it at conventions.
Make friends with your fellow artists, the best
contacts you’ll ever make in the industry is your
co-creators.
039 d
o you feel the need to better yourself
When it comes to your Work? to What extent? Every
single day. A true artist is always working towards
improvement. There is never a point where an
artist says “yeah, I’m perfect now.” If I ever got to
that stage, I’d be dead as an artist.
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041 Where do the ideas for your draWings
come from? hoW do you do your research? I think
the biggest research I do is watching my cats.
I didn’t do any kind of comics for six years so
starting again was a real challenge. My editor and
I decided to go for a very old-fashioned format
and it took ages to find the correct sizes.
042 W
hat does your Work desk look like?
W
hat can We come across? I have a huge room
with actually four tables. My assistant has her
own working place and it’s nice if you can work
without sitting on each others lap. You might
come across masses of paper I need for scribbles,
my light-table, computers, alot of coffee cups,
memos sticking practically everywhere and a lot
of lamps.
043 d
o you alWays use the same tools or do
you change depending on the piece you’re Working
on? I use different tools depending on the piece.
There must be a reason for having so much room.
I generally use paper, pencils and rulers for
sketches.
044 d
o you prefer the classic guidelines from
m
anga or experimenting With neW channels? The
classic guidelines don’t really work for my project
since I work in a very old-fashioned Sunday Strip
format, though I consider my characters more
Japanese inspired than European. I think the
meaning “manga” is stretchable as “comic” is.
As long as people love what you do it shouldn’t
really matter. I guess.
045 h
oW do you make your draWings come to
life? I normally think around way too long about
the general idea of the comic and if the muse
happens to hit me (normally very late at night)
I do a very rough and normally unidentifiable
sketch into my Moleskine. After that I do a clean
sketch on paper, scan it and Lew flats the whole
page in basic colors. I do the final painting and
send those to my publisher for lettering.
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Anne Pätzke 33
050 What makes a comic sell successfully? I think
you have to push a button inside the heart of the
reader. Somewhere where it hurts, feels fuzzy or
horrified. Nothing is as bad as a perfectly drawn
comic that is not able to create mood. I’d prefer a
not-so-pretty but awfully charming artwork with an
interesting story.
046 What differentiates you from manga’s
other illustrators? I think as much as everybody is
different. I try to do things in my own way (within
the restricted format I’m bound to) and I think
one of the very special things is that I work full-
color without outlines. It can be quite annoying
but it works best for me. :)
047 h
oW important is promotion to you? hoW
do you promote your Work? I work white-label when
a company asks for it, which leads to practically
zero promotion, but I generally prefer the other
way. I like DeviantArt. The other thing is working
versatile in different channels. I love doing board
games as much as things for the iPad, as well as
doing comics. People consider you more flexible
that way—which is good. I guess.
048 d
o you feel the need to better yourself
When it comes to your Work? to What extent? I’m
practically always restless and unsatisfied. It’s
not like “gah, that looks so ugly” but more like
“looks good but I think I could make it better.”
It’s no use to push yourself too much. I improve
the most when I work on different projects
because companies expect different things and
that teaches me alot.
049 W
hat is the most important lesson you
have learned that you Would like to pass on to
others? Be brave, be curious, try to be patient and
stay yourself. There is no recipe for becoming
successful and a good artist, so generally I
believe all feedback will teach you something
and normally how to do it better next time, so
don’t fear that. It’s part of the job.
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