The professional comic
career of Robert Deas began
after coming second in the
2006 IMAF competition in
the Print/Comic category
with a spin off from his
long running webcomic
Instrument of War
. His first
published work was his
self-penned sci-fi espionage
tale
November
. Since then
he has gone on to produce
the artwork for
Shakespeare:
Macbeth
for SelfMadeHero,
The Golden Tiger & Nemesis
for Rubicon Canada, an issue
of
Transformers: All Hail
Megatron
for IDW and an
animated webcomic for the
online multiplayer game,
Code of Everand
. He lives
and works in Lincolnshire
and operates a completely
digital workflow, using a
combination of AutoDesk
Sketchbook Pro, Adobe
Photoshop CS4 and a
Wacom Cintiq 21UX,
running on a 21.5” iMac.
He’s currently producing the
artwork for an adaptation
of
Pride and Prejudice
for
SelfMadeHero.
Robert Deas
www.rdcomics.co.uk
Robert Deas 221
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222 1,000 Tips by 100 Manga Artists
671 Where do the ideas for your draWings come from?
h
oW do you do your research? My ideas come from a
variety of sources, of course there’s other manga and
comics but also TV, film, video games, books. When
it comes to research it depends on the project. When
writing
November
, my espionage manga set in Russia, I
bought lots of books, Moscow and St. Petersburg travel
books, books on Russian history and politics and of
course nowadays there’s the Internet.
672 What does your Work desk look like? What
can We come across? I have an office in one of the
bedrooms in my home. In there you’ll find my
desk with my iMac and Wacom Cintiq 21UX
digital drawing tablet.
673 W
hat are your favorite tools or draWing
programs, and Why? I work completely digitally
and for the last year and a half I have drawn on
nothing else other than my Wacom Cintiq 21UX
digital drawing tablet. It’s a fantastic piece,
very expensive, but without question the best
investment I’ve ever made.
6 74 W
hat do you like about manga? What
does manga have that european or american comics
don’t? I prefer the pacing of manga books.
Western comics are often presented as mini
series or big series and are divided into small
volumes and collections, with notable exceptions
like
The Walking Dead
. Manga series are often
huge in scale with seemingly no restriction on
page count and this gives the writers and artists a
chance to let their creation breathe and take their
time with their story.
675 W
hat differentiates you from manga’s
other illustrators? I think you can see both
manga and Western influences in my work. I
think you can tell I grew up reading a lot of 90s
Marvel books and on the other hand reading a
lot of manga and watching a lot of anime. I’m
not sure how different this makes me from other
creators but the influences are definitely there in
my work.
Spectrum Black © 2009, Random House
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Robert Deas 223
676 What advice Would you give to a novice
illustrator trying to make a name for himself?
Never give up. It wasn’t until I was in my late
twenties that I got my big break but I always
believed it would happen one day. Enter your
work in competitions, that’s how I got noticed.
Go to conventions, meet some other creators
and editors and show your work to anyone who
will give you five minutes of their time to look
over your portfolio. Don’t take a negative critique
badly, learn from it and make your stuff better.
677 d
o you feel the need to better yourself
When it comes to your Work? to What extent?
Always! Not many artists are happy with
their work once it’s in print in a similar way to
actors that can’t watch themselves on screen.
I’m a perfectionist but also take deadlines
very seriously so sometimes you have to let
things slide to keep the project on time, it’s a
compromise and a balance. At the moment I’m
working on an adaptation of
Pride and Prejudice
,
which is really pushing my art to a new level as
it’s way outside of my comfort zone of science
fiction and action genres.
678 m
anga: is it art? Of course, just as much
as any medium. Anyone who says otherwise is
ignorant.
679 W
hat good habits should a comic
illustrator have? Good time management. The
ability to keep to a deadline and deliver quality
work on time is something I have tried to build
my reputation on.
680 W
hat makes a comic sell succe ssfully? A
good story and good art help but outside of that
it’s anyone’s guess.
Manga Shakespeare: Macbeth reproduced with permission © 2008, SelfMadeHero
Pride and Prejudice reproduced with permission © 2011, SelfMadeHero
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224 1,000 Tips by 100 Manga Artists
685 How do you make your drawings come to life? Happy.
681 wHere do tHe ideas for your drawings come
from? How do you do your researcH? I take photos
everywhere. Also, sometimes I get ideas from
photographers, fashion designers, films…
682 w
Hat is tHe first tHing you do before
sitting down to draw? i think about a composition.
683 d
o you always use tHe same tools or do you
cHange depending on tHe piece you’re working on? I
use acrylic colors. But I also like to use different
tools on the same work.
684 d
o you prefer tHe classic guidelines
from manga or experimenting witH new cHannels?
Experimenting with new channels.
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Romi Watanabe 225
686 wHat advice would you give to a novice
illustrator trying to make a name for Himself? Show
your works to art directors and designers. And
listen to their opinion about your work.
687 w
Hat Has cHanged about your style of
drawing since you began? I used to use magic
markers and color pencils at first, but then I
changed to acrylic colors.
688 w
Hy is manga so popular in tHe western
world? Because it’s a very original Japanese
cultural product.
689 w
Hat is tHe most important lesson you Have
learned tHat you would like to pass on to otHers? I
think it’s important to know how much I love to
do it.
690 w
Hat good Habits sHould a comic illustrator
Have? Curiosity.
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