Creator Spotlights

Tim Baron is a freelance illustrator whose work has appeared in publications by Christianity Today International, Multnomah Publishing, and Warner Press. His philosophy of art is best summarized by Francis Schaeffer, who said, “The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.” See a gallery of his illustrations at http://www.timbaron.com.

Stephen McCranie: I reread the story you and Ben Avery collaborated on for Parable, Volume 1 and I must say, it’s one of the most uniquely done wordless comics I’ve ever seen. I’m wondering though, if there are no words in this comic, how did Ben Avery write the piece? What brought you guys together, and what inspired the creation of this story?

Tim Baron: Great questions. A lot of people have asked about the script. Actually, Ben wrote the script similar to any other comic script. Since there wasn’t any dialogue, Ben wrote detailed descriptions of what imagery would fill the word/thought balloons. The absence of dialogue forced me to work even harder at being a better visual story teller. I met Ben through my friend and coworker Gary, who knew him through college. It was funny, he mentioned Ben’s name in an email and briefly mentioned his comic work. I googled Ben that day and sent him an email with a link to my website. It took off from there. The story was actually Ben’s idea. He told me he wanted it to be like a Charlie Chaplin silent film. I’m really into turn-of-the-century Victorian era stuff, so I went with that feel and drew it in a style that was inspired by the art in Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s graphic novel, “Mr. Punch.”

S: So are you an illustrator who does comics, or a cartoonist who does illustration? Why did you become an artist in the first place?

T: Hmmm….all of the above I guess. Art has always been a passion, a love, a joy and a language for me. I’ve been drawing as far back as I can remember. My mom still has some super hero drawings I did when I was in preschool. I honestly couldn’t imagine not making art. I’d go loopy.

S: And how did you become a Christian? Has this influenced your artistic philosophy?

T: I was blessed to be introduced to the Gospel of Jesus at a very early age. However, it wasn’t until my second year at college at age 19 that I really came to a better understanding of my own sin, my emptiness, my own mortality, God’s holiness, and what Jesus did for me on the cross. Has my faith influenced my artistic philosophy? Absolutely. Everybody’s world view influences their art. Think of how beautifully themes like good versus evil, chivalry, sacrifice and redemption bleed off the pages of fantasy authors like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Consider how beautifully God’s saga of redemption is narrated in symphonies like Handel’s Messiah, or Bach’s St. Matthew Day Passion. Or how the etchings of Rembrandt Van Rijn and the woodcuts of Albrecht Durer place you as a silent observer inside a frozen moment in the Gospel narrative watching the events unfold before your very eyes. Ponder how God chose Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus 31 and filled them with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for God’s tabernacle. So too, the Christian artist…and comic book artist should joyfully offer up his best creation as an act of worship to the God who is creator of Heaven and Earth, and to be able to say along with J.S. Bach, Soli Deo Gloria, or To God alone be the glory. I would challenge any readers interested in tackling this subject to read Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer, and Addicted to Mediocrity by Franky Schaeffer.

S: Are there any exciting projects that you’re working on now that you’d like to plug?

T: Yes! Ben and I have begun work on our story for Parable #2 which is a crazy story about a medieval looking apothecary and his monkey in a post-apocalyptic Earth infected by something called The Lotus Plague.The story is called The Plague Doctor and I’m pretty stoked on it. Ben is posting teasers and conceptual art regularly at the blog at www.plaguedoctor.blogspot.com. Check it out! Readers can also check out my regularly updated blog at http://www.timbaron.blogspot.com/.

S: Finally, I read on your website that you’ve got some crazy scar on your arm from the wild skateboarding days of old. How’d you get it? Were you a hard core skateboarder?

T: Oh man… seriously, I had two things that kept me sane from fifth grade through college. Art… and skateboarding. I ate slept and breathed both. The scar is on my right arm, and it’s from slamming on the right side of my body over and over again. Can’t tell you how many times I skinned my arm in the exact same location. I better stop talking skateboarding glory days though. I’ll start reminiscing like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.

S: Ha ha! Thanks a lot for your time.

T: Thank you. : )

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Caleb Monroe!

Caroline Parkinson works in London as a production assistant on a children’s animation series. If she was four inches shorter, she could be a professional midget. See more of her work at carolineparkinson.co.uk and bluecatclub.comicgenesis.com.

Stephen McCranie: For your story for Parable: Volume 1, entitled “Uncommon,” you collaborated with writer Caleb Monroe. How did you get to know Caleb and what was it like working with him?

Caroline Parkinson: I heard of Parable on the Flight forums, like most people, I guess. I contacted Mike and said I’d like to do some work in Parable. We’d both been involved with a previous anthology that never made it off the ground, so he said yes. But I couldn’t think of a suitable idea, so I asked to work with a writer- which turned out to be Caleb! It was good working with him- he was happy with the work I produced and didn’t make me change it. (Though if I look at the story now, some of the coloring I did is really shoddy, so maybe he should have!) I took Caleb’s script writing skills for granted then he has a very clear way of putting things.

S: I just interviewed Sally Thompson, another Parable creator and she’s from the UK as well! Any chance that you guys know each other?

C: Not yet! But we have a table at the Bristol Comic Con together this summer and we’ll meet up then.

S: Cool! So, what’s it like living in London?

C: Oh God. Um, pretty much like anywhere, but with extortionate house prices. I think if you’re living in London, you get a completely different experience from visiting as a tourist. There are things I really like about it (people-watching, pubs, museums, really good comic shops) and things I hate.

S: Does anything there inspire your work? What does inspire your work?

C: Reading other artist’s blogs on the Internet… and those big thick Disney art books. And sketching, and listening to podcasts. There’s a science fiction podcast called Escape Pod I listen to a lot, and some music and film review ones.

S: I listen to that podcast too! Are you working on any projects you’re working on right now that you’d like to talk about?

C: I’m currently remodeling my website and drawing a comic project for Futurequake called Lazarus Falls. It’s about pirates, Nazis and zombies: you can see bits of it at carolineparkinson.blogspot.com. I’m also drawing some storyboards for London Film School (I’m going on a storyboarding course in the summer) and working on my own project about the adventures of a mobile library and its gun-wielding staff. This makes me sound really cool and busy, but it’s all shoehorned in around work. I have a full-time job as a production assistant.

S: So you work at an animation studio right now? What series are you guys making?

C: I work on Charlie and Lola, a kid’s cartoon adapted from the books by Lauren Child. It’s finishing production in March, though.

S: Oh, I’ve seen that series here in the states! I thought it was really charming, because of the use of child voice actors. So usually my last question is a silly question that pertains to the cartoonist, but Ive been wracking my brain and I can’t think of anything to ask. Whats something really interesting and unique about you that I could ask about?

C: I’m a twin. That’s not very unique though, is it?!

S: That’s great! Are you identical twins? Do you have any amusing twin stories? If I had a twin I’d play all sorts of tricks on people.

C: Our mum doesn’t know whether we’re identical or not! We look pretty similar though. Once, when I was working in America, Kate came to visit me. She’d cut all her hair off and dyed it blonde. My boss, who hadn’t met her yet, rushed out of the shop, grabbed her by the shoulders and started screaming “Caroline! Why have you cut your hair!” into her face.

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Tim Baron!

You can see Bryan’s portfolio at http://www.bryanballinger.com, and be sure to check out his blog at http://www.breadwig.com. Bryan Ballinger is, in his own words, an unforeseen genius, steeped in structural humility, and devoted to in-depth cogitation on the superficial. Need I say more?

Stephen McCranie: Your story for Parable: Volume 1, entitled Captain Clod, is as ridiculous as it is original. I’m particularly excited to see what readers think of the goatphone. Without giving away any spoilers, what would you say inspired this story?

Bryan Ballinger: Hmmmm, let’s see. I grew up in rural Vermont, so the setting and characters definitely draw from that. I also used to work on my Grandfather’s farm in rural Wisconsin in the summers. Whenever I was doing chores I was always daydreaming about things that I’d rather be doing. Especially when I was scraping off the floor of the chicken coup. That is one heinous job, my friend.

S: So you have a rural, agricultural background? Where do you live now?

B: Right now I live in semi-rural northeast Indiana, the smell of rotting mustard greens wafting through the window.

S: One of the reasons I find your work interesting is because it’s really random and original. I remember for one of the Drawergeeks topics you colored a clown picture using scanned images of dried flower petals. Can you give us a glimpse into your creative philosophy? What’s your approach to illustration and comics?

B: I don’t know that I’ve ever been directly asked what my creative philosophy is before. I guess I better come up with one quick. Yikes, I’m really not sure. I know for things like Drawergeeks, I often try to use a technique I’ve never done before, and then push it so you can still tell it was me that did it. I also love creating things that are absurd and different on the surface, but have something almost indefinable and visceral below the surface. The trick for me is that I have to let the below the surface stuff happen almost unconsciously, otherwise it feels forced.

S: How did you become a Christian?

B: Growing up in Christian home was the biggest thing. That and Jesus’ words are the only things that make sense sometimes.

S: What have you been working on lately? Any projects you’d like to talk about?

B: My problem is I have a huge list of projects I’m not working on because I don’t have time. That and I have a horrible propensity for thinking of something and then going whole hog on it, even if it’s not particularly useful. www.suxco.com would be a prime example. I did recently just finish up illustrating a children’s book and did a cover for a math book. I also have an early chapter book that I’m hoping to finish up this summer. It’s sort of a combo chapter book/comic book, similar in format to Captain Underpants.

S: Finally, did you invent Caramel Flassies yourself? Or is that an old recipe passed down in the Ballinger family?

B: Ha! Actually that is a recipe that a good friend of mine, Keith Lango and I came up with. We worked together at an animation studio that had an annual dessert contest. So that’s one of the things we came up with for that year. I love contests like that. In the past I also submitted Frosted Product with Sprinkles, Pasta Bean Suspension, and Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Jell-O Mold with Peppercorns.

S: And how do you make a Pasta Bean Suspension? I can’t even imagine.

B: Well, it involves ravioli, jellybeans and lime gelatin (as most good things in life should). Once I register pastabeansuspension.com I’ll post the recipe.

S: If we ever manage to get the Parable staff together in one place we’l have to make some of those. I’m sure they’d love them. Well thanks for talking with me Bryan!

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Caroline Parkinson!

Sally Jane Thompson is an itinerant postgraduate student, currently tucked away in a corner of England drawing pictures, working hard on her degree and eating lots of chocolate.

Stephen McCranie: Your story for Parable: Volume 1, entitled “Kiss,” is very unique because the entire piece is drawn on wood. What inspired you to use this medium, and what difficulties did you face while creating this comic?

Sally Jane Thompson: The wood was simply a result of too many art school projects involving “finding alternative surfaces” …but I fell in love with the way it absorbs anything you throw at it, so you have to build up dozens of layers, which I think gives a really rich look. As for difficulties, it’s hard to get a sharp edge when things soak in but most importantly, you can’t erase anything, or even paint over it if you want to retain the grain!

S: I can imagine! Did you have to take photos of the wood in order to get it into digital format?

Sa: Yeah I’d like to experiment more combining it with digital, but in this case I simply photographed the finished product, with relatively little touch-up. The actual panels were pretty large, and very heavy!

S: Really? How heavy?

Sa: Well, the boards were thick to begin with and then I thought it would be a waste if they couldn’t be hung, so I made really sturdy frames to screw on the back! Probably not the smartest thing ever. Carrying two at once was a stretch!

S: I’ll bet! Ha ha. So you’e from the United Kingdom Have you always lived there? What was life like growing up in the UK, and what inspired you to become an artist when you were a kid?

Sa: Not quite! Haha. I’ve been in the UK about 6 months now. I was born and grew up in South Africa, which I wouldn’t change for anything. I wanted to be a game ranger when I was little, and my earliest drawing memories where studying South African wildlife books and drawing all the animals. We moved to Canada when I was a teenager where I was really exposed to comics for the first time at least the kind that I would want to make. And now I’m having a great time getting to know the comics scene here in the UK!

S: Well that’s awesome! Can you speak any of the local languages of Africa?

Sa: Hmm…Unfortunately they didn’t start offering Xhosa and Zulu in my school until shortly before I left so I missed out there. Afrikaans was something I was never very good at for some reason. All I can say are things like “I have a green giraffe” or other things that don’t make sense!

S: Ha ha. So, speaking of the comics scene in the UK, I noticed that you were a finalist for Tokyopop’s 2007 UK Rising Stars of Manga contest. What do you think about the recent Japanese comics invasion? How has manga affected your style and comics?

Sa: Manga was essentially my first exposure to comics that covered a wider range of genres, and showed me how much scope comics have to communicate! So it’s been a fantastic influence, and I’ve learned a lot through it. But I wouldn’t class my work as anything more than manga influenced. As manga has become a more prevalent influence over western comics, there is of course lots of debate over what counts as manga and so on, but I think the more varied influences people have, the better, and I’m glad to see the comics world opening up like this.

S: Me too. It seems to me that the definition of what comics can do is broadening. As comics become more popular, I hope to see more and more people enter the cartooning industry. Now, how did you become a Christian?

Sa: Well the short story is that I grew up in a Christian home, but really everybody has to decide things for themselves in the end. I’ve had a lot of questions, but in the end, everything Jesus did just resonated as so right to me the way he treated people, the concept of self-sacrifice, and being able to develop ones spirit.

S: Okay, do you have any projects that you’re working on right now that you’d like to talk about?

Sa: Well my biggest project right now is my MA program, which I’ve just started! I’ll be doing a lot of illustrative and possibly even comic-based work for it, so I’m very excited! I’ll also be doing some self-publishing and attending some comic expos this year, as well as doing some workshops and events, and just generally getting my sticky little fingers into as many pies as I can! I’ll be sure to keep John updated once I have some secret projects sorted out!

S: Cool, we’re all excited to hear about them! So, that about wraps it up… I usually end with a silly question, and I’ve been really racking my brains about what to ask you… Is there something really unique or interesting I can ask you about?

Sa: Hmm…I got certified as a laughter yoga leader….I do lots of sewing and make geeky costumes to wear at conventions…I like knitting and crochet and tea and basically am an old lady….

S: A laughter yoga leader! Can you tell me what you do for that job?

Sa: Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to be involved in a group in the UK yet! There was a fantastic group at my university in Canada. It’s all about the idea that laughter is amazingly healthy and good for you, but society doesn’t really allow for us to get that kind of awesome, extended laughter. So it teaches you techniques to stimulate laughter, without relying on humor and once you get going, especially in a room with ten other people, none of you can stop! Imagine a room full of people laughing for no reason! It’s the best thing!

S: That sounds awesome! Let’s laugh together.

And so, we began a small laughter yoga session together, even though we were communicating by instant messenger and separated by an entire ocean. The following is a direct transcript of the silliness that ensued.

S: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Sa: AHahahahah HAhahahaha ahaha!

S: hee heee heee heee

S: hah had

S: oops

Sa: Hohohoho!

S: I’m actually laughing right now… how incredibly delightful.

Sa: Fantastic! Hopefully some of the people reading this interview will be as well!

S: Even though I spelled one of my hahs wrong.

S: Well… that about wraps it up.

Sa: Excellent!

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Bryan Ballinger!

Michelle Gorski is a computer animator by day and an aspiring comic book artist by night. Thanks to God’s gifts of grace and caffeine, she has also started the long process of writing her first graphic novel. She is currently residing in Portland, Oregon with her wonderful husband and evil kitty.

Stephen McCranie: Reading your story for Parables Volume 1 makes me feel all warm inside. What inspired you to do a story about a young orphan girl?

Michelle Gorski: It was just a character that I started doodling. I drew a little girl with birds all over her… I don’t know if I was inspired by anything more than my doodling.

S: So right now you’re doing computer animation up in Portland, Oregon? Where do you work? What projects are you working on now?

M: I work at Laika as a computer animator, and right now I’m working in the visual effects department on Coraline, the stop motion feature that’s going to be released next year.

S: What’s it about?

M: It’s based off of a Neil Gaiman book. Henry Selick has adapted the screenplay. It’s about a little girl who finds a secret door and goes to a parallel universe. But not everything is as it seems.

S: So you’ve worked on Ant Bully, Jimmy Neutron, and Veggie Tales… Your employment history in the animation business seems a little familiar. Have you worked with fellow Parabler, Sarah Mensinga? Do you know Chris and Rena Fowler?

M: Yeah, actually I sat next to Sarah when I was working on ant bully. Me and Sarah and Rena used to hang out all the time.

S: Cool. I met them at Comicon. They’re quite an excellent group of people.

M: Yeah, I wanted to go to Comicon this year, but I couldn’t find the time.

S: So, next question. When did you become a Christian, and how has that inspired your work?

M: Well, I became a Christian when I was seven. I grew up in the church and my family was very faith-based. We lived three houses down from the church. It was a small community, everyone knows everyone, everyone goes to the same church kind of deal.

How it inspired my work is– I’m really inspired by nature. I feel like that’s God’s creation, and that’s where you see creativity in nature, you know, how trees are formed and how things grow and how animals interact with that. Everything works together. That’s actually one of the reasons we moved up here, to Portland.

S: What made you decide to go into computer animation? I’ve done a little animating in Maya before, but I got wrist problems from all the clicking so I’ve stopped since then.

M: I’m really not that much of a technical person. I actually went to school for traditional animation; I loved those movies growing up. I think there’s things that only hand-drawn animation can capture.

But once I graduated it was hard to get a job without computer skills, and my husband was already a computer animator so he said, I’m going to take you into work, and you’re going to sit down at a computer and learn how to do this. He took me into Big Idea, where he worked, and I made a bunch of peas hop and Larry bounce around. And at the time they were looking for some new animators and they said, “hey! that looks pretty cool” and I got a job!

But there are still things that I’m learning in it. And it’s nice to be able to ask my husband all sorts of questions.

S: So, recently on DrawerGeeks, one of the topics was a star belly. And I read in your blog that you have a star tattooed on your hip. So this is sort of the silly question of the interview: how did your friends get you to get a tattoo?

M: Yeah, me and my three roommates from college all met up in Madison, Wisconsin and we got star tattoos to mark the occasion. We always drew stars on everything; it was sort of our trademark. So we decided to all get matching star tattoos.

The one I got I actually did it with white ink, because I chickened out at the last minute and wasn’t sure I wanted a tattoo. Now I really love it and I want it filled in with a darker ink so it shows up better. I’d have to be absolutely sure I’d want it if I were to get another tattoo, though.

In two weeks, tune in for an interview with Sally Thompson!