Q & A
Walden Wong- I always wanted to get some kind of career that's related to drawing or art. I decided to become a comic book artist when I first meet Arthur Adams, this was around 1992. I was buying comic books in a store that he was always at. I think he was part owner of that store because he was always there either drawing in the back room or working out front. We became friends and he mentioned to me that he drew comic books. At that point, I didn't know people actually drew comics. I was young and didn't know much about the process of creating a comic book. I asked Arthur if people could make a living working on comic books and he said, "YEAH." That's when I first decided that I wanted to be a comic book artist.
Q- At what point did you decide to focus on inking?
WW- When I met Marlo Alquiza maybe around 1995, he told me that he was an Inker. I had wanted to become a penciller, but when Marlo told me that you can also work in comics as an Inker, I decided to try my hand in that category. At that point I didn't know what to do in order to become an Inker, but Marlo guided me. He told me what tools to use and was always kind enough to critique me via mail. Even though I was doing a crappy job, he would always encourage me and tell me where I was doing good.
Q- Who were some of your main artistic influences when you first got motivated to ink professionally?
WW- There are so many people out there that influenced me, to name them all would take forever, but I'm going to single out the two people who were there to motivate me since the beginning. I learned how to use a crow quill because of Marlo's guidance. He would always emphasize textures, line weights, and all the other good stuff. I learned how to use a brush because of Paul Smith. Everything I do today, I still think of what Paul told me. What he said to me that I'll always remember... "Use the force, be yourself, and do what you feel, not what you see." That was the greatest advice I have ever received and I still live by it.
Q- You also graduated from a University with a degree, was that mostly to have something to fallback on, or did you have some thoughts about pursuing a business career?
WW- I got a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from San Francisco State University. It wasn't something that I thought to use as a fall back mechanism. Nor did I have thoughts about pursuing any particular business career when I was going to school. I wanted to graduate with a degree and when I was done, I wanted to use what I learned to focus on whatever career I choose. Business and marketing can be used effectively in any career.
Q- From the time when you put your first samples together, to the time you got your first inking job; how long did that take?
WW- A little over a year. The last convention I attended where I made samples in order to break in, my thoughts were that if I didn't get a bite, I would give up. Basically, if nobody hired me for comic book work, I was going to change my focus and pursue a Marketing career in the corporate world. During that time I had two routes to choose from, a career in Marketing behind a desk or a career in Comics behind the drawing table. Luckily somebody decided to give me comic work and I've been working since then.
Q- So that really jump started your career with the small press. How long was it until you started with big publishers?
WW- Another year after that. From one indy publisher to another until I got to the larger publishers.
Q- Either artistically or professionally, have you ever had times where you hit roadblocks or were discouraged along the way?
WW- Sure, but only once in a long while.
Q- What helped you through those times?
WW- My commitment to being a professional, and not complaining.
Q- Who are some of the pencilers you've worked with?
WW- There are so many. Off the top of my head, in no particular order, I can think of : Dietrich Smith, Kilian Plunkett, Dave Johnson, Ed McGuinness, Jeff Matsuda, John Heebink, Kaare Andrews, Mark Pajarillo, Mike S.Miller, Steve Skroce, Tom Raney, Pascual Ferry, Paul Smith, Pete Woods, Darick Robertson, Justiniano, Jim Calafiore, Joyce Chin, Jamal Igle, Ron Lim, Steve Firchow, Walter McDaniel, Terry Moore, Derec Aucion, Adam Pollina, Andy Smith, Howard Porter, David Finch, Joe Benitez, Doug Manke, Yvel Guichet, John Lucas, Trevor Scott, Anthony Williams, Romano Molenaar, Duncan Fegredo, Jeff Johnson, Aaron Lopresti, Andy Smith, Joe Bennett, Bill Maus, Todd Nauck, Scott Kolins, Paul Ryan, Rick Burchett, Karl Kerschl, David Yardin, Gregg Schiegel, Pablo Raimondi, Mark Bright, Jose Ladronn, Tone Rodriguez, Carlos Mota, Tom Lyle, Jan Duursema, Carlos Barberi, Georges Jeanty, Paco Medina, Pat Quinn, Mike McKone, Dan Jurgens, Al Rio, Patrick Zircher, Matthew Clark, Steve Scott, Courtney Huddelson, Art Thibert, Ken Lashley, and more.
Q- What you think of digital inking?
WW- I don't think digital inking looks as good as traditional inking. Digital inking is just darkening up the pencils with the use of Photoshop. If you look at some of the digital inks out there, you can actually see pencil strokes and scratches.
Q- How have you approached emerging technologies such as digital inking?
WW- I know how to use Photoshop and Illustrator, and I know how digital inking is performed. I haven't done digital inking for any of my work. I honestly prefer traditional inking over digital inking. If I ever have to go to digital inking, I know I'll do a better job than the digital inkers who don't know how to ink traditionally.
Q- In an industry where there is so much struggle to make deadline's and keep schedule's, you have a reputation for being fast. How fast are you?
WW- I'm not fast at all. A lot of people think I'm fast, but I don't ink fast. I may turn in pages fast, but I don't ink fast. What makes me seem fast is that I don't goof around when it comes time to ink. The quality of what I produce is very important to me. If I have a deadline, I will make sure I meet it. Taking all the time I need to finish it. Even if it means staying at my drawing table for 24 hours a day, not sleeping at all. Or staying awake and working for 4 days straight. That's not fast in my opinion. I think it's slow because I'm spending more time to work on it. BUT, the editors will get it on time or quicker, and they will think I'm fast. Also, I think every editor would be happy if I finished a project sooner than expected. If I get the pages now, I'll do it now. I don't wait until later when the deadline is approaching.
Q- Have you ever considered using assistants?
WW- Nope. If I did use assistants, I wouldn't call myself an "artist". I would call myself an "assembly line." I would rather let someone else take the project away from me then to use assistants. I like every one of the pages that I work on to be pure Walden inks.
Q- What keeps you motivated to do your best work?
WW- Knowing that my work will always be better tomorrow than it is today. That keeps me motivated because I want to see what I can achieve tomorrow. I am learning something new with every page I work on. When I go on to the next page tomorrow, I know I will do better because of what I learned today.
Q- Do you ever find that your art or the deadlines themselves have infringed on your personal life?
WW- Sometimes, but there's always two sides to a coin. I might not be able to go hang out with friends because of a deadline, which can be a bummer. But at the same time, being at home keeps from doing anything bad or getting into trouble out in the city.
Q- Of your published work, what are you most proud of?
WW- Whatever the most current book on the stands is, with my name on it.
Q- What are you looking towards doing with your career in the future?
WW- Maybe doing a whole book all by myself; writing, pencilling, inking, coloring, lettering, editing, publishing, the whole thing.
Q- Take me through your approach to inking a page on an average working day.
WW- This depends on how many pages I need to get done in a given day. I usually try to start work by 9am. I'll check the internet for email and any industry related news. Then, I'll move to the drawing table and do some inking sketches to loosen up and get my hand ready for the workday. I make sure I have a photocopy of the pencilled page I'm about to start on. I'll rule the panel borders and ink all the places that call for technical inking such as buildings or tables. I whip out a fat brush and ink in the general blacks. When that's done, I'll take a finer brush and complete the rest of the blacks including any tapered lines that's going into the blacks. By this time, everything that's suppose to be black is all blacked out. When That's done, I'll either use a brush or a crow quill to ink most of the figure contour lines, depending on what the art calls for. When that's done, I'll go in with the quill to ink in the finer detail like faces, hands, and the interior of the bodies. I'll also add texture's and render the hatching if there is any indicated. After I know all the ink on the page is dry, I'll erase the pencils off the page, taking note where I am erasing. When I find an area that I erased, that I haven't inked in, I'll quickly go back and ink it before I erase any more of the pencils. By the time I'm finished erasing, the pages are totally completed and done. At this point, I can send the pages out to the publisher. But, when time permits, I usually take it one step further by going back into the page and re-inking the black areas that have lightened up from the erasing. This gives a page a nice look because it's all black without any grey areas. I call this "reblacking the blacks." I don't need to do this, but I enjoy it because it's almost like putting the icing on the cake; it's good as is, but it's so much better with it!
Q- Is there anybody you'd really like to ink professionally but haven't had the chance to yet?
WW- Yes. That would be the person I knew before I got into the comic industry, the person I know the longest in this business, and the same person that I made me think about comics as a career. Arthur Adams. We keep in touch from time to time and we live in the same city. I've been over to his place a few times, but I've yet to ink over his pencils. I don't know if I'll ever work with him, but I'll still be looking forward to it some day.
Q- You also teach at the Academy of Art University, tell us more about that.
WW- Before I became a teacher at the Academy of Art University, I was asked to be a guest speaker in one of the classes. I was a guest a few times and was later asked if I would be interested in teaching a class called Comic Book Illustration Art Experience. Now, I teach one class per semester for the fun of it. That and being able to share with the students what I know about the comic book industry. It's a six week course where we meet once a week for 3 hours. During the summer, it's twice a week. I teach the students the basics of writing, pencilling, inking, and lettering a comic book page. By the time classes are over, all my students would have created an original comic book art of their own.