Interview: Graphic Novelist Adrian Tomine
What comes first, the words or the pictures? Now we know.
“You’ve got a good eye for low self-esteem,” reads one of the many letters that fills Adrian Tomine‘s mailbox. Perhaps an understated way of saying that Adrian is particularly adept at creating characters whose self-loathing is so central to their lives that it determines everything around them. Stories of lonely phone operators who like to harass, and dusty rooms that haven’t been painted in decades fill the 32 pages of each issue of Optic Nerve.
Beginning as a self-publisher in 1991 via xerox and staples, Adrian Tomine has grown from mini-comic auteur into a major figure in the indie comic scene. He is among a group of artists who have reclaimed comics as a medium capable of conveying thought, drama, and human experience.
NAILED: What comes first, the words or the pictures?
Tomine: It used to be the words first, then the pictures. I used to write my stories out like movie scripts and then turn them into comics. But lately I’ve felt that method wasn’t fully utilizing the “language” of comics, i.e. the melding of words and pictures. It seemed more like translating from one medium to another. So I’ve been trying to write in comics form, sketching out thumbnail panels as I compose the words. It’s really been an eye-opening experience.
NAILED: How do you feel about wordless comics?
Tomine: Unless they’re by Jim Woodring, I’m usually not thrilled about them. Jim is proof that brilliant work can be done this way (as are those old woodcut artists like Masereel), but in modern comics, it seems like it’s often an excuse for not writing a real story.
NAILED: I’ve read that you studied English at Berkeley. How does that relate to the medium that you now work in?
Tomine: I chose the English major because I hated the art major. I felt like my art classes were actually interfering with my comics work, so English was a good way to keep my academic life and artistic life separate. The main impact it had on my work was the fact that it exposed me to a lot of books that I wouldn’t have picked up on my own, but it also helped me to view any form of art (whether it’s a novel or a comic), critically and analytically. I should also mention that my first art teacher at Cal (who had created a class atmosphere that was hardly receptive to comic book or illustrative styles), recently contacted me and asked me to come speak to her class!
NAILED: How do you see the relationship between comics and cinema? Do comics take from film?
Tomine: There are definitely differences between the two, but I get a lot of inspiration from film. Some of the most instructive books I’ve found are not about comics, but rather cinematography.
NAILED: Is there more creative freedom in comics because it’s a single creator instead of a crew, budget, production company, etc.? Or does having a small, devoted core audience who expects a certain thing affect the process like the way a studio can change a film?
Tomine: I feel fortunate to have complete freedom in my work. The only obstacle I might face is declining sales. I feel like my work is intensely scrutinized by a small segment of the population, and all these people have strong opinions about what I should or shouldn’t do. That can be daunting, but I try to not let it affect me. I think I’d get very frustrated if I wanted to tell a personal story and had to collaborate with many people… I guess that’s why most movies are so bland.
NAILED: Do you have any thoughts on the potential of comics as an art medium?
Tomine: I have this horrible sense that comics will always be viewed as the less-valid offspring of art and literature. I don’t like this, but it seems to be the prevalent view, at least in America. As far as the potential of the medium, I think it truly is limitless… I just wish there were more talented people devoting themselves to this pursuit.
This interview with Adrian Tomine was conducted by Alison Elizabeth Taylor and originally published to Smalldoggies Version 1 on August 12, 2002. It appears here in its entirety on the site from the Smalldoggies Archives and was originally conducted with Mr. Tomine in the Fall of 2000. The interview was first published in “Fishwrap Magazine,” Issue #1, Spring 2001. Editors: Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Matthew Byloos, and Benjamin Weissman. Published through ArtCenter College of Design.
All other images (unless otherwise noted below) reprinted from Adrian Tomine’s comics, which are copyright Drawn & Quarterly Publications
To see more of interviewer and artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s gallery website now, here: James Cohan Gallery, NYC.
Learn more about Adrian Tomine at his official website now. (Author Photo Via: Gothamist)