Gabriel Guzman: The Ever Evolving Artistic Process

By Alex Rodrik

In this 6th installment of our Space Goat Productions Interview series, we sit down with Argentinean Penciler, Gabriel Guzman. Gabriel gives us a look into the excitement behind his first project with Marvel and the ever evolving process of the artist.

This is also the newest installment of our "Native Response" Interviews.

You can check out the first 5 installments in our Space Goat Productions Interview series by clicking on the names below.

1. Shon C. Bury
2. Jason Metcalf
3. Roger Bonet
4. Martin Montiel
5. Javier Tartaglia

Enjoy!

Alex Rodrik: How’d you get involved with Space Goat?

Gabriel Guzman: Hace unos años hable por primera vez con Shon C. Bury, no recuerdo muy bien como fue que contactamos, pero en esos momentos yo estaba trabajando en Lady Death, asi que tiempo después cuando termine con eso volvimos a hablar sobre trabajar juntos.

It’s been a few years since the first time I met Shon C. Bury. I don’t really remember how exactly we met, but I know I was working on Lady Death at the time. So, once I had finished up on that project we got in contact and started discussing working together.

AR: Tell us a bit about yourself, how’d you get involved in the industry? What drew you to comics?

GG: Como supongo que le ha pasado a muchos artistas; lo que me condujo a dibujar comics, fue leer comics. Desde siempre fui un apasionado por el mundo de los comics, siempre vi algo magico en poder contar una historia en viñetas. Me encanta la pintura (de hecho estudie pintura en la universidad) la ilustración, los pinups y todo eso, pero no hay nada mas interesante para mi que contar una historia con dibujos, siempre encontré algo fascinante en ello, y lo sigo encontrando.

Trabaje muchos años en Argentina, donde vivo, para luego focalizarme en tratar de conseguir un lugar en el mundo del comic en America. Primeramente en la desaparecida Comic Conspiracy con Doug Myers luego trabaje para Darkstorm Studio haciendo Alius Rex y diseñando personajes, después en Avatar Press dibuje varias series de Lady Death y luego de eso hice el comic Amory Wars para la banda Coheed and Cambria.

Well, I suppose as its happened to many artists… What lead to me drawing comics was reading comics. I was always a comic book enthusiast and I always saw something magical in being able to recount a story with art. I’ve always loved painting (in fact I studied painting at the university), illustration, pinups and all that, but there isn’t anything more interesting to me than telling a story through art. I’ve always found something fascinating about it, and it continues to fascinate me every day.

I worked for several years in Argentina, where I live, focusing on trying to secure a place for me in the world of comics in America. First I worked on Comic Conspiracy with Doug Myers, soon after I worked for Darkstorm Studio doing Alius Rex and designing characters. Later I worked with Avatar Press, drawing various series of Lady Death and after that I worked on a comic called Armory Wars for the band Coheed and Cambria.



AR: I hear you’ve started work on your first Marvel project. How does it feel to be working on a project for the largest publisher in the industry? Do you find the pressures to be different? Has it changed your artistic process at all?

GG: Se siente increíble, la gente de Marvel es estupenda y tratan todo el tiempo de hacerte sentir lo mejor posible. Las presiones, el stress y todo eso a mi me resultan similares en cualquier trabajo, solo que acá uno no puede dejar de pensar que es Marvel, eso esta siempre en mi cabeza.

El proceso artístico esta constantemente cambiando, cada nueva propuesta presenta nuevos retos, nuevos códigos, nuevos desafíos. No es lo mismo dibujar historias épicas de fantasía medieval, que hacer sci-fi, uno tiene que cambiar radicalmente todo, desde la manera de componer la pagina, porque donde dominaban las batallas cuerpo a cuerpo con espadas y escudos ahora tenemos naves gigantes viajando por el espacio, y eso obliga a pensar la pagina y la narración de manera diferente y ni hablar de la atmosfera que uno tiene que transmitir en un campo de batalla comparada con la atmosfera que debe reinar en un puente de mando de una nave, o dibujar superhéroes peleando en medio de una ciudad. Son cosas muy distintas que obligan al artista a cambiar muchas cosas en el proceso creativo.

It feels incredible, the people at Marvel are wonderful and make a constant effort to make you feel as comfortable as possible. The pressures, stresses and all that are, to me, similar in any work, only thing is, here, one cannot stop thinking that it’s Marvel, that’s always in the back my head.

The artistic process is constantly changing; each new proposal presents new challenges, new codes... It’s not the same drawing epic stories of medieval fantasy, and doing sci-fi. One must radically change everything, from the way a page is composed, because where one is dominated by hand-to-hand battle with shields and swords, the other is dominated by giant space ships. That forces you to a think of the page and narration in a completely different manner, and this even talking about the differences between depicting the atmosphere of these different scenes, whether it be a battlefield, an operating bridge of a ship, or drawing superheroes fighting in the middle of a city. All these require a very different approach, forcing the artist to change many things within their artistic process.



AR: How has Space Goat affected the way you view and exist within the industry?

GG: Lo mas importante para mi es que me permite centrar mis energías en hacer mi trabajo y no tener que preocuparme por todo aquello que no sea dibujar.

The most important thing for me is that it allows me to focus my energies in my work and not have to worry about all the rest that doesn’t involve drawing.

AR: What are some of your current projects that our readers should keep their eyes open for?

GG: Estoy realmente muy entusiasmado por este proyecto en Marvel, aun no puedo decir nada pero espero que a los fans del personaje les guste mi trabajo y en eso es en lo que estoy poniendo todo mi esfuerzo. Es uno de los personajes que mas me interesaba dibujar, así que espero satisfacer tanto a los lectores como a mi mismo como fan.

I am really very excited out this project with Marvel, as of yet, I can’t say anything about it but I hope that the fans of the character like my work and that’s what I’m putting all my efforts into. He’s been one of the characters I was most interested in drawing, so I hope my work is as satisfactory to readers as it is to me as a fan.