I’ve been a fan of yours for quite some time (since “Spirits of the Earth” came out. I was quite young and merely a comics fan, but your book kind of took my interests in new directions and possibilities not only in the comic book medium, but in art generally). There was a great pencil sketchbook of your work that was released a long time ago that somebody bought for me and I looked at that until the pages were ragged :) I saw you at the Bristol mall once when I was young and kind of followed you around till I had the nerve to talk to you :) And then I was so nervous… I think I said something stupid about how much I liked SpiderMan or something :)

Anyway, I’ve learned a lot from just looking at your work and I appreciate your comments. I’ve been recently taken with Carl Larsson’s work and bought a book from Amazon on all his pieces. There is a softness and delicacy (for lack of a better description) in his work that sometimes reminds me of your own stuff – even though it’s in watercolor.

One more note… I hope Mr. Vess, that you include much of your pencil work for your paintings in your upcoming book. I can’t get enough of that stuff. Seeing the smudges and sweat stains of Glen Keane’s Tarzan (Disney) drawings were better than seeing the movie. I really like seeing the “behind the scenes” sketches stuff, but this is of course, just another comment :) I’ll pick up the book either way.

Best to you.
Jeremy

I use FW colored inks exclusively because they are color fast. Unlike Winsor Newton inks which I used for years and years. WN inks have gorgeous color and depth but they will, most of the time, just fade away. So after repainting one too many paintings that were mere shadows of their former selves I switched over. Dr. Martin’s Dyes are even more fugitive. So, if you have any inclination at all towards posterity then don’t use them!

Only once have I used watercolors and that was because I was in southern France with no other painting materials and I needed to get an image down onto paper. It was fun trying out that medium and I was very happy with the results but, I still prefer inks for their transparency and its almost impossible to layer color in the way that I do with watercolors.

Best,
Charles

I’ve re-worked my text around each image in this entry to answer most of the questions you’ve asked concerning the technique that I used for painting the piece.

Also, I’ve devoted an entire chapter in my up-coming art book, Drawing Down the Moon, The Art of Charles Vess (Dark Horse Books, May of this yerar, I think?) to accurately describe my paint application technique. So be on the look out for the book if you’re interested, okay?

Charles

Thanks
Rob