Showing posts with label clothing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clothing. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Meet a Baltimore Cartoonist: A Chat with Spaghetti Kiss's Michael Bracco


Michael Bracco is a Baltimore-area cartoonist who often attends Washington's comics shows. He's frequently identified by his studio's nom-de-plume, Spaghetti Kiss. His comic Creators is debuting as a webcomic next month, but you can buy it in print now.
 
Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?
Michael Bracco: I’m a science fiction geek and most of what I write and draw falls into that genre.  I love drawing robots and monsters and the work revolves around that type of character design.
How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?
I am a very analog artist.  I do all of my comic work in sketchbooks so that I can keep the work portable. I work in pen and ink with Zebra brush pens and Microns to do the paneling, drawing and lettering.  I do scan them and use the computer for color but tend to scan tons of watercolor washes and cut them up in Photoshop to make it feel a bit more hand done.
When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?
1979.  It actually makes me sound younger to say the year than just the decade.
You attend events in Washington, but don't live here.  What neighborhood or area do you live in?
I am in Baltimore City actually and have lived there for 14 years. I moved here in '97 to go to college and never left.
What is your training and/or education in cartooning?
I went to Maryland Institute College of Art and received a BFA in illustration in 2001 and a Masters in Art Education in 2002.  Other than that my education in comics comes from years of reading them.
Who are your influences?

I do have some comic artists who are huge influences but really I am most inspired by movies.  The greatest challenge to me is to create comics that have the same sense of pacing as my favorite movies.  Movies like The Professional, Alien, 12 Monkeys, Star Wars and so many more have been my biggest sources of inspiration.
If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?
Part of me wishes I had got the ball rolling on my career earlier but the 6 years I spent not really getting my work out there in my twenties were the years I cut my teeth and learned the most.  I guess I wouldn’t change much of anything.  All the tough times and challenges, even the really brow beating and ego killing moments are really what ended up defining me and giving me the work ethic I needed to be successful at all.
What work are you best-known for?
Probably my Apparel line and not my comics at all.  I have a very awesome and loyal fan base for the books but the clothing line, Spaghetti Kiss gets all the attention.
What work are you most proud of?
The Novo series.  I spent almost a decade building that world and developing the story and the characters into a 6 graphic novel series.  It was the first thing I published and it will always be my baby even though it has been finished for almost 4 years. 
What would you like to do or work on in the future?
I have been working on a book for the past 2 years called The Creators and have recently decided that I am going to put it out as a web comic.  Up to this point I have always exclusively done print comics and I am really excited to start this new endeavor.
What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?
I just try and keep writing until I break through it.  Bad art/writing is just a necessary step in getting to good art/writing.
What do you think will be the future of your field?
I think the independent market will really open up.  The non-superhero book has risen so high in the past decade and I think creators keep bringing new ideas to the table.
What local cons do you attend? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?
 
TONS!  I vend at SPX, Baltimore Comic Con, MagFest, Awesome Con, Smudge, Katsucon, Anime USA, Annapolis Con, Collectors Con, Baltimore Tattoo Con to name a few. I also do a lot of craft shows like Pile of Craft, Holiday Heap, Merry Mart, Honfest, Artscape and Crafty Bastards
 
What's your favorite thing about DC?
 
The food.  There are so many great places to get a good drink and a good meal.
 
Least favorite?

On the surface, most of DC’s culture is based around politics and I am not a big fan of that.  It takes a while to go deeper and find the local culture of the city but when you do you get to see what makes DC really great.
 
What monument or museum do you like to take visitors to?
 
I don’t know if this counts, but I love the Cherry Blossom festival. 
 
Do you have a website or blog?
 
My site is spaghettikiss.com and you can find me on twitter, instagram, facebook and tumblr under spaghettikiss too!