BRUTE

Hi everyone, Brute illustrator Owen Keenan here. Working on Preston’s ‘Brute’ stories fulfills a comic-making dream that both of us had as kids. Back in our junior high school, we talked about working on a comic called ‘Molecule Man’ (who could fight crime on a molecular level). While Preston eventually worked in the comic industry on Captain Canuck, my own comic ambitions never went beyond working briefly in animation as a cel painter (Freddy and Eddie Shreddie) and drawing many cartoons for my mom and more recently homemade comics for my kids. ‘Brute’ is a learning experience for me. These are the top ten things I’ve learned so far:
1 – Making every line count is the goal.
2 – Don’t look back (unless you need to reference how many dials a robot had on the last page).
3 – Hang on to those old comics even the ones you don’t collect. Most are excellent references.
4 – Music helps.
5 – Enjoy the journey.
6 – Kids are the best critics.
7 – Erasing is as important as drawing.
8 – Good writing makes the comic.
9 – Make backups of your backups.
10 – I am in even more awe of my favourite comic artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Barry Smith, Bernie Wrightson and Joe Staton (and basically everybody else) than I was before I started this.
I’m sure I’ll learn many more things on the way as Preston feeds me more scripts. Stay tuned, we’re just getting started!