Charles Paul Wilson II

Charles is one of my fav artists of all time. I met him by chance at a comiccon and after giving the comic he illustrates, "Stuff of Legend" I was hooked on his amazing style.  At first look this book appeared to be just a story about toys, abut if you give it a look its an epic tail bout the simple things in life that stand between us and the forces of evil. That's just one of his projects that he produces with amazing excellence. I asked and to my everlasting joy he agreed to let us feature him. if you're looking for something epic AND fun this man is right up your alley.

 
 1 Who are you and what art forms do you use?   Hi, my name is Charles Wilson. I frequently use pencil, pen (black ink), water color, and sometimes acrylic. I also work digitally (primarily in Photoshop).        

2 What are your 5 favorite movies?   I don’t have a list of movies that speak to me artistically, like Citizen Kane or anything, but my five all-time favorites: Hot Fuzz, The Monster Squad, The Transformers: The Movie (1987), JAWS, and Return of the Jedi. Mostly stuff I grew up with.        

3 How has your craft developed?   I studied at The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, now just The Joe Kubert School. I latched on to different mediums there. I was only looking to learn how to pencil comics but there were a variety of classes that included painting and some digital, and I (very reluctantly at first) started working in different mediums and then sought out online tutorials for anything I needed to learn once I graduated. The school offers a LOT more now than when I attended, and the instructors are all very talented.        

4 What are your artistic inspirations?   If I’m reading this right, music. And that can range from movie scores to bands and singers. Oh, I mentioned I didn’t connect with movies artistically, but that isn’t wholly true. Occasionally I will try to channel what I think of as Sam Raimi cam. It can be first person, or a staged shot, maybe something like a quick zoom in or pan, but whatever it is it might not come across that way to someone who sees what I’m working on. Evil Dead, Darkman, Spider-Man, or Drag Me to Hell - if I’m working on something and it clicks with something I’ve seen in one of his movies I might push it in that direction for the fun of it.      

 5 What is an artist or art form that is catching your attention?   Right now? I’m not really current with anything. I see a lot of wonderful stuff online and I might click follow to see more but I’ve never been too good with names. I have all-time favorites but, even then, the excitement over individuals, specific projects, favorite books - I think I’m mostly focused on watching my kids create stuff. I like to see them draw stuff they like, or draw from pictures they like, and I see their development and that’s what has my attention more than what others out in the world have to offer I suppose.       

6 What is the best piece of advice a fellow artist gave you?   This is going to sound weird, but outside of school, I’ve absolutely hated talking about creating art with other artists. I’ve had a bumpy road with trying to make use of advice from others as far as art goes and I’ve settled on trial and error for personal experience.       

 7. How do you seek opportunities to share your art?   I like to see my drawings in print. Drawings I really enjoyed doing in particular, if what they’re printed on looks really neat. I really like my stuff printed on matte paper for book interiors and prints. That’s how I’d prefer to see it go out to others, I think, but I’m also open to being surprised by seeing whatever I worked on in a new light, which could be how someone else might share it online maybe. I also like to post something I liked working on on social media, whether it’s a rough sketch or something more realized.      

 8 Where would you like your art to go? Thematically and stylistically?     I want to work in a variety of styles, from comic book house to something more exaggerated/animated, and I have a lot of ideas to put the two together. They’ve both influenced the direction of my drawing for quite a while.        

9 Do you have any advice for artists who come after you?   Don’t sit idle waiting for opportunity, don’t let anyone take advantage of you and your work, and so long as you’re not hurting others by doing so, work for as little or as much money as you want if you’re willing to create in exchange for it. Doing a six-page story or a pin-up for a small start-up company, for free, is far more than okay than working for a large company that pays in exposure.        

10 The next question? Summer or winter (But the ugly ones)? This is a question from the previous artist who gets to ask the next one something 🙂   Summer for me. I’ve worked outside in extreme temperatures for both but if I can pretend this is more about maybe vacation? Summer.