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Here is an early March, 2007 update on Paul, originally published in a somewhat altered and differently-illustrated form in the CFA-APA #71.
Ray Cuthbert: Hello Paul, I thought now might provide an opportunity for us to have another discussion of your comic art. When I last conducted an interview with you five years ago, you were pretty much an unknown in the Comic Art scene. Since that time you've had several things published both in North America and in Europe. Let's talk about some of these. Cavewoman: The Movie (Nov. 2003) -- how did this project come about? Paul Renaud: My friend Rich DeDominicis showed my work to Budd Root and he thought it would be fun to have me to draw a Cavewoman book. I think Budd was already familiar with my work because a certain Ray Cuthbert had been posting some of my drawings on Frank Cho's message board...so I guess it's all because of you Ray! I don't think I had read any of the original series at this point, but I knew the short Cavewoman story Frank Cho had done. Ray: Thanks for the comment about "my" responsibility in that, however small it might have been. It seems to me that you were the author of your own destiny - just by the beauty of your work. What were your favourite aspects of doing that work? Paul: My favorite aspect was the humorous side of it. Now that you're asking me about this, I realize I have never done a serious story on Cavewoman. I just did tongue in cheek stories. I had a lot of fun doing the comedy stuff. On the art point of view, each new job is a chance to explore a new avenue. I was glad to play" the good girl art" game. With Cavewoman, I could come closer visually to the kind of comics Dave Stevens or Mark Schultz did in the 80's/90's. It was also an excuse for me to explore the Adam Hughes influence in my style. Ray: There were two stories and a number of pin-ups in this collection: It's Not Easy Being Me(riem) and the Cavewoman: The Movie story itself. Did you have a preference for either story? Paul: Both stories were fun to do. The first one written by Rich De Dominicis is the ultimate pin-up story. That was fun to go that far with it. Ray: The front cover sold on ebay for a fairly large sum. How did that feel? Paul: It was a surprise, really. My Jungle Jam and Red Sonja covers sold even better. It never ceases to amaze me. Ray: You seem to have reused a lot of poses throughout your work. For example, the back cover pose is also used for the 2nd story splash and the background to the top panel on page two of that story. Usually you redraw these similar poses rather than stat them. Why don't you use stats? Is it just as easy to redraw the poses? Paul: It is just as easy to redraw them with a lightbox. It is far more useful for the composition. When you draw everything on paper, you have a better feeling about composition. But I had more time back then than I have now. Today I use Photoshop to do that because it's faster and the deadline is a killer. Ray: Amryl released Cavewoman: The Movie as a Paul Renaud Special Edition alternate cover as well. This kind of release seems to be something Amryl does for many of its books, but it must have been special to have your first published North American comic book published in two editions. Did it feel special to you? Paul: It was a bit odd to me. It's not something we're used to in Europe. I think they did 4 editions. There's also a silver cover, and a Budd Root cover. Ray: Invincible #21 (March 2005) pin-up. Was this a professional commission or "fan art"? Were you paid for its publication? Paul: The Invincible pin up was a commission I did for my friend Ugo Milani. Ugo showed it to Robert Kirkman who liked it and printed it in the book. I was later asked to color it for the French edition of Invincible. I wasn't paid for the publication, but I don't mind because I love the book and was honored to be somehow "part of it". Robert and I talked about teaming up on a book someday. That'd be cool. But I have a lot of projects I want to do before that can happen. Ray: Fear Agent #8 (September 2006) had an eight page back-up story entitled The Princess of Rongar. Writing credits were given to Hilary Barta. How was Hilary to collaborate with? Did you have much input as to the plot, or was primarily you executing Hilary's ideas in your own fashion? Paul: It was a joy to work with Hilary. He's the nicest guy, and a great artist on his own. I really love his work, so I was thrilled to work on his story. I think he gave me several plots and asked me to choose. Looking at my work, he felt I would be interested in doing something in the romantic vein of Edgar Rice Burroughs, or Flash Gordon. Of course he was right. So we decided to go that way. Fear Agent is a book heavily influenced by Wally Wood's EC stories. Our back-up would explore the Williamson/Krenkel side of the EC comics. Hilary wrote a full script, so the story's all his. I just adapted the storytelling. I think I stayed very close to Hilary's intentions. We were both happy with the results Doing this back-up was the greatest experience I had in comics so far. I was able to draw it, color it and even letter the whole thing. I just love doing that kind of story. I told Rick (Remender) that I'd love to do a Fear Agent one-shot in the future. That will be awesome. Ray: This story was dedicated to Al Williamson. In our previous interview you commented on your admiration of Al's work. I know that the dedication was added after you initially drew the artwork. Was this at your request? Did you have Williamson's work in your mind particularly as you drew this story? Paul: Yes I had Williamson in mind all along. To be honest, he's probably my biggest influence. I don't think it's as obvious to see that in my work as Adam Hughes or Steve Rude...but it's there, more deeply. You can't imagine how good it felt to be able to pay homage to someone I admire so much. When he saw the art, Hilary suggested we could literally dedicate it to Al. I don't think I would have done it by myself because I would have felt it to be too pretentious. Besides, I'm way too insecure about my work. But when Hilary told me that, I was all for it (and was glad the idea was his). Ray: I know that Al Williamson and his wife Cori were very appreciative of your work on that story, how did you feel in sending it to them to peruse? Paul: I wrote a fan letter to come with the book...a letter to thank him for all the great art he gave to the world. For the dreams he gave me. I didn't expect Al and Cori to write an answer...but they did and I was very, very happy. Al enjoyed my work. I couldn't be happier. Ray: That's lovely. In Cavewoman Jungle Jam #1 (August 2006) you did all the work on this title, including a very humourous framing story, a story done in a more "big foot" style of cartooning, and lots of pin-ups. How did you feel about the results? Paul: First let me say it was originally supposed to be just a pin-up book collecting my commissions and con sketches. At some point I felt I could produce some new work to make it worth the price for my fans. I had the idea of doing a book that would offer short stories, games, and a few pinups. Amryl then decided to make two books instead of one. So I had to produce more pin ups. I was happy with the results, but I would have preferred it to be just one book, with more sequential and less pin-ups. But they did a great job with the printing and production. Ray: Do you anticipate using this "big foot" style in any soon-to-be forthcoming projects? Paul: No, it was just this time. I'm always doing doodles and sketches that way, but I wanted to do a full story in that style. I'm a big fan of Bruce Timm and a lot of other guys working in animation (Ronnie Del Carmen, Rodguen...). Ray: This title was released with a Special Edition cover as well. What are the successes and failures you see in either image? Paul: I preferred the regular covers. The wraparound covers. The special editions were fun, but they're just pin-ups. I love doing covers, mostly because I can do the coloring myself. For the Alternate covers I was asked to do sexier images. I was very afraid of going too far. I wanted them to be cute, not dirty. I think the regular covers are more interesting. Ray: Cavewoman Jungle Jam #2 (November 2006). This issue was almost entirely pin-ups, and was designed to be so. My favourite part of the book was the "How To Draw Cavewoman" feature where Meriem is looking for some male beefcake to fulfill her interests. This gag of "How To Draw..." has been done frequently by Frank Cho and other artists as well. Did you feel that you succeeded in adding your own spin to the gag? (Once again this comic was released with a "Special Edition" cover as well.) Paul: I don't know if I succeeded, but I have a few gay friends who liked that. I thought it would be fun to have Meriem ask for some "good boy art" for a change. Ray: Red Sonja: She-Devil With a Sword #17 (2006) cover. Do you think you have a more promising future as a continuity artist and storyteller, or as a cover artist like Brian Bolland and Adam Hughes? What are the advantages and disadvantages to both career choices? Paul: I don't think I could be happy doing only covers. And honestly, I don't think I could be a great cover artist like Adam Hughes. I'm always amazed by the quality and ingenuity of his covers. He is truly a master. I like to do covers, but I couldn't make a career out of it. I had recently to do four covers for a Red Sonja event (that will see print later in 2007), and I found it very hard to produce covers for a book I didn't draw...just from plots. The storytelling is what I like the best. Ray: There is also the forthcoming Red Sonja: Vacant Shell which is due out in stores in April, 2007 -- before this interview will see print. How does it feel to have a full book come out featuring your renditions of a character you've done only for covers and pin-ups? Paul: I was very happy to draw a fantasy book. I'm a big fan of sword and sorcery. When I did the Sonja covers, I had to produce iconic shots...but I like fantasy for the background, the forests and castles, the cast of thieves and barbarians that populates her world. People think I like to draw gorgeous women the most...It's true I like that, but I prefer when I can draw the rest too. You don't want to draw one single thing over and over. I couldn't draw 32 pages of Red Sonja walking in the desert. So I tried to make it a dense book, very full of details and characters. Some people will think about the Adam Hughes or Frank Cho influence when they see this book because of the main character, but others will look closer and they'll see my love for Barry Windsor-Smith, Frank Frazetta, Michael Kaluta, Berni Wrightson, Frank Thorne, Hal Foster and John Buscema. Ray: You did an interview of your collaborator, Rick Remender which has appeared online. How did it feel to be on the question formulating side of an interview, as opposed to being the one answering the questions? Paul: I love doing interviews. I used to do that a lot back then in my fanzine years. I made interviews of famous French artists such as Loisel, Moebius, Andréas, Crisse, Olivier Ledroit, Georges Bess.... Ray: I know that there was an European Book on Alan Moore that appeared in 2005. I've not seen this book, and don't know the title, but I assume it was nice to have two of your illustrations featured in a book on such a prominent creator. Paul: "L'hypothèse du lézard" de Alan MOORE + intervenants ["The Hypothetical Lizard"] ED. LES MOUTONS ELECTRIQUES, JUILLET 2005 Ray: Your two illustrations blended the imagery and combined the idealism and cynicism of Moore's writing exquisitely. Do you have any comments on the two illustrations that you created? Paul: When I was asked to do an illustration for this book, I couldn't make my mind between the two ideas I had...so basically I did both and thought I would let the publisher decide. He picked both. I loved doing these little pieces of homage. It came very naturally, and I'm very happy with the reactions I got from Alan Moore's fans. Ray: Are you a known quantity in Europe or are you still an unknown there? Paul: I should be unknown, but strangely enough there's more and more people aware of my work. In general, the readers that know my work are fans of US comics. A French magazine, Comic Box, ran a short interview of me recently, and it seems it didn't appear unnoticed. I've been getting mail from their readers ever since the issue was published. French publishers seem to look at the US production too because I'm getting a lot mail from them these days. That feels good, but my plate is full. Ray: What else did I miss, and what would you like to comment about them? Paul: Nothing that I can think of. I just can't wait for people to see my next book which will be quite different from what you've seen from me before. Ray: That sounds intriguing. I look forward to it. In our last interview you commented on Georges Bess critiquing your inking, which has improved in leaps and bounds in the intervening five years. Has your mentor, the illustrious Monsieur Bess, offered any more recent critiques that you'd care to share? Paul: Well Georges is always looking at my work, but now he's more into teaching me how to live a happy life as a comic book artist. He's always encouraging me to create my own stories and books. This is something I will do, but for now I'm happy to play with others' toys. Dynamite's toys, Marvel's. I'm happy with that. Rick Remender and I have a creator owned project we'll be doing after my Dynamite commitment. This is gonna be fun! Coming back to Georges, last time he wrote was to say that he loved my pages on Red Sonja (that I had sent him) and that he was proud of me. And believe me, it means a lot to me.
Ray Cuthbert: Who are your artistic influences? Paul Renaud: I've got quite a lot of heroes... When I was a kid, I used to read some famous French comics like every kids here...Tintin, Asterix, Spirou, the Smurfs...Later, when I was around 12 years old, a friend of mine showed me Marvel books for the first time. I was badly hooked! As a kid of the 80's, you can easily imagine what were the books I read, the artists I liked: John Byrne, Frank Miller, Neal Adams, Don Newton, Art Adams...But two artists were really important to me at this time: Paul Smith, and Michael Golden. I found out that Golden had a big influence on Art Adams work, and it was enough a reason to study his work...and I'm still learning a lot from him. What I loved about these two guys was their care for the characters they were drawing, the work on the body language, the expressiveness of the faces...they were also trying to bring some cartoony touch to their realistic style only to serve the story. Their layout were always reader friendly, clear, and powerful. I have the feeling that part of my roots as a comic-book artist can be found there. Later came Alan Davis, Steve Rude, Kevin Nowlan, Rick Leonardi, Mike Mignola that I loved for the same reasons, and still follow everything they do! The as a teen-ager I felt the need to search for different kinds of artist. I discovered Moebius then, and I fell deeply in love with his work, his way of living his career as a true artist. I think Moebius, through his books, made me realize that I wanted to do this as a living. At the same time I was into digging some old stuff , Frazetta (of course I was very influenced by Frazetta... who ever has interest in the sexiness of the human body has studied Frazetta!), The Studio guys (Jones, Kaluta, Windsor-Smith and Wrightson), and then all the Alex Raymond/ Hal Foster family! Al Williamson was probably my favorite, even at this time. Now you can easily imagine all the guys that went later from the same kind of influence that I could name here: Adam Hughes, Bruce Timm, Bryan Hitch & Paul Neary, Kyle Baker, Frank Cho, Charles Vess? I could name hundreds - where could I stop?! Another hero of mine I have to mention is Georges Bess! He's a French artist. Ray: Tell me about Georges Bess, being a North American, I've never heard of him. Paul: With pleasure. Georges is famous here for his work with writer Alexandro Jodorowsky. Together, they did a very successful series called The White Lama, and later a four part story, Juan Solo (Son of the Gun is its American translation). His books are released right now in USA by the Humanoids Publishing. Before that, he did quite a lot of work for the Phantom comics. Georges Bess usually works in a very realistic style (you could make comparisons with Joe Kubert, others with Moebius), but he also does more "cartoony" comics form time to time. He did a series called Annibal5 that are close to the mainstream North American art style, but quite different from American comics in terms of the story. He simply masters every style he chooses! Lately, he's been doing more personal work in black and white that he's also writing Escondida, and Leela & Krishna. Wonderful stories, wonderful art. Ray: You mentioned Al Williamson, so how do you feel about Alex Raymond? Paul: Rip Kirby has always been my favorite of Raymond's work where the art is concerned. It's amazing how he took on the brush inking and mastered it in a few days after years of fine pen and inks rendering... I just don't see any other artist who would be such a master in these two different techniques (well, maybe Jean Giraud/Moebius with his Blueberry series...)! The Alex Raymond version is a good way to be brought up with Flash Gordon. When I was 15, I bought two huge French books reprinting in black and white the first adventures of Flash. It cost me like $75, and it was my biggest expense at this time. It was such a shock to me to discover such good art. The great quality of this black and white printing allowed me to appreciate the very fine pen and ink work. I was, and still am, so impressed! A little while later I read that Al Williamson had done some Flash stories very close to the Raymond version. I was already a fan of Al's work, and the few Flash panels or illustrations (the Flash plate he did for the National Cartoonists' Society Portfolio) drove me crazy! I found some really bad French version of some of the stories, but the printing was just awful. Recently, my friend Rich DeDominicis helped me find the 1966-67 comics, and I can't stop looking at them since... Williamson is the one who made me love the whole family - Krenkel, Torres - the whole Fleagle gang. And Flash Gordon!!! Well, actually I remember watching an animated movie as a young kid that made a big impression on me... I realized much later that it was Flash Gordon. When I saw the comics of Williamson for the first time, I found back all these wonderful feelings I had watching the movie. Rockets, space pirate looking guys... I love to chat about the "good lizard men" with Paul Neary who's also a fan. Williamson is an artist I definitely admire. I'm really fan of his whole career, from the early EC jobs to the great inking jobs he has done of some of the finest artists of modern comics such as Mignola, Leonardi, Romita Jr, and Weeks among others. It's a shame we don't see more of his own penciling nowadays... The "One Last Job" story he did some years ago was just gorgeous! I heard he was going to do a back-up story for Xenozoic Tales, but since Kitchen Sink is out of business now I guess that brought an end to that. The Flash Gordons that Al did for King Comics are some of the best Flash comics ever. He was really the heir to the master, Raymond. One can see he truly loved the character and his universe. He gave it all he had. I'd love to have the opportunity to do a Flash Gordon story someday! Not the modern thing some have been trying to do, but a very 40's Flash Gordon...Very old fashioned, in the way they did Indiana Jones or The Rocketeer. The character could only work in his own universe, in his era. Doing Flash nowadays doesn't make sense to me. It's just ridiculous. I'd just love to draw old cars, art deco buildings and stuff before they reach Mongo. I'll just have to ask my publisher someday if we can get the rights. I'm sure Paul Neary would love to ink that! I know I look just like a little fan here...well, I'm afraid that's what I am! Ray: Are there any other modern artists that you admire? Paul: I was unfamiliar with the work of your friend Terry Twigg... His pastel paintings are really amazing! Very nice paintings, really. He has a very soft approach in his way of rendering shadows. I love the light. I also think Glenn Barr is a fantastic artist. He did Brooklyn Dreams and the JLA Real World... I could shoot a hundred without breathing you know... David Mazzuchelli is an artist that I admire a lot...he did two of my all time favorite books, Daredevil: Born Again and Batman Year One, and at his peak he left the mainstream industry to work on his stories. His style may have changed a lot, but the storytelling is style awesome (better and better I should say). It took me some time to understand his current art, but now I can say I really love it.I could name also Dave McKean, the Hernandez brothers... please shoot me dead, or I'll go on forever! Ray: I first began collecting original artwork in 1976... Paul: Well, I was just a year old in 1976! You must have had fun with all the Wrightson, Neal Adams, Jeff Jones and all doing some of their best works (well, Jeff Jones is still doing some of his best work)... I hope you didn't miss The Studio book at the time it was released!! Ray: Yes I was around for all that, geezer that I am...! What do you think of Dave Stevens, Frank Cho and Mark Schultz... all favourites of mine? Paul: I'm very fond of the era that their work evokes! Mark Schultz and Frank Cho are very fine people... Their work is so full of nostalgia, and yet very modern and appealing to a younger audience. I miss Dave Stevens' Rocketeer very much! I know a new Rocketeer series wouldn't make Dark Horse rich, but then I have the feeling they wouldn't lose money on it since the art is so good. Maybe I'm just naive. Frank Cho is another example of a artist who can mix a realistic style with cartoony elements with GREAT talent (and a guy who can come along with so many stupid jokes a week deserves all our admiration!). I don't laugh out loud that often reading a comics: Frank Cho can do that, Kyle Baker can do that. That's a great talent. Anyway, I should have mentioned Schultz and Stevens in the list of my heroes. I've read Mark Schultz was willing to write a Xenozoic novel... Have you heard about it? Dave & Mark should come here in France where the comic-book business is still steady! Jeffrey Jones is another one I'd like to talk about some more. He has always made a big impression on me. He's really an artist I truly admire in every aspect. His work seems to be very personal, very inspired. I mean, one can see the influences of such as Whistler, Klimt, Wyeth on his work, but then his personal evolvement is greater than his infuences - The feeling he gets is always "pure Jeff Jones". I'm always moved by his colour choices...his soft approach. He's a dream artist. Ray: I assume that you heard the sad news about Gray Morrow losing his life. I've always enjoyed his art, and wished that more people appreciated it as well. Paul: Paul Neary had told me about Gray Morrow's death. That's very sad. I've always loved his art as well... so elegant! That's another giant that leaves our art world. I also heard Reed Crandall had a very sad ending... It's so terrible that such great artists have to suffer from jerks who cannot see what good art is . Ray: Your work that I've seen on Ariel Lewis is great story-telling! Your inking though is in a very bold style, as opposed to your pencil work. Paul: Thanks for the nice compliments about the storytelling. I kind of think that everybody can produce nice pictures, but I'm very VERY flattered when someone like my storytelling and layout designs. That's the real work! I understand what you mean about the high contrast in my inking. I think it's best suited to the coloring. But I really have to improve my art, and my inking especially. I understand why you prefer a softer approach in inking, after all I'm a Mark Schultz fan too! Speaking about coloring, I don't remember if we mentioned Charles Vess earlier, but I'm a big fan of his art. Actually, I'm very fond of fairy tales in general. He's one of my favorite color artists with Moebius and Barry Windsor-Smith. Ray: I was a little curious about a number of your young superheroine pieces. Is it your idea to come up with the freckles for them? Paul: I love freckles! In this case, I think it gave them a teenager look (even if they have adult bodies). I thought it would be cute. Supergirl has always been a young girl for me. As for drawing teenage girls..maybe it's because one can never forget his first love... I guess that's why I love to draw that kind of girl. They are fresh and I like their innocence. That's a real pleasure to draw, more than sultry women from my point of view. Nowadays teenage girls mostly try to look like women and older women try to look like teenage girls? How weird! Ray: Tell me about your creative process. Often I look at your work and I really enjoy the soft fine lines and detail in your penciled preliminaries even more than your finished ink work. For example, the prelim for the Jean Grey image you did for me, I like even more than the finished ink piece! Your pencil work is so delicate, that sometimes the inking seems to produce a harsher effect. Paul: Yeah, I've just seen my old master Georges Bess, whom I mentioned earlier. Yesterday as he was visiting me, he told me the same thing about my pencil work. He picked a few of my inked works that he chose carefully, and then said: "these are the ones you have to study from"... "these are the good ones, try to see why". Penciling is the part I prefer. Shaping and shading a portrait or whatever... I must admit that sometime the rest of the work process can be just hard work. Not all the time. Drawing with a pencil is really an act of pure creation that I cannot match with any other tool (for now). I think artists like Alex Toth or Moebius worked a lot to get that feeling with their inking... They truly are drawing with ink... Same thing with Jeffrey Jones for painting. His pencil work is just a preliminary to the final piece -- a rough -- but the painting is the real creative act. When I'm doing the roughs for my comic-book work, I prefer to work directly in ink to get to the point... to get the figures' attitudes right more than the rendering. Ray: Tell us about what ever became of Ariel Lewis which was the project your name was attached to when I first heard of you. Paul: I had to stop working on Ariel Lewis because my publisher realized that he wanted me to do something more modernistic than what I was doing. I was finishing the first book of the series. They wanted me to take out all the "old fashioned" aspect of it, and believe me, that was a totally unexpected decision! I wouldn't change the book. I wanted to do my Flash Gordon story, to pay my hommages to Williamson, Raymond and that whole movement. That was part of the concept. I've nothing against doing something fresh and new and exciting or whatever, but then I would have come with a different concept in the first place. I wanted this retro style and backgrounds and ships...and so did they in the first place. I'm sure I'll be doing it like I want later (maybe for another publisher), that's just a matter of time. It's hard to believe they waited me to have the first Ariel Lewis book almost finished before asking for changes! I now know I can go back to Ariel with another publisher whenever I want, but I would have to rework it because I don't want to be paid two times for the same work AND I'd have a chance to improve it a great deal. But I like the idea of having some time to think about it doing some other project in between... I know I'll be glad to get back on it when I am ready. With Ariel Lewis, I put more panels per page than US comics because the format was to be larger, like the big graphic novels we do here in France. I'll try to have the next one more...international. I'd love to have it published in the States. Ray: What do you think of the comics produced today? Paul: I'm really happy to see so many good books published these past two years...It seems the big publishers have finally understood that they needed good writers. I think Marvel is doing a great job. I would never have expected to get back reading X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil, or even Fantastic Four. Most of their titles are good reads, and some are just really good! The publishers are going back to the real basic of comics which is strong storytelling. The 90's was a very sad period for comics from my point of view. I had the feeling that Image Comics had established a new standard that I just hated, and the other majors were trying to do the same. Giant pin-up pages, big flashy characters jumping off the panel, no backgrounds. It seemed like Art Adams (a very good artist on his own) was their oldest and only reference. Nowadays we've got guys like Bryan Hitch, Chris Sprouse, Wieringo...all trying to get a clear story with good layout designs, whatever their style. Great artists like Alan Davis, John Romita Jr are back as fan favorites. That's just great. My only wish would be to see some great series back in print . I really miss titles like Nexus, Xenozoic Tales, Rocketeer or Concrete. Ray: Thanks for your willingness to share your views and tell us about your life. Paul: You know I love to chat with you Ray. It's always a pleasure. |
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