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 Art tips and techniques, reviews and interviews from my studio. Archived here and at World Famous Comics. Comics 101 for 02/28/2002 TheForce.Net Interview - Part 2 The following is the conclusion to the interview I did for the TheForce.Net's Jeff Boivin in June 2001. Please visit the fabulous folks at TheForce.Net, it's a great site. Do you actually play the RPG? I haven't played it though I would like to if I ever find time in my schedule some day. But I used to play the old AD&D rules in college. How was it like to work for West End Games? I enjoyed the oppurtunity and trust WEG gave me as an artist to illustrate for Star Wars. They gave me a lot of free reign to create and I got to do some cool color work for the Star Wars license as well. One of my paintings they commissioned, Alien Scoundrels of Tatooine, was going to be my first cover for one of their books but it went unpublished due to the timing of them losing the license. I actually have alot of unresolved issues with WEG's upper management that I'm not allowed to get into but I did enjoy working with the editors and art directors there. Eric Trautmann, Tim Bobko, Steve Miller, Pete Schweighofer and Craig Carey were really great guys to work for. Have you met any of the Wizards of the Coast staff? Last year at some conventions I got to meet some of the Wizards folks like Sean Glenn, Steve Miller, Bill Slaviseck and Lisa Stevens. Maybe one of these days I'll get to meet Kyle Hunter. He's the Star Wars Gamer art director. He's definitely the guy that I talk with the most. He's always keeping me busy on Gamer too so I'd like to thank him in person some day for all the cool oppurtunities he's given me to illustrate for Star Wars. Both Sean and Kyle have been really helpful with advice too. I'm enjoying the creative energy and feedback they offer because it really pushes me to become a better artist. Tell us about some of your other work. I've done work for WEG's unpublished Men In Black rpg books and for the Star Trek role-playing game. I find a lot of the work I'm attracted to has a sci-fi edge to it. Seeing Star Wars as a kid and watching Star Trek reruns with my dad Sunday mornings definitely got me hooked on science-fiction early. I'm also a big horror movie buff so getting to illustrate for White Wolf Publishing is a blast as well. I get to draw everything from zombies to werewolves to magic-users so that's fun. I've illustrated a number of books and trading cards for them and recently illustrated some fantasty-themed artwork for the Age of Empires collectible card game. I also mentioned Sketch magazine earlier which is a comic book art tips and techniques magazine I write for. It's a good resource amateur and pro creators alike. I just finished writing a step by step article for Sketch #8 about the Marvel Aliens artwork I created for Star Wars Gamer #1. (NOTE: The issue should be available on newstands the week of June 18, 2001. It also contains an interview with Dave Dorman.) I saw on your website JoeCorroney.com that you're attending quite a few conventions this summer. How is it like meeting the fans? Meeting fellow artists?  I love meeting fans. Anybody that takes time to notice or support my work and hands me a compliments always makes my day. And I enjoy talking with new people at these shows who are as passionate about Star Wars as I am. I'm still just a fan who is lucky to get paid to draw this stuff. I'm really looking forward to meeting more people at these conventions this summer.Meeting other artists is fun too and I like going to these shows and supporting their work especially if I'm a fan. The best part is whenever I get to meet one of my idols. When I meet a Star Wars artist or comic book illustrator who I admire I'm usually humbled just like anyone else. Do you still own some of your original pieces? Are you going to keep putting some of them up for auction on eBay? I own most if not all of my original artwork unless I sell it or give it away to friends or family. You can always keep an eye out on eBay through my official site since anything I'm currently selling can be seen through a link there on my homepage. Definitely count on me selling more originals in the near future. What other assignments do you currently have, aside from your work for SW Gamer? And what upcoming SW RPG projects can you tell us about? Currently I'm working on a few different comic book projects like 'Blood and Rose: Time Lords' and 'Death Avenger'. I'm also illustrating for White Wolf occasionally. I'm hoping to do some artwork for Decipher's upcoming Lord of the Rings rpg and maybe do some full color work for their new Star Trek RPG as well.  What I have on the horizon for Star Wars is currently for Gamer. I just finished illustrating an adventure called 'Kashyyyk in Flames' for #4. I'm about to illustrate a 'dark side' feature for issue five and I just did some artwork for the Rebellion Era Sourcebook. I'd love to illustrate even more for the rpg. This summer I'm looking forward to doing as much Star Wars art that Wizards hands me as possible. I'm really just enjoying having the chance to draw for such a cool company like Wizards and creating for Star Wars. Getting to illustrate something as much as I enjoy Star Wars has pushed me to become a better artist and makes me try to outdo myself with each project. What kind of tools do you use for inking/coloring? I usually ink with a Hunt's 102 dip pen and use Speedball India ink. Sometimes I break out the brush though and I often use tech pens for straight edges. Anybody that's proficient inking with a brush has my respect. I just sometimes don't have the patience for it. For coloring it just depends on the piece. If it's my traditional comic style art I do like the Marvel Aliens art or a piece I just did for the Rebellion Era Sourcebook then I rely on my trusty Macintosh programs. Photoshop and Painter are the industry standards and are what I use. I teach these programs for a class at the Columbus College of Art and Design where I previously earned my degree. I also teach a Comic Book Illustration course at this school here in Ohio. If it's traditional color work like painting on board or canvas than I use acrylics and sometimes watercolors. I play around with an airbrush too but mainly I use acrylics and a variety of Windsor-Newton brushes. Which of the four Star Wars movies is your favorite and why?  Hmmm... tough, tough question. They're all so good it's hard to pick a favorite cause I like them all for different reasons. The first Star Wars film will always have a special place in my heart since I have the fondest memories growing up with that movie. It's also probably the most balanced in terms of storytelling I guess. It's got everything.The first 20 to 30 minutes of Return of the Jedi are great too because we finally get to see Luke as a Jedi kicking a lot of butt. Especially during the skiff battle. I also really enjoy all the overlapping final battles for the finale of that movie. The editing and pacing there are superb. The Vader/Luke duel and the Death Star space battle are some really powerful scenes. Empire is probably my favorite movie though on an artistic level. It had the best everything - acting, writing, and even lighting. It had lots of texture visually and great backdrops for the environments. It also had a lot of grey area with the characters and relationships that made it real interesting. Especially with Han, Luke and Lando. Though I've probably been watching The Phantom Menace the most lately since it's the newest one so that might be my current favorite. What are you going to do when Episode II opens? Are you going to be standing in line for tickets? I'll be in the trenches with the rest of the Star Wars fans. I camped out for a day with some of my comic book students to buy tickets for Episode I here in Columbus. That was a good time. Luckily I only lived a few blocks away from the theater so it wasn't difficult to do. It'll probably be the same case come summer 2002. It's really an exciting time to be a Star Wars fan. I loved The Phantom Menace and I'm looking forward to the next movies for sure. Thanks for tuning in! See you next week. -Joe Recent Columns:
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