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Interview

Palle Schmidt p3

Comics creator and author Palle Schmidt talks about trying different styles of art in his comics...

READERSVOICE.COM: Can people get the English translation of your noir crime comic Stiletto yet?

PALLE SCHMIDT: Very soon! It’s coming out March 27 from LionForge as a 3-issue mini series, 44 pages each. You can preorder the trade paperback from Amazon already. [Volume 1 hits the shelves April 3.]

RV: Your comics look different from each other. Like you have the dark and washed out watercolor style in Thomas Alsop. And the brilliant light in the watercolor look of The History of Glass and Windows, in panels like the one on the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. Then there’s the sketchy, ink style of Diego and Dorothy. Is there a look that you like the most when drawing comics?

PS: If there was a specific look I preferred, I would stick to that! No, you’re absolutely right, I tend to shake things up quite a bit. I do this to stay on my toes as an artist, to push myself and try out new things. And then there are other constraints like time and money. I can’t do a fully painted book of a 100 pages if the money only pays for two weeks of my time. So I sometimes have to scale it down a bit in order to not kill myself doing the work. Mostly the style comes from the project itself, what I feel will tell the story in the best way.

RV: Do you ever draw thumbnails when you write your novels, like In Another Life or As the Land Lies, the same way you do for comics? Or do you create timelines and mark out a three act structure, with things like the point of no return indicated?

PS: The short answer is no. I obviously think about structure, theme, message and character arcs but I rarely make timelines or flowcharts. It’s mostly in my head.

RV: What are some of your plans?

PS: Right now I’m working on a freelance guidebook in English and writing a new crime novel. I’ve also started an e-book and audiobook publishing platform with my wife where we try to make some of our back catalogue available. It’s only in Danish though, sorry!

-copyright readersvoice.com
-see palleschmidt.dk and also see his youtube videos on creating comics and related creative topics.