From an animation about the unassuming friendship between a kite and a bicycle to a minicomic layering fairytale text over the everyday morning routine of an elderly lady, the Alberta-born animator and illustrator has built a solid portfolio largely around the emphasis of life’s simpler pleasures.

Even in the more fantastically-themed minicomics she has worked on, (either independently or collaboratively) whether the setting is a post-apocalyptic snowy landscape or a future where off-planet colonization is a reality, the actual focus of the art is still generally on the simple, relatable quirks that define everyday life.

Strange as that might sound, Colleen actually pulls it off quite well.

However, I don’t want to paint her into a corner here – lest you assume the extent of Ms. macIsaac’s talent begins and ends with the un-extraordinary, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Why, one such example to the contrary could be found in the form of a webcomic macIsaac did collaboratively with Jordyn Bochon. The webcomic – titled ‘May’ – follows the oddly-mannered title character as she sells suspicious ice pops that may or may not be poisoned to children, enjoys a good mid-evening bludgeoning, and generally wears less (or more) clothing than is appropriate.

Bochon, who has the humble distinction of being a 2009 Fabler interviewee herself, wrote the story, and macIsaac brought it to colorful, illustrated life.

The two have actually known each other for going on seven years now, and have collaborated on a number of comics together.

In macIsaac’s own words,

“Jordyn is an amazingly talented lady, and she’s working on a lot of exciting projects right now. I’m proud to know her!”

Well, Fablerites – we’re proud to present an interview with the (also) extremely talented Colleen macIsaac.

Without further ado:

KD: You’ve done some serious cross-Canadian bouncing around; from Spruce Grove to Vancouver all the way to the other coast.

Can you tell me a little more about your adventures in trans-provincial relocation?

CM: I grew up in Spruce Grove, a suburban Albertan city, but went to school in Edmonton; upon graduating high school I moved out to Vancouver to study animation at Emily Carr.

When I finished my undergrad my partner Dorian and I decided to explore a different part of Canada. Neither of us had ever been to Halifax (he hadn’t been East of the Saskatchewan border), but it sounded like a creative and fun city, so we took the plunge and headed towards the Atlantic!

KD: Is illustration/animation/drawing comics a full-time occupation for you, or if not, what else do you do for  work?

CM: I work a number of part-time jobs to make ends meet – I do freelance illustration and animation work, but it’s always an ebb and flow; it’s nice to have flexible employment that I can go back to during dry periods that also lets me take time off when things get hectic.

Right now I’m mainly working as an actor on a historical brewery tour where I wear a costume and pretend that it’s 1863. I also work in a few theatre box offices and at an art gallery from time to time, and I feel very lucky to be working in places that are related to things that I enjoy.

I find that I enjoy working in a variety of places; it keeps me on my toes!

KD: From perusing your work online, I’ve noticed a recurring theme of people presented in context of their everyday life, often combined with a focus on nature and simplicity.

Is this totally off the mark? What can you tell me about what you like to draw the most?

CM: I would say that’s a pretty fair assessment! I feel very scattered in terms of my artwork; there’s definitely things that I keep coming back to when I draw, but I don’t really have a conscious focus with my work at this point.

I enjoy making small and quiet drawings about people going about their lives in their communities, I suppose. I’ve become drawn to the idea of art with a local slant, of connecting to people through geography, and I think that’s a theme I’d like to explore more in the future.

KD: Who (or what) do you consider to have influenced your style the most?

CM: I think the single biggest influence on my style would have to be access to the internet. I tend to spend more time online than I should, looking at the work of artists from hundreds of years ago to people producing amazing
contemporary work.

I’ve never worked at having a specific style and sometimes I fear that’s a big detriment and leaves me too open to influence by what I see around me, but at the same time I think that living in an age when we can call up a million different images at a single click has been a huge boon.

KD: How far back does your interest in comics go? What got you into making them yourself?

CM: I’ve been interested in comics since I was in elementary school and have been making awful little comics since childhood.

In high school, I was lucky enough to get involved with a group of artists who published a trilogy of perfect-bound anthology comics. Once in university I continued on with making little books and sending them out into the world, this time with a collective called The Radar Friends (which included Jordyn as well).

Most of the comics that we made during that time were collaborative photocopied minicomic anthologies, as it made things easier when it came to amount of content and sharing printing costs and table fees at the Vancouver Comic Con.

KD: What sort of comics interest you? What sort of comics don’t?

CM: I’m interested in comics that have a story to tell, comics that challenge me, comics that are beautifully drawn, smart, funny, original, and comics that have a good heart.

I’ve never really gotten into superhero comics, and I enjoy reading comics in longer books or graphic novel format rather than in tiny chunks where the story is broken up into a million different issues. I’m generally willing to give most things a shot.

KD: Where do your ideas for comics typically come from?

CM: I’m a really scattered person when it comes to a ideas….I have many half-finished notebooks with jots here and there about stories that get abandoned halfway through.

I don’t think that I’m a very good writer and I find it extremely difficult to just come up with a coherent story, so a lot of my notes are just scribbling down an idea or an image that I think might be able to be twisted into something.

When I decided to go for it and make a comic I’ll look through the random ideas I’ve compiled and try to make something out of them.

KD: It seems that making Kate and Bradbury was a pretty big focus for you in 2009. What can you tell me about that animated short, and the inspiration behind it?

CM: I originally pitched Kate and Bradbury for the Atlantic Filmmaker’s Coop One Minute Film Scholarship (http://afcoop.ca/omf), which is a really great program where people who have never made a film before get a chance to learn all the steps involved in making a 16mm black and white film.

I came up with the original idea with my partner Dorian Lang, and we fleshed out a storyboard from there. The idea originally germinated in the new bicycle that I had purchased recently and the people who fly kites on Citadel Hill here in Halifax, which is up the street from our house. It was a definite learning experience, but I had a lot of fun with it and I’m happy how it turned out.

KD: Animation-wise, what are you planning to follow it up with?

CM: I’m currently working on a new film that I hope to finish sometime in 2010 about a girl who is obsessed with items she finds on the ground. It’s still in the fairly early stages and I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but I’m looking forward to tackling it. It will be about 5 minutes long and animated with watercolours and crayons, and if all goes according to plan I will shoot it on 35mm.

KD: What else are you presently working on, by way of minicomics/illustration projects/et cetera?

CM: I’ve gotten pretty distracted by theatre recently and haven’t been doing as much drawing as I’d like to, but I will probably be attending TCAF this year and I’d really like to make some new comics for that.

I’m in the midst of a whirlwind of projects during March, so I’ve decided I’m going to try and make a small comic every week and then focus on something bigger in April. I’m also slowly edging back into the groove by making some tiny watercolour illustrations based on old photos. There’s so many things that I want to be doing all at once – comics, animation, theatre, drawing, being involved in my community – that sometimes it’s a challenge to fit everything in. I sure enjoy trying, though!

For more about Colleen macIsaac, you can visit her website littlefoible.net or check out her Twitter feed. Below is her animated short kate and bradbury, linked from Vimeo.

-Interview by Kevin de Vlaming

As such, the interviews and profiles we feature are generally about comic authors and artists. It didn’t require a hyper intellectual think-tank to  come up with this formula, but we’ve stuck to it all the same (as it seems to make sense).

Too much of the usual, however, can easily become boring.

Which is why this week we are featuring someone who, in fact, does not have any published work directly in comics.

Aaron Leighton is a professional illustrator who specializes in the unusual.

(Okay, so illustration and comics aren’t technically THAT far removed from each other – but really, did you expect I was going to profile a urologist?)

Leighton has been turning his fantastic imaginings of the weird and the wonderful into dollars for over a decade now, since graduating from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 1995.

He describes himself as bi-provincial, owing to the fact that his hometown, Lloydminster, is technically in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Being the wild provincial swinger that he is, he left the Prairies in 1998 bound for Toronto, and he’s been there ever since.

Leighton’s art is a dynamic mixture of cartoon (non)sensibility and tribal artwork, balancing bizarre doodles against simple symbolism.

“If I had to pick a shortlist of influences,” says Leighton, “I’d say that Picasso and the German expressionists taught me about the possibilities of the abstracted figure, cartoons taught me the power of drawings coupled with humour, and the artwork of indigenous cultures, specifically those of Northern Canada and Africa, taught me not only about the power of simplicity but also how mythology can imbue imagery with meaning.”

According to Aaron, his unique style developed steadily over time – it wasn’t at all something he ‘hit the ground running’ with immediately after Art school:

“The evolution of my illustrative style has been a combination of my natural inclination to fill up a page with doodles and a slow, painful struggle of figuring out how to translate this spontaneous tendency – coupled with the things that influence me – into a visual language usable for problem solving.”

His art has appeared in Maclean’s, PC Magazine, The New York Times, and The Globe and Mail, amongst a wealth of other publications.

With such a variety of clients commissioning Aaron for projects varying from promotional to informative to just plain fun, his creative process can get a little messy:

“I usually start by putting my head in my hands and thinking “How the hell am I going to solve this one?” That blank sheet can be terrifying. But despite the fact that I often find conceptualizing difficult, it always works out. Sometimes it helps to leave the studio and give your eyes new stuff to look at, thereby cutting through the feedback loop of the mind to allow it to come up with ideas instead.”

Leighton has also been involved with ‘interactive broadcast animation project’ The Zimmer Twins as creative lead since 2005.

The Zimmer Twins has a pretty interesting concept behind it; kids can visit the official website and, using a series of various pre-cut background and character animation options, build their own endings to a professionally produced story starter.

The best of those short animation endings would then be aired on Canadian broadcast television network Teletoon.

“Working as the creative director of the Zimmer Twins with zinc Roe (the design company behind the project) was rewarding not only because of the originality of the idea but also in that I was able to collaborate with some talented animators to bring my drawings to life. Also it has indeed been very interesting to see the characters being repurposed to fit the technology as it evolves, from the original animated shorts we did to the more recent apps.”

Despite the preamble I made at the beginning of the post, there is at least one other correlation between Aaron Leighton and the world of comic books: stumble into the right comic shop, and you might actually find a book co-illustrated by Aaron for sale by the name of Equally Superior.

Equally Superior was a collaborative project done by Aaron and a couple of his friends under the banner of Trio Magnus.

“Trio Magnus is the name of an artist collective I am part of, along with my friends Clayton Hanmer and Steve Wilson, both of whom also happen to be extraordinary illustrative talents. We had been sketching and doing group art shows together for years here in Toronto, and somewhere along the line we just decided to try joining forces with a bit more focus in order to create interesting (to us, at least) collaborative work fuelled mainly by beer and Led Zeppelin.”

Equally Superior came about in 2007 when Anne Koyama of Koyama Press asked Trio Magnus if they were interested in publishing a book of some sort.

“We gratefully replied that we were,” says Leighton, “and proceeded to create the book with content from our sketchbooks plus some new collaborative pieces. While not in any way narrative, the book ended up being rude, colourful, funny and extremely bizarre – a perfectly appropriate Trio Magnus creation. We launched it at Design Festa in Tokyo in 2007, and Anne has been tireless in her efforts to promote us since then, getting the book into bookstores and galleries not only in Canada and the US but in Spain and Holland as well.”

Going back a few paragraphs, if that comic shop you stumble into happens to be in the greater Toronto area, you might even bump into Aaron himself.

Aaron has a self-professed love for comics, specifically graphic novels and webcomics.

Among his favorites?

“‘Blankets’ by Craig Thompson, ‘Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth’ by Chris Ware, ‘Lous Riel’ by Chester Brown, ‘Skim’ by Jillian Tamaki, and the work of Guy Delisle and Michel Rabagliati. Webcomics-wise, some of my favorites include ‘The City‘ by DERF, ‘The Perry Bible Fellowship‘ by Nick Gurewitch, and the amazing animated comics of Brad Neely.”

“Aside from the artists above,” says Aaron, “I love the work of my friends such as Clayton Hanmer and Tom Humberstone, as well as a guy I discovered at TCAF last year named Mat Brinkman who does these insanely intricate black and white narratives about monsters and spirits doing battle with each other in magical realms.”

Aaron and the other Trio Magnus fellows will be present and accounted for at this year’s TCAF (Toronto Comic Art Festival), showcasing art from their most recent project.

“Currently,” says Leighton, “we’re working on a series of 6 ft. square collaborative drawings (created with red and black Snowman markers) which we plan to convert to smaller silkscreened prints. We’ll be selling these at TCAF in May.”

He also has a book project in the works due out in time for the Festival, to be published by Koyama Press. Leighton says that it will ‘combine illustration and photography, and feature a variety of homeless nature spirits who, having lost their forests and streams, are forced to live in the back alleys and vacant lots of Toronto’.

“It’s sort of a combination of three interests of mine: folk mythology, environmental issues and urban  photography. Nothing stokes my creative fires like the alchemy of combining ideas.”

For more from Aaron, you can visit his website, the website of Trio Magnus, or stop by his booth at this year’s Toronto Comic Art Festival.

-Written by Kevin de Vlaming

Purveyor of quirky, imaginative comics; professional animator and illustrator; add ‘recently new resident of Montreal’ to this list of titles, and you would be describing the wonderfully talented artist Jordyn Bochon.

In addition to her own self-assembled and self-distributed works, Jordyn has had her comics published in several anthologies. It’s possible you could have seen her work in the You Aint No Dancer anthologies (vol.2 or 3) put out by New Reliable Press, or her comics (such as Dead Bird and The Day After V-Day) on the shelves of indie-friendly comic stores around the nation.

Her site, 8et8.net, is a great place to check out samples of her work and to get a solid all-around idea as to what Jordyn Bochon is all about. Or, reading the rest of this article would also probably give you a pretty good idea. You should probably do both, for best value.

Originally hailing from ‘exciting’ Edmonton, Alberta, Bochon relocated to Vancouver to pursue a Bachelor of Media Arts degree (majoring in Animation) from Emily Carr University of Art and Design. During this time, she became well acquainted with the indie comic scene out in Vancouver, which helped to fuel her interest in producing independent comic books.

After receiving her BA in 2007, Bochon took a year to help her partner Tim Carpenter finish his graduation film. The two relocated to Montreal just this past July.

The decision to move was made out of a desire for a new perspective and a fresh start in a different city. Plus, as Jordyn explains, it’s nice to be able to afford a studio space – something she couldn’t do in Vancouver.

Jordyn chatted with the Fabler about her motivations, aspirations, and the new age progressive rock band she’s hoping to get off the ground with Freddie Mercury.

The interview is below:

KD: Why are you an artist?

JB: I can’t really imagine my life any other way. It’s simply the way I think and communicate with the world around me. I don’t believe I ever woke up one morning with the ambition to be an artist (in terms of an identity), but I do wake up in the morning thinking about ideas I want to get down on paper, or exactly what I want to draw before I have to sleep again, or the guilt trip I lay on myself when I’m not productive enough. It’s my first reaction to the things I observe and feel; art really is a way of life.

KD: Can you remember when it was that you decided animation & illustration was what you wanted to do?

JB: Well, I’ve been drawing for a long time. I think I can’t actually say I’ve settled on specific career just yet. Once I finished my degree, and throughout the many long, sleepless, nights while finishing my grad film, I questioned whether animation, illustration, or comics were what I really want to do. I realized I was more interested in learning how to become a storyteller than any of those things. For me the medium is completely secondary to the idea, and I feel I have a lot of learning to do before I could be satisfied with where I am in that respect. But, as I said before, it’s always been the way I communicate. Particularly, drawing. Comics have become more important to me recently, perhaps I’m starting to gain confidence (comics are HARD).

KD: Where do you draw inspiration from for the character ‘regulars’ you employ in multiple comics? (ie., Lere, Finnegan – both recurring characters in Bochon’s comic and illustration work)

JB: Lere has been around for a very long time, 8 years. He’s grown up with me and has evolved into something completely different than what I started with. Finnegan is almost just as old, but I think he really started to take shape in my second year of post secondary. Both have aspects of myself, and I often twist weird things that happen in my life into working for their worlds.

It’s a mix of my own extremes, fears, and obsessions jammed together with the observations I make about what’s going on around me. I often think that Finnegan is all of the terrible things that have ever happened to me in my life, and Lere is what I would like to be if I were a super hero or some kind of historical figure. Oh, what charisma!

KD: Who do you credit as having inspired your artistic style?

JB: It depends on what I’m working on. At the moment, I’m really into Slavic Folk art, like Ivan Biliban or Viktor Vasnetsov. In terms of comics I’m drawn towards a lot of the people who are currently working in the field like Farel Dalrymple, Kazimir Strzepek, Brandon Graham, Joann Sfar, and Gipi, to name a few. Also, I watch Miyazaki films a lot. A LOT.  I tend to have a movie in when I’m working. I watch of a lot of period drama (I have no idea why).

KD: What are some things you’re working on right now?

JB: Lere and Finnegan are from two large stories that I’ve been developing for some time. The ambition is to get these into graphic novel format, though, I’ve been pretty critical about getting the main plot points solid enough before taking the plunge and drawing these monster stories. I think with both I’m at the point where I just need that last push to get going. Up until now most of my comics have been one-shots, which isn’t actually true to what I want to do. It all comes in small steps, I suppose.

Also, Tim Carpenter and I are currently developing a new film project. This is in the very early stages, so there’s not much to say about it. I hope it’s as ridiculously beautiful as we want it to be.

KD: What’s been the extent of your experience self-publishing comics?

JB: I got my start with small time comics when I was in high school. I joined up with a group or people who mostly knew each other through the internet. It’s amazing, because the first three books I was part of were actual, perfect-bound, books. NOW, I’m doing the photocopy and staple technique. So far the experience has been very rewarding. Every new print run gets a little smoother, the designs and work get incrementally sharper, and I learn more about getting it out there for people to read.

I’ve also been lucky to be part of a few anthologies which print the work for you (it’s a little less stressful when you only have to worry about getting your comic done). In the end, it’s all for the love of comics in print; so everything is a reward. Recently, I found out that one of my books from 2008, “The Day After V-day”, was nominated for the Gene Day Award along with fellow Vancouver nominee, Miriam Libicki of Jobnik. That was extremely humbling.

You meet a lot of amazing, dedicated, beautiful people in this community. We’re all here doing what we love because we have things to contribute and, hopefully, are looking for things to learn from each other. Oh, it’s sweat, blood and tears and it’s a good day if you break even; but, we all know this.

KD: What do you think is the most challenging part about ‘getting your work out there’ when you’re self-publishing comic books in Canada? Do you have any advice about how to approach that challenge?

JB: It’s a growing community, but it’s also still a small one. I think it is important to be part of the effort locally. Go to you’re own city’s cons and bookstores. Find a way to organize events that get these independent publishers and artists together. It’s cool if you can afford to go to all of the big deal cons, but I think as long as you work on improving your craft, people will find you. It’s a slow process, and it’s true that not all comic book stores are open to bringing independent work into their racks, but I think if you’re serious about it, and stick it out, things slowly come around.

Also, shop around for printing! When I did my very first zine with fellow artist Colleen MacIsaac, we went to a name brand printer (you know which one I’m talking about… it starts with a K) and spent a fortune on photocopying. In the end, the place across the street, though not quite as fancy in terms of staff uniforms, charged way less and didn’t add fees when you used their equipment. Chances are, there is an artist co-op in your city that will offer you information and workshops about self-publishing, your community, and even have tools for you to use! That’s the best way to get started. Since I just moved to a new city, that’s what I’m doing all over again. It’s an adventure.

KD: If you could meet any three people, living or dead, who would they be and why?

JB: HMMM. THIS IS A HARD QUESTION. First, I would want to meet my Great, Great, Aunt, who apparently ran naked with the wolves during every full moon (in the old country) because I’ve heard this tale since I was very little and think I would probably get along with her. After that I would want to meet Merlin the wizard, because-come on- if we’re talking about raising the dead I’m sure we can get some fictional dead in here. We would probably make some neat comics together and I think it’s unfair I was born without supernatural wizard powers. Merlin would hook me up. Lastly, my Naked-Wolf-Aunty, Merlin, and I would pick up Freddie Mercury, my spirit guide, and we’d start a new-age progressive rock band. That would be absolutely grand!

Truth be told, I think all of the people I would like to meet are not the type to hang out with some random artist from 2009, so rather than taint the image I have of them in my mind, because it would totally end in a knife fight, I would rather not meet them at all.

Well answered, Jordyn. Well answered. For more from Jordyn Bochon, you can check out her website, Twitter feed, and sketch journal.