{"id":32853,"date":"2011-08-21T11:53:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-21T11:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/?p=32853"},"modified":"2021-05-19T17:13:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T17:13:53","slug":"eric-drooker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/eric-drooker\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with artist and &#8216;Howl&#8217; Animation Designer Eric Drooker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>When we reviewed\u00a0Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman&#8217;s Alan Ginsberg biopic <\/strong><\/em><strong>Howl<\/strong><em><strong> last month we were, as one might suspect, particularly drawn to the film&#8217;s enchanting animated sequences that brought a new and exciting life to the iconic, titular poem. Today on Skwigly we meet <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drooker.com\">Eric Drooker<\/a>, the acclaimed artist, illustrator and graphic novelist behind these stunning visuals.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Howl trailer - In UK cinemas February 25th 2011\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/19833858?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>What sort of artistic background did you have when you first started making a name for yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Although I\u2019d won a scholarship to a prestigious art school in Manhattan (where I studied sculpture), I\u2019m basically self-taught, because no one can actually teach you Art. A good school can teach you <em>technique<\/em>, and a very good teacher can <em>inspire<\/em> you. But true Art comes from within. So, It wasn\u2019t until after I graduated school that my real education began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Before you eventually met, how familiar were you with Ginsberg growing up and did you feel any sense of identification with his work back then?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I was only slightly familiar with his work. At the age of twelve, I\u2019d heard a record of him reading his poem <em>Kaddish<\/em>. Though most of it went over my head, I was intrigued by the rhythm and cadence of his voice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Are you a fan of poetry in general?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Most poetry (like most art in general) leaves me cold. It\u2019s mostly cookie-cutter technique, boring, and uninspired. The poet (or artist) hides behind seductive <em>forms<\/em>, and rarely communicates who they actually <em>are<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.skwigly.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/book_cover.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"388\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Drooker&#8217;s sequences for the movie were adapted into a graphic novel, following on from his original works <em>Flood! A Novel in Pictures<\/em> and <em>Blood Song<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>How were you originally approached by the filmmakers to produce the animation for <em>Howl<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Initially, the filmmakers wanted to use my images for their upcoming documentary about \u201cHowl.\u201d But when I showed them my graphic novels, and they realized how much sequential art I\u2019d created, they hired me to animate the compete poem. Next thing I knew, they\u2019d hired Hollywood actors to play Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Neil Cassady. So, the film morphed from being a documentary <em>about<\/em> the famous poem, <em>Howl<\/em>, to being a drama <em>of<\/em> the poem itself; and the subsequent obscenity trial, which the poem set in motion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>For the most part you\u2019ve created visuals using razorblade-on-scratchboard, what is it about this process that appeals to you most?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Drawing with a razor blade feels infinitely more visceral than gliding over the surface with a pen or brush. Like woodcut, it\u2019s a subtractive process; the ink is already there and I\u2019m scratching it off with a knife. The hand-carved aesthetic lends itself well to extreme emotional states, passionate visions, and social criticism.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Having produced work traditionally for so long, did you have any reservations about the digital animation process?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I\u2019m always curious to try new ways of expressing myself in various media; be it traditional oil on canvas, or pixels on an electronic screen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Had you ever been interested\/involved in animation beforehand?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Bugs Bunny has been one of my major role models since early childhood. (He never <em>starts<\/em> shit, have you noticed? He\u2019s always minding his own business when some white guy with a gun starts fucking with him. After that, he plays by his own rules, with <em>maximum <\/em>retaliation.) But aside from a few flip-books I made as a kid, I\u2019d never animated anything. And I never actively pursued a career in animation (it\u2019s far too tedious). But when the directors of <em>Howl<\/em> hired me to animate Ginsberg\u2019s poem (told me I\u2019d have a team of animators who would follow my storyboard and bring my art to life), I couldn\u2019t resist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>What was the scale of your involvement as the animation designer, and what level of control did you have over the end result?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I designed all the characters, created the key frames, and original storyboard. A veteran animator from San Francisco, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cca.edu\/academics\/faculty\/jhays\">John Hays<\/a>, developed the storyboard further, and directed the animation team at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.themonkstudio.com\/\">The Monk Studio<\/a> in Bangkok.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>In making this film, were there any specific artistic influences drawn upon for the first time, possibly within the world of animation itself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I didn\u2019t draw much from the world of animation. But my artistic influences on this project included the work of William Blake, the German Expressionists, the American Magic Realists, and Film Noir.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Music and performance have appeared as themes in some of your work, do you feel a connection with the world of visual storytelling and music composition?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Since visual art is silent, I try to infuse my images with as much <em>rhythm<\/em> as possible. It\u2019s been said that all art forms aspire to that of music. Animation certainly has a close affinity with music. Being a temporal medium, like dance, it must be carefully choreographed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rhino.com\/sites\/rhino.com\/files\/styles\/square\/public\/190295973353.sml.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bands such as Faith No More and Rage Against The Machine have drawn on Drooker&#8217;s distinct work for their album covers<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Following on from that, do you have any opinion on the musical associations with your work (whether they are a successful fit and\/or juxtaposition), e.g. bands using your imagery for album covers, and Carter Burwell\u2019s score for <em>Howl<\/em> that accompanies much of the animation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Countless bands have approached me about creating album covers. Punk, Hip Hop, and Jazz bands often feel a mystic connection to my work, which is cool. Though I\u2019m often listening to folk music while making art.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>How did your initial collaboration with Ginsberg\u2019s <em>Illuminated Poems<\/em> come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I knew Allen Ginsberg from the streets of lower Manhattan, where I\u2019d created a series of protest posters on a range of urgent local issues. The poet had seen my posters around the neighborhood, and had been collecting them. One day he suggested we collaborate on a poster together. Ultimately, we published a volume of dozens of his poems (and songs), which I illustrated with paintings and drawings. This book, <em>Illuminated Poems<\/em>, became an underground classic, and eventually caught the attention of the directors of <em>Howl<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Did your work on that book lay the groundwork for creating the visuals with <em>Howl<\/em> or did you start with a completely blank canvass?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Many images in the book inspired animated scenes in the film, but the poem <em>Howl<\/em> is so long that I needed to spend a couple of years creating all-new imagery for the film\u2019s numerous animated sequences.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>As with your graphic novel work, the <em>Howl<\/em> animation features a lone character on a journey of sorts. Does this character purely represent Ginsberg, or are there other facets to it (e.g., fictional or autobiographical)?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The \u201clone character\u201d seen throughout the film is a composite of the many desperate, creative souls I\u2019d known over the years. He\u2019s stark, raving mad . . . but it\u2019s <em>divine madness<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>One of the more striking parts of the film is the \u201cMoloch\u201d sequence, and it\u2019s been brought up that in writing it Ginsberg was influenced by Lynd Ward, who subsequently created his own visual interpretation of the passage. Was that a contributing factor to your own visualization for the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>No, but I was enormously influenced by Lynd Ward\u2019s wordless novels of the 1930s, which inspired my first two graphic novels, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkhorse.com\/Books\/24-976\/Flood-A-Novel-in-Pictures-Fourth-Edition-HC\"><em>Flood! A Novel in Pictures<\/em><\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkhorse.com\/Books\/15-326\/Blood-Song-A-Silent-Ballad\"><em>Blood Song: A Silent Ballad<\/em><\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>A visual motif prominent in your novels that appears in <em>Howl<\/em>, are moments where the characters become translucent with their skeletons illuminated. Does this concept have any specific meaning or conveyance, and does the idea come from anywhere in particular?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The X-Ray motif, which I use frequently, is my way of depicting moments of emotional vulnerability, impending mortality, and a general sense of impermanence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Visit the artist\u2019s site at <a href=\"http:\/\/drooker.com\">drooker.com<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/howlthemovie.com\/\"><strong>Howl<\/strong><\/a><em><strong> (Dir. Rob Epstein\/Jeffrey Friedman) is available to buy on DVD and Blu-Ray from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sodapictures.com\/howl\/\">Soda Pictures<\/a> in the UK and Oscilloscope Laboratories in the US.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><strong>Howl: A Graphic Novel<\/strong><em><strong> by Allen Ginsberg and Eric Drooker is available through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.penguinclassics.co.uk\/nf\/Book\/BookDisplay\/0,,9780141195704,00.html?Howl_Allen_Ginsberg\">Penguin Classics<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When we reviewed\u00a0Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman&#8217;s Alan Ginsberg biopic Howl last month we were, as one might suspect, particularly drawn to the film&#8217;s enchanting animated sequences that brought a new and exciting life to the iconic, titular poem. Today on Skwigly we meet Eric Drooker, the acclaimed artist, illustrator and graphic novelist behind these [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":32854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,755],"tags":[5401,5402,5403,5404],"class_list":["post-32853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-interviews","tag-eric-drooker","tag-howl","tag-john-hays","tag-the-monk-studio"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Interview with artist and &#039;Howl&#039; 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