Giuseppe Cristiano

“Omule : Hi , tell me how everything started.”

“Giuseppe : I have always been drawing since I can remember. When I was a kid I always had a notebook and pencils with me and whenever I watched a movie I made my comic version of it. Same thing about books or stories I read. I always had the urge to visualize them. Sometimes I went even further, like when I watched a movie I really liked I would invent stories based on it, sequels, other versions. And filled up my note books with sketches and comics.”

“Omule : What is like to be an illustrator?”

“Giuseppe : It’s awesome, it;s always a new challenge working with clients. Some are easier than others and some others are really tough and difficult to please. Overall I couldn’t ask for a better profession. It gives me freedom to work on my personal projects and also it’s a creative job even if you are doing storyboards for tv commercials. It gives the opportunity to meet other creative people and also to explore different techniques. You always learn something new.”

“Omule : How would you describe your style?”

“Giuseppe : In general I like to change, try something new. It depends on the job I am doing and of course the time I have to execute the job. Sometimes I really have to work fast, in that case I maybe work with easy tools that helps me out speeding out the process. Not sure how I can define my style. For the illustrations I do I tend to have a “poppish” approach. Many of my illustrations are clearly influenced by nostalgic theme, perhaps fragment of my upbringing. Some others are experiments or tryout if I am working on a concept. A little bit of a “what if” brainstorming. Like for example, what if I draw this backward, or white on black? Sometimes I re-draw the same thing over and over to find a better approach. Other times I simply try new brushes or tools.”

“Omule : Where do you get your inspiration from?”

“Giuseppe : Everywhere around me, I still carry a notebook around. I like to sketch quickly down ideas as they pop up in my head. I maybe do some rough sketches and then as soon as I have a minute I would work on them in my studio. I collect art books, comics, movies. An idea can come from a photo on a magazine.”

“Omule : What is your ideal creative environment?”

“Giuseppe : When I travel I get a lot of energy and ideas. It’s like any new scenery is opening my mind but it is also because I break my routine and I leave my safe zone. My studio is very large and I have everything I need around me. I work listening music a lot and I also have a recording studio to distress between jobs. Sometimes I might just jam a little to get out some stress. I like to work on late evenings and nights although I don’t do that very often these days. Back many years I could have been up all night working on something now I like to watch a movie to distress before going to bed. My new studio is also well isolated and it gives me the silence and privacy I need. Sometimes when I work on a book I might need to be in a sort of quarantine to collect ideas and write. It’s important that I don’t break that process otherwise I get lost and might easily get distracted. But I am very methodical so when I start something I have already made a certain plan and I keep usually several projects going on the side in between jobs.”

“Omule : Favorite place to go on a holiday.”

“Giuseppe : I like the ocean, the smell of it, the sand, the waves and of course the food from the sea is my favorite. There are a few places I like. I like Los Angeles and whole Pacific Coast. I have been many times in San Diego. Otherwise I like big cities for a short period of time, New York is top of the list but also London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome. I also like the desert a lot. I have been to a few of them. I don’t particularly like holidays in the cold, mainly because you have to bring so much clothes and all that. I like to travel with as less as possible.”

“Omule : Five things you can’t live without.”

“Giuseppe : I love watching movie and even if I have a lot of work I still need to watch a movie a day at the very least. They are periods when I go crazy and watch movies for an entire day. Reading books and comics. Music, I listen a lot of music and I played in several bands. As a matter of fact I am starting a new one just now. I also record music as hobby so definitively music in general. I enjoy going to restaurants and try new things especially when I travel. I really dig trying local food but I definitively love traveling.”

“Omule : Do you have any kind of creative patterns and routines ?”

“Giuseppe : Oh yes, all my life I have had routines one way or another. Don’t know how it started but I have always been kind of methodical in what I do. It perhaps because I did a lot of sport when I was younger and training requires routines and discipline. At home I follow my simple routines which is that I dedicate certain hours of the day to certain tasks. For example early in the morning I take care of my socials, blogs, emails, that is before starting the day. Then the phone would start ringing and I dig into the work that needs to be done and so forth. I have patterns when for example I work on a book. I need to collect everything I need and the first thing I do is write a structure, it might change during the writing process but it gives me a direction and keeps me on track. One thing I also do is that everyday I draw a picture for myself, no matter how much work I have I really need to do the picture and it can be anything from a rough sketch to a finished illustration.”

“Omule : What kind of books and movies do you like?”

“Giuseppe : Oh the list would be infinite :) It also depends on the period. If I get into something like for example a movie by a certain director then I go searching all the movies and go through them all. It is something very useful for my work in fact. To be able to understand director’s vision and style I need to continuously watch new things. I like road movies a lot, scifi, thrillers, indie, adventure, epic, I sometimes prefer 70ties or 80ies but it varies. As for books there are a few favorite writers of mine like Bukowski, Lansdale, Ballard, King, Ellroy, Thompson, McCarthy but also Lovecraft, Howard there are so many.”

“Omule : What superpower would you like to have and why?”

“Giuseppe : I would like to have a clone of myself so that sometimes I can take a break and I could give to my clone jobs to do that are tedious and boring like some Ikea’s commercials. I am evil in that sense right? But seriously one superpower I would like to have is to be able to stop the time. That is because some of my clients are crazy and they ask for impossible tasks giving me crazy deadlines. Only if I could stop the time I could manage to survive them, I hope some of them end up reading this .”

“Omule : What would be a great achievement for you?”

“Giuseppe : Right now to actually finish all the projects I have started before the end of the year. That would be amazing.”

“Omule : How do you usually start a new project ?”

“Giuseppe : Different ways, sometimes it happens that I am working on something and an idea comes up. Then I usually write it down on my sketchbook or on my phone or even on a post-it and I leave it there until I have a moment to work around it. If I am planning a new project then I use binders where I regularly put in material, notes, sketches, maybe articles or cut out from magazines, images etc. If it is something specific like a book and I already have a publisher the very first thing I do is to write down a table of content, even if only temporary but it will give me an idea of how the book would be and it’s the easiest way to describe it to the publisher.”

“Omule : Have you encountered ups and downs so far?”

“Giuseppe : Yes, all the time. An artist life is a tough one. Sometimes the ups and downs are just personal as you tend to be very critical to your own work. It’ a process I believe many artists struggle on all their life. Other problems are simply because a freelancer life is not a simple one. You have to be not just the artist but also the manager, the accountant, the producer etc. So many shoes to wear so to speak.”

“Omule : What kind of feedback have you received so far?”

“Giuseppe : A bit of a mix. I have been working professionally for many years now. And I have collected quite a lot of positive feedback. That is because I have gathered the experience that made me grow over the years. I have had my share of failure, due to inexperience and unluck. Every now and then you also have to be careful to those “sharks” working in the industry. Weird characters that you don’t exactly know what they do or how they made it so far but they are around. Myself and many of my friends have met a few and if you don't have a strong character these experiences can destroy you. For example you might end up working for a project for months and all of a sudden the producer vanishes, the job disappear and you won’t get paid. That’s a typical one.”

“Omule : What do you like the most about your work?”

“Giuseppe : Mainly the fact that I can work on my own time. That sort of freedom. Once I have got a job I can foresee the timeline and therefore I can adapt it to my schedules. That also helps me when I have several jobs simultaneously.”

“Omule : Who is on the guest list for your ideal dinner party?”

“Giuseppe : Oh I would’t know really.”

“Omule : What is your favorite kind of project?”

“Giuseppe : I like working on games because it’s a very creative environment but also there are a lot of talented artists involved in a project. Feature films or series if there is one of my heroes involved of course.”

“Omule : Do you have favorite documentaries series , or podcasts?”

“Giuseppe : When I work I listed to some podcast, directors or movie related. Interviews to artists in general. I like music documentaries. And to break the monotony or work sometimes I watch sketches from Saturday Night Live, just randomly on YouTube. I don't listen to Radio because I prefer to play records I chose myself. So I always have a huge pile of CDs to listen on my desk. I do some sort of playlist depending on the job, if I need energy I might just play some hard rock, pretty intense fast beating music but also some progressive rock. The more intricate the music the better.”

“Omule : PC or Mac? Pencil and paper or tablet? Photoshop or Illustrator?”

“Giuseppe : PC for sure. At least if something breaks I know how to fix it. I work with both traditional pen and paper and tablet. Photoshop and MangaStudio which now is called ClipStudio.”

“Omule : Favorite places to visit and why?”

“Giuseppe : Los Angeles and San Diego. I have great memories in both places and I like the vibe when I am there.”

“Omule : If you had the power, what would you forbid?”

“Giuseppe : Stupidity and ignorance. Today with all the media and devices one have at disposal there should be more knowledge.”

“Omule : What made you want to become an illustrator or artist?”

“Giuseppe : It’s something I always wanted to do I guess.”

“Omule : Can you remember some of your earliest influences?”

“Giuseppe : Yes, Moebius (Jean Giraud) was one of my favorite artists. I copied him, read everything he published. I was obsessed and had the pleasure to meet him a few times. He gave me a lot of great advises. My studio walls are plastered with his work. I have also a signed book by him and a lot of limited edition prints. But of course also Jack Kirby, Steranko, Sergio Toppi and many others.”

“Omule : Which of your projects has been most important to developing your personal style?”

“Giuseppe : Not really sure, I usually try to experiment and often I go to different direction. I like to think that I do “cinematic” work.”

“Omule : Would you say that keeping things simple is your strongest skill?”

“Giuseppe : Yes definitely, especially when you work with storyboards you must keep things simple, it;;s a lot of frames for every projects and often a battle against time.”

“Omule : Which illustrators or artists working today do you admire the most?”

“Giuseppe : There are quite many, Sean Phillips I like very much. Sienkiewicz, Maalev. Hughes... also here the list might become very very long :D”

“Omule : What criteria do you use to critique your work?”

“Giuseppe : If it’s a commissioned job I leave the critiques to the client. And of course I follow the direction they give me. When I work with storyboards I know it’s important the continuity more than the illustration and quality of the work. So I focus more on that, I regret of course that I can’t give my 100% to the illustration style but time is often limited so you have to focus on what’s more important for the director. In that sense I am often not happy of the aesthetic of the work and the fact that once used the storyboard will vanish from the face of the Earth makes me feel better.”

“Omule : How much attention do you pay to the feedback of others on your work?”

“Giuseppe : It depends on how relevant the feedback are. Often I read reviews of movies on the internet for example and you realize that more and more people have become film critics of some sort then you also figure out that many of the people writing might not even have seen the movie at all and that makes you think. I get feedback from a person I work with and know that have a different weight that from someone totally out of my network but of course the critique and feedback might be right. I usually check whoever is leaving a comment for example to understand also the level of the critique.”

“Omule : What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?”

“Giuseppe : Gosh, so many different and in different times of my life so it;s kind of difficult to pick them up.”

“Omule : What are some things you can’t do (or hate doing)?”

“Giuseppe : One of the thing I hate the most is when a client disrespect totally my privacy. For example insisting on working on weekend or late hour despite the fact that I might have told them I wasn’t available. Technically it’s very difficult to draw animals in general especially dogs
and horses. I mean it’;s fine doing some illustrations but drawing sequences where the
horse should do this and that thing or that the dog should do a stunt or acrobatic action
then we have a problem. It’s very time consuming because I need to study the anatomy of each singular frame. Of course it can be fun given the right project but it can also be a huge hassle.”

“Omule : What would you say to young/aspiring artists, to help them improve and find their
way?”

“Giuseppe : Never give up is probably one of the best advice I can give to any upcoming artist. If you
really believe in what you are doing then never give up, no matter what you are told. ”