March 8, 2007

  • //The Interview - Pt. 3

    You've attempted to team up with others before to publish projects but went solo again soon after. What happened?
    Well, the short version of the story is that our philosophies were very different. I believed, and still believe, in building on my existing, developed skill and expand on those skills. My ex-teammates wanted to start me from scratch.

    "From scratch?"
    As in letting go my current styles and knowledge about this field of work, which I have some expertise in.

    That doesn't make a whole lot of sense...
    Not to me either. My intuition was telling me that everything is wrong with this. But my logic was telling me that these guys are friends, and they know the art of illustration and creative process BETTER than I do.

    And they don't?
    That's debatable.

    So you went along with their philosophy.
    I did. And I think one of my many flaws is that I am very trusting toward friends. I assumed that they really want the best for me, for the team, and would treat me with honesty, which is the way I treat people.

    So they were dishonest to you?
    Well, I certainly believe that there should've been more disclosure among us. After all, it was a joint venture and we were a team.

    Do you feel you were treated unfairly?
    I honestly did not feel like I was wanted when I was with the team. What really bothered me was that very often I would find out that the other two founding members had "important meetings" along with the rest of the world over their blog sites...

    They left you out? Deliberately?
    It seems that way. I mean, I was supposed to be the creative director of the group. But apparently my input wasn't wanted.

    [You were disrespected...]
    Very much so. The message that was being sent to me constantly was a conflicted one: "Henry, you're the creative director of the team. You NEED to take charge and be a leader. We want people who are just along for the ride." Yet my ideas and opinions were always met with "wrong" or "thanks but no thanks" attitudes. That basically told me that their idea of "creativity" is for me to be a garbage man to figure out how to deal with ideas they have no idea how to implement. The "leadership" is not so much of leading, but more like how effectively I can grow beanstalks outta not-so-magical beans they crapped out.

    So you feel that the "Creative Director" was an empty title...
    Yes. First of all, why was I left outta ANY meeting, if I was the foundation of the creative force? Second, I do not have a problem with working on their concepts. But I do need time. I am certain that in the meetings I was left out of, a lot of brainstorming was done. They would then sit on those ideas for days to weeks to digest and organize them. They kept that information from me, and expected me to come up with suggestions on the spot after hearing the same ideas for the first time. Then they criticized me for not having enough creative juice, and that I just failed "the test". I mean, honestly, thanks for slamming me for something that they couldn't have done themselves, either.

    Did you just say "test"? As in making you proving yourself?
    On a consistent basis. Yes.

    But did they not recruit you base on your ability?
    That was what I thought, too. Essentially, I was told that in order for me to get work, I needed to change the way I draw. As absurd and ignorant that attitude sounded to me, I thought I'd give it a try and see if I can learn from it. But I think it is ridiculous for anyone to say what the "right" way of drawing is. It's certainly subjective and it's totally ignorant to think one style works better than another.

    Why not hire someone that draw in the style they want?
    Good question. Even if the transition in this brainwashing process was successful, why would a big time publisher want to hire a me-too artist when they can hire the real deal, or someone unique.

    They wanted you to draw like someone else?
    Draw in "industry standard" was the exact lingo. The belief is ignorant in the fact that it limits artistic freedom and that it forces a "way" of drawing sequential art. The belief is also very short sighted, because the so-called "industry standard" changes every few years base on an artist's popularity. So should I be changing my style every few years just to be the next [big name]? I am never gonna be the first "Henry Liao" that way. It's the biggest oxymoron, considering that they constantly chewed me out about the needs to be a leader, but forced me to be a follower when it comes to creativity.

    Was that when things between the three of you started to fall apart?
    Let me put it this way: I've never met another person that wanted so much credit for doing so little. So the team consisted of the CEO, who has a track record with Image Comics and Marvel Entertainment. Me, who worked on various illustrative projects for Disney, WB, Sony and TokyoPop. Then there's the "Editor-In-Chief", who came from 20 years of experience in... swap meet management.

    [What?]
    It's not hard to recognize that if there was anyone that was handed a job title he was unqualified to do, it was the guy that had done nothing in the field of creative art.

    But he could still be good at it if he takes time to learn, couldn't he?
    And that's where we had our problems. His ego was too big to admit that his two teammates are more experienced and know more about the industry that we are in. There was somehow a need for him to "look good" in front of us when we are in discussions of technical stuff. So he would never ask questions publicly on things that he doesn't know about, yet are trivial. We were supposed to be friends. If you have to pretend to be bigger and better just so you can have some sort of advantage over your friends, you're not gonna have any friends.

    It sounds like a game of manipulation...
    For someone who brags about being a real man and a professional, he couldn't be anywhere farther from the words he preached. Knowing that he didn't have real skills in the creative process, he insisted on me talking to him, and never the CEO directly with my concerns, so he could stick a hand into everything that we do, without actually doing anything. There were many occasions where words were twisted to generate misunderstanding between the CEO and I, and who knows how many of my ideas ended up being his ideas when they were reiterated through his mouth.

    Going through your sketches, I see a big chunk of work that was done for one particular title while you were part of this creative team. What was it like working on this specific project with this editor of yours?
    At first, he told the CEO and I that he wanted to be the writer of the title. And since I was in charge of the title's character designs, him and I had to work together. The first thing he said to me when we were brainstorming was that "most of the time, writers don't write up character descriptions for the artists. It is up to the artists to do their own researches and come up with the characters..."

    [So if the writer is not writing, why is he a writer?]
    I called bullshit on him. You see, the problem with people like him is that they all think they can get away with lies, and talk to others as if they were borne yesterday. He was setting the scenario up to cover his own ass, so he didn't have to admit he can't write. There are indeed, writers out there that do not write detail character descriptions. Those writers also give the artists complete creative freedom, since they didn't set any parameters. However, they still point out clear directions on where they'd like to see the character designs are heading.

    What happened in your case?
    Well, a character "brief" was handed to me. Each character had about two lines of description, in which it would be an understatement to say the writing was vague. On top of that, the brief wasn't even written by him. The CEO scribbled it down.

    [So you had very little to work with.]
    The subjects were werewolves, but the brief didn't even tell me whether these characters turn into wolves that stood on all four legs or if they had human looking figures. I popped the question and was told to do my own research. Fine. I sketched the werewolves standing on all fours, just because it's a little different from most of the ones I have seen. A couple of rounds later, motherfucker decided to tell me that the wolves should be standing on two legs. He did the same thing with the human character counterparts: Gave me no clear direction, so I'd interpret the character brief and draw a pretty boy with long hair. Of course he emailed me back and said they should have short hairstyles.

    [He didn't tell you anything till after the fact?]
    We just kept on going in circles, because it was clear that he doesn't have any idea what to do with the character creation, or where the story should go. I kept on asking him to give me some for of directions. I would just get chewed out for being lazy and not doing my research. You see, instead of doing some work himself with that writer title, he sat on his ass and chewed me out for not doing his writing work with his editor title. The biggest bitch of a move that he did was that he claimed that he was done with the script for issue number one. But he wouldn't show it to me because it would distract me from my designs. How the frak would a supposedly clear written script about supposedly established characters be a frakking distraction, instead of help, to me?! Then... and THEN he went and told the CEO that he handed me the script already when the CEO inquired about the progress.

    [He sounds like on of those guys you know that talk outta their butt holes...]
    And this creative studio idea really went over his head. He started telling people how to draw, how to do layouts...etc. Keep in mind that this is a guy that has not done any sort of professional illustration work, or knows how to hold a pencil for sketching, even. And there he was thinking he has capability to enforce, not evaluate, but to enforce, how illustration should be done.

    I take it that he has pulled the same stunt while working with you?
    Where does one get off to completely disregard my work experience with some of the most respectable clients in the entertainment industry? Anyone can understand the idea that when a project is at the conceptual stage, everything drawn should be loose and rough, because they are bound for revisions. He came into the picture and wanted to see finalized clean lines that are prepped for the digital inking, which he claimed to be capable of doing. When I pointed out to him that it doesn't make sense to draw something so finalized, he snapped and told me that I needed the practice to prove to him that I can do the job. Practice?! Practice?! What the frak did he think I've been doing since getting my first professional gig when I was 17? And it was apparent that he never bothered to look at my website to see what I can do, had he wanted to see proof of such petty aspect of a creative process. Either that, or he thought of himself as so important that proving something to him will actually be of some importance.

    [You obviously thought otherwise...]
    Well, yeah. I've been doing work in this field a lot longer than he has. What would I get from proving anything to him, recognition of a no name studio with an editor that has nothing on his resume? C'mon. I wanted to do this my way because I knew how and what has worked for me before. But he came in and kicked aside everything and thought he can revitalize the comic book industry.

    Did you ever talk to him about compromising?
    Of course I have. The guy just didn't know how to take no for an answer. He would "assign" me to design a set of character from scratch, like I said, without doing any work himself. I would give him a breakdown of the time I needed for each step he asked for, minus the time needed to research, and then give him an honest assessment of the fact that I will need more time than he estimated. I even gave him how much time I use in a day for my full time work. He would shoot me down by telling me that he gave me "plenty" of time, and he would use how fast I can scribble a Pikachu as an argument that I should be able to draw finalized artwork that have never been drawn before just as fast. You know, it's simple for any lazy ass that works only twice a week to be talking how much I can draw AFTER working a full 10-hour day. Up to this point, he hasn't written anything besides a bunch of bullshit emails telling me how much I need to learn to compromise on one end for the writer and on the other end for the inker...

    [But... those positions are both his...]
    See what I mean about him setting things up to cover his own ass? On every piece of my work, he was the only "professional" that claimed my lines weren't ink-able. That was not it at all. He just never bothered to try to ink the lines. When I was working on a bunch of concepts for modification on cars, he was the only person that said the cars look no different than stock ones to him. I found out later that he didn't even know anything about cars, or anything about car culture. But there he was in charge of the project, talking outta his ass about how little body roll a car should have when they go through turns. He is such a typical manager who is full of crap that thinks he can just sit there and tell people what to do, then get all the credit since he can be the one who hand the final product to the clients.

    Do you remember when it was that you reach the breaking point of this partnership?
    By that time, we had already gone through rounds and rounds of revisions on juvenile changes that were really a difference of opinion in style, which he really has no say in. So he threw out a crap of a point to say that the characters don't have enough distinguishable personality in their expressions. OF COURSE NOT. He hasn't written jack crap about the characters, and I had been interpreting their reaction to different scenario base on my intuition. So I asked him to tell me more about the characters, only to see him throw me a list of what happens to a person's features when he's in certain moods, like "eyelids closed half way, mouth opening on the left side, eyelashes wiggle down...etc." From that he claimed that if he can come up with so many, I should at least be able to come up with a few for each of the characters. He insisted to have me write them down first, show it to him, and then draw them. It was a complete waste of my time because I was not the one that should be writing. Furthermore, I didn't frakking need to know what happens to an eyebrow when a person is in certain mood. I wanted to know what the person's personality is and how he/she reacts to situations. If making others do all his work for him was what made him a writer, I should be getting a Nobel Prize for doing my own work.

    In other words: They played you. They tried to break you and brainwash you. But you stood up for your belief, and so they fired you?
    With an email consisted of two written letters. An email?! Not even the balls for face to face, although both letters read that they really would like to speak to me. So, being professional, and thinking that I at least owe them the respect, I called them. Guess what happened?

    [Voicemail?]
    All three times.

    What was written in the firing letters?
    Oh, this is a good. The two of them told me that I am not ready to be a leader. But they didn't bother to mention that each one of the ideas I suggested were either taken over by someone, or ignored because my way just isn't good. They shredded me for not pulling my weight, without mentioning the fact that I did most of the preparation work at the shows we went to. I was the only one that worked 40 hours a week and still drew everyday. Every-Frakking-Day! If that's lazy, the two of them are pigs. They said that I talk to girls too much when I am working at local coffee shops. But that's just petty jealousy. And this one is the best: They told me that I don't have the heart to be in this field of work, because "all I care about" is being rich and famous, which isn't what being an illustrator is about. What a load of crap on top of a giant pile of crap. I was never the one that used my job title as a pick up line. I wasn't the one that use recruiting as an excuse to lure girls to be closer. Lying like that will only get you so far. At least I am honest about what my goals are and where I want to take myself with my ability, not pretending to be doing it solely for the love of art.

    Was that the end of everything between you guys?
    Honestly. I was gonna let it die. You know, I'll do my thing and you can go ahead and do whatever that it is you're trying to convince yourself to do, for the greater good of human kind or whatever. But like the brat that knows he frakked up and had to jump the gun to get people on his side, the editor started saying crap about me to make it look like it was completely my fault. He said I was lazy, when it was him that didn't do jack and gave me the unreasonable deadlines. He said that I was always negative about our work, that I don't have any confidence. But it was his inability and lack of experience that I had no confidence in. I mean, the guy is so out of it, he doesn't even know how to self-reflect.

    [Maybe he just plays dirty, the fact that he bad mouth about you after backstabbing you...]
    He does play dirty. As you know, I have a solid relationship with Anime Expo's Volunteer Staff Department. So every year I would do them favors, draw them t-shirt designs... you know, little things here and there to help promote my work. He went behind my back, using my name as bait to gain those opportunity I paid my dues for. My contact granted the studio the work in faith that I would be working on the designs. I only found out about it later when my contact asked me why my artwork wasn't up to my usual standards, was wondering if she had offended me in some way for me to do such a bad job. That was just one part of that big fiasco that the editor not only screwed with my reputation, but also ruined the reputation of the studio.

    [But you cleared everything up, right?]
    I did. Never underestimate the power of my interpersonal skills. I had pull some serious effort to get my rep back. And I did.

    Did you ever clear things up with your CEO and the friends that misunderstood you?
    Yeah. A long time after the all the damage is committed. It doesn't excuse CEO from the fact that he appointed this guy to the editor position, and just sat aside and watched him sabotage me for personal gains. Yes, we may be cool now. But there's not much you can do to repair the lost trust and the faith that I had in the CEO as a friend, no matter how much I admire him as an artist. I don't know what our mutual friends thought of me when the editor was bad mouthing me. I have to say, though, that I am grateful that Thomas Wu spoke up for me when everyone else was too intimidated by the editor.

    But you won this battle at end, though...
    I wouldn't say it's anything like a battle. I am glad my name is cleared. But who knows what the editor guy is thinking. I mean, this guy literally think everything happens around him because of him: I love wolves, but apparently I didn't know about wolves till I met him; There's no story about werewolves before he came up with it; No one used racks to hang up artwork before he did it; And I obviously didn't draw professionally before I met him. Chances are, if I fail at this line of work, he will go around telling people how he knew that I never had it in me. But if I succeed, he will likely to claim that he discovered me, or that it's the crap that he did that motivated me to succeed.

    [I can't believe you can still look at what happened to you with such a sarcastic attitude...]
    You know, you might be too depressed if you can't laugh a little at your own life.


    [To Be Continued]