Ovi Nedelcu is a highly talented artist whose vision and ability are well seen in his book PIGTALE. It is a pleasure to here interview him, and I appreciate his time and answers.
AN: Tell us more about yourself: Where do you live, where are you from, are you married, are you a parent, do you have pets?
OVI: Yes, I’m married and have a little 2-year-old daughter. I live in Portland, OR, and, no, I don’t have any pets. My child is a handful. Haha.
AN: DESENE Sketches & Scribbles is your new book. As an art book, it appears to be a
collection of your various sketches and work. What caused you to enter into this project? Who publishes it? When does it come out?
OVI: Well, the book will be published by IMAGE comics book division. The idea came to Eric Stephenson at the Emerald City Comic CON back in February of 2005. I was at the IMAGE booth,, selling and signing PIGTALE and drawing in my sketchbook. Eric saw me drawing and suggested I put out a book filled with my sketches. At first I didn’t really want to do it, but then thought “why not?” so, here we are now. The book comes out SEPT 7th.
AN: Upon looking at it, I see that you have written some commentary regarding the sketches. Is it a how-to book?
OVI: No, it’s not a “how-to” book. I even state in the book that it’s not a “how-to” book. It’s a book filled with my raw sketches. The commentary in the book is just me talking about some of my process and thoughts on how I work and what was going through my mind when I did certain sketches and concepts.
AN: There are a great number of them out there. What distinguishes your work from the others?
OVI: Well, what distinguishes my book from others is that it’s MY work. Also, the book will have a children’s book theme and feel to it.
AN: Where does the title come from?
OVI: The title “desene” means “drawings” in Romanian, which is my nationality.
AN: Who are the artists who inspired you the most?
OVI:There are a LOT, but right now I’m into Erich Sokol, Brad Bird, Provensens, Chuck Jones, Ronald Searle, Bill Peet, Mike Mignola, Alex Toth, and Will Eisner.
AN: Your popular title PIGTALE is a wonderful book. What led you to create it, when will it be collected in TPB, and how long do you see it going? Years and years?
OVI: Thanks. My original idea was about three housewives that were married to incompetent detectives. The idea was that the housewives were actually superheroes by night and housewives by day, and the wives would always end up saving their husbands from the mess they would get themselves in, only to have the husbands later come home and brag about how good they were at their job by taking the credit of the superheroes. Anyway, there was a lot more to it, and I might end up doing that story one day. I also had another idea about an intelligent pig which I always liked, so… I thought, ... ok, drop the wives, stick to one detective and then drop a talking pig into the story! All of a sudden things just started rolling and falling into place. And so, the birth of Pigtale. In the long run, I want to finish the story which will span about 12-15 issues. I’m going to be putting out GNs instead of single issues starting with issue #5. This will help me with my schedule and also help me put out nice chunks of the story out at once. Hopefully I can finish the story with the next 2 years.
AN: Do you have a larger picture of it in terms of long term goals?
OVI: Sure, not to “sell out”, but yeah I'd love to have toys, cartoons and a film made. I love animation and toys, so that would be something that I’d love to see PIGTALE be a part of.
AN: What other comic book character or story would you love to tackle?
OVI: Well I’m currently working on some of my other personal projects, but I’d love to do a Batman or Superman story. That would be fun.
AN: What animation projects have you been involved in?
OVI: Coraline, Legion of Superheroes, Pink, Moongirl, Jackie Chan adventures, Zeta Project, Static Shock, Xiaolin Showdown, Juniper Lee, and a few others.
AN: When did you decide to enter the comic book industry and why?
OVI: Well I’ve always been in the comic book scene. Long before I ever got into animation, my dream was to be a comic book artist. I landed in animation by accident, but I’ve come to love it just as much as comics.
AN: How are/were you trained?
OVI: I went to the Academy of Art in SF for 2 years. After that, I learned most of what I know on the job and from books.
AN: What life experiences would you cite as being the most formative in your work now and in your life?
OVI: Well, just being in a professional environment in general was eye opening. It really made me see my career and profession from a new angle. In personal life, I’d have to say getting married and having a child is really an experience that changed me for the better. And, of course, my spiritual beliefs, which always grounds me and makes me realize how much more there is to life than just my family, money, and my career.
AN: Final question... if you were not an artist, what do you see yourself as doing for a living?
OVI: I don’t know, probably building houses or something. I did that with my dad for 15 years. So, yeah, I’d have to say a carpenter. It’s the only other thing I know how to do. Haha. Thanks for the interview, and your time.
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