by Erin Finnegan, NY editorial intern
This week I interviewed the colorist behind the three-book series The Elsewhere Chronicles, Corentin Jaffré. Book Four: The Calling, will be published by Graphic Universe in the spring.
Q. What computer programs and/or what kind of pens, pencils and brushes do you use?
A. All panels of The Elsewhere Chronicles were colored digitally. I’m using an old Photoshop 6.1for most of the coloring (because it’s really fast and I’m really old) and an Intuos tablet. I’m trying to pay attention to the screen calibration too, and I’m using a Spyder3 colorimeter to avoid any color shifting during the printing.
Q. What music (if any) do our you listen to while drawing?
A. I listen to a broad styles of music during the coloring, mostly indie rock (Radiohead, Deerhoof, Sufjan Stevens) and electronica (Boards of Canada, The Cinematic Orchestra…)
Sometimes I like working in silence too, if I’m doing something complex, as I can’t really do two things at the same time. (By the way, it’s a good tip from the great animator Richard Williams: “Don’t listen to music during work!” But hey… most of the time I’m not following his advice…)
Q. What are your favorite comics right now, either online or in print?
A. Right now I’m enjoy reading a french comic for kids, “Les épatantes aventures de Jules” by Emile Bravo. It’s really subtle and funny, and it shows that a comic for kids can be deep and entertaining at the same time.
Q. What comics did you read growing up?
A. I read a lot of DC and Marvels comics (I loved Iron man and the X-men), as well as French ones (Tintin, Gaston, Asterix).
Q. Did you go to college for art and/or comics, or something else? Which college?
A. I went to an art college for two years, at the Paris VIII University. I must say it was not really that interesting…
Q. What is your favorite comics convention (if any)?
A. I’m not going to a lot of conventions, but I enjoy visiting each years the “Montreuil Children’s Book Fair“.
