In the following article, we will show you the interview with Fabricio Salvatore part 2, who with only 24 years old has already created his first graphic novel, Kaspar Hauser.
Check out Fabricio’s secrets when working, what materials he uses, as well as the comics he has to recommend. Don’t miss it!
Pay close attention to his advice and recommendations!
The experience of creating a long comic is phenomenal.
How did you feel the process of making such a long comic for the first time?
Making a comic of that length was born as a kind of challenge to my sensei, Manuel Loza.
The first advice he gave me was “don’t make a 200-page comic because you’ll end up getting tired, you’ll end up getting bored and you’ll end up leaving it in the middle”. Wise advice.
Half in disbelief, I said “Oh, yeah? Well,” and to prove him wrong, I made a 120-page comic book.
It was a very therapeutic process, in the sense that it was also the first comic book I ever made.
I drew it whenever I could. If I could draw in my room I drew in my room, if I could draw in the classroom I drew there. Once I was invited to a party and I had to finish a personal Deadline, I went to the event with the page and drew it and finished it there. And so on and so forth.
There are pages that I see them and I remember at what time in my life I was and even in what geographic location I did that comic.
I must say that, from what the story is, there is a very therapeutic issue in doing a job that takes you two or three years, because in three years, you change a lot as a person.
It is very important to have the right tools
What working tools do you use to compose your illustrations?
For Kaspar, I did everything as analog as possible, because one of the objectives of this comic was precisely to learn how to do it.
Before Kaspar I had done very short two- or five-page comics where I didn’t really explore the question of materials and things that you have to keep in mind more in the long run.
So, one of the goals of Kaspar was also to work in the most traditional way possible, that is, with a board, pencil sketch and ink.
What I changed was the shading, which I did with marker. They are great, but I wouldn’t use them again and I don’t recommend them for such a long work, because they end up wearing out and you can reload it, but it never has the same ease again.
At the end of the day you end up struggling a bit with the marker. There are times where I deprived myself, for example, of making very large focuses or directly left them blank, and that gray that I could have done with marker, as it took me too much time, I ended up doing it digitally.
In short, drawing and shading in ink and marker. Then, cleaning, polishing and error correction was done with Photoshop and ClipStudioPaint.
Finally, the text and dialogue balloons were done entirely in digital.
Who are your reference artists?
Minaverry, because in a way he does a lot of what I wanted to do. He sees comics as a medium to tell strong and meaningful stories and not so much as magazines to read while you go to the bathroom.
Even though this question of comics being for kids is totally out of the question, I think Minaverry does a lot to raise the level of comics in a way.
Not because the other more relaxed type of comic is bad at all, but my messages try to point to something a little more “solemn”.
Another reference is Manuel Loza, because he was my sensei in everything and he taught me the importance of the social in the production of comics.
It’s not only about drawing good comics but also about surrounding yourself with friends who are also creating them, from whom you can ask for help, and they will be the ones who can see what you don’t see in your own work.
Manuel taught me to be a good human being, which I think is even more important than being a good artist.
And finally, Mariano Taibo, because he has an expression, a line and a very human violence in the stories he does.
Which comics have fascinated you?
From Minaverry, Dora. I think that, in a few years, we will begin to think of Dora as the great Argentine comic strip of the beginning of the 21st century.
From Manuel Loza, Almer. Many separate stories, of the same character, that hook medieval fantasy and politics, in a very beautiful way.
And from Mariano Taibo, A tu rojo ruta. A simple story, not very long, and very visceral. It was one of the comics I read and I said “Uh, I want to make comics, I want to transmit what this person transmits.”
What is the hardest thing for you to draw?
If we understand cost, as what costs me time to do, obviously it’s architecture. For Kaspar I didn’t use tracing or modern techniques that are super valid.
Just as a matter of not skipping steps, because Kaspar was also learning to do this in a traditional way, what cost me the most in terms of time, was the architecture.
The thing that cost me the most in terms of execution, I think, was facial expressions. Scott McCloud gave me a giant hand in understanding expressions and making the character convey through the face.
That’s what I had to emphasize the most, because emotion seemed to me to be the most important thing in the story.
And what do you like to draw the most?
Uniforms. One of the reasons why I was also interested in Kaspar is the setting. Those suits with the knee-high socks, the wrinkles in the pants, and the jackets with a lot of buttons, which are kind of cut in the middle and go underneath.
The faces in general too, as well as the beards. The whole question of illustration from the 1800s. I draw not only to give a message, but because I like it. I like that kind of costumes a lot.
This is the end of the interview, thank you very much Fabricio! We hope that you, dear reader, have paid attention to his recommendations and advice. These may be useful to you when the time comes to face your first graphic novel. We invite you to investigate Fabricio Salvatore’s networks (@fabricioposting) to learn more about his projects.
Conclusion
In this second part of the interview with Fabricio Salvatore, he tells us who his favorite artists are, how he gets his results, and what he likes to draw the most, such as costumes, people, environments, etc. Paying attention to his recommendations and advice.
These can help you when the time comes to face your first novel without a doubt.
See you in the next interview!
