Getting to Know ArtCorgi’s Omniopticon

Isn’t this illustration of two military brothers awesome? It was created by Omniopticon in his comic style.

We thought it would be fun to get to know Omniopticon a bit better and share our findings below. Get to know this fantastic ArtCorgi artist in the Q&A below.

ArtCorgi (AC): We love your comic style. For how long have you been creating art in a comic-inspired style, and what first led you to it?

Omniopticon (O): First of all thank you! Now, it’s a bit of a tricky question, since style is always evolving as we learn more and advance, but I’ll give it a shot. I started drawing when I was in elementary school – I’d look at pictures of Pokemon and Digimon (the anime just came out) and try to draw them just by looking. Then in middle school I got into comic books about superheroes. I remember I was obsessed with the style of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics because it had such… weight to it – unlike anime which is a little easier to reproduce, this was so full of dark inks and details and anatomy. I drew Spidey and other superheroes for years, picking up some anatomy along the way. Then I dabbled in some more anime/cartoony stuff to learn how not to be too stiff. One day I just decided to try out some hard, gritty ink brushes and drew the first picture in the style that I draw in today (give or take). I actually have it on DeviantArt. It’s of course a little more gritty, I was still experimenting, but that was the beginning of the style I’m using today.

AC: Who are your favorite artists in terms of inspiration?

O: I got a very set list of main inspirations. Of course, they’re not the only ones. Whenever I see a good piece of artwork that I really like I tend to stare at it for a really long time, just going over each line and detail with my eyes and trying to siphon what I can. I just try to generally learn from everything I see. But to answer your question, my biggest inspiration is pretty clear once you see it: Sean Gordon Murphy. He’s done Hellblazer, American Vampire, The Wake (go read that!), and even wrote and illustrated his own comic Punk Rock Jesus which is ridiculously good. I truly consider the man a genius. Fun fact; he once saw some artwork of mine in Comicon and said I know what I’m doing. That’s probably one of my biggest achievements art-wise haha. Apart from Murphy the top biggest artists on my list are Joe Mad, Kenneth Rocafort, Leinil Yu, and the earlier works of Skottie Young – his Venom run was a huge influence on my earlier works.

AC: When working on a commission, is there a set process you follow, or is each new commission handled a bit differently?

O: Yeah, there’s a set process. Before I even read what the commissioner wants I look at the pictures they send me and try and get a read on who they are as people and the general… let’s call it tune to accompany the commission. The feel of it. Then I read what they requested to be featured in the commission. I accept the commission and start working on a layout. In the layout I try to take what they asked for and take it to the next level. Usually when you ask something of me I’ll give you a little more than that if it’s possible. If you pay all that money for me to make you something really special – you should get the full extent of your money’s worth. Once I get approval from the client I blow up the layout/sketch, tweak it a bit if necessary and start on the lines. I work directly from sketch to inks. Characters first, then background/other stuff if there’s any. Usually I don’t send the inks but if I see a client is a bit worried or if they like to be very hands on, I send them a preview just to make sure we’re on the same page and to maybe reassure them. All they’ve seen is a crappy sketch, they might be worried this is as good as it gets. Then it’s colors, effects, and I’m done. I send the finished product on a smaller scale and if I get the OK that no further tweaking is needed I save the file as CMYK (best for printing, as opposed to RGB which is best for screens), save it to a PDF and send it over. That’s about it!