Local Talent: Fiona Staples

Posted in Comics, Stories by Marina, December 27, 2010 at 3:42 pm | 2,941 views, 0 comments

Whether it’s wanting to be an artist, a musician or an athlete, many dream of turning their favourite hobby into their full-time career.

Fiona Staples, 26, is living that dream by meshing together her two passions: art and comic books.

“I love making art, telling stories, and working with writers that I admire,” she said. “I mean there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.”

Staples has been a full time comic book artist since 2007, having done art for big name comic book companies such as WildStorm, IDW and DC Comics.

“I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, since forever,” she said. “I sort of got the idea in high school that comics might be something I’d like to try.”

She says her favourite comics back then were produced by Top Cow artists like Marc Silvestri and David Finch, who drew pretty girl comics such as Fathom, but her interests began expanding at the age of 19 after getting a job at a local comic book store called Comic Kazi.

Staples’ interests expanded even more after taking a degree in digital communication at the Alberta College of Art and Design, where she started looking at different styles in fine art and other media.

Her first comic, called Done to Death, came out while she was in her last year of college. She laughed, describing it as a “black comedy, satire in the vampire genre.”

The writer and creator of Done to Death, Andrew Foley, approached Staples through a local comic creators message board called Maple Ink after seeing her unique approach to comic book art.

“In a sea of copycat artists mimicking whatever style seems to be selling from moment to moment, Fiona’s work has a quality that is unique to her and instantly recognizable,” he said.

Staples said that although she is influenced by a lot of artists such as the Top Cow artists and Ashley Wood she says that aspiring to be like any of them is not wise.

“I think it’s better to draw inspiration from as many different sources as you can, that’s the only way to really be original.”

After the release of Done to Death she was approached by Hollywood writer and director, Michael Dougherty, to illustrate a comic adaptation of his new horror movie called Trick ‘r Treat. This comic was published by WildStorm, which is how she broke into the big player companies in the industry.

She then continued to become the artist for the North 40, a WildStorm series that got her nominated for a 2010 Eisner Award for best penciller/inker. Some of her other past projects include a few issues of the Image comic Proof and a one-shot of Northlanders published by Vertigo.

Although it is an awesome career, a lot of work goes into one comic. Staples said one issue takes her typically a month to six weeks to complete, which includes both sketching and colouring.

Foley said: “I wouldn’t want to do it, mostly because I’ve tried to do it and know how hard it is. The sheer volume of material a comic artist is expected to produce in a given week is immense.”

However, Staples does unwind on Wednesday nights at Drink and Draw at the Bear and Kilt pub - an event for local comic artists and creators to get together and sketch over beers.

James Davidge, one of the regulars at Drink and Draw has collaborated with Staples. She has done artwork for some of the short stories he has written.

“Her characters’ expressions are very striking and convey quite a bit of emotion,” he said. “Her style has an abstractness to it yet there is always an attention to detail.”

Currently, Fiona Staples is finishing her run on the IDW comic Mystery Society and has recently completed the cover art for the WildStorm mini-series DV8. She has also done two covers for DC Comics, Superman/Batman issues #79, out now, and #80, which will be on shelves next month.

Staples says that as long as there is work for her she will continue to advance herself and her art in the comic book industry.

“The best part is just doing what you love all day and creating a product you can be proud of.”

Check out more of Fiona’s art on her website/blog here.

To contact the author of this post: marina.giannitsos@wildgunmen.com