Camilla D’Errico’s table at the Alternative Press Expo was pretty much mobbed. Luckily, I was able to get a couple of minutes with her for a quick interview. I’d seen D’Errico’s paintings before – dreamy images of girls in helmets and other head gear – but knew very little about her when I approached the table.
PRG: Can you tell me about your artwork and the projects you’re working on?
CD: The artwork I do is manga and Japanese inspired, so I try to take a very traditional approach to it, also using European influences. My art is kind of a mix of European and anime.
PRG: Is The Fallen your first book?
CD: It’s my first self-published book. It’s this one shot poetry book using Mark Twain’s story, “The Mysterious Stranger”. It inspired me to do this story about this fallen angel and it doesn’t follow a linear path at all, so it’s a work of passion.
PRG: So, The Fallen is your first self-published book. What other books have you worked on?
CD: I’m the artist for the Avril Lavigne manga that just came out. Also, I’m the new artist for Nightmares and Fairytales from Slave Labor Graphics. I also have another manga coming out in August from Arcana Studios and that’s my creator owned project.
[nms:Camilla D'Errico,4,0]
PRG: What advice would you give to a girl who wants to break into manga?
CD: I would say just read as much manga as you can and study the art form. That’s what I did. I just started reading as much of it as I could and studying the artists. Also just draw as much as you can. And study animation, because animation will help you do storyboarding and character design. I think to get into this you have to have really strong characters because Japanese comics are all about character development.
An autographed copy of Camilla D’Errico’s book The Fallen is part of Pink Raygun’s APE prize pack. Check back soon for details on how to win. For more on D’Errico and her artwork, visit her website.
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