Artist Spotlight Interview with Ibai Canales

      Indie Comics Underground had the chance to talk with the prolific artist behind so many crowdfunded comic book favorites, including Iron Sights, More Lethal, SOS, and so many more - Ibai Canales.
Note: This Interview was first published in ICU #8

How did you get started in comics?
    The first memory I have of comics is of my dad giving me Spiderman floppies when I was a kid as a reward for being able to soldier through swimming lessons. So they've always been literally a rewarding experience for me.

You've done webcomics as well as print comics. What is the difference between working on those types of comics?
   Webcomics force you to put as much interesting stuff in a single page as possible, since that's how much readers are going to be able to read until the next installment. With print comics, you can (and should) spread them thinner all over volume.

​Do you prefer to work digitally or traditionally?
    A mixture of both really. I love the feeling of a pen scratching the paper, but there's stuff that I prefer to do digitally because it's cleaner and cheaper, like adding tones or coloring.

What tools/ software do you use in creating your pages?
    Technical pens such as Microns mostly, and I've recently rediscovered Rapidographs. They're trickier to use but really rewarding when you master them. For digital, good ol' Photoshop!

Who would you say are some of your biggest artistic influences?
   If I was forced to choose 3 at gunpoint, I'd say Kevin O'Neill, Moebius and Tim Bradstreet.

​You have been right at the forefront of the whole IndieGogo, crowdfunded comics movement with your involvement in Ironsights with Ya Boi Zack, along with a lot of other books. Did you expect to get such a crazy reaction to drawing a comic book?
​   Not at all! At first it was "just another gig for this crazy Americano who bitches about comics all the time". I suddenly found myself in the middle of a culture bloodbath sharing a hashtag with giants such as Ethan Van Sciver and Doug Ten Napel.

You are known for being super busy and prolific as a comic book artist. What do you credit with your ability to produce so much work so quickly?
​   I think it's because I first began to draw during breaks at school, and I had 30 minutes at most, so I had to produce as much interesting stuff as possible in a short amount of time to keep my friends interested and not get bullied for being a weirdo obsessed with Batman. That, and me not really liking going outside because I don't really get along with other Spaniards.

What advice would you give to aspiring comic book artists?
​   Don't try to make it perfect, make it cool. Keep drawing, each new piece will make you cringe a little less than the last one.

What does the future hold for you? Any plans to crowdfund your own comic?
​    I would totally love to! I'm also a writer and I have a couple of abandoned projects (spec scripts, novels) that I would love to translate into comic format. Maybe when the influx of paid work has dried up a little.

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Follow Ibai Canales on Instagram

Related: SOS Volume One Video Review:

Related: More Lethal Video Review: