Artist Spotlight - Kristian Rossi

   Get to know the artist behind Trespasser, Void Walker, The Gods Fear Me, and more in this ICU exclusive interview.
​ Note: This Interview first appeared in issue #2 of Indie Comics Underground.

When did you start drawing?
   As far as I remember I've always drawn, since I was a little kid, but the moment I made my mind fully focused on drawing as a profession was around finishing high school. It took a while and various different kind of jobs, but around 2004 is when I began drawing professionally as a job.

How did you get into drawing comics?
   I've always been fascinated with comics and the storytelling part of it, in fact I remember drawing lots of comic strips during school on my class books, you might say the idea of being a comic book artist was always there.
  Professionally I ended up drawing comics after taking classes with various local comic book artists. Their guidance and support helped me on making my way in the comic book world.

​Do you work traditionally or digitally?
   I work traditionally, pencil, pen and paper, old school stuff. But occasionally do some stuff digitally, mostly some inking and coloring. The coloring process is purely digital, it is way faster and there's always room for future tweaking.

Who were some of the influences on your style?
   One of my biggest influences is without a doubt Eduardo Risso, to whom I'm currently working as his assistant. Also Marcelo Frusin, Sergio Toppi, Jean Giraud (Moebius) and Katsuhiro Ōtomo.

​What was your first published comic?
   My first comic published on a professionally level was Chambers, written by Wes Locher. It is a crime-noir family drama with a couple of nice twists. It was a great experience for me starting working on a project outside of my country.

You have several projects going right now including Void Walker from Alterna Comics, The Gods Fear Me and The Unclean, both on Indiegogo. How do you keep up with your schedule?
   It is not an easy task my friend, haha. I guess you can say I work really hard all seven days of the week, putting around 18 hours of daily work each day. I also tend to work in segments, for example in the mornings I work on x project, in the afternoon I work on another, and late night I work on another one. I repeat that formula during all week, month, year, and so far I've managed to pull it through.

​What advice would you give to artists who are working to improve their skills?
   Just practice every day, study a lot, pay attention to everything that is around you, like how people move, types of cars you cross on your way home, buses, light post, everything, because eventually you will end up putting all those things on your work someday.

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Follow Kristian Rossi on Twitter: @Kristian_Rossi

Check out some reviews of books Kristian's art has appeared in: