 We are excited to present a new series of interviews
featuring members of the Renderosity Cartoonist Team. Each week
these outstanding artists put the "giggles" in our funny bones, and
the "thrills and chills" in our adventurous spirits. This week our
featured cartoonist is Cameron Stephen , better known on
Renderosity as PunkClown. Cameron is a modern Renisansse
clown, whoops I mean man! He lives in the land-down-under;
works long and crazy hours in the Emergency Room of his local
hospital; he is a devoted family man to his beautiful wife and
lovely children; he is a master photographer; loves gazing at the
stars; is an outstanding computer graphic [as well as traditional]
artist; and a former Renderosity 2D Forum Moderator. His funky
under-ground cartoon strip The Amazing Adventures of
Drum-Girl first appeared on Renderositys online magazine
[The RIM], and now can be seen weekly on the Renderosity Comics
Strip. PC has always been an inspiration to the Renderosity
community members, both encouraging and guiding new artists to
never give up on their dreams. Most importantly, PC is a great
friend, with a big heart and a funny red nose!
PC, before we get started, I have to ask you, where did you come
up with your nickname PunkClown? I knew you were going to ask
that! PunkClown was one of the cartoon characters that evolved when
I corresponded with my friends and family interstate and overseas.
I quickly grew bored of writing the usual "I'm fine, how are you?"
letters, and started drawing on the pages instead. Eventually whole
comic strip panels would appear on the page with various silly
characters enacting events from my life, as well as fictitious
flights of surreality and fantasy to keep things "unreal" so
to speak! PC evolved as my alter-ego in these "comic-letters"
usually acting as my stand-in in the illustrated stories that
actually involved me in the "real" life, when I grew a beard, he
did when I got a new job so did he etc. Soon some of my friends
were referring to me as PunkClown and so it seemed a natural handle
to adopt when I first joined Renderosity.
Punk and Bubby PunkClown [Cameron
Stephen]
Please give our readers a history of your comic strip The
Amazing Adventures of Drum-Girl! It originally begun at the
request of one of my good friends at Renderosity. The strip started
out as an amalgamation of a few different ideas and drawings I had
done in the past to amuse myself and my friends. Drum Girl was a
character originally based on some dialogue from a Frank Zappa and
the Mothers of Invention LP (one of those funny 12" vinyl discs),
called "Lumpy Gravy" where these weird and wonderful characters
talk about living in a drum. The character of PC was already in
existence so he was always going to be a cast member. Rumor has it
that PC and DrumGirl might have had a "thing going on" at one stage
but with the pressures of high profile cartoon-celebrity life they
eventually drifted apart but stayed friends. Therefore, the stage
was set where DrumGirl needed some help in solving the mystery of
what she thinks may be the impending explosion of the universe, or
failing that, throwing a really great party to see it all out. As
in any good story the main characters should encounter some
obstacles in their journeys to give a bit of tension to the plot -
this is the part where PC is held up in his quest to join DrumGirl
by some mysteriously replicating boulders. DrumGirl (who has been a
bit reticent so far) will also encounter some plot complications,
but these developments are still literally on the drawing board.
The Amazing Adventures of Drum-Girl!
PunkClown [Cameron Stephen]
As one of the founding members of Renderositys cartoonist team
[with your strip currently being published weekly on the
Renderosity Front Page News Comics Strip section], how do you come
up with new amazing adventures for your strip each week, and how
difficult is it to come up with fresh ideas? On average, how much
time goes into creating a single strip? To be honest, it's hard
sometimes, especially if I've had a busy week at work or the
children have been sick or things like that for example. I usually
find inspiration eventually. However, having children is a
wonderful boon when it comes to staying young psychologically and
creatively. Also, the world is a strange place and truth usually
being stranger than fiction, if you keep your eyes and ears open
one can get inspiration from just about anywhere! It can take
anywhere between two to five hours to complete a finished strip
each week, but usually the time spent falls somewhere in between.
Is your strip created on the computer [do you use a paint
program or illustration program such as Adobe Photoshop or
Illustrator], or do you use traditional pen and ink and scan the
finished image into the computer? Both! Most of the time I will
begin with hand-drawn sketches and outlines, which are then scanned
into my computer for refinement, and further illustration in
Photoshop and Painter using my Wacom Tablet as an interface. I
really enjoy Painter (I have version 8.0) for it's incredibly
versatile set of natural media. Sometimes I will draw directly onto
the graphic program of choice, and I occasionally use my own
photographs as a basis for the artwork in any given strip.
The Amazing Adventures of Drum-Girl!
PunkClown [Cameron Stephen]
On Renderosity you are also well known for your outstanding work
as former Renderosity 2D Graphics Forum Moderator, and your work
with 2D graphics. However, you are also an incredible photographer,
as well as an outstanding 3D artist. Which is your favorite media
to work in; photography, traditional art, computerized 2D art, or
3D art imagery? Well, thank you for the compliment! I truly
miss my time as a Renderosity Moderator and hope to return to a
similar position one day, but time will tell. As far as my favorite
medium to work in I would have to say photography, although every
now and then I become obsessed with other creative distractions. I
have a growing collection of cameras and a few online photography
projects, one of which is my "photoblog." Every now and then I still crank up Bryce on
the computer and have a bit of a play with 3D rendering. I am
always overawed by the incredible talent I see in the galleries at
Renderosity, so usually I stick to what I personally do best.
Metal Bugs Bum PunkClown [Cameron
Stephen]
Going back to photography do you shot with a digital camera,
or do you prefer the traditional method of photography? I have
a Canon G5 5 megapixel camera that I have used extensively in the
past, but I find the liberty to take unlimited shots is a mixed
blessing ... I mean, I can't count how many digital photographs I
have unintentionally "forgotten about" that may lie languishing on
my hard drive, or back-up DVDs, never to be viewed again let alone
printed! So I have found myself returning to analog photography, in
which pursuit I have collected quite a few "old" film cameras. (You
can see most of them listed on my "photoblog") Besides
creating your weekly comic strip for Renderosity, I know that your
personal life keeps you very busy, what other adventures are you
into when you are not creating amazing images for our
enjoyment? I work in a reasonably busy Emergency Department (as
a registered Nurse) in a hospital near where we live. Believe me,
it's not all like [the TV show] ER! Every now and then you
get to do exciting things like shout "Stand Clear" and zap people
with the defibrillation paddles, but like most jobs (I suspect)
there is a fair amount of "same old, same old" and "hurry up and
wait"! When we can, I like to go for walks with my wife and
children. We live very close to a few national parks and forests,
so we are very blessed. In finer weather we go to the beach or one
of a few local lakes, kayaking, swimming and generally having fun
in the sun. As already mentioned, my other creative passion is
photography, so through all of these other adventures I usually
have a camera (or two or three) at hand to capture the moments.
Ever since I was a young lad, I also have an ongoing love with the
night sky. When I'm not too tired, lazy, or if it's not too
freezing cold, I will drag my telescope outside to appreciate the
beauty of astronomy. Thank you so much PC, for spending some
time with us, and for your weekly Drum Girl strip. Do you have any
parting words of wisdom that you would like to share with budding
Renderosity cartoonists? Draw, draw, draw and then draw some
more. If you get a chance in between that draw. Please don't
forget to have FUN (and that's an order!). Not only that, but
practice the art of seeing" what is around you (as opposed to what
your brain interprets as visual input). Once you find yourself
gaining confidence with drawing real life people and objects, then
you can start to characterize them. Having said that, I'm not that
brilliant at life drawing myself, so go with what you have too ...
enthusiasm counts for a lot! There are more than a few resources
around relating to these issues, both in books and online. For a
good start, visit Drawn!
The Illustration Blog, which has a wealth of links to draw
(pun intended) inspiration from. Regarding drawing what you see,
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a
well-known and highly regarded text to start with, but there are
literally hundreds of others.
The Amazing Adventures of Drum-Girl!
PunkClown [Cameron Stephen]
Finally love life, love all of those around you and see the world
as if through the eyes of a child. Stay happy, healthy and creative
and I'll see you all online!
We invite you to visit the following sites:
Don't miss a week of PunkClown's strips ... your funnybone will
thank you for the giggle! While you are there be sure to say hi to
PC and the rest of the Renderosity Cartoonist Team!
All supporting images are copyright, and
cannot be
copied, printed, or reproduced in any manner without written
permission from the artist.
 "Lets Talk" with Dee-Marie
is a monthly featured column
by Dee-Marie:
Senior Staff Writer, and Managing Editor of
Renderosity's Front Page News August 29,
2005 |
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