Interview with Kenneth Huey [kennethhuey]

Kenneth Huey [kennethhuey]

ILLUSTRATION

What is your specialty in illustration?

I like to draw, especially pictures of people doing interesting things. As a kid, I loved illustrated stories, and I was passionate about superhero comics. I still love the comics medium, but my specialty as an illustrator has tended more towards storyboard work.

Is there a web address where we can see some of your work?

http://www.kennethhuey.com

Have you completed formal art studies, or are you self-taught?

Self-taught. Never went to college or art school. Studied comics and other illustration assiduously. Trained as a staff illustrator at Don Ivan Punchatz's SketchPad Studio. Otherwise, it's just practice, practice, practice.

What was your favorite comic book as a child?

I don't think any title ever impressed me quite as much as Neal Adams's run on X-MEN. Adams couldn't match Steranko's operatic bravura, but he crafted comics pages that were more seriously ambitious than I'd ever seen before: impeccable realism, immaculate craftsmanship, and a thorough command of the narrative possibilities of comics design. Like many young artists of my generation, I was deeply influenced by Adams. As time went by, I became less imitative, but I was surprised to notice, as I became more confident in my draftsmanship, that the best solutions to drawing problems often left my artwork looking like the work of Adams and the artists who most directly influenced him, such as Stan Drake, Leonard Starr, and Lou Fine.

Do you have a particular style, or does it vary a lot?

Like many young artists, I used to worry a lot about developing a style, but in the heat of my labors, I became satisfied simply to draw the way I draw. So there is a certain unity to my style, although it can be inflected with various degrees of realism or cartoonishness.

What is hardest to draw?

I've never felt comfortable drawing cars. I don't have any particular feeling for machinery, and drawing geometric shapes in perspective is rather tedious. I'd much rather be drawing pretty girls.

What type of music do you listen to while you work?

My tastes are eclectic, and I've always been a big fan of David Bowie and his circle (Eno, Fripp, Lou Reed, etc.)-- but these days, my favorite work music is bebop.

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