When George Vega asked me to profile all his major artists, I was thrilled, naturally! Andre Araujo was next on the list and as we conversed back and forth, I knew he would make an interesting interview. I think interviews with artists are probably the most fascinating projects I get to do. Andre is the kinda guy you can just relax with, spend time talking with and learn so much from… I hope you enjoy our time together!
Q) Good morning, Andre! I want to start by asking you a really important question. How did you become an artist?
A) I’ve been drawing for as long as I remember, so it’s always been a part of my life. As I grew, the desire to tell stories grew as well and with comics being company for me since a very young age, it all happened pretty naturally. I graduated as an Architect due to the impossibility of being a comic artist in Portugal, but the Internet ended up wiping those frontiers. As the lack of working opportunities diminished, my possibilities of working as an architect, I began trying more seriously about drawing comics for a living. Publishing online, travelling to conventions and persistence brought professionalization for me.
Q) What drives you as an artist?
A) Telling a story. That’s the most important thing for me and the one I think above all. My work is always driven towards narrating a story as clearly and as compelling as possible. With that comes the constant search for improvements in all aspects that take part in the making of a comic, always with a deep obsession for detail.
Q) Do you think you have fulfilled yourself so far?
A) My professional career is still pretty short, but since I’m currently working for Marvel (Avengers A.I.) with a great writer – Sam Humphries – and working on a creator owned book that will be published next year, I couldn’t ask for more as kick-off.
Q) I think you still have many huge achievements ahead of you! Let me ask you- what was it like working with George (Vega of Vegamation Press)?
A) Pretty smoothly. George was helpful in all the questions I had and was always receptive to my requests.
Q) What would your ultimate creation be as an artist?
A) Hopefully my creator-owned work. Not a specific one, but in its entirety. The space provided in such opportunities allow for an artist to express himself with more freedom. After a while, and provided you have the chances, certain books inevitably stand out in one’s career, but those things happen naturally, so I’m really looking forward to keep creating and enriching my body of work.
Q) Where do you feel you will be in five years?
A) For the next few years, I hope I’ll keep having the opportunity to keep my current place, but with a lot more done, obviously. That is, to have more work done at Marvel and keep that relationship as well as keep my creator-owned work going strong.
Q) Tell me about the book you worked on called Introducing…Vol 4. What was your experience working on that one?
A) George allowed for a good amount of freedom regarding the choice of pieces for “Vol. 4.” As I had a lot of work done that seemed fit to the book, what I did was try to find a nice sequence that would make an interesting read and rework or finish some of the pieces to adapt better to this type of publication.
Q) Are you heading in any new directions or is art itself always a new direction?
A) I have a lot of stories that I want to tell, and finding a way to make all of those ideas reality always involve a search for new means, new directions, be it narrative choices, different concepts to explore, new techniques; I think we always end up doing something different in our various works. Sometimes the difference is big, other times it’s more subtle. The important thing for me is always to aim at the story, and that’s the thing dictating the changes.
Check out Andres blog right here!
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