Interview: Nathan Taylor, illustrator of The Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of the Deep Below
In honor of the release of The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of the Deep Below, King Sheep Productions is excited to offer a not-so-long-awaited sequel interview with award-winning artist Nate Taylor. The first interview employed a video game hierarchy of increasing difficulty, but this interview structure is based on the random encounters and high adventure of a fantasy board game.
Let’s roll!
Since you’re no stranger to RPG systems, build yourself as a character. For readers who have never met you, please generate your stats on a 1-18 scale, starting with 50 base points.
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INTELLIGENCE – 10
CHARISMA – 7
DEXTERITY – 14
STRENGTH – 8
STRENGTH – 8
LUCK – 11
CHARACTER CLASS – Ranger
SPECIAL ATTACK – Distracting Arrow
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Ranger Nate
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First Encounter: The Beast Within
Artists are often assumed to be festering balls of neurosis and self doubt, whereas you’re a relatively happy and jolly fellow. How important is your mood when creating art?
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If you mean “mood” like the desire to draw or be creative, I think it’s a great thing to have in your favor. But I can’t rely on it when creating art. As a professional illustrator, it’s much more important to be able to create regardless of whether or not I feel like it.
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However, if you mean “mood” like listening to dreary music in order to paint a dark and somber scene, then it’s very important. Being in the right mindset is crucial to creating an image that speaks to viewers on an emotional level. How’s that for a long-winded answer?
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Just windy enough.
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Swampy Goodness – Find a New Path (and/or boots)
The new book introduces the Princess’s younger brother. How did you go about crafting a new addition to the family? Also, does the Princess age between the books?
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Mobile-cam
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The hardest part was nailing down how to make Gubby actually look like a toddler. It’s all about the cranium proportions. Once I realized the entire face fits on the lower half of the head, it all came together. Luckily, I have friends who don’t mind me staring at their kids and making observations. As for the Princess, I didn’t set out with the intent of making her older, but she probably looks that way since she’s grown up a little in my mind.
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Encounter – The Mirror of Perfect Reflection.
The Dark of the Deep Below is the most recent in a long list of professional collaborations with Patrick Rothfuss. How was working on this book different from your earlier collaborations? Follow up: You’ve known Rothfuss for over 10 years, describe a time when you questioned his sanity.
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This was the longest project with the most revisions we’ve done so far. The best part of the process though was when he was in Seattle for a book signing and we had the opportunity to go over my thumbnails for the pages in person. Since we live on near-opposite sides of the country, being able to watch his reactions and having him give instant feedback was incredibly helpful in the early stages.
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I think I realized early on that I never had to question Pat’s sanity because he is insane. Fortunately, we were all the same kind of insane, which is probably why we became friends.
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Dammit Jim, that’s awesome
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Time Tunnel Time!
If you could send a message in time to a younger version of yourself and give them one sentence of advice from the future, what would you say?
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I would target my 18-year-old self and say, “No matter how much you hate working in color, you need to learn how to do it.” I’m still getting the hang of color theory.
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How Nate’s color is currently hanging
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Treasure!
As pioneers in a new genre of graphic fiction (children’s books for adults), what has been the best perk of your trailblazing (excluding money and fame)?
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I’d say the best part is that it surprises people when they read it. With all the re-hashing of familiar stories and tropes that’s going on in modern media, it’s wonderful to be able to give people something novel. The downside is that it still takes me 30 seconds to fully answer the question “what kind of book is it?”
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Tragedy has struck!
What if you lost both your hands? Would you be the kind of artist who learns to draw with your feet or with a pen wedged between your teeth? Or are you the more tragic variety who would commit himself to a new career path of alcohol and self-destruction?
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This is a little difficult to explain, but I actually draw much more with arm movements. So if I lost both hands, I might have trouble making fine strokes, but I’d be mostly okay to draw with a pencil taped to my wrist. But let’s say I lost both arms. I think I would give the whole pencil-in-mouth thing a go, but if that didn’t work out then I’d just find another creative outlet to tell my stories through. Alcohol optional.
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B.Y.O.Yum!
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Double Trouble!
Cloning is real and you have been selected to have a brand new doppelganger in your life. What jobs would Clone-You’s be given and which jobs would you keep for yourself?
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I was once told that if I cloned myself, I’d just have more me’s being lazy. But let’s take the Multiplicity approach where I can delegate lifestyles. Optimally, I would create six clones for Drawing, Writing, Recreation, Chores, Socializing, and Sleep. But rather than dedicating one clone to each area, I would alternate clones through the different aspects in four-hour intervals so that each clone would maintain healthy diversity, and I would constantly be producing and relaxing and socializing.
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The path to victory?
If the success of the new book were to vault you to super stardom and you could work with anyone in the film, comic, or television industry, what’s your passion project and who is your dream partner?
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I’d work with Dreamworks Animation to make a CGI animated series of my Deep Six story, and get it picked up for a series on a cable network or Netflix.
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Final Challenge: Your artist’s signature has a wonderful flair. Write a Hiaku about it.
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Like flower’s petals,
Angry strokes and soft swishes,
Lots of time spent there.
