Rudi Jie-A-Fa, “MINI GAME” 2022

I started seriously drawing at the age of ten, with just a few sharpies, Pilot pens, and some copy paper. I made so many comics, and would go to school and come home, and stay up late drawing comics. I have Toonami to thank for that, as it introduced me to art that flowed and had a deep story. Seeing those highly-detailed animated drawings made me want to pick up the pencil.

Case Study: Rudi Jie-A-Fa, “MINI GAME” 2022

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Step one is always making sure I have some music going on. It helps frame my mindset for the piece. After I put on my headphones, I make the first layer on the paper— and that usually just looks like me, ad-libbing with the paper. Most of the process is just me ad-libbing as I go, trying to look at the paper, and figuring out “what it’s wanting.” Then, I seal up one layer, and move onto the next layer, until I have a layer cake full of paint and ink and graphite.

And since illustration is so influential to my process, I sketch out concepts of a character that I’ve been thinking of making. It helps that I’ve been drawing little comic panels since childhood, and reading a lot of manga— because I’ve learned a lot about the dynamics of character expressions. At the end of the day, I unwind and watch some traditionally-drawn anime to sort of wrap up the day with some creative relaxation.

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Notes

Medium
Graphite, ink, colored pencil, collage

Role
Artist

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