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Hello everybody! It's great to be back to present you with a new artist. Well, two artists actually. We don't often publish artists that work as a team, and today is all the more interesting because we're welcoming a couple. What's better than doing the thing you love with the person you love? Personally, I'm still searching.
-So, two artists for the price of one, lucky us! Introduce yourself dear artists.
-The names are Jim Perry (Writer) and Allison Myres Perry (Artist). We don't really use nicknames with our art, but we go by a slew of other names when we play games - generally because 'Jim the Warrior' is not as awesome sounding as, say, 'Trask, the brute'.
-How old are you?
-We're both 29, but Alli is older than I am by about 4 months (Which I continue to jest is the difference between the Jurassic and cretaceous period. I generally get a punch in the arm for this, though).
-You deserve that one buddy. Where do you guys live?
-Aylmer (Gatineau), Québec, Canada. Suburbia. Nice place. Soulless at times and you can swear that some days, your street looks like that one from that zombie movie you liked so much. Creepy.
-Like every single suburb. What's your job?
Jim: I'm a computer technician. I keep machines up and running for the government of Canada. There's not much else to say except that some days can be so busy I forget what time it is and don't eat lunch and others can be slow enough that I see time crawl by.
Alli: Insurance broker. I listen to people who want advice on home and auto insurance. Sometimes the customers can become irritated because of an accident and I'm the first line of contact to figure out how their car/house is going to get fixed.
-What's your journey?
-Don't Stop. Believiiiin'
-Oh my gosh, that's the first time I've heard that one :|
-No, seriously now. Our journey is simple - we want to live life. We are in the process of working on Out of My Element while still developing a few other stories for when OoME is finished (This will be a while). Along the way, we hope to make friends with other aspiring artists and like-minded individuals. Recently, we've been blessed with the arrival of our little girl. We hope that in the future, she will be able to look upon Out of My Element, raise her head to us and ask us: 'Mommy/Daddy, why didn't you do a story about raptors?' With our little one now in our lives, we truly want to live life to its fullest so that we can watch her grow up and share in her experiences.
-What are your inspirations?
-For the comic? Well. Political themes that have run the course of the history of the human race. Steampunk settings, mainly because of the look, feel and something about the gritty and amazing world it inhabits. We built most of the story's feel and theme around Abney Park's music. Their genre of steampunk story music is a very heavy influence. As an example, the songs Building Steam, Clockyard and The Story That Never Starts are excellent inspirational songs to listen to when we're working on Out of My Element. Alli's artistic inspirations are rooted quite deeply into both Disney and Anime. Having watched both of these genres since childhood, it's only natural that she developed her art in accordance to these styles.
-Do you read webcomics?
-We both have a(n) (un)healthy list of webcomics that we frequent. To name a few: The End, I am ARG!, Girl Genius, Order of the Stick, Oglaf, Overlod of Ravenfell, Namesake, Two Guys and Guy, Crazy Sunshine, Awkward Zombie. These are just the tip of the iceberg in all honesty. If you wanted a whole list, I'd probably have to deliver it to you via USB stick and then unzip the internet for you :P
-Tell us more about your webcomics.
-The website's design was provided for us by the talented Ran Brown of The End. So, we have to thank her for that because it looks awesome. The story of OoME itself is rather simple, but with enough twists that it should remain entertaining for the readers. The world is in the future, but humankind has lost most of its technology and has been forced to resort to a Steam-based power source. Society has reached a point of stagnation and our unwitting heroine finds herself smack dab in the middle of the whole revolution.
-How do you work?
-It's a team effort. I have sort of a director's cut of the story in my head and I try (With my stickmen and horrible 'characteristics) to convey what I see happening in the story to Alli, who then takes my stickmen and breathes life into the story. From here, we translate what I've scrawled in exploded chicken scratch into words. Go over the dialogue together while debating on whether the characters would use certain lingo or if the phrases mix properly. We'll probably be doing an 'extras' in the future detailing every step of the way, with graphics and many hours of Alli cursing my name. The medium originally used in chapter 1 through 3 of Out of My Element was cardstock and marker with a black and white colour pallette. Recently, we have acquired a Yiynova monitor and are in the process of plotting out chapter 4 as a computer-based, full colour endeavor. Quite a change in medium, if I do say so myself. We look forward to seeing what the fans think of the difference!
-Why did you choose this FML story?
Jim: Honestly, I chose it. Alli would have preferred another one, but we both know that this story is relatively close to what would have happened to us early in our relationship. We'd argue, make up and go and do something fun together and sometimes, I'd accidentally do something stupid and get her angry at me again. Usually it involved me being a clumsy lummox, much like the poor fool in the comic. But, luckily for me, she loves clumsy lummoxes. Especially ones who don't know when to shut up :)
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATED FML
Out of My Element webcomic: http://www.oomecomic.com/
If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DeviantArt. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do!
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