New Illustration /

John Malloy

We featured John Malloy’s illustrations a little while back on Lost At E Minor, so we checked in with him to find out — from all the mags that he illustrates for — which one he always reads from cover to cover: ‘Without a doubt Lemon is a great read all the way through. The content is unique, and for the most part centered around things that interest me creatively. It’s also extremely well-executed visually with minimal advertising. The ads that are there appear seamlessly weaved into the layout’. Is there a type of canvas that you would love to illustrate on but haven’t yet? ‘Hmmm. That’s a good question. There are a lot of things I would like to try, like skateboards, fabric, metal, even an outdoor mural’. How do you get in the mood to create? ‘Music. In a way, I think each drawing is like a song with crescendos and decrecendos. I’ll often get visuals of actions and colors from whatever I’m listening to at the time. Lately it’s been Alex Willner [aka The Field], Caribou, and Matmos’. Any illustrators out there that are consistently blowing you away with the quality of their work? ‘For illustrators, I can honestly say I’m always floored by the work of Ray Caesar and James Jean. Generally, though, I’m more inspired by work I see in the fine art world and comics, like the work of Tim Hawkinson, Ronald Rege Jr, and Anders Nilsen, as well as countless — and unfortunately nameless — book cover illustrators from the ’40s through the ’70s’. Tell us about your new graphic novel Channel One? ‘Sure. Well, I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s a story I’ve been researching for and working on for the past two years. It couldn’t be more different from Amnesia [my first book] both in visual style and script. It centers around Ian Fitch, a young American film director who had spent a few years filming and living with an indigenous tribe in the Brazilian rainforest. He returns to New York City with his indigenous wife and child, and is forced to take a job directing a tv sitcom. The story is told using television as a language [most of the comic panels are tv screens], and juxtaposes clips from his jungle documentary and outtakes with video of his present NY tv-studio office life [via security camera footage and his own self-documentary for his child] to put notions of what it truly means to be “civilized” to the test. He eventually discovers a video device that has a magical ability … and it changes his life forever. But that’s as much as I can tell! There’s a preview of some of the first chapter on my site and I’ll be updating it regularly. I’m currently seeking a publisher’.

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