Cartoonist and creativity accumulator
When we met Paolo for the first time, we found ourselves in front of a guy similar in appearance to many others: Vans on his feet, sweatshirt, dark jeans and a backpack full of who knows what. When his initial reserve and simplicity melted away, however, they revealed to us his sharp artistic side, concealed by what he himself defines as a ‘normal’ life, a life, however, of someone who, out of passion, chooses to spend entire days (and sometimes nights) bent over his desk creating. It was so natural to start collaborating together on some projects that we took the opportunity to find out a little more about him!
Hi Paolo! Can you tell us when and how your passion for illustration and drawing started?
Hello and thank you for the invitation! I can say that I have always had a passion for drawing, like every child I used to draw a lot. Maybe I used to draw even more, it always gave me pleasure to do it and that’s probably why I never stopped. In fact, I have no memory of never drawing. Then when I found out that there was someone who made the comics I read, I thought: ‘I want to do that too!
Who influenced you most in the discovery of your artistic talents?
I have always been supported by my family as far as my artistic interests are concerned. Then I really found many figures who helped me in my professional growth, among them the most important is my friend and director of the Treviso Comic Book Festival Alberto Polita, without him the book on Tupac would not have existed.
Who or what do you draw inspiration from? Who are your masters?
My stylistic references are obviously mostly cartoonists. The first strong influence was Giorgio Cavazzano, a Venetian cartoonist I discovered in Mickey Mouse. It was love at first sight, although he certainly hated me, since I pursued him assiduously to meet him and see his work.
Having an interest in various types of comics, I have been influenced by many different artists, but my favourites are often characterised by a very personal stroke and a very sharp use of black and white. To name a few I can mention Hugo Pratt, Ferdinando Tacconi, Josè Munoz, Nicola Mari, Ivo Milazzo, Sergio Zaniboni, Alex Toth, Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Jack Kirby.
The style of your illustrations is simple, without frills. What is the origin of this choice?
The simple style stems from a need for synthesis, an attempt to fix an image but with the essential signs. I have always been incapable of dwelling too much on a drawing, when I start one I wish I had already finished it so I could start another. In addition to this I am of the opinion that comics are synthetic by nature and in this media it is difficult for a good narrative and an overdrawn drawing to coexist well.
Your latest work (‘Tupac Shakur. ” published by BeccoGiallo Editore), produced together with Antonio Solinas, is a graphic novel dedicated to the late rapper, for many an anti-hero. Can you explain the reason for your choice?
Tupac is a pivotal figure in the American hip hop scene, his very full life and untimely death making him a mythological figure. He can rightly be considered an anti-hero, but he was such a multifaceted personality that he had infinite interpretations: activist, gangsta, businessman, actor and so on. Wanting to talk about hip hop for me was a natural choice and Antonio agreed with me that he was the right character for a comic. Certainly he may not seem like a typical character, but he has certain nuances that on a social level make him much more interesting than other perhaps more obvious choices.
The name of our project is also inspired by Notorious B.I.G, 2Pac's well-known nemesis. One could almost say that we are now supporting two different factions here. In common, however, is a passion for hip-hop: can you tell us how yours came about?
My passion was born towards the end of middle school. At the time, in the Veneto province, hip hop was certainly not a mass genre, but Eminem was at his peak and a friend passed me one of his CDs. From there it expanded and I discovered a new world. Later on I obviously listened to various other genres as well, while always keeping an ear to rap. However, I wouldn’t see ours as opposing fronts: the antagonism between the two rappers I think is now well established.
Every comic book protagonist has his rival par excellence: which one is yours?
This is a difficult one. Customers perhaps? Whatever, but you don’t write that one, do you?
No, no, don't worry! 😉 And how would you define creativity if you had to explain it with comics?
Personally, I consider creativity to be a continuous search and a massive accumulation of new information that is then assembled into an original product. The creative person, I believe, is someone with big winter supplies that he or she pulls out when needed. So I would try to invent such a character: a serial accumulator!
If you were to make a graphic novel starring yourself, what would you title it? Why?
I don’t really like comic book autobiography, generally the life of a cartoonist is not very bold. In an upcoming story, however, I have included a character with some of my own characteristics, although I think it will be difficult to find him!
Can you tell us about your artistic plans for the future?
A very imminent release is the second volume of Il Condominio, a self-published anthology by the Travigian collective Super Squalo Terrore (whose name derives from the name assigned to the hard disk of a girl in the collective!) of which I am a member with some illustrator friends.
Below are two strips of the comic strip he made for us that you can read in full in ‘A Notorious Xmas’. You can find all of Paolo’s works on his website paologallina.net.
