Valia Kapadai is a Greek comic book artist affiliated with Marcosia Enterprises and Unseen Shadows. Her Books are available through her Big Cartel website:
http://valiumcomics.bigcartel.com/ After recently contacting her she was kind enough to answer some questions for me.
How did you meet writer Mo Ali and how did your collaboration (DreamCatcher) project start?
Three years ago (in October 2010), I wanted to draw a new short comic story, so I could take it with me to the Bristol Expo. So I tweeted that I was looking for a really short story, and Mo replied, almost immediately. Until then I didn't really know Mo, but he was a "fellow-survivor" of the Insomnia publications incident, so he was a contributor to the "Sleepless Phoenix" comic anthology, that I was also involved in, and he had collaborated with lots of other artists whom I knew. A few days later Mo sent me this "poem", divided into 24 pages, and he told me I could do anything I wanted with it. Unfortunately, life and other projects, didn't allow me to start drawing it until last November (2012), again for another convention, Thought Bubble. It was completed in less than two weeks, in the afternoons and really late nights since I also had a day-job, but it was printed on time for TB. The first self published edition is now sold-out, but we're hoping for a second printing in the future and hopefully we'll make more new issues in the future, since a big publisher expressed an interest in it. But that's just wishful thinking for now.
Do you have a particular “go to place” for wanting to meet and speak to writers, be it online or not?
My ideal "meet" place is always a great convention, mostly in the UK (because we only have one convention here in Athens, but most of my friends from abroad can't attend it.) I can only afford attending one or two conventions per year, though, so (although I hate to admit it) Facebook is a pretty decent online place to catch up with fellow artists and writers. I used to love DeviantArt so much for years, but unfortunately these last couple of years DA has changed for the worse, at least for me anyway, so I rarely spend any time there anymore.
Where did the idea of ‘Somewhat Damaged’ come from?
Last November I and my boyfriend, Pavlos Pavlidis, who is also an amazing comic artist, were invited to have a comic exhibition at the Athenian cafe/bar/gallery, Bartesera. Due to limited time, our initial idea was to show some of the older comic pages we had created, but since we wanted to make it more interesting for our friends, who had already seen most of our work anyway, we decided we should draw something new instead. I later suggested we should make two stories, one each, but with one joint ending, which we drew together (that was a bit tricky, but also fun), and so we did. The comic was also completed within a week or so. Since we both liked a lot, especially because it was somewhat based on our own relationship, and the "weird" format was also intriguing, we also decided to self publish a few mini comics of the story. This mini comic is also sold out.
In your short story ‘Gloomy Monday’, the panel boxes looked roughly lined and you had a textured background for the gutter, even for a coloured comics this seems unconventional. What was the reason behind this?
"Gloomy Monday" was part of my artistic "experiment" back in 2009-2010 of drawing one page per day, loosely based on my daily "adventures", but obviously much more exaggerated, funny and more "cartoony" than my usual comics. The colouring process of this story was an experiment as well, and I generally prefer my gutter backgrounds to be more complicated than just using a single colour. As for the roughly lined boxes, the reason is simple: I hate using rulers. Oh yes, I do.
With any sequential art the challenge to working professionally is all down to the speed that someone can work to, even great artist don’t do comics because of this reason. Do you have any advice to artist who really want to make comics but are sadly too slow?
Unfortunately, I honestly don't know what to suggest. I'm usually not that "slow", but that also depends on the comic I'm drawing (how interesting or difficult it is) and -most importantly- the mental state I'm in, while drawing. I guess the best way to draw faster, is the same old advice: practice, practice and practice. Make sure you feel as comfortable as possible too. I've finished most of my comics, including whole graphic novels, on my couch!! (although I don't really suggest that, I hear watercolour water residue on your pasta is not that healthy. Oh, but what do they know?!) If it's a project for a publisher you can also negotiate the deadline, usually the publishers are really nice about it, if you ask nicely.
What media do you use, including what you prefer to use as a canvas?
I consider myself a mixed media artist. I love experimenting. My usual artistic process involves watercolours, ballpoint pens, coloured pencils, brush pens and lots of digital editing and adjusting. Whatever I draw though, it'll start on a paper, with a pencil or even a pen. As of lately I really like to use lightly coloured papers, preferably thick enough to handle the watercolours. I always draw on a -relatively- small paper, A4 size. That may not be very professional, but huge papers intimidate me and, practically speaking, I'm unable to print any page layouts or scan the final page because I only have A4 sized printer/scanner.
Your work is sometimes done with a greyscale image first but coloured later correct? How do you do this and what is the benefit of such a method?
Actually that's the exception, although I've used this method - mostly when the original story was supposed to be printed in black& white - and then I added some colours for fun, or for another publication. The technical details are a bit too complicated to be explained here, but basically after I scan the b&w page, I use various great photoshop tools (such as the brush tool set in colour or in multiply; or the gradient maps, mostly for a limited palette). Again, I like to experiment with anything I can use, so filters, textures, various brushes etc, all become my digital "art tools" (and playground). This technique definitely has its benefits (better balance, interesting results), but I usually don't enjoy it as much as colouring traditionally.
Without naming anyone can you tell me about any unpleasant experiences with clients or projects that made you unhappy?
Back in 2001, as soon as I finished college, I got my first job as a comic artist. Being naive and clueless (and without internet) the deal I made was neither profitable for me nor very pleasant, but it was a valuable lesson. The worst experience I've had so far though, was the second comic I was hired to do. The contractor was neither a book/comic publisher, nor had any idea or love for comics. He just thought making a comic would be an easy, cheap way to make money. He was unbearable to work with and he had ridiculous expectations. This experience was so hectic, that I decided to quit making comics for others and took a hiatus for 5 years. Since I got back in 2008 I guess I've been really lucky, collaborating with some great writers and publishers. Unfortunately, mostly due to misunderstandings, I've also "lost" two friends during this time, which saddened me deeply, but life goes on.
Out of your work what are you most proud of and why?
That's a really difficult question. I invest so much on each story I draw (mentally, emotionally and physically), so every time I send in the final pages to the publisher I feel proud for finishing it, even though after a while I always wish I could have done it a bit different, a bit better... Some of the stories may also mean a little more to me, because they were made under "special" circumstances. But they're all my "babies" and it's really hard to choose one over another.
Can you talk about the work you have done with Unseen Shadows and explain how that company works?
Two years ago Barry Nugent contacted me asking me whether I'd like to draw a cover for the story "Fragments of Fate". A few months later he sent me another email asking me to collaborate with Cy Dethan and Nic Wilkinson (my partners in crime for "White Knuckle" a horror graphic novel published by Markosia) to drawing a short comic story which would be published in the "Tales of the Forgotten" anthology. I loved the story and I already had a great collaboration with Cy and Nic so I gladly jumped on board. I was recently asked to be involved in the next anthology, but due to personal reasons I had to drop out. Hopefully I'll be able to collaborate again with Barry and his talented crew of amazing writers and artists in the future. The Unseen Shadows project is a whole universe on its own, beyond comics, and I'm not the ideal person to talk about it, but you can check the Unseen Shadows website: http://unseenshadows.com
Three years ago (in October 2010), I wanted to draw a new short comic story, so I could take it with me to the Bristol Expo. So I tweeted that I was looking for a really short story, and Mo replied, almost immediately. Until then I didn't really know Mo, but he was a "fellow-survivor" of the Insomnia publications incident, so he was a contributor to the "Sleepless Phoenix" comic anthology, that I was also involved in, and he had collaborated with lots of other artists whom I knew. A few days later Mo sent me this "poem", divided into 24 pages, and he told me I could do anything I wanted with it. Unfortunately, life and other projects, didn't allow me to start drawing it until last November (2012), again for another convention, Thought Bubble. It was completed in less than two weeks, in the afternoons and really late nights since I also had a day-job, but it was printed on time for TB. The first self published edition is now sold-out, but we're hoping for a second printing in the future and hopefully we'll make more new issues in the future, since a big publisher expressed an interest in it. But that's just wishful thinking for now. 
What media do you use, including what you prefer to use as a canvas? 
30/9/13: Extremely disappointed in my productivity rate, I’m
such a slow worker and I do believe it’s down to a lack of technical practice.
None the less I’m beginning to question if I could ever possibly have work as a
storyboard artist or graphic novelist, seems like a pipe dream.
02/10/13: I’m starting to believe that I will not enjoy
working in colour for a comic book, even artist tend to have a colourist who
works separately, instead I’ll work in monochrome emphasising the values. Let
people dare judge me for it. See right.
