When AHOY’s “Ash & Thorn” launched in June, it disrupted the patriarchy’s hold on both content and the publisher’s creative teams, as silver-haired heroine Lottie Thorn beat back the boys’ club of titles such as “High Heaven,” “Second Coming” and “Planet of the Nerds” with writer Mariah McCourt and artist Soo Lee right behind her.
The five-issue miniseries, which focuses on Thorn being pressed into duty at her advanced-but-still-lively age to fight a horde of monstrous and world-ending abominations, is now out as a trade collection, and here, in my second interview with an AHOY artist, I talked via email with Lee about her tools of creation and how she brought a few of the “Ash & Thorn” nightmares to life.
You’ve worked for AHOY (of course), AfterShock, BOOM, Dynamite, Image and other publishers — but where did it start for you? What’s your first memory of creating art?
I started with a children’s genre comic series called “Dim Sum Warriors.” It was a cute bilingual comic, and it was my first step in professionally drawing comics. I remember being very excited about working on this book and my level of enthusiasm at the time; that’s normal for any new artist, right? It was the first time I felt like a real comic artist. If only you could put that feeling in a bottle!
On your process videos and streams, it seems like you use physical tools. Do you ever work digitally? What are your typical implements when you sit down to work, and why do you tend to gravitate toward them?
I do work digitally when I’m drawing layouts and drafting sketches. I also color most of my covers/illustrations digitally as well, but that’s the extent of it. I’m so used to drawing traditionally, I can’t do it any other way.
My go-to tools are just a standard lead pencil, Speedball India ink, pro white ink and Raphael Kolinsky Sable brushes. I’ve practiced so much with brushes; it’s one of the few tools I know how to use well enough and am comfortable with. I also have a weird thing where I use my finger to get smudge textures. People comment on it when I’m streaming, and it’s funny when people mention it. “Here comes the finger!”
One last general question: As soon as you get a script, what are some of the first things you do before you start to draw?
I give the script a once over, and I try to imagine scenes as I’m reading it and to go over how many panels each page has, maybe sketch out the number of panels as I go. Then I’ll start digitally building out all the pages with empty panels. Then lastly, I’ll re-read the script more meticulously while I start to draw the thumbnails. This is also when I may add or remove panels as I sketch them out. It’s a lot of steps, but I feel like it’s the only way I can process the script in my mind.
Looking at the first piece, it’s telling a story in two panels — Exasperation? Determination? Exhaustion? I hope I’m close there — what are the details you really focused on in telling the story here? What were the challenges for you?
It’s all that! Without spoilers, this also shows the process of change Lottie goes through as the hero. I think I was worried the expression might be too subtle, but it was somewhat of a serious scene, so I didn’t want to exaggerate it too much. Lottie is a cool cucumber for the most part, so I didn’t want to stray from her character either.
With the second page, do you remember what writer Mariah McCourt gave you in the script? What’s the difference between creating something real and familiar (say, facial expressions) and the utterly weird (an old growth tree with a bunch of faces growing out of it)? Finally, how do you approach the fine detail work like the individual expressions on said face blossoms?
Yeah, it was a trippy scene. That entire issue was actually, and it was my favorite issue to draw out of all five. Mariah did a good job of describing this scene, and it was so surreal. She gave me some free reign to draw these pages, but when she described the scene, it clicked for me. I know this sounds crazy, but I actually used to have a dream with a tree with many little faces/heads, and so I took that as inspiration to draw this out.
This thing…is something else, isn’t it? Totally ramps up the question of creating something that never was and never can be. How did you even start this? Is there anything you referenced before you started to draw? How do you feel looking back at this piece in particular?
Oh, I absolutely loved drawing the monster. When I was working on the character designs, Mariah wanted a Lovecraftian-styled tentacled monster, so using that as inspiration, I just went for it. I added the many eyes because it’s unnerving and symbolic to seeing all. I also inserted some Giger-inspired themes to the monster, especially in some of the mouth shapes.
I would love to draw more scenes with just the monster!
Last question: What’s one thing I should have asked you about that I didn’t?
Who would be my favorite character in “Ash & Thorn,” I think! And that answer would be Sarah. She isn’t as cool and collected as Lottie, her teacher, but she knows when it’s time to act and take initiative. She also has a fashion style I relate to when I was younger. She’s a cool character.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
