"I have definitely not done any Ultimate Fighting, though I might have watched some videos of it."
Andy Hixon's new graphic novel Lucia is a wonderfully grotesque vision of life at the edge of Britain, and not just geographically. The story of aspiring writer Morty and Ultimate Fighting enthusiast Brick, it follows them from the job centre to the video store and seaside cafe. In this week's Graphic Content he answers five questions about the book.
First off, the art in Lucia is incredibly distinctive, a mash-up of photographs, painting, computer imagery and 3D modelling. How do you go about creating it?
I start off by sketching ideas. I then start working on the computer, rendering in 3D. I use a lot of photographic reference to make the scenes along with 3D rendering if it's called for. I spent a lot of time walking around seaside towns in the dead of winter taking photos for this project. The characters are 3D modelled and are then posed and placed within the scene. I then work on shadows, colouring, lighting and painting.
Lucia could be the seaside town "they forgot to bomb", (copyright Morrissey). Is it based on anywhere in particular?
Lucia is a mixture of several UK coastal towns, like Blackpool and Bridlington, but is set a few years down the road, when the decay has really taken hold. The project really started to take shape after a visit to the East Coast of Yorkshire and lots of the photos were taken in Bridlington, Scarborough etc.
It's a story about the margins - marginal places and marginal people. People who are being written out of the culture in a way. Is this something you feel strongly about?
I find these characters and locations fascinating. I grew up in a town similar to Lucia, but not on the coast, and many of the scenes in the book are based on personal experience. The characters are inspired by people I used to know and friends I still know now.
In your own life are you more like Brick or Morty? Have you done any Ultimate Fighting yourself?
I am much more a Morty sort of guy. Brick, for the most part, was based on my mate Phil; looks wise, and he holds some of his character traits as well. I have definitely not done any Ultimate Fighting, though I might have watched some videos of it. If I did take up Ultimate Fighting, I am sure I would become champion of the world within a month or so. So maybe I am a bit like Brick as well.
How big was your own VHS collection back in the day? And what was the strangest video you owned?
I had at one point 2500 tapes or thereabouts sitting in my mum's spare room. Videos were a big part of my eighties childhood and I used to like to go to my local video shop with my best mate and stock up. The video shops near us started closing down and we got some bargains when they did. We filled up bags like Brick and Morty. When my mate moved to London I "looked after" his collection for him. He had a lot of messed up "adult art films" in his bunch: "Fatter, Balder, Uglier" is one of the highlights that springs to mind, along with a ton of video nasties.
Lucia by Andy Hixon is published by Jonathan Cape, priced £16.99. For more information on his work visit his website www.andyhixon.com.
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