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Artist Spotlight – Sergio Fernandez Davila Of Dynamite's Legenderry

Published Fri, 23 May 2014 21:00:00 -0500

Sergio Fernandez Davila has been moving his way through some classic characters with Lord Of The Jungle (Tarzan) and Red Sonja. Now he has landed with the Fables creator Bill Willingham on the seven part series Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure where he gets to reimagine most of the Dynamite characters as they would have been at the turn of the century. So today we turn the spotlight on an artist who is making himself a niche in the steampunk world.

BLEEDING COOL: How did you get started drawing?

SERGIO FERNANDEZ DAVILA: I guess like most cartoonists. When I was very young, I used to draw anytime and everywhere, trying to copy the pictures I used to see from TV and drawing them on my own. Later I discovered the wonderful world of comics and I got trapped. I started drawing Superman, Batman, Captain America, etc. and haven't stopped yet!

BC: Who were your biggest influences?

SFD: I've been influenced by many authors, I couldn't possibly mention them all. Every one of them contributed me something specific, something that makes them different to others, either by their narrative, for its anatomy or for how resolves the type of finish in a sequence or action. But if I have to mention some of them, I would say Inmonen, Coipel, Pacheco, Rafa Sandoval, Jimy Cheung, Tom Raney… These are the authors I always have on the table. They are all fantastic artists. I also have to mention Jaime Calderon, who is my teacher and also a friend. He has a high level and I consider him my reference. He is a great artist and we both like to focus in the details of our drawing but of course in a different level. I personally like to give many details in my drawing as long as the delivery time allows me to do it. When you have a tight deadline you can't do it….

BC: What is your process for doing page? How long does it take you?

SFD: First of all, I read the full script, making some notes or writing down some ideas. And after that, I make the Storyboards of the 22 pages. This normally takes me a day's work. The next day I start to draw the product guiding me by the Story that I have previously drawn. When I have everything assembled, I make the characters with their prospects, plans, anatomy, foreshortening, backgrounds, etc. Later I trace all the dirty work to a clean sheet, but only tracing the lines that I think are appropriate.

And then I start to draw in clean, adding all the details and textures of the characters and their backgrounds. I like to work in that way to make sure the page doesn't get dirty. They colour directly over my pencil and the page must be as clean as possible. I use the pen as ink.

I normally do a page a day but sometimes takes me longer if I have to document myself or if the page requires more details than usual. With the Legenderry comic that I'm currently drawing for example, a page takes me more than a day. I have to look for information about clothing, weapons, clothes, gadgets, settings and all in Steampunk style. It's a hard work but I have to admit that I'm having a great time drawing it.

BC: Where might folks have seen your work previously?

SFD: Most of my work has been for Dynamite, they have given me the opportunity to work with them and I am very grateful. For Dynamite I have drawn two numbers of "Lord of the Jungle" and six numbers of "Red Sonja" (one of my favourite characters.) Previously I worked for IDW making some filler pages for a number of "Eternal Descent" and I've also worked for DC, drawing trading cards. But my first job was a comic I drew for a small French Publisher.

BC: What are you working on now?

SFD: Right now I'm finishing to draw Legenderry series, with the great Whilligham scripts. I have to admit that I had many doubts at the beginning; I knew nothing about the theme Steampunk, but after reading the script, I was very keen on it because there was a lot of action and I am an action lover. As the numbers are lapsing, there is more action and Whill always surprises me with something new and more action. I love when there is some "death and destruction" to draw.

I've also been doing character designs for a new series that Dynamite will launch shortly. And I also combine this work drawing covers for other publishers.

BC: What is your dream Project?.

SFD: I'm fortunate to say that I am already fulfilling my dream that always was to work as a drawer. My next dream would be to draw the characters I used to read when I was a child, that would be fantastic. I also would like to continue drawing comics with plenty of action or to draw some number or any cover of "Invincible", I really like it and I enjoy a lot Kirkman and Ottley, they are doing a very good job. In conclusion, continue working and enjoying while drawing, to me is the most important.

You can see Sergio Fernandez Davila's work on Legenderry here.

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