| Artist
of the Wraeththu World :
An Interview with Bruce Wells
by
Wendy Darling
Bruce
Wells Links & Info
Related Interview:
|
I first met artist,
musician & Storm fan Bruce
Wells in October 2003, at Grissecon I. He was wearing a long
red smoking jacket and together with his height and wild hair,
was seriously enigmatic. We established a rapport and also, to
our surprise, discovered that we both live in Atlanta. Since
that time, I've gotten to know Bruce a lot better, meeting up
with him here in Atlanta, chatting online, sharing a hotel room
at Lunacon last March.
During
the time I've known him, Bruce has been working very hard
on artwork for the Wraeththu
RPG, due to come out in the
next few months. I decided that after all his work and having
the artwork on the RPG web site, it was long past time to
ask him about the work he's been doing, to give look and
feel to the Wraeththu world of the game.
In the
following interview, Bruce talks about Wraeththu and his artwork,
and how they've intersected and grown over time.
When did you first encounter Wraeththu and what was your reaction?
 |
Uigenna
Har
by Bruce Wells |
I first
read the Wraeththu trilogy in '97. A friend of mine has
a huge book collection and one night wile looking through them I
came across the Wraeththu trilogy. The artwork on the cover really
appealed to me. This friend of mine also had the original versions
of the trilogy and I was quite impressed with the art on them as
well. Especially the cover of Enchantments. I read the back cover
and was really interested. I went out later that week and got the
trilogy and was instantly hooked.
I was
completely absorbed my the books. If the first 3 or 4 chapters
of any book don't grab me, then I loose interest really
quick. In this case I really enjoyed reading them and couldn't
wait to find out what was going to happen next. I also
made a connection between the Wraeththu and William S.
Burroughs' Wild Boys, which is one of my favorite books
as well. The abandoning of all rules, morality, sexual
hang ups, complete freedom and wildness. That's some of
the feeling I put into my first album Wicked Spectrum and
a lot of that album is based on themes found in both Burroughs'
and Storm's books.
Before stepping in to work on the RPG, what other Wraeththu-themed
artwork had you done?
I almost
exclusively draw androgynous characters. It's been part
of my style for a very long time now. On of the things
I've gotten used to in regard to my work is people saying
something like "Wow,
she's a pretty woman" and my having to explain that it's
a male.
I think
this came from growing tired with drawing the classic superhero
with huge rippling muscles etc. I started streamlining
them and making them look more balanced. Also a lot of the rock
stars I love are androgynous, so that bled into my work on a massive
scale.
I think
experiments with a "Prototypical Wraeththu" look have been
underway for sometime now. Books, movies and music anything
that reinforce androgyny or otherness are some of the architecture
behind my work.
What made you want to be part of the game team?
I didn't
have a choice. I was online one day and was ambushed by
both Storm and Gabriel via instant messenger. Storm had
liked the art on one of my CD's and then went to my web
site. As I understand it, they both thought my style was very Wraeththu
and that it would fit the game. I had no idea what I was getting
myself into when I agreed to work on it.
What type of work have you had to do for the game?
Figuring
out what the eight
tribes look like. That's been the biggest
challenge here, as a lot of the tribes haven't been illustrated
before. I didn't have any visual reference to look at
for them, so it came down to rereading the books and
talking to Storm and Gabriel to get things right. Designing the
clothing, weapons and various hairstyles has also been a huge
undertaking.
From there defining the core look for each tribe and making
them feel as different as I can. One of the things I wanted
to try to do was to make it hard for the players to pick a tribe right
away. What I mean by that is I wanted each to be very appealing and
playable so you might come back and try one of the others at a later
time and eventually come to have played them all.
Your particular style of Wraeththu art stands out as quite
different from other artists' interpretations (for example Ruby's or
fan art on Inception, which is often manga style). What's the
inspiration for the particular artistic style you've used on
your hara and the look they have?
I think
it comes from me altering my own look. I started out as
a punk rocker, then shifted to a Goth kid, and now I'm
evolving into something else entirely my own.
I also
have very eclectic taste in music. I'm always listening
to something when I draw and it affects what I create.
I'm German
and Portuguese and it's odd having two very different bloodlines
running through me. I really don't fit in anyplace so I
externalize the way I feel on the inside. This comes out
in my music, art and way I dress.
I think
in the case of the Wraeththu I relate on a very personal level to
the sense of duality they have.
I think
another thing is that the books are just so well written.
I get a palpable sense of the world and the characters
action. There's just so much there to try and reconcile
and bring into ink and paper images. I think if the books
were shoddy or not crafted as carefully and thoughtfully, then I
wouldn't be working as hard to do justice to the illustrations.
As an artist, what have you learned as a result of working on
this project?
Not to
be so hard on myself over the work. It really is a huge
task and it's taking a long time to work out the right
mood and look for everything. It's easy to lose heart at times,
but I think it's a labor of love and something I really believe
in doing.
Do you have any personal favorites out of all the drawings you've
done for the project so far? If yes, what are they and why
are they favorites?
So far
it's the Unneah illustration. That's the tribe I would
be from. I'm really proud of the work so far and think each one
is my next new favorite.
Unneah
Har
by Bruce Wells
What are the artistic challenges of depicting androgynous characters?
How do you get the right look?
I think
overall I come from some of the same places that the prototypical
Wraeththu come from and I try to add that in as much as I
can.
This
is the challenge. Early
on it was easy to get something looking too butch or too
femme. I think some of it is in the jaw line.
I approach
each tribe like I'm doing a caricature. I blow up small
details or their psyches and try to make them iconic. I
think this is where my lack of fashion sense or odd taste
comes into play. I wear eyeliner from time to time, change
my hair color and wear clothes ranging from GQ to disco Goth nightmare.
What I learn from doing that is to balance things out.
When
I'm on stage I'm portraying a specific character from a
specific time-space that I've created. It's important
for me to bring that aspect out so I don't look like some
oddly-shaped drag queen. The whole Niberu thing
for me is an experiment in mixed mediums and focusing fragments
and elements that don't usually bond together.
With
the Wraeththu I think I'm trying to achieve some of that
same approach, same aesthetic, some look that's got all
the things I love about them wrapped up to an extent. I'm
lucky with this project because I can let my imagination
run wild, and if anything looks too wonky I get honest
critique from people I respect.
You've mentioned to me how you've gotten to writing a Wraeththu
story, which I assume grew out of your work on the game material.
Could you describe that? Are you doing artwork to go along
with your story?
The first
is called "Future Legend," a story that Lydia Wood and
myself are co-writing. So far we have seven chapters written
for it. It's focused around the Unneah tribe and set in
the early years. There are no cannon characters used so
far, and I think we are steering clear of going that direction.
It's about a small band of misfits that leave the Uigenna
tribe in search of the mysterious Unneah tribe and what
they have to go through in order to find where they belong.
It's very surreal and sensual, with odd plot twists and
revelations. I think we managed to get David
Bowie in a few times
as well.
The second
is one I started on my own called "Cold Modern Light."
It's set in the early years, right as things are falling
apart. It's about an electronic band and their singer,
whose songs prophecy the coming apocalypse. It's also about
the relationship between the singer and his bandmate, the
tension that exists between them and how it's finally dealt
with as the world falls down around them. I'm not sure
what final form the story will take on. I think it might
be interesting to make it into a graphic novel, but we'll see what
happens. So far it's inspired a few new Niberu songs and some very
interesting jumping off points for future projects.
About
the Interviewer:
Wendy Darling (nickname Wiebke Fesch) is a web designer, fanfic author,
and editor of Inception. She lives in Atlanta, GA, where she is self-employed,
operating her own web design business, Metro Girl. Wendy is co-author of a Wraeththu
Mythos novel called Breeding
Discontent, and is an editor with Immanion Press. You can reach Wendy
at wdarling@abraxis.com. |
