Drawn by Drazen: An Interview w/ Illustrator Drazen Kozjan

When you’re an artist who loves what you do it’s hard for that enthusiasm to not carry over into your work. In the case of today’s special guest he has used that enthusiasm to craft wonderfully detailed worlds both for children and himself. Channeling the creative inspiration of a myriad of sources, Drazen Kozjan is an illustrator whose work is as diverse as his style is consistent. From the macabre penny dreadful that is The Happy Undertaker to the more playful adventures of Julian Gillian, Drazen has achieved what so many artists seek: balance.

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Artwork copyright © All rights reserved by Drazen Kozjan

Thank you for joining us, Drazen. So, how long have you been an illustrator?

I’ve really drawn my whole life, but I’ve been making a living at it in some form about 18 years now.

Did you receive formal training or are you self taught?

I would say self taught; mostly through the comics, art books and films I studied as a kid and growing up. I took general studies at the Ontario College of Art where I did mold making, experimental video and things like that before I dropped out in my third year. I used to make small rubber monsters with motors in them which I wish I still had.

After that I was doing artwork for bands and some record companies when a friend suggested I apply at an animation studio as a designer where he worked, which I did, and I got the job. I learned about animation design and storyboarding there from the amazing artists I worked with. I enjoyed design and became a supervisor, but I gravitated to storyboarding as I love films and storytelling. I always did illustration jobs at the same time and dreamed about doing children’s books so I worked towards that in my personal work. A critical comment from a friend or a negative response from another artist has always helped push me to grow and I always try to keep experimenting, going to life drawing. I recently took a book binding class which was really great.

Artwork copyright © All rights reserved by Drazen Kozjan

Having worked within a variety of industries, from animation to children’s books, is there a specific niche that you enjoy the most?

Children’s books. The whole process I find enjoyable and challenging though like everything else it has its frustrations. I’ve worked on things I’ve really enjoyed with some terrific people and I look forward to doing more. I hope to write and illustrate my own books in the future. I collect books so I love the physicality of them as well. Working on longer comic stories is something that would be cool too.

What sort of inspiration have you found in the works of fairy tales and folklore?

Growing up, my Mother and Grandmother were great storytellers in their own way. I don’t really remember “okay, now its story time ” moments but it was more a weaving of tales and morals and songs from Eastern Europe. Sometimes they superstitions and stories of things that happened around my family and where they lived or the people they knew growing up and the way they told it had a deep effect. In many cases it’s just a mood; the memories of a sad children’s song or some oddball character. We came to Canada when I was two and half so my Croatian background is mixed with western comics, monsters, cartoons and films like everyone else’s. Growing older I enjoyed reading folktale stories from all over the world and, of course, illustration wise there’s been some incredible work in that department because their simple and imaginative form allows for lots of interpretation and experimentation. I recently saw some Japanese children’s book illustrations for Japanese folktales from the seventies that blew me away.Theres a good mix of joy and tragedy in them.

Artwork copyright © All rights reserved by Drazen Kozjan

Are there any authors or artists in particular whose work you are fond of?

Oh boy, thats a tough one! I’m fond of tons of artists, writers and filmmakers but here is a few off the top of my head. I’ve always had a soft spot for Edgar Allan Poe and from that came a love of weird fiction in general. Old ghost story writers like M. R. James, Sheridan LeFanu and E F Benson, the Weird Tales writers, modern guys like Joe Lansdale and Jonathon Carrol. There’s also the hardboiled/noir fiction of Jim Thompson, Cornell Woolrich and James Ellroy. I got into Surrealism and Expressionism from a early age so there are authors that splinter off from that like Bruno Schultz. These writers have incredibly descriptive passages and ways of seeing the world.

Children’s writers and artists like Lewis Carrol, John Bellairs, Roald Dahl, Bill Peet, Lewitt and Him, Aurelius Battaglia. American commercial illustration particularly from the golden age to the sixties is also a favorite, such as J C Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell, and Al Parker. I love British illustrators like Cruikshank, E H Shepard, WIlliam Blake, not to mention comic artists like Wally Wood, Yves Chaland, Jack Cole, Dan Clowes, Charles Schulz and Will Elder. Ronald Searle, Edward Gorey and Paul Julian are also artists I admire a lot, not only for their work but how they experimented and went about doing there stuff though they lead very different lives all of which I find fascinating. Of course, I’m leaving out tons of stuff I’m crazy about and great stuff being done these days.

Artwork copyright © All rights reserved by Drazen Kozjan

You are perhaps best known online as the creator of The Happy Undertaker, a series of non-linear comic strips whose only loose connection seems to be the aforementioned undertaker. Can you tell us more about this project and how it got started?

The idea for the first page happened as I was waking/dreaming in the morning and it made me laugh so I got up and went to my studio and drew it out quickly on an eight and half by eleven sheet of paper. I scanned it into my computer, coloured it and posted it on my blog Hypnotik Eye. I wasn’t thinking of continuing with it but the idea for the second and third strips came to me and pretty soon I was filling up sketchbooks, some of which are indecipherable to me now which is a drag. It just seemed like there was a lot of things that I enjoyed story, design and atmosphere wise that I could work into it.

At first I thought the idea might be limited by trying to keep the story, such as it is, within the contents of a single page but that turned out not be the case. I have ideas for longer stories that I want to be able to get to at some point but keeping a contained story and single page design is my main focus and part of the fun. For me is I don’t really know what will happen next. I love the old, giant Sunday pages like Little Nemo, Krazy Kat and Naughty Pete. The Sunday Press editions of Little Nemo at its original size are jaw dropping to me. At the time Dan Nadels’ book Art Out of Time had come out and though I have a bunch of books on newspaper strips it was inspiring to see forgotten works collected like The Explorigator that I hadn’t seen much of. I wish had more finished pages of The Happy Undertaker. I have lots of roughs, but it is what it is and I can’t see ever stopping doing them even when I take a break. I find doing it fun and satisfying and when I haven’t finished one in awhile its always been encouraging to get notes from people like Steve Banes (from the great Horrors of it All blog), yourself and all kinds of other people from all over saying how much they enjoy it. I’m planning on having enough finished by next year to collect into book form but we’ll see.

Artwork copyright © All rights reserved by Drazen Kozjan

Do you currently have any other projects in the works?

The children’s books Don’t Call me Pruneface! by Janet Read Ahearn from Disney and Julia Gillian and the Dream of the Dog by Alison McGhee from Scholastic were released this past summer that I illustrated.

Oh, How Sylvester Can Pester!, a picture book by Robert Kinerk from Simon and Schuster, is coming next Spring which was a lot of of fun. Then there’s Working Mummies, also a picture book, by Joan Horton that is on my drawing table at the moment and is my first full on spook book since my first children’s book, Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esme Codell which came out five years ago. There’s also various other illustration jobs and projects in the works and I still do some storyboarding occasionally.

What tools do you use to create your illustrations?

Pencil, Paper, Pen (specifically crow quill and ink in addition to various markers or pens). I tend to colour roughs in gouache or water colour but my colouring is mainly done in Photoshop on a cintiq for finished work.

Photo Courtesy of Drazen Kozjan

How important has social media been in increasing your exposure and developing more contacts?

I don’t’ “tweet” so I can’t speak for that but blogging has brought some contacts and jobs my way as well making some good friends. There is something about posting a drawing on a blog and viewing it in that way that is satisfying and gets my brain working. Though I have to take breaks from looking at blogs as it gets distracting.

I joined Facebook to get some old artwork of mine back and I did so that was a great success! Facebook has actually been most helpful since I’ve been doing The Happy Undertaker on the Strange Kids Club blog regularly to introduce earlier stories to people who have not seen it and get some great feedback. Certainly having Mike Mignola post it on his wall and saying how much he enjoyed it was a terrific boost as I’ve been a fan of his work for many years. Through Facebook I have been introduced and had contact with some amazing people, not mention I’ve seen some great artwork and been tipped off to stuff I would have otherwise missed. I like going out and travelling but I also like my alone time and most of my day is spent in the studio so it can be a nice way to travel from a chair.

Okay, here’s the $1,000,000 question: in one word what ‘fuels your illustration?’

Obsession.