Artist short profile: 
– Name: Ángel Rams Figueroa (pretty hard to pronounce for germans lol).
– Location: Though my home town is Valencia (Spain) I currently reside at Leipzig (Germany).
– Artistic style: American comic book style, traditional illustration.
– Website/s: www.angelrams.com
– Bragging rights(Featured work/collaborations): I made numerous illustrations for the RPG company MoonDesignPublications – http://moondesignpublications.com/, the covers for issues#2, #3 & #4 of All-Star U for AMM Markosia, a couple of pin-up´s for the Earthbound Comics Dossier and the cover for EC´s one shot Villains. I made artwork for a videogame still in proccess called Crime Uprising, for online videogames for the spanish company FW Producciones. I actually work on a 4 issue miniseries with Ethan Slayton called Villains and carry out assignments for several clients.

 

Artist continued profile.
Let’s get a tiny bit personal:
– What are your goals as an artist?:  First to make a living out of it.  If I can spend my life working on my passion I will consider myself a fortunate fella.  Then learn, improve and enjoy.  I don´t really have a goal like “I wanna work for this or that company”.

– Favourite artist/why?:  Very difficult to choose only one.  I would say Frazzetta.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Frazetta  . Maybe he’s not the best technically but he wins your heart at first sight.  He’s got something…

– What do you think of Comics being made into movies?: Well,  comics are comics and movies are movies.  2 different media and you better try some sort of mimicry (difficult) or just make a movie about something , but not based on a comic. I mean, bringing a certain comic character into a film can work, but if it´s surrounded by the whole character´s universe and mood (Batman, with Michael Keaton, felt like being actually inside of the comic for that reason) In my humble opinion, many times that doesn´t happen. They kind of drop the character in a pool of nice expensive special effects with a weak plot under his arm, totally ignoring the character´s world and story.

– Has reading a Comic ever changed your life? Which one/why? (If yes): I was never a fan of the comics themselves. As a kid I would rarely read ´em. I mean that it wasn´t the stories or the characters what amazed me, but the artist´s work. – I remember I was given a Tarzan volume with fantastic art from Burne Hogarth – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burne_Hogarth. Those images really impressed me, but I have to say that it was my father´s insistence what made me start drawing.  

– If someone created a Comic about your life what would they title it?: It would be a comic strip called “Ink´n Chain”. When you work on art, sometimes you feel like a prisoner of your drawing board and your brushes.

– Where there any defining moments in your life that have influenced your artistic style?: Definitely when I got to know my master in Spain. César Alvarez –  http://www.lambiek.net/artists/a/alvarez-canete_cesar.htm  – was a seasoned artist who worked for the biggest publishing houses at USA, Italy, Spain… during the 70´s. He worked on top characters like Vampirella and Martin Mystere. He tought me all I know.

– If you could have any power from a Comic character, what would it be/why?: Well, with great power comes great responsability, and I already have many of those so.. I thing I will pass.

– Favourite Comic artist of all time/why?: Again that´s difficult. Maybe Rob Liefeld? No no just kidding. I could not choose only one. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Liefeld –

– What do you prefer to snack on when creating a masterpiece?: I usually don´t eat when I draw

– Where do you ‘draw’ your daily inspiration from?(See what I did there hehe):Inspiration normally comes after “warming up”. They attribute that phrase to Picasso: “Inspiration exists, but It has to find us working”. I´m not Picasso, not even close, but I kind of understand what he meant.

– Likes: German beer, Blues, Jazz, sleep, animals, art, nature.

– Dislikes: Money, arrogance, politics, cynicism, nightclubs.

– Favourite joke: Those are my principles, and if you don´t like them…well, I have others.

– What do you think of garden gnomes?: They scare to death.

– Are you sexually drawn to any Comic characters? Who and Why if so: No, not really. When I see a sexy comic character I see the drawing, the technique. If it´s sexy, if it feels alive, the artist worked it out well. But I don´t fantasize and I´m definitely not into cosplay.

– Why do superheros wear their underwear on the outside of their clothes?: Easy. What we call underwear are their clothes, and what we call clothes is their  underwear. So they dress just right.

– Who was the hottest teacher you ever had?:  I didn’t have any.  The whole hot spanish teacher thing is a myth

– Any thank you’s/shout-outs?: Thanks to everyone to believed in me until now. Thanks to my girlfriend for being always a sincere critic of my work and understanding and supporting me.  

 

– Thank you to Angel for this interview 🙂 – Ness.