Artist short profile:
– Name: Penelope “Peng-Peng” Gaylord.
– Location: Eastern Shore, Maryland.
– Artistic style: Comic style with anime influence.
– Website/s: www.PengPengArt.com | peng-peng.deviantart.com
– Bragging rights(Featured work/collaborations): Exclusive cover art for “Adventure Time with Fionna and Cake” #1 published by KaBoom | inker for “Fanboys Vs Zombies” monthly comic series published by Boom Studios | worked on several sketch card sets including DC New 52 and The Walking Dead Comic Book sets from Cryptozoic Ent. and Marvel’s Avengers and Marvel Beginnings 2 sets from Upper Deck (to name a few).
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Artist continued profile. Let’s get a tiny bit personal:

– What are your goals as an artist?: To continue to evolve, be recognized for my work on my personal characters, and get paid to draw stuff I love.

– Favourite artist/why?: Tough question cuz I got a few. #1 Favorite artist will always be my extremely talented husband Jerry Gaylord http://thefranchize.deviantart.com/. He’s currently drawing “Fanboys Vs Zombies” for Boom Studios along with a bunch of other stuff. I fell in love with his art (and him) in high school and he never ceases to amaze me on how dynamic his art is. Then comes Olivia De Berardinis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivia_De_Berardinis. She’s an incredible woman who has made a name for herself drawing absolutely gorgeous and sexy women for the likes of Playboy. The length of time that she’s been a successful artist is incredible enough when you consider the obstacles she had to overcome to just break in. Most recently, Bill Presing http://bpresing.deviantart.com/ has been a huge inspiration with his cute and sexy illustrations of women (among his accolades with Disney and whatnot). I could go on, but I’ll spare you the details.

– What do you think of Comics being made into movies?: I think it’s about dang time! I like my movies to entertain me without being too serious and comics are the best with those types of stories. It’s very similar to how I feel about fairy tales being made into movies. It’s ripe for the big screen.

– Has reading a Comic ever changed your life? Which one/why?: Reading a comic, no. Watching a cartoon – yes.

– If someone created a Comic about your life what would they title it?: Probably something like “the chronicles of the un-extraordinary peng”

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– Where there any defining moments in your life that have influenced your artistic style?: I would say the first would be when I saw Disney’s The Little Mermaid. I was 9 years old and it sparked my artistic juices before I even knew I had it. Then again when I was in my sophomore year of high school and I was introduced to Sailor Moon and Ranma ½. Anime was “new” to the general American viewers at the time. My art was all anime all the time then. It wasn’t until I met my then-boyfriend/now-husband Jerry and started attending comic conventions in my 20s that opened my eyes to so much beauty in art that melded comics and anime styles so effortlessly. I was influenced by Joe Madureira, then Michael Turner before he passed, then Alvin Lee, and the list goes on and on.

– Favourite Comic artist of all time/why?: American comics? Probably Michael Turner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Turner_(comics). He had an elegance in his art, especially in the women he drew, that is rare (not impossible) for male artists. His messy-yet-clean linework seemed to have movement despite the fact that it was a static picture. There was just an intensity in his characters in their body language and in their eyes that I can’t really explain. All I know is, it has been often imitated but can NEVER be duplicated. – But for mangas (Japanese comics)? I would say the collective group known as CLAMP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clamp_(manga_artists). Man those ladies can make go from lighthearted bubblegum characters to intense and, oftentimes, morbid stories – all in a single series. And their art – gorgeous.

– If you could collaborate with anybody who would it be/why?: Anybody?? Probably Bill Presing http://bpresing.deviantart.com/ or Chris Sanders http://www.chrissandersart.com/. I mean, any opportunity to learn from amazing character designers/animators like that and then apply it to my own style, I would feel unstoppable! Not that I would actually BE unstoppable, I just would feel it. And that’s good enough for me. – Though I suppose as long as we’re wishing, I would probably want to collaborate with J.K. Rowling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling. Cuz she’s an amazing lady with intense creativity that I could only hope to keep up with, yet she remains somewhat humble.

– If you could have any power from a Comic character, what would it be/why?: Definitely Wonder Woman all day every day. You mean I can be beautiful AND possess great strength from the gods AND fly around AND have the respect of my fellow male superheroes? Yep, that’s me all the way.

– What do you prefer to snack on when creating a masterpiece?: Does coffee count as a snack? Cuz that’s what I usually drink when I’m creating anything.

– Where do you ‘draw’ your daily inspiration from?: It’s usually music. Sometimes the music chooses what my work looks like, sometimes my work chooses what music I listen to. It’s kind of symbiotic. If music isn’t working, then I get onto DeviantArt. The only problem with DA is that if I’m searching for inspiration due to an artist block, DA tends to make me feel worse because of all the amazing art out there. So that’s a hit or miss sometimes.

– If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long would it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?: You know I should really know this since I went into my first 2 years of college as a math major. Seriously. But as you could probably tell, that didn’t really work out for me. But since I don’t like pickles, I have no hope of answering this question.

– If you were to ”turn” sexually for any Comic character, who would it be/why?: Huh. Never thought about this ever. If I had to choose, I guess Catwoman. She seems like she’d be tough to resist. Or Red Monika – for similar reasons.

– Have you ever had a hair disaster? If so, what?: One time while I was in elementary school, my 2 older sisters decided they were each going to take half of my head and cut my hair. But it never evened out until I ended up with an extremely short bob and ridiculously short bangs. That was not fun.

– Likes: Mint chocolate chip ice cream, dogs, mermaids, cheesecake poses.

– Dislikes: Hot weather, crime & criminals, BS, arrogance, smoking.

– Favourite joke: What did the five fingers say to the face?

– Any thank you’s/shoutouts?: Shout outs always to my husband Jerry “theFranchize” Gaylord. Incredible artist, even more incredible love of my life. And a shout out to my fellow studio members at Identity Comics Studios. I always consider myself extremely fortunate to be part of such a talented pool of friends.
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– Thank you to Pengpeng for her interview – Ness 🙂