Forwarded Message: Subj: Re: Emperor's Hammer Interivew Date: 10/14/02 12:07:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time From: joe@joecorroney.com To: ROKeiranIdanian@aol.com Sent from the Internet (Details) Hi Kieran Here it is... finally! ;) Let me know what you think. Talk to you soon! -Joe Greetings Mr. Joe Corroney, Here is the interview. I was waiting for a while just to not seem like I was spamming your inbox! :) Take your time with it, and again, thanks a lot! 1.) When did you want to become an artist, and why? I've actually been drawing since before I can remember so I'm not sure if there's an exact reason that led me to become an artist. Drawing has always been with me. I know that Star Wars definitely inspired me at an early age. After I saw the movie in 1977, I was four years old, I came home and started drawing scenes from the film on paper with crayons and also had the comic book adaptation of the film that Marvel Comics had released. That was one of my very first comic books actually so I started drawing pictures from that also. The comic book helped me relive the magic of the movie so I was always inspired to draw from it. It was also responsible for inspiring me to pursue a career in comic books too. I guess my parents saw some potential in my artwork and put me in private art classes at an early age and later Saturday art school courses which I really enjoyed. 2.) Who are your inspirations? Most of my inspirations are actually comic book artists. People like Jack Kirby, John Byrne, Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., John Buscema, Mike Zeck, Berni Wrightson, Jan Duursema, and Tom Mandrake. 3.) What is your favorite book, and why? Wow, can it be a comic book or graphic novel? I don't really read too many actual novels. The last book I read years ago that I really enjoyed was Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'. I'd have to say my favorite (comic) book is 'The Dark Knight Returns' by Frank Miller or 'The Watchmen' by Alan Moore Dave Gibbons. Though I love to use my imagination, I tend to be more visually stimulated so that's why I love comic books and movies so much. 4.) What is your favorite movie, and why? My favorite movie? Do you have to ask? Just kidding! Of course it's Star Wars. I mean The Empire Strikes Back is great and probably a superior movie visually and artistically, but the first one is so magical and was so unique. It was the first time anything like it really played on the screen. There still hasn't really been anything quite like it actually. All of the other Episodes come close so far and I love them all too, even 'The Phantom Menace', but 'A New Hope' was just the perfect movie. Especially growing up with it as kid made it more special. A close second for me would be Raiders of the Lost Ark. 5.) Where did you first see Star Wars? That was back home with my parents in Indianapolis, Indiana where I grew up. It was summer of 1977. The theatres I actually saw it in aren't even around anymore. I saw it a number of times as a child cause my mom or dad would keep taking me so see it since they really enjoyed it too. 6.) What made you decide to paint many different Star Wars images? I had just graduated art college with my illustration degree and was trying to make a living at drawing and painting however and wherever I could. It was really a goal of mine to want to become and artist for West End Games Star Wars RPG and pursue a career as a freelance illustrator for them. Once I started working for WEG, they kept giving me more and more Star Wars projects to do since they were really happy with my work. I really love Star Wars and have always poured my heart into my artwork for it. When I was working for WEG originally there's no way I would have imagined I'd have this much continued success and happiness in working on the property for Lucasfilm this long. As long as the assignments keep coming in and Lucasfilm is happy with my work it's not a hard decision for me at all to be enthusiastic to continue painting and drawing Star Wars. 7.) What is your favorite thing about Star Wars, and why? My favorite thing about Star Wars is essentially the story and relationships. Initially, as a kid, it was more specifically about the amazing special effects, the action and the great characters themselves. But as I got older, there were more and different things to like about the trilogy that made it so fun to love. Star Wars works on so many different levels. As a kid, it's just great fun. It's magical at that age. When you get older and watch it, and if you still have an imagination and aren't too cynical as an adult, the mythology of it all becomes appealing. Not to mention the artistic merits of the movies too. It really deals with universal themes too, like good and evil, which will always be interesting to me. 8.) What are some of your hobbies, and why do you like them? I love going to the movies since it inspires me in my own work as a storyteller. Good movies, bad movies, B-Movies, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action - I love them all. I find I can always learn something about my own work, whether its storytelling through visuals, framing my scenes, page design in my comic book work or just writing for own stories. I love music too so I along with my dvd collection I have way too many cds. Though the past year, my hobby has been more about downloading the music I want online since it saves me a little bit of cash that way. I also love playing my X-Box when I get the chance. I just bought 'The Thing' and have been playing that and I love 'Dead or Alive 3'. I can't wait for 'Jedi Knight' to hit the platforms soon along with 'Knights of the Old Republic' and 'Star Wars Galaxies'. I love rpg video games though I tend to never finish them or seem them all the way through because I end up getting too busy. I've got a GameCube too so I can't wait for 'Bounty Hunter' and 'Clone Wars' which comes out soon. There's just way too many cool Star Wars games coming out that could slow me down in my work. I've got to be careful! 9.) What is your favorite thing about being an artist? That's easy. I make my own hours and I'm my own boss. I don't have to 'punch in' every morning and work with people I don't like or work on projects that don't fulfill me. I love what I do. I'm able to satisfy myself both professionally and creatively at the same time by getting paid to use my imagination. I feel really lucky that way. It's definitely not about the fame since I still consider myself to be just another Star Wars artist in the realm of hundreds of working artists out there who are more successful than me. And it's not about the money either. When the work isn't coming in and the projects aren't lining up or the art director's aren't calling, my checking account can get get pretty thin sometimes. It's really competitive too so sometimes I have to put in alot of my own time and energy to get my name out there and tackle the projects I really want to be a part of. But when it's good, it can be really good. It's the life of a freelancer. I wouldn't trade it in for anything. 10.) Do you have any current projects that you are working on that you are allowed to talk about? I actually just finished a project for Star Wars Insider that will be appearing in issue 65, due out in January I believe. I think fans of your site will *especially* be interested in it because of some of the great characters I got to illustrate for it. You could say the project was really tailor made for fans and visitors of your site so I have a feeling that you're really going to like it. That's all I can really say about it so you'll have to pick up the magazine early next year. I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of it when it comes out so be sure to drop me a line at my official website, www.joecorroney.com. I'm hoping to do some more work for Insider soon and possibly have another project lined up there with my art director. I'm also getting ready to do something for New Line Cinema on Lord of the Rings. That's *really* top secret right now but I'm really excited about the project. 11.) What images did you design that you are most proud of, and why? One of the Star Wars pieces I'm most proud of is also one of my newest pieces. It was a cover painting I collaborated on with another Star Wars artist Jeff Carlisle (be sure to check out his website at www.jeffcarlisle.com ). It was for an international Star Wars fan publication called 'Echo Base Magazine'. It features a montage of Vader, Anakin from Episode II and Luke. I was really pleased with how that piece turned out. Also, I'm really proud of my latest work for Insider so I can't wait to see that come out. I did some illustrations for the 'Power of the Jedi Sourcebook' which was released earlier this year. I really had alot of fun with those drawing my Jedi character, Kai Justiss fighting and interacting with various monsters and creatures. Another illustration I'm proud of that also features Kai is 'Kashyyyk in Flames' which appeared in Star Wars Gamer #4. 12.) What kind of music do you like? Rock, alternative, heavy metal and film soundtracks mainly. I still listen to some classic rock occasionally but not as much as I did back in high school. There's always room for a little country, blues, some pop sometimes. Everything I guess. It's all rock n' roll to me really. 13.) Who is your favorite band, and why? My favorite band, the one that I get the most out of artistically is probably Soundgarden. Chris Cornell is my favorite musician, he's just so talented. I love his songwriting and his singing his amazing, he's got the best voice in rock, along with Maynard Keenan from Tool, one of my other favorite bands. I really love Rage Against the Machine too so you can imagine I'm really looking forward to the Cornell and Rage collaboration, Audioslave, coming out next month. Though I've been listening to the demos for the album for a few months now. Probably my second favorite band behind Soundgarden is Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor is amazing. I've been listening to alot of NIN for the past three years and it never seems to leave my cd player. I like Rob Zombie alot too, everything from White Zombie to his latest album. I also really dig Chris Isaak too. I've been listening to all of the music from Cowboy Bebop alot lately, something like 96 tracks in total. What I like about the series is it's use of jazz, blues, pop, western, rock, country and indigenous forms of Asian music blended so seamlessly from show to show. The way each show is edited to the musical themes, numbers and cues is always brilliant. i really love that show. 14.) Who is your favorite painter, and why? It's probably Ralph McQuarrie. He really defined the visual look of Star Wars. He's primarily responsible for creating the look and feel of all the films and the characters so I have tons of admiration for his unique imagination and skills. I was really floored when I saw some of his originals for the first time in 1998 at the Smithsonian when the Magic of Myth exhibit debuted. I pictured them to be so much larger after seeing them printed in numerous books over the years but they weren't that large at all. Seeing his technique with gouache in person looked so tight on those paintings. It was amazing. 15.) Who is your favorite character in Star Wars (movies and books), and why? It used to be Luke when I was younger. I could identify with his desire to accomplish something big with his life, wanting to have adventure and walk the right path. When I got a little older it was Han since he existed a little more in the grey area. He wasn't always right, though he tried to be. That's realistic and identifiable when you're an adult. But Qui-Gon Jinn is probably my favorite character now. For years we've been hearing and wondering how powerful and cool the Jedi truly were in their prime and Qui-Gon really set the stage for that. He was a 'talk softly, carry a big lightsaber' kind of guy that adhered to his own codes but still followed the Jedi path. That's admirable. 16.) What do you think about the Emperor's Hammer? A site devoted to Star Wars gaming with an emphasis on the Darkside. What's not to like? I really dig it! 17.) How do you feel about being an honorary member of the Emperor's Hammer? I'm really flattered to be included in such an esteemed list of honorary members and to be associated with such a cool Star Wars website! Thanks for noticing and supporting my work too!