Drawing as a language
14 cartoonists who decisively shaped comic strips and graphic novels in the past 25 years were interviewed on topics such as „drawing as a language“ and „visual narration“, on the creating and reading of drawings and their teaching strategies. The results provide enlightening insight into the attitudes, working methods, preferences, and convictions of 14 very different and compelling artists and personalities from seven countries, thus depicting the range and creativity of contemporary comic creation.
Amongst others, these are Joe Sacco (USA), Ben Katchor (USA), Joost Swarte (NL), Jacques de Loustal (F), Edmond Baudoin (F), Ulli Lust (D), Gabrielle Bell (USA), and Tom Gauld (UK).
“Drawing as a Language” is a project of the Lucerne School of Art and Design at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. It was developed in cooperation with the international comix festival, Fumetto, that celebrated its 25th anniversary in Lucerne in 2016. The research group “Visual Narration” seized the opportunity of the Fumetto symposium, “Drawing as Language”, organized by the department “Illustration”, to carry out these interviews.