Diana Huh is the author and illustrator of The Lonely Vincent Bellingham, a story about a runaway man who encounters a world of magic and intrigue. She works for Titmouse Inc. as a storyboard artist when not working on her own projects. Diana also recently contributed to the Ladies of Literature Vol. 2 which was successfully funded by Kickstarter. I talked to Diana about her inspirations, her comic and WonderCon.
Ryan: Your artwork is so beautifully sleek and minimal with hints of whimsy. Where do you draw your inspirations from?
Diana: I think stylistically, my most obvious inspirations are from Glen Keane, Brittany Lee and Rumiko Takahashi. Their sense of form and motion really colored the way I draw things now. In terms of tone/emotive style however, I take a lot of informed inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki. Everything he’s done has always rung an chord with me, and I’ve tried to mimic that in my work as well.
Ryan: The Lonely Vincent Bellingham is such a great comic. How did that story come about? It feels so simple at the beginning and then it’s “Bam! There’s a vampire and a girl who can do magic!”
Diana: It honestly came about around 2007, when I drew a Halloween themed picture of my original characters on deviantart, haha! I found them much more interesting than my original premise, so I ditched my original idea and started reworking it. Back then it was a heavily wrought, pseudo-intellectual crap story about conspiracies and religion and faith. Clearly, it was something I was personally struggling with at the time. Since then, I grew up a bit, and it took another turn once again: something more personal, and sincere, because I’m cheesy that way. I don’t think I could have written it well when it was first conceived. As much as it pains me that it took this long to start the comic, I’m glad I took the time to grow up a bit and figure out my story telling sensibilities. It’s still in the very beginning stages, and I hope you guys stay with me as I go along! I have so much more to tell.
Ryan: You’re part of Ladies of Literature Vol. 2. If you could have lunch with any lady of literature who would it be?
Diana: It would definitely be Diana Wynne Jones! Her books were such an inspiration to me growing up, and reading her work forced me to think beyond the conventions of cliches and stereotypes. I feel like I owe a lot of my storytelling abilities to her.
Ryan: I see that you like Steven Universe. Who is your favorite character and why? Also, did you see the Season 1 finale?
Diana: I admit I’m a pretty casual watcher of Steven Universe, but I do love Garnet. I’m always partial to strong, enigmatic characters who have more emotion brimming underneath the surface. Her relationship with Steven warms my heart. I did watch the season finale and I gotta say that it finally convinced me to go buy and watch the series from the beginning!
Ryan: How was WonderCon for you? I loved your table so much.
Diana: It was excellent! It was my first time attending/tabling at WonderCon, and it was a blast meeting so many people. It was also incredibly busy, which is great but also very tiring! I lost my voice at the end of the weekend (again, like after Emerald City Comicon). I’d definitely love to table again next year, but I’m not sure how well I can handle two back to back cons again, haha!
Ryan: What other projects are you working on right now?
Diana: The Lonely Vincent Bellingham is my main passion project right now, but I have other stories I’d like to tell in the future. I’m also attached to some other projects, which will be announced later this year! So far 2015 has been proving to be my most challenging/busy/fun year thus far. A lot is up in the air for me, and I’m excited to see what will happen next!
Ryan: Anything you’d like to say to your fans?
Diana: Thank you so much for your kindness and your never ending patience and enthusiasm. I honestly would have never gone this far in my art career (or in art at all) without the support of the online community, and I love you all dearly for it!
You can find more on Diana at her blog and at The Lonely Vincent Bellingham website.
Fabulous Nothing 