Meredith Moriarty’s art is immediately eye-catching. Initially, the style is reminiscent of the most respectable Anime, complete with milky, vibrant colors and a subtle, expressive shading that grants her figures a three dimensional quality, adroitly mimicking the most pristinely painted series of animation cels. Operating out of her hometown of Philadelphia, PA, Meredith is quickly garnering the attention of fans and professionals alike with a clean, expressive style demanding at least 3 double-takes, and an overwhelming need to force money into her hands for any scrap of newly produced art currently on her person. Yes, even her stick-figures hastily scribbled on napkins are dazzling pieces of art. But I digress…
I had the good fortune of catching up with Meredith at a recent Comic Convention in Philadelphia, PA, and thankfully, she relented to my interview request after three hours of embarrassing begging and pleading. OH! I also promised to buy things and wash her car! Maybe that was how I wrangled the interview… [Editor’s note- I didn’t have to promise anything; she was gracious enough to grant me a little time and answer the following questions. Thanks, Meredith!]
Let’s begin with something easy: tell us how you got started!
“Well, I originally went to school for Information Sciences, for things like Web Programming and design, but after I graduated I decided that I would rather do art for a living. So, I started freelancing, just made a go of it, and I’m still doing that and having a really good time and really loving what I’m doing.”
And you’re doing everything yourself? I’m seeing all these comics and graphic novels and all this amazing art. This is all you? You’re not associated with a publisher?
“That’s correct. I do freelance work for companies that contact me saying they want like, a cover or pencils, colors, things like that, but I’m not affiliated with any one company, it’s a one-man operation [laughs].”
That’s amazing. And I think we were talking about this earlier. You didn’t go to art school? This is all just sort of…natural talent?
“Yeah, that’s right. Well, I mean, “natural talent;” that’s generous. But I didn’t go to art school, I just always loved to draw. And in college, instead of drinking and partying, I’d go home and draw at night so I did have some time to learn [laughs].”
Hah! Great! I see a lot of anime influences. Are you a big anime fan?
“I am, yeah. I grew up watching things like Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Fooly Cooly, as well as things like Batman: The Animated Series, so I feel like my style has a bit of an “East meets West” thing and a lot of people will actually comment that it reminds them a little bit of Anime, but y’know, there’s something different to it.”
It looks really nice. Now, you said you did coloring for other companies. What companies have you worked for?
“Recently, I did colors for Action Lab, for the third issue in their creator-owned crossover series, Action-Verse I believe it was called? That was a lot of fun. I’ve also done things with smaller publishers like Wagon Wheel, which is owned by Jeff McClelland who writes for The Tick comics. And this past year I had a piece featured in the Thought Bubble Anthology put out by Image and the story was called Nice Dream. I did the art for that.”
What is she working on now? Check out Third Shift Society, “a weekly webcomic following the exploits of paranormal investigators Ichabod and Ellie.” She just started offering physical copies and yes, I bought the hell out of one.
Make sure to head on over to MeredithMoriarty.com to check out her latest projects and a lot more of that beautiful art I mentioned! Pay attention, folks; Meredith M. is on the move!
