EXCLUSIVE: Michael Manomivibul talks THE PRINCESS BRIDE


While attending COMIKAZE Expo I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Manomivibul.

He’s a talented free-lance illustrator that recently worked on The Princess Bride: An Illustrative Edition.

Scroll on to see what he had to say!

UTF: Let me ask you what inspired your style?

Michael Manomivibul Art 02Michael Manomivibul: It was a careful assembly of several artists and their dark shadow and ink works.

UTF: I have to ask you how long does it take you to complete just one illustration?

Michael Manomivibul Art 01Michael Manomivibul: I kind of measure my progress in evenings, in nights but honestly it can vary quite a lot depending on the piece. Sometimes you just get those pieces that just come out easy but that’s very, very rare. In that case, that could be two evenings of work. Generally there’s a lot of sketching and design and composition before then. A piece takes about a week of on-off work, maybe twenty hours on average. Then only the last bit of that is painting. Most of the rest of it is drawing and planning.

UTF: When you start working on something like that, The Princess Bride, did they tell you specifically what pictures they wanted you to do or were they pretty much open to you experimenting with your own ideas?

The Princess Bride-An Illustrative EditionMichael Manomivibul: I was spoiled rotten with this project. They were very good to me. They just sent me a copy of the book and said, “50 pieces. Read it. Pick what you want to do.” I sent them the list. They said, “Looks good.” Princess Bride ArtThen we pretty much went from there. There were considerations mostly kind of unspoken but self-imposed like you don’t want to cluster the illustrations too much. You wanted to evenly slice them out. There were clear moments that just needed to be done but other than that it was a little bit of a careful dance trying to figure out what to do and where to do it but that was all my own doing. Each and every piece was something I’d want to do.

UTF: That’s really awesome. I am also curious: do you have any future projects lined up?

Halloween ArtMichael Manomivibul: Just some personal stuff. I’m trying to get my first self-authored children’s book worked on.

UTF: Do you have a title for that one yet?

Michael Manomivibul: It is still under raps at the moment. I’m working on it and there may be more news next year.

UTF: That sounds great. Before I close out I just want to ask is there anything you would like to say specifically to our audience about getting into your line of work?

Michael Manomivibul: Do what you like to do. Do what you want to do. Then that will come through. People will hire you for it.

End of the Comikaze 2013 Michael Manomivibul Interview

I want to take the time to thank Mr. Michael Manomivibul for chatting with me, it was a pleasure to speak with him and I can’t wait to see what he accomplishes in the future.

But what did you guys think of the interview? Sound off with your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!