An Interview with Rebekah Reif

5/5/21

by Clio Thayer

So tell me a little bit about your senior project.

Originally we were just going to make a 100 page comic, but we changed that a bit because that’s not really doable, so we shortened it so we could do any story we wanted. Mine is gonna be 64 pages and it’s called “My Sister Is A Cat,” it’s about a brother whose sister got turned into a cat by a witch.

Are you looking to publish the finished comic when it’s done?

Yes, hopefully. I don’t know where, we’re learning how to do a kickstarter so some of my other classmates are gonna be doing that. I might send it to a publisher, like Oni Press.I like how they do a lot of different comics so I’m not stuck in a box. 

So what are some types of themes that you like to express in your art?

I’m gonna go into a little bit of personality types. I’m a type nine on the enneagram, so when I discovered that a lot of things clicked. So type nines are the peacekeepers, not necessarily peace makers, so we’re kinda like “Let’s keep what’s in right now and not cause any conflict,” and so because of that it made me realize I haven’t been very assertive in putting forth what I believe and what I like, so that’s been a little bit of a journey on what I do like. So the main character, the brother Kenji, he was based initially off of a type nine, so that more passive type. I put him in a situation where he has to become assertive, because again, his sister is kind of a cat and he’s gotta go confront a witch, which is not very comfortable. I’m also big on diverse characters in the sense of personalities, like I hate how the media portrays women where they make the female characters dumb down the men around them to make themselves look better, which is essentially saying women aren’t powerful enough in and of themselves that we have to dumb down everyone around you to compensate. I don’t want that, I want characters that are people first. I’m not gonna look at someone as a woman first, I’m gonna look at them as a person, and how would a person approach this situation. 

What type of art did you start with and how did you end up with Comic Arts?

So let's go back to 2009. I just followed my sister around, so we were into Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Star Wars, so we just kind tried to do that realism. She’s super into horses. so I would try to follow that, but I still suck at drawing horses. In 2011 we got into anime. I tried the art style and thought it was great. I was deadset on Japanese art styles until around 2016 or 2017, where I got into Harry Potter. I found out I was a Hufflepuff and I was like “Batman has black and yellow colors, I think I’ll go see a Batman show because he’s a Hufflepuff.” That led me to being more open to learning the American way and, eventually, going to this school.

 What are some artists that have inspired you?

Greg Capullo, the First Batman artist I found. I liked his work because he did a more cartoonish version of Batman similar to the show I watched, and the writer along with him did a more personal Batman. I loved his art, he’s a very detail oriented guy. Takeshi Obata did the artwork for Death Note, but that’s not how I found him. It was a show called Bakumon about two high schoolers making comics. His art is beautiful, he always does these photorealistic images beside very cartoonish or very realistic people. He diversifies his art depending on the comic that he is writing. Katie O’Neill is another one, she did The Tea Dragon Festival, very cute style. Then there’s Nobuhiro Watsuk, he’s the first manga artist I had ever seen. He did Rurouni Kenshin, this really old anime from the 90s and he’s what got me into anime in the first place. 

What does your studio look like right now?

I’m hybrid between working from home and working in the studios. I try to go in person in the classroom. I do the initial comic pages traditionally and then scan them in and then put in the screen tones and the text bubbles digitally. My workspace at home is so cold right now because it's near a window and I have an old house. It’s so messy, I haven’t used the space in awhile. I usually work on my futon so I’m just on the ground essentially.

How far do you think you’ve come since the beginning of your college experience?

I’ve noticed a difference. It's helped me explore new avenues like different artists, different methods of doing things. I went through Joel Christian Gill's bootcamp, “100 faces in 1 month.” Hey freshman, do “100 faces in 1 month.” I’ve noticed a great difference in line quality, my inking has gotten better, also I didn’t use to do digital. I did a little bit on MediBang but I hated it because I only had a little Wacom tablet connected to the computer. We got to Cintiq which was a little better but I still didn’t like it, then I got my brother’s iPad and was more open to doing digital art. I'm primarily digital now. That's probably the biggest change.

How do you feel like the community here has impacted you or your work?

That’s a little hard because I’m a commuter, and commuters tend to feel a little different from everyone. Having classmates has helped me look at other styles and say “I like how they did that, I’m going to try that.” It helps diversify a lot of things. Faculty helps with critiques on what I need to work on, accountability as well. Ever since we went on Zoom it’s been really hard. Having that classroom time and just being around other artists – that's actually been my dream. Growing up I was the only artist around in middle and high school so I felt very much like the misunderstood artist, and people would come to me and ask about this or that and I’d just be like “Dude, shut up, I’m trying to finish this.” It's nice to have this community where everyone is working on the same project and we’re all just chilling and drawing. It's a big motivation for me.

How do you see your work engaging with the world?

Referring back to me being a type nine and not being very assertive, that's honestly been my struggle, putting my voice into things instead of relying on what others think. I love a story that makes you cry at the end. I want it to be thoughtful, I want people to walk away thinking about it, I want it to be more deep, I do want it to be thoughtful in the sense of characters and role models. I think we have a lot of shallow but popular art that isn’t benefiting anyone, that isn't changing anyone for the better, and i really believe in speaking life into things,, speaking hope and joy and I think a lot of things, especially during the pandemic don't do that and we need more of that for the next generation. This is the highest rate of anxiety, depression, and suicide the world has faced probably ever and we need more encouragement, so if theres a story that shows you how a character goes through something, I would love to do that.

Where do you want to go after you graduate in terms of your career?

Big question, big question. I want to do my own stories right now. If I were to team up with anyone it’d have to be with someone that I like because I want to make my own characters and be involved in the writing process. I’m probably going to be more solo doing both the story and the art. I’d like to go to Oni Press but that's a little up in the air. I might pursue Webtoons. I already have one so I might see about finishing that up – it’s more about getting my name out there.

What advice do you have for underclassmen and incoming freshman?

Don’t skip class, avoid getting a job if you can while you’re in school. I'm doing two right now and it’s tough. Also be open, but be discerning about critiques. There’ll be good professors who push you in a good way, but there will also be professors who don’t understand you and push you in a direction that doesn’t work for you, so be discerning about that.