Ronzo Murhpy (Shonuff44)- Interview

Ronzo Murphy a.k.a. Shonuff44

Greetings one and all! Welcome to the first installment of Geek Speak! Where I sit down with fellow nerd alumni to discuss some of the finer points of geek culture.

My first guest to the site is none other than freelance illustrator, and internet sensation, Ronzo Murphy a.k.a. Shonuff44. With multiple creative projects under his belt, both personal and professional alike (such as the comics: Coco Gun Bun, Katmandu, and Chisuji) he has experienced much popularity on the art sharing website Deviantart. Going so far as to have well over 3 million views on his Deviantart page alone, it can certainly be said that Mr. Murphy is a rising star in the art community. His company credits include, but are not limited to: Shanda Fantasy Arts, Antarctic Press, and recently Angry Viking Press.

Almost always opening himself up for an art commission, either online or at a local convention, Ronzo works around the clock constantly trying to improve his techniques. Some have compared him to the likes of long time comic book industry veterans Fred Perry and Adam Warren, with good reason. His penchant for sly, slightly adult humor lends his work a reminiscent flavor akin to those mentioned, while still maintaining his own unique image and voice.

I've had the privilege of knowing Ronzo as not only a professional illustrator for over the last 10 years, but also as a close friend, and an artistic inspiration to myself. I can honestly say that Ronzo always brings a sense of fun and passion to his work that simply becomes infectious whenever he is present.

At the anime convention Katsucon 19, located at the excellent Gaylord Hotel in the Maryland National Harbor, I was able to sit down with Shonuff44 and conduct a quick interview.

N8Dogg5k: Ronzo, you've been involved in the art industry and specifically the webcomic community for some time now. Exactly how many years has it been since you started working?

Shonuff44: I would say I've been in since I got out of college in the summer of '97. So it's been a while now.

Shonuff44's cast of characters.

N8Dogg5k: What were some of your biggest influences going into your art career?

Shonuff44: Oh! By far it was Fred Perry's work on Gold Digger and Robert Dejesus that got me the inspiration to even go forward with drawing. Other than that who else could I say... Rumiko Takahashi was influential, and especially Masami Obari! I loved all of the Fatal Fury movies to death.

Though I would say my biggest inspiration was probably Akira Toriyama. Back in the day I used to record his shows like Dragonball and pause certain action scenes and try to trace them out as best as I could. The idea was so that I could do things in my own little image with characters kind of based on Toriyama's. It's quite funny that now my work looks nothing like Akira Toriyama's and I just sort of do my own thing now. 

N8Dogg5k: Akira Toriyama has been considered to be highly influential within the industry by many for several years. In fact he's even been said to be one of the God-fathers of modern manga. In terms of the personal projects that you're currently undertaking who would say has been influential on how you form ideas? Akira Toriyama as well, or are there others?

Shonuff44: As far as writing... I want to give it to Eirik Blackwolf of Chisuji. Even though he isn't exactly an illustrator himself, he is a very good writer and he helped get me into the idea of writing stories for myself. I'm more of an illustrator than I'll ever be a writer though. Writing stories has always been one of my weaker points. When it comes to writing I'm that guy who sort of needs help for ideas...

N8Dogg5k: Beyond writing- what would you say are some of the biggest challenges you've faced throughout your career so far?

Shonuff44: Challenges, challenges, challenges... Hmmm... I would honestly say some of the challenges early on would be when I looked at other people's artwork and I would be like "Oh... can I really compare with this?" It would kind of bring me down sometimes, but then I'd look at some of the stuff I've done in the past and I'm like "I can kind of compare with some these professionals out there. I can do it."

Chisuji Issue #3

N8Dogg5k: Out of your artistic career so far, what is the one project that if you had the chance to go back and do better you would?

Shonuff44: I would honestly like to go back and redo Chisuji, because I feel like I rushed through Chisuji... When Eirik wanted me to do it I was really only just a substitute for the main artist Leo Saunders. I only recently found out that Eirik had considered my style to be way too "cartoony" for his more serious storyline. My art was just too "up-beat" for his not really "dreary" storyline, but it just wasn't serious enough for what he was looking for. It turns out the only real reason he hired me onto the project was because I was consistent with bringing out the pages he needed for the comic on time.

N8Dogg5k: Well consistency is considered a very important quality for those in an illustrative career. Now what would you consider to be the project you're most proud of?

Shonuff44: Hmmm... That is a good question. No one has really asked me that before... Personal project or something I did for someone?

N8Dogg5k: Whichever one you feel works best for you.

Shonuff44: I would say one of the biggest achievements that I did for myself was when I created the book that was supposed to be the best of my artwork from the past 10 years. I had come to realize that I did sooo much artwork that I was like "Oh my goodness! I did all this stuff, let me put this in a book!" and got to working on it.

After 2 months of hard work I finally decided I was finished with this book. I was very happy with it, I even created a personal cover for it. It took like 3 days to color and finish, but the cover came out great. It took like over a month to assemble the book, but when it was all done I was very happy with it. It all came out great in the end! I don't think I could be much happier with it.

N8Dogg5k: The book you're speaking of is "The Art of Sho-44." Is that book still available for purchase?

Shonuff44: Currently there are none left, but there are reprints being made. They will probably be available come mid-summer 2013.

Dang! All gone for now...

N8Dogg5k: Are there professional projects that you've worked on that you're just as proud of?

Shonuff44: Yes. I was hired to do a "furry-comic" that was called Katmandu. That one I'm pretty proud of because I got to show the people that hired me to do it my own particular style. It was completely different from what they were used to. They hired me to do a "furry-book" and my style of artwork done in like a "furry-version" of it was not what they were expecting. They still loved the results though. I'll never forget that -Katmandu- my first furry comic I ever worked on...

Katmandu Issue #33

The second one that I worked on was a furry version of Ninja High-school called Furry Ninja High-school of all things. I was hired to do this one with all the Ninja High-school characters as furry versions of themselves... go figure right? I was very impressed with what I did, even though I had to follow a very strange script.The writer didn't write anything. It was all illustrated. He did the story in stick-man form, and I was supposed to do it in my style. I never got a written script. I got an illustrated script and I thought that was kind of weird. I don't know if other artists have had to deal with that or not.

N8Dogg5k: It has been known to occur from time to time. Sometimes a writer just feels that it is better to show an artist what they're looking for rather than to tell them. If anything at least he felt that you had the right art style and approach for the comic. Now I understand that you're working on some more projects. What sort of things can we expect to see out of Shonuff44 in the future?

Shonuff44: Okay! I have been in the works of making a comic called Squeek 'n Shred for the past couple of years now. I've done hundreds of illustrations of these characters and their friends, telling little stories here and there. They haven gotten majorly popular online, so now I actually have a comic that is in the works based on them. It is something that I've been wanting to do for a long long time now and I think I finally have things where I want them.

N8Dogg5k: You're probably going to be looking for a writer on that one correct?

Shonuff44: Yes. Most definitely.

N8Dogg5k: Well thank you for your time Mr. Murphy. I look forward to seeing how Squeek 'n Shred turns out for you in the future! For the last question, where can fans reach you?

Shonuff44: Thanks for having me! You can reach me at shonuff44.deviantart.com Check out my work and let me know what you think! For fans already out there look forward to more Squeek 'n Shred content!  

Squeek 'n Shred. Coming Soon...