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Artistry
WERNER MARESTA
Italy, Spain
"Life from a comic-book perspective"

Werner Maresta, natural of Genoa, Italy, literally grew up with pencil and paper in his hands. A passion for translating both reality and a myriad of imaginary worlds into illustrated stories has fueled the life of this young but highly sought-after comics´ artist.

His drawings take on full life, as if touched by a magic spell, directly from draft, and the sceneries that his quick strokes create are as detailed as filled with atmosphere.

From religious scripts to the most erotic and dark literature, Werner´s work serves as the perfect example to the everyday contradictions of most of western societies. Implacable in his execution, Werner portrays, with the same exquisite intuition and skill, beatific ecstasies on saint faces as he outlines the never ending curves of Penny Rogers for the ecstasy of others.

Having won several comic-book contests, award-winning Werner has worked with writers such as Maurizio Mantero,  Giancarlo Berardi ("Julia”), Lorenzo Calza ("Arkhain", Marvel Italy), Fabian Nicieza ("Hawkeye", Marvel), Alessandro Mainardi (“The Life of Pope John Paul II in Comics”, Papercutz, New York), Marco Belli (“La derniére nuit”, Clair de Lune, France) and collaborated with fellow illustrators such as Stefano Raffaele ("Fragile"), Valerio Piccioni, Laura Zuccheri, Enio, Alberto Macaño and Donatella Melchionno among others.

Werner has also worked for the advertising industry creating storyboards for a range of commercials and has also become a digital savvy through his illustration work for highly creative web sites.

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THE MDM * CONTACT

Werner, thank you for taking the time to reply to  this interview today, we are very happy to have you participating.

1. MDM_ You had very clear since early in your childhood that drawing was your passion. Was your environment supportive of this career choice?

1. WERNER_ Yes, I can say that since childhood I have always had a very clear idea of what I wanted. I liked to draw and said that I wanted to be a painter. Then I met the world of comics, also thanks to the collections of Topolino (Mickey Don) of my father, and my passion for drawing took a direction more precise. Fortunately, my family always supported me in my choice, and this is not always the case, since at the beginning is very difficult to have an immediate economic return.

2. MDM_ Drawing: a natural talent or a learnt practice?

2. WERNER_ It takes some talent, decisiveness and a good dose of luck, to enter the world of professional comics. I could still say that it is not necessary to be a phenomenon, many times what counts is the will. A prodigious artist, without will, would achieve nothing, yet all within our limits can apply ourselves and learn to handle a pencil. It's like riding a bicycle: you learn the first time to keep the balance and it becomes natural from then. Everything takes time, and no one is "born knowing".

3. MDM_ As a comic-book artist and illustrator you have been able to work on a variety of stories, ranging from religious to erotic genres. Would you be able to pick a favourite?

3. WERNER_ Yes, I worked in very different stories between them, and sometimes I have worked on several simultaneously. Anyway, the only one that I have written, for now, is an erotic story. With it I won a competition in Italy and it was my first publication. I try to face each job as professionally as possible despite the subject matter, but obviously drawing half-naked girls is a bit more fun than illustrating the life of a saint. I guess it depends on your perspective...

4. MDM_ It is due to the erotic nature of some of your work that apparently your Facebook profile recently got banned. I happened to come across the actual images that got your profile flagged during my research and they were more erotic than pornographic. What explanation has given you Facebook on this act of censorship? Have they compensated you in any way to date?

4. WERNER_ The "incriminated drawings" belonged to the story I was just telling you about. As it had been a few years since its publication and the rights belong to me, I decided to put on my Facebook profile a few pages of this comic, to promote my work through the social network. I opened a page dedicated to the character of Penny Rogers, a sexy archaeologist living in the Egypt of the '20s. In these pages there were some fairly explicit scenes, which obviously someone thought to be offensive. The issue of censorship would be too complex as to address it here, I will just say that the censorship represents very well the hypocrisy of our society. I do not think there's anything offensive to depict a sexual act between a man and a woman (well, it was a mummy: D) while no violence is depicted and it is all done with some taste or irony. Facebook clearly prohibits, in his terms and conditions, the uploading of nude images, including drawings, which I think is ridiculous, because I think there are much worse things that are disguised as political or social content. But if we want to keep feeling ashamed of our sexuality and making our children grow up with our same taboos, that seems the right way.

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5. MDM_ In a world that is becoming more digital and virtual by the minute, will paper comic-books have still a selling space or do you think that the comics´ industry will totally move to digital format soon?

5. WERNER_ Comics, like other media, have a single priority: communicate. Reaching the greatest number of readers, telling them something, either a fictional story, a real one or a transposition of a literary work, is what matters. As long as it opens new ways for distribution, I find phenomenal that comics are adapted to new technologies. All these new media technologies are just a support service for an artistic production that I would not change for nothing. The creativity and professionalism behind each story would not be affected by the final support, on the contrary, it could serve as a boost to find new ways for communication.

However, I do not think paper comics will disappear. Maybe with time they become collectors´items (as it has happened with vinyl records), but to completely disappear ... The digital world is amazing and we're all very accustomed to it, and even depend largely on it ... but do not forget it is also very fragile. What would happen if suddenly we were left without electricity? In this case I think the loss of the comics would be the last of our problems, but is a possibility to be taken into consideration.

6. MDM_ What story would Werner love to draw?

6. WERNER_ I would love to draw a story set in medieval times. Depicting missing architectures and places and documenting on costumes, environments, physiognomies ... It would be cool to represent my hometown with its stone buildings and ancient history, and perhaps some day I will find time to do it ...

7. MDM_ Your work literally jumps out of the pages, full of life and intention. Have you ever thought in storyboarding for the film industry?

7. WERNER_ I have worked at times for advertising, making short storyboards for television advertisements. The work is quite similar to the comic, but with some particular characteristics. The cinematographic storyboard interests me and I would like to have some more experience in this field, although I think the comic would still give me more personal satisfaction. I prefer working in small teams or alone to large production studios, where everyone does their small part without really having an idea of the product in its entirety.

8. MDM_ What projects are you currently working on at the moment Werner? Could you describe each of them for us?

8. WERNER_ Of the new projects I can say little. Until the publisher announces the publication of a volume, authors should avoid saying too much. Currently I'm working, along with other authors, on the adaptation for comic of some well-known novels, which will be introduced later this year in Italy, and possibly abroad the following year. Another project in which I am working as sole illustrator is intended for the French market. A tale of intrigue set in the U.S. ... I'm also about to revive my character Penny Rogers, who after the censorship of Facebook is eager for revenge!

Thank you again for this great interview Werner, you are a phenomenal talent and here at Wonderlance we are looking forward to seeing more of your work out there very soon.

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