As promised, here is part 2 of the Tim Doyle Interview An Artist showcase. If you haven’t checked out yesterday’s questions and answers, be sure to do so after you read this. Also, don’t forget to check out Nakatomi and Mr Doyle when you have time. Thanks so much for the questions everybody, and to Tim for being a sport and answering every single one. Bravo!

10. Tim, how do you balance the demands of being both an artist and entrepreneur? I mean, you run Nakatomi, try to keep fresh young artists in the spotlight, and still release new artwork of your own from time to time. so again, my main question: how do you strike this balance; and which do you prefer at this stage of your career?
You left a couple of things out- I’m also the artist on The Intergalactic Nemesis comic book and play, as well as a new father. How do I do it? No video games. No drugs. Not much drinking. I work a lot. My wife stays at home and helps out with the business and baby.

11. What brings you more satisfaction at the end of the day, working as an artist/illustrator, selling your own stuff OR working as a screen printer and producing stuff for companies ?
Little known fact- Nakatomi doesn’t take on outside print jobs. At least not right now. We’re mega busy with our own prints from me, Clint Wilson, Jacob Borshard, and all the other artists on the site. So we’re not doing anything for other companies. I started Nakatomi to work for myself and to promote my friends and other artists I dig, so I’m not in any rush to start being someone else’s employee anytime soon and take on outside jobs. With that said- being an artist is extremely satisfying, and working with all the artists on the site is as well. I wouldn’t trade it for the world at this point.

12. Is your work influenced by comic artist and designer Geof Darrow?
Hell yes. Not every piece, of course, but if you’re going to draw a city with stuff blowing up, Geoff is the man. I want to meet him, eat his hands, and steal his powers. That is how it works in art.

13. You and Clint make some really awesome prints and are a great example of DIY success. Question- can I join your Nakatomi army? Congrats!
It’s always strange to hear people say I’m a success- I still work 60 hrs a week, but I’ve managed to pay all my bills, and not go into ANY debt at all for over a year now…I guess that qualifies! Clint is completely awesome, and was totally instrumental in getting the printshop built. I’ve learned so much working with that guy, it’s nuts. Thanks.

14. Congrats on your overall, multifaceted success over the -past 3 years (thats about how long I’ve known about you/Mondos and have been buying from you). My question is how did you get started with Alamo Drafthouse, your poster sale business (mondos and Nakatomi) and your artwork? Did you start as a collector and movie lover which evolved into commissioning prints for the screenings at the Drafthouse then creating your own prints? Very curious about this because I am a collector that is interested in starting to make my own prints but I have very limited skills with the pen (but not so bad with PC apps like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
This is a very long and twisting story. I’ll try to keep it short. In 2003, I quit my job of operations manager of a small Austin based comic book chain, because the owner was completely fucking crazy. All those shops have gone out of business since I’ve left. (No surprise.) I threw out some calls just so I could keep working somewhere and got hired as a food runner at the Alamo. From there I became a cook (totally fun, I suggest everyone give it a shot). And then a waiter. Shortly thereafter the previous manager of Mondo quit, and they offered me the job. (I was like the 3rd manager in 8 months). I think it was because I had retail management under my belt, understood eBay, and wasn’t a complete idiot.

The 1st Rolling Roadshow tour poster series had just been produced when I came on board, under the direction of Rob Jones. A few months later, I realized the potential of this poster series, and it dawned on me that there was no reason to wait for the annual RRS tour to make posters for the Alamo. I realized that even if no-one showed up at the screening, we could sell a lot of these on-line, as most of our customers weren’t even in Austin. And it just really took off from there. There were a few instances where we booked films just as a reason to make a print, as we knew it would do well, regardless of attendance at the theater. (I think we sold more of Jay’s 2001 poster than tickets, as an example). It was really, really eye opening, and no-one had done anything like it before. It was like if a band booked shows no-one came to, just because they were selling out of tour posters on-line. Totally nuts. I had been doing art for years at this point- comics, zines, gallery shows, album covers. Nothing that wasn’t local. So when we had to get a print made short notice for ‘The Wizard’ screening, I jumped in to do it. (It was always a guaranteed seller if there was a celebrity on hand to sign autographs- and Fred Savage was there for that show.) Rob Jones pretty much held my hand through that one, and was very helpful. And it did pretty well. No-one would even touch the Troll 2 poster we needed, so I did that one. And then the 2nd Big Trouble in Little China print was an instant sell out, and I realized I was making the Alamo some good money on posters I was doing at home in my off hours. But, when I found out that they wouldn’t pay me an art fee to do those prints, like we did everyone else, I realized that I was at a turning point in my career. I didn’t want to be a retail manager for a local movie theater the rest of my life (even if it was a good job, and a lot of fun), and in fact, I needed to get off my butt and start my art career back up.

There’s a Sebadoh song, Drama Mine, which has the lyric, “It’s like wasting everything On someone else’s dream” and that’s what I felt like I was doing. Working away at a job instead of following my goals. And don’t get me wrong, I learned a ton there, and it was a great experience. But I can’t just stand still like that when opportunity was knocking. So a friend (who also worked at the Alamo) and I had similar feelings and decided to started laying the groundwork for Nakatomi. And when the time came to leave the Alamo and do Nakatomi full time, my friend stayed at the Alamo and I followed the plan and left. At the time it was very heartbreaking and difficult, and bridges weren’t just burned, but nuked- but from where I’m sitting now, over a year later, I know I’ve made the right decision. The business is working, I’ve gotten married, had a kid, am now a paid comic book artist…all life-long goals. It’s really, really liberating. And the work that Rob and I did at the Alamo really brought a ton of new people into the poster hobby and got some of the artists in front of a whole new audience. I know Billy Perkins credits the Good,Bad, Ugly print as a huge boost to his profile- I’m sure a lot of the other guys have similar stories. There’s a direct line from our work there to say, the LOST poster series. It’s pretty neat.

15. How do you choose the run size for your print releases?
Now that I am doing my own printing, it’s a lot cheaper to print posters. And I decide my print runs like this- “How many do I think I can sell over the course of a few months?” I have been very, very wrong in the past on guessing- both over and under. On my most recent release, I pre-sold it to my mailing list first. I was up front and said, “Hey, here’s this new print, I don’t know how many to print, so buy whatever you want, and I’ll print that plus extra, and sell those on-line later.” And people loved that idea. They didn’t have to panic or sit in front of their computer all day trying to get something at a particular drop-time. Now, that worked a little TOO well, in that my ‘What do I think I can sell in a month” meant that I would have to print well over 300 prints, and THAT is just something that isn’t easily do-able by hand (even with Clint doing all the Squeegie pulling!) So if this is a trend that continues, I’m going to have to buy an auto press. But that’s a good problem to have, all things considered. – I don’t think the culture of the one-day-sell-out is good for the industry. Of course, I’ve guessed VERY wrong on some prints, and have sold out in a day several times…some people call that a success, I call it a failure of my ability to gauge demand.

16. What was your favourite comic reading growing up ?
Iron Man. G.I.Joe was a close 2nd, though. My first Iron Man comic was 189, and from that point I was hooked. I’ve since been able to build a collection of every issue published. The problem with those kind of collecting quests is what you do with it once you have it all?…there is no more thrill of the hunt! I am working slowly on my Tales of Suspense collection, though. But I think I’m purposefully NOT going to complete that one…the longing for completion of a collection is better than the actual completion. Strange, right?

17. Your prints tend to sway in the favour of being influenced by Movies and Musicians/Bands. As an artist do you pursue opportunities in that space because of interest in the respective artists/media or do you find it works the other way around? (in that they tend to come to you for commissions). Would love to see some video game influenced work by you, would be epic!
Both, actually. The He-Man prints were because of a request from a Gallery. Twin Peaks was an open call for a tribute show in Mexico. The Superhero print was for the same gallery’s superhero show. I don’t think my work is obviously influenced by music.

But then again, the Appleseed Cast print that Mitch over at OMGposters got me on was a blast. I just turned on the band’s myspace page and let the music direct the image. It was a lot of fun, and if time permits, I’d like to do more gigposters. But- no jam bands, please. And definitely no Dave Matthews. I will get you Dave Matthews. I will get you. Everything else comes about because I’m a huge fucking nerd.

As far as video game prints- WHAT? I’ve done quite a few!

18. Who would be your dream match-up to collaborate with on a project?
As a rule, I’m not really a big fan of collaboration on a print. In this industry, it’s so easy to have complete creative control of something from start to finish, it’s not appealing to me to give that up. With that said, working with Tong on the Squid, and Nick Derington on other prints have been really educational and fun. But I don’t think it’s completely fair to them to work with me on those things- I mean, I get to do all the fun stuff of drawing the prints, and they have to do all the grunt work of coloring and sepping! Through Nakatomi and the Alamo, I have managed to work with so many artists in this industry, it’s crazy. I guess what I’m saying is- I don’t think I’ll be into any collabs, but if one comes along again, I’m sure I’ll do it. That totally didn’t answer your question did it?

19. How much time do you generally spend designing/drawing each of your prints?
My “Appleseed Cast” print was drawn and colored and sepped in a day. The Crab took like 10 days.

Related posts:

1. Interview With Tim Doyle : Part 1
2. You Interview Tim Doyle – Time To Vote!
3. Interview An Artist + Print Giveaway: Tim Doyle

Tags: Interview, Interview An Artist, Nakatomi, The Intergalactic Nemesis, Tom Doyle