Rafael Hanuman

Making a graphic novel is the natural path for a designer. It is not the natural path for a plastic artist; but for a designer, it is.

Plastic arts have a simple theme; nevertheless, it is a theme that differentiates them from mere decoration. Plastic arts have one foot in visual arts and another in decoration.

Graphic novels have one foot in plastic arts and another in literature. And it was this trap that caught me. For years, I imagined a series of paintings, back when I was still a plastic artist.

The theme for the paintings evolved in complexity. The paintings would then be a series of images that would represent a series of paintings connected to this central theme. The story would be the thread that would give unity to my works.

This theme that I was developing became so big and complex that I decided to make a story out of all of it. And from that moment on, the paintings took a back seat, because the script of a graphic novel is more complex than that of a book without images.

Think, readers, of a room scene, for example. It needs to be thought out down to where the light socket will be and the colors. The style of each environment and object must be representative. Nothing can be insignificant.

And, since this is an art form, everything needs to be, at the same time, fascinating. It is a hard task. And a sublime task. Art is the pleasurable sacrifice that gives meaning and purpose to the life of the artist.

Will I finish the graphic novel before I die? It has always been, in fact, a project for old age. To finish life, either painting or drawing. And the script is finished.