JORGE Jimenez´
The DC artist tells Gary evans how his career began with an epiphany during a physical education exam
“You just have to be yourself” Define your own style, says Jorge
Jorge Jiménez was in the third year of his physical education degree, and it was exam time. The Spaniard studied hard. He felt ready. Then something weird happened. He looked around and saw how his classmates seemed really motivated by what they were doing. He didn’t have that. Sitting there in the classroom that day, Jorge had a bit of epiphany, a quiet little moment of revelation.
“I felt a bit out of place,” Jorge says, “and, suddenly, it was as if my eyes were opened, and I thought: ‘I am not this. Here, I’m just making up the numbers. I’m a cartoonist, and I’ve
always been a cartoonist!’” There was just one problem. Jorge hadn’t drawn anything for years…
He grew up on the outskirts of Cádiar, a small mountainous village in the Granada region of southern Spain. His brothers were much older, so Jorge spent a lot of time alone. The one thing he always had was his drawing. His mother encouraged him. She made sure he had plenty of paper, oils, pencils and watercolours. But she challenged him, too. Jorge liked to sketch the cartoons he was waiting
I am not this. I’m just making up the numbers. I’m a cartoonist
on TV. But his mother told him: watch first, draw later. This forced him to work from memory.
When he got a bit older, his parents signed him up for painting classes at a local art school. Because Jorge had always drawn freely, he found it frustrating when, during a still life class, a “bad art teacher” tried to force him to learn the measuring technique, where the artist holds out a pencil and squints at his subject.
“All the magic of drawing disappeared doing this and so, after a few days, I stopped attending class, and I promised that I wouldn’t dedicate myself to drawing. If this was the price of living to draw, I didn’t want that.”
Jorge stopped drawing altogether. He focused on sport, his other great passion. He got into downhill mountain biking and went to university to study physical education. Then he had his quiet moment of revelation in his third year of study. Jorge rededicated himself to art. It cost him a lot – he dropped out of university, broke up with his girlfriend – but he was determined to make it as a professional comic book artist.
Big Break
Jorge’s big break, he believes, came about because of dinosaurs. He spent a lot of time going to comic cons in Spain, showing his work and trying to meet the right people. He eventually signed with an agent, Eduardo Alpuente, who secured him work illustrating a Spanish children’s book. His next commission was with the US comic book publisher IDW, working on Transformers and Jurassic Park. This led to a job on Fringe, his breakthrough assignment at DC Comics.
If this was the price of living to draw, then I didn’t want that
“I continuously sent sample pages to DC, and I showed the pages of dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. The protagonist of Fringe travelled to the past where there were dinosaurs. Maybe it was coincidence, but I’m convinced that was the reason why
I got in at DC Comics,” the artist says.
Jorge went on to work on Batman, Superman, Justice League and, in 2017, the new version of Super Sons. There’s a lot of pressure working on such prestigious titles. He sits down in front of the blank page knowing exactly how many eyes are going to see whatever he comes up with. On top of that, he’s working with big-name writers such as Scott Snyder, his collaborator on Justice League.
“You know Scott Snyder comes from working with Greg Capullo, who’s like an artistic god to me, and now the readers will move from that great artist to me. But the truth is, I’m the one who puts pressure on myself because I want to prove I can be better every time, tell stories better, and enjoy drawing. The pressure is hard, but it’s also very
The truth is, I’m the one who puts pressure on myself because I want to prove I can be better every time
beautiful and special, and when you give your maximum effort you remain at peace with yourself.”
He isn’t one for giving advice. What works for him won’t necessarily work for you. But he says, for those looking make a career in comics, the key is to keep the passion. If you start drawing mechanically or, worse, if art becomes a chore, then you’ve got problems. You also need to keep learning and improving, and do it for yourself before doing it for anybody else.
“Lately, I see that people are more aware of the acceptance of others. Before finishing a drawing – and without being up to a professional standard – they’re already uploading it to social networks to get ‘likes’. Obviously, we all have egos. It’s always nice to receive positive feedback. But I think it’s much better for those starting out to forget all that and focus on drawing, to enjoy this process that’s wonderful, like when you were a child and there was nobody watching.”
Starting a new project, Jorge first reads the script. He’s reading and images begin to appear in his head – some detailed, some abstract. He does a quick pencil sketches, which he sends off for approval from the editor. Once he gets the nod, he adds more detail, then moves on to the digital ink. Finally, he’ll either colour the image himself or send it off to his longterm collaborator, colourist Alejandro Sanchez. Even though he’s drawing superheroes, he likes the work to be subtly anchored to real life – often through the clothes characters wear.
good days and Bad
There are days when things go well and days when they don’t. He’s learned how to “self-identify” what sort of day it’s going be so he can adjust his schedule accordingly. On good days, he feels excited about his current project, can’t wait to start drawing, and so he focuses on the page that’s most important in the chapter he’s working on. This page will naturally draw the reader’s attention to the illustration,
Focus on drawing, to enjoy this process that’s wonderful, like when you were a child
a point in the story where they’ll linger over the art. He thinks about every last detail because he wants to make sure the finished piece is “as bright as possible.” At this stage, reference is crucial.
work harder, get Better
Jorge loves to look at projects by artists he admires. He knows how to enjoy the art of others without letting it make him feel inferior. This is important. Instead, he tries to get into their heads, work out what they would do in a particular situation. It makes him want to work harder, get better.
“When it comes to returning to your own style, you can filter everything you’ve learned from other people and you’ll be better. It’s dangerous when you obsess over the style of a certain artist, to the point that you lose your own identity. You’re deceiving yourself thinking that it’s better for your art to look like theirs. But to be them? Their work is already there. You just have to be yourself.”
Bad days – the times Jorge feels like he’s completely forgotten how to draw, and he focuses on panel-to-panel transition pages. Readers pass over these sequences quite quickly. They
It’s dangerous when you obsess over the style of a certain artist
need less impact. But good day or bad, he has to make sure he gets work done. Comic book deadlines are notoriously tight. If the drawings aren’t coming easily, he has no choice but to double his hours. The reader can never know he’s having a bad day.
enjoying the daily reset
Sport and comic books are in many ways strange bedfellows. But, a decade after Jorge quit one to focus on the other, they both play an important role in his life. He now lives in Granada (the city), not far from Cádiar. He tries his best not to neglect family and friends, but admits he works too much.
That’s where sport comes in. It’s his “escape,” his “daily reset.” Whatever’s going on with work, he makes sure he runs, goes to the gym, and eats well. Even so, working in comics – the tight deadlines, the long hours, the pressure – it affects his quality of life. And he knows this isn’t sustainable in the long run: “In a few years,” Jorge says, a little bit cryptically, “I want to do other things.” But for now, he’s happy to enjoy this stage of his career. He once let a bad art teacher take the magic out of drawing. He’ll never let a busy schedule do the same.
“When I was kid, before I knew how to speak, I already knew how to draw. It’s what I have always been. So I decided to dedicate my life to exploring my ability to draw, see how far I can go. Whatever happens, I can assure you that for the rest of my life I will keep drawing.”