Everyone has their dream job, that occupation one could be lucky enough to get paid for doing. Most of us would love to get a paycheck to pursue our favorite hobbies, whether it’s golf, painting, cooking, playing guitar, or just watching television. Scott Cummings, who resides in Peachtree City, seems to have lucked into such a position. He draws comics for DC, Marvel and several other companies whose trade is the antics of superheroes and villains.
Of course, Scott may disagree with the luck part of the equation, pointing out that years of sketching, attending comic conventions and hawking his talent had a lot to do with it.
“I work about fourteen hours a day.” He stated squelching the notion that drawing the detailed adventures of characters like Deadshot, Electra, and his latest assignment, none other than the Dark Knight, Batman, is not all fun and fantasy.
Cummings, who speaks fluent Japanese, explained the process by which a 30 page comic book finds it’s way to newsstands and bookstores around the country. “We work about a year ahead of time. After I get the script of the story, it takes me acouple days to get started.” Cummings does rough sketches of characters and the story’s layout in pencil. Once he has the basic layout finished, he goes back and reworks every frame and flying fist until it’s crisp. Then he transfers the image to his computer with a flatbed scanner and “inks in” the artwork into a black and white finished drawing.
His wife, Megumi, who he met in Japan while attending Grad school overseas, helps him with the inking portion. The completed panels are sent to his publisher in New York via e-mail, where they are colored digitally. Soon after, the latest installment of your favorite action heroes hits the streets. By then Scott and Megumi are already onto the next project.
Cummings lived in Japan for several years and loved it. He taught English and worked as a research assistant. Eventually his incessant doodling got the best of him and he decided to take a shot at doing something he really enjoyed.
Although his initial attempt at the artform, a Green Lantern story, did not sell, it led to other opportunities. “I draw in a natural style as opposed to the classic American comic style.” Cummings said.
He works from home, piling up pages of pencil sketches. “The commute is nice.” Cummings jokes. “I can take long lunches.”
Cummings pointed out that Atlanta is a big comics area. “It takes a lot of free time to get good, but there aren’t a lot of jobs you can do by drawing for a living.”
He showed some panels of a side project in it’s first stages, saying he hopes to sell the idea to the Japanese market. If the idea gets picked up, Cummings could be looking at about 480 pages of penciling and about 3 years of steady work. If his nimble fingers can withstand the heavy sketching schedule, Cummings could be making waces across the Pacific as well.
