Mike Mahle is one of those creative masterminds that continues to create beautiful and engaging art on a regular basis. Check out his Deviantart page and you can see just what I’m talking about. A while ago he and I chatted about his work and nearly two years later, Mahle has created a hardcover book with a collection of what he does in one beautiful package.
He’s taking the project to Kickstarter for his first book, “Prime”. The crowdfunding is in full swing and in order to get the message out to you wonderful Towelites, Mahle and I chatted again so he could catch me up on just what the art book has to offer.
Casey: Prime looks to be an amazing collection of some of your best artwork. What can you tells us about Prime and how did you get the idea to do a book of your art?
Mike: Thanks! Prime is my first collection of art and design that I’ve offered to the public. It’s an 86 page hardcover collection of some of my favorite posters, pin ups, logos, and covers. It’s something I’ve been putting together for a while. I love art books and creating my own collection has always been one of my personal goals. I have a huge collection of artist’s book that I’ve collected over the years and they are a huge source inspiration not to mention all that can be learned from pouring over them.
Casey: Why did you decide to go the crowd funding route to raise the funds? How has your experience been with it so far?
Mike: Last May I partnered with Rock Paper Books to create some book covers for their Kickstarter and got to know the process fairly well. That Kickstarter was a huge success, so I decided to see if I could parlay some of that success into my own Kickstarter. Aside from helping with the funding, which for a book this size is considerable, I’m hoping that I can be discovered by some new fans and give the fans I already have a cool collection of my work.
Casey: Your artwork ranges from Superheroes, to Bonde Femme Fatales, to Giant Robots; who does your artwork appeal to the most?
Mike: My work definitely has a huge comic book influence to it, which you can see in my illustrations, but I’m also a professional designer, so I’m hoping that anyone who appreciates good design and illustration will like what I’m doing. Of course there’s always the sexy, half dressed, female characters that seem to populate most of my work. That doesn’t hurt.
Casey: Have you ever considered taking your talents and doing a full out comic book?
Mike: I don’t think I would ever do a traditional sequential comic book. However, I do have a project in the works with my friend and co-collaborator Steve Barcus for a sort of grownup storybook. The storybook format really appeals to me, and allows me to play with design in ways I feel I couldn’t in a traditional comic. Steve has written a fantastic architypal noir detective story that I’m going to illustrate and design. Hopefully we’ll fund it through Kickstarter or some other means once it’s complete.
Casey: As Prime is the first number in a potential series, any plans to make more books if this campaign is successful?
Mike: Definitely, I already have several in the works. I’ve created a fictional setting called Empire City, a sort of noir meet sci-fi concept that a lot of my work stems from. The detective book I mentioned will be set there, and I have a book of Empire City character portraits that is about half done that I’m very excited about. After that I also plan to publish a huge Empire City book with a ton of art based on the concept. I also have a series of Justice League portraits that I’ll be collecting in a book once they’re complete.
Thanks again to Mike Mahle for talking to us over here at DFAT about his amazing art book, Prime. You can check out the Kickstart page and Donate by going HERE. Also, be sure to follow Mahle on the Twitters and Like his Facebook page for the most up-to-date news on the project!