Tomer Hanuka
www.thanuka.com


Tell us a little about your background?
I was born in Israel. It's a great place regardless of what you might hear on the news. I went to an art high school where we had drawing and painting lessons, as well as full academic curriculum. I got to do life drawing on a regular basis and was introduced to many painting mediums. There was a thorough overview of art history.

At 18 everybody gets drafted to the army. I did that for three years, didn't achieve much progress at that period, mostly waited to get the hell out of there. But I kept a sketchbook. When that was over I came to New York to study at the School of Visual Arts. I had money to last me a year, and after that the school helped. I made many friends (www.meathaus.com) that I am still close to.

You and your brother have such great style. You may have heard this a thousand times but what is your main source of inspiration? We got to know!
My brother Asaf (www.asafhanuka.com) and myself had this comic's fetish. we collected them way before we could read English. we have an aunt who lives in LA and every time she visited Israel she brought us some comics. it was a weird thing in Israel, back then nobody knew what these things were. we got sucked into the super hero universe.

There were allot of trashy comics in the 70's, with bad production values and cheesy story lines but it was the best escape. in a way some of them felt really deep and philosophical. I think that was the formal foundation for how we ended up drawing. Asaf went to a University in France. By the time we finished with the army he was already set on European Comics, which is what he is doing now mostly. This pint of separation: New-York vs. France might shed some light on the differences in style, keeping in mind that we are indeed two different people.

How is it collaborating with your brother Asaf on Bipolar?
It's the best thing one can hope for. It's also a great way to keep in touch. We live so far apart.

Do you and your brother encourage each other in design or do you find yourselves competing?
When you are a twin, competition is something that is engraved in your brain so deep you can't even see it. As kids we were always drawing together, in the same room, on the same floor. I learn from my brother constantly and his criticism is always insightful.

We just interviewed your girlfriend Keren Oxman, who by the way is another great artist. May we ask how did you both meet?
Haha, wouldn't you like to know! Well, it was one of those lucky incidents, I was visiting Israel for 2 weeks, by brother's fiance' invited her for dinner, it was my last night in Israel, we started talking. Went back to New York and couldn't stop thinking about her. Who could?

For us Designers who live on a tiny little Island in the middle of the Pacific, can you share with us how is it being a successful Graphic Design / Illustrator from New York?
Let's see, I wake up around 9, walk around the apartment in my pajamas, unshaved. Play packman for an hour. The phone rings, some times it's a great job and I get excited about doing it. Sometime there is a professional/social function in the city and it's a good reason to leave the house. We get to see some cool shows. Most of the time it's just work, and listening to the radio.

What do you do besides art and spending time with Keren?
Honestly, nothing.

How would you describe your style?
Narrative visuals. I like drama. I want to tell a story in one scene, but compose it like so where you get many points of view and the situation is boiling toward some sort of climax. I try using the color for atmosphere, and to manipulate the eye a little, control the way you interpret what's important here, what is the driving force.

I've worked with Artist who project their image on canvas, then trace it with pencil. What are your thoughts on those techniques? Would you consider that cheating of some sort?
I think it's legit if it makes a good picture. I think most of my stuff is too distorted to actually photo reference. I like it that I can bend limbs and warp a background so that everything sits in the 'right' place. I think tracing might be too restricting for what I am personally aiming for.

What would you like to add to your workstation to increase your productivity?
A bigger scanner. A better screen that I can trust the colors.

What are your thoughts on Flash?
I really don't have any. It's a program that seemed to revolutionize web animation. I am not a participant in this revolution, just an observer. I think Flash can do many interesting things.

What trend do you see a lot of designers using that does not look like will last?
TH: I think vector art got less popular in the last four years. There is still great talent there but it's not as popular.

How would you like to be remembered?
"He was a good guy that knew how to divide his time and not became a workaholic like it seemed he would be, for a while"

Thanks again for doing this interview, is there any final comments you would like to add?
Our comic book Bipolar will have its 5th issue coming out in the next few months. Stay tuned!

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