Sometime ago I had conducted an interview with the impressive chalk artist Eric Maruscak. I will admit, a copy of that interview and our article was lost, though I have retrieved a copy of it and now bring it to you.
A prominent figure in the comic book convention scene isn’t strictly a comic artist himself. He has a large following that make sure to see him at numerous conventions across the United States and follow him online through his website and with YouTube time lapse videos of his impressive work.
This is Eric Maruscak of PepperInk.com, an artist hailing from Binghamton New York, and he is known for recreating memorable images from comics and pop culture as large chalk art pieces. These murals are often drawn at a massive 9×14 foot size. He has recreated his pieces which are often from critically acclaimed artists with great detail and he works tirelessly at this monumental and exhausting job.
Eric began as most kids do, that being the simple enjoyment of drawing and he even went as far as telling everyone that his dream job for the future would be becoming an artist. He looked up to artists such as Norman Rockwell, stating that “Norman Rockwell fascinated me because I just couldn’t grasp in my mind what it was they were doing to create such amazing and realistic images.” It wasn’t just this form of realism that captivated his imagination however.
He also maintains a love for newspaper comic strips. “THAT became my new goal in life, to be a cartoonist.” With this, he began to explore comic books in his teen years. Another photorealistic artist stood out to him particularly, the famous comic book artist Alex Ross. He had a great admiration for him saying that Alex Ross “paints comics like Norman Rockwell would draw them.” That hasn’t stopped him from developing a diverse taste in art styles. From Mike Mignola, who created the series Hellboy, who has a distinctive art style Eric mentions that he finds absolutely amazing to Joe Madureira, “who can make ANYTHING look absolutely amazing!”
Eric mentioned that he did numerous pieces over the years for local papers and other publications but that went under the radar to the larger artistic world. “It wan’t until I began creating chalk drawings at a local art festival that things began to change.” This was his start. He showed his work at a Philadelphia comic convention by passing around various pieces and an artist was looking them over and handed them off. “Turned out that the guy next to me was the manager of the comic book convention at the time. He handed me his card, told me to call him and see if we could make it happen.”
“I loved the process of working in front of a crowd. I found that I enjoyed the performance art aspect of the work.” It takes a great deal of devotion to one’s work to make all of this work. It is physically straining with numerous callouses and raw hands to show for it. For such a daunting job, Eric has certainly found his place. There is little doubt that his versatility will continue to expand as he does more diverse pieces.
When it comes down to it, the work he does is in a unique place. “I am both recreating and interoperating the original artist’s creation into a new medium, and turning it into a performance at the same time.” He does wish someday to work with one of the big names to create something truly original for one of these conventions. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t had the chance to interact with some of them at these conventions while he works though. “Each and every time, the original artists have had nothing but praise for the work I was doing, and never took the time to be nit-picky about the details I may have gotten wrong, or the colors that might have been off. They have always been gracious and amazingly cool.”
What does a busy and exceptionally dedicated artist do in his spare time? “I try to watch a lot of cartoons and anime when I get the chance. Awesome games languish sitting next to my Xbox, my DVR fills up and I can’t find the time to get to the shows, and I add far more to my bookshelf than I ever take off of it.” It goes to show a busy work schedule is hectic for all of us, and for anyone who travels it is doubly so. He does mention that he draws a great deal of inspiration from what he has had a chance to see though, and for a man who has recreated the vast majority of what he sees, a keen eye can be astoundingly important.
There are a large number of shows that Eric has done over time. “I have a great working relationship with Reed Exhibitions, and have attended most of their shows – New York Comic Con, New York Anime Festival, Penny Arcade Expo, Star Wars Celebration and C2E2 as well as anime conventions like the Baltimore Otakon, and Anime Central in Rosemont Illinois.” With all of these under his belt, you would believe that someone might have done it all. Not really. “Something I have really wanted to break into over the years has been horror conventions. The potential for the amazing imagery that could be created for one of these shows is staggering, and for me personally, would simply be thirty hours of FUN.”
Eric does play favorites though. He noted that a particular piece he did does stand out in his mind as his personal favorite. “I always say that there was a piece I made of an Alex Ross art recreation for the 2008 New York Comic Con that I simply have yet to beat. I knew it was coming out really well, but it wasn’t until I saw an image of the final piece when shot from above that I could see I came really, really close to recreating the piece almost exactly.” The piece he refers to is a massively detailed image of the highly reflective masked face of Captain America, with immense effort put into a chromed surface and the reflections shown in it. It is a stunning piece no matter whether it is done in chalk or in ink.
What is Eric going to do next? Well, checking out the next big comic convention would probably be a good bet. He has dreams to do so much and watching to see what it will be shall be as amazing for us as it is to him.
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