By Simone Vos
WOBBY #36 - Courting: A glimpse into the life of two people
“When I think about ‘courting’, I imagine these mediaeval scenes that fit right into the stories that I like to tell. I love drawing moments from a relationship, tiny moments that show just a small part of the story. A little dance, a courtship; that’s what I like. In the lay-out for the comic for Wobby #36 I played with the colours, lettering, and style”, says illustrator and comic artist Melek Zertal (AL/FR/US). For the newest Wobby she made a short comic. Melek describes for us her inspiration and the way she makes her work.
“I like to make short stories, up to twenty pages. It’s always the same type of characters and story. A glimpse into the life of two people. Like you look through a keyhole and just get that part of their story. There is no beginning and end in the stories, so the reader can relate to it in their own way. One image or one line opens a whole world of imagination for me”, she says.
In her work she draws only women, a specific choice. Melek: “I identify myself as a woman, so I can only speak from my own experience. As an artist you talk about yourself, it’s a bit of an ego trip actually. I don’t feel much joy in drawing men. It’s not the way my wrist works”. She laughs. “It just comes natural to me to draw women. I like round shapes and forms, so there you go.”
Two of the five-page comic by Melek Zertal for Wobby #36
Books and commissions
Besides illustrating, Melek also likes to write. Or better: to combine those two crafts into her work. “My main job is writing books. Short stories, around twenty to eighty pages. They are always ‘little parts of life’. I wrote a couple of books in the past few years with different publishers. Illustration is more a side job, it pays the rent”, she states.
Melek works on commission, has a lot of collaborations and makes work for herself. One big commission was for Gucci for whom she created a comic a couple of years ago. “That was a great project in which I had the creative overview. I had to make an illustration, but had also a lot of influence in the process. I think people ask me for my specific style, so most of the time I get a lot of freedom.”
“Actually, for the projects I’m working on now I have carte blanche. I’ve been working on an article for Elle, together with a journalist. It’s really co-writing, so my illustrations and the writing are entwined. That's so great, that it’s not only a text and then I put an illustration beside it, it’s really a co-creation. I think illustration and comics become more serious media.”
In the future, Melek would like to have more of these collaborations, with different media. “I would like to collaborate with people who work with video, fashion or food for example. It’s nice to challenge yourself. If you stay in your own bubble and circle, you don’t challenge your work or your process. I like to know more about different fields, and that keeps my work interesting. My main goal in work is not to get bored. That’s why I like collaborating so much.”
Wobby #36 - Courting is now available in our webshop.