When author Jon Baird and actor Kevin Costner needed an illustrator for their adventure book, they turned to Craigslist. Their search ended fortuitously with Rick Ross, whose drawings are part of a new exhibit at Cal State Fullerton’s Begovich Gallery, “The Explorers Guild: Rick Ross and Explorations in Graphic Fiction.”
“Not all of the good (illustrators) are represented at sort of these bigger management firms,” Baird said. “It sounds scattershot, but I’ve always had luck, especially (in) a place like Los Angeles. There’s so many talented people.”
Ross didn’t know he’d be working with the famed actor and director when he accepted the job. The ad sought someone who could draw like Winsor McCay, the creator of “Little Nemo in Slumberland.” That’s what caught his eye. The early 20th century comic strip, with its dreamworld tales of a little kid’s adventures, was a favorite of Ross’.
“These are things that I was reading as a kid. … Small characters having these adventures … against these sort of huge panoramic backdrops.” That is together what Ross, Baird and Costner, a Cal State Fullerton alumnus, tried to capture with their book.
“The Explorers Guild Volume One: A Passage to Shambhala,” published last year, is an adventure story for adults. World War I is the backdrop to the pursuits of a secretive group of explorers who travel to the ends of the earth to find a mythical city. It’s full of mystery and peril in the vein of daredevil stories from generations ago.
Baird had developed some of the characters and a general sense of the setting when, through a lucky connection, Costner became interested in the project. Until then, Baird hadn’t settled on a form for his idea – a TV series? A movie? A book of more than 750 pages, including about 600 pages of Ross’ illustration, developed out of the partnership between Baird and Costner.
“More than anything, what Kevin brought to it was this sort of boots-on-the-ground realism.” They worked together, with Baird doing much of the writing and Costner helping to build and refine the story, developing storylines, dialogue and characters.
“He is a born storyteller,” Baird said of Costner. “Within five minutes of sitting with him, you realize that’s his gift.”
They proposed a project to Ross that they saw as a few months’ worth of illustration work but which instead stretched into four years. Ross researched illustration from old adventure stories. He found dip pens like the old illustrators had and used those.
In the Begovich show, Ross explains how he created the illustrations in a short video. His tools and examples of the various steps – from pencil sketches to inked drawings – are on display. So are the color paintings that are color plates in the book of key images from the story, such as when the young Corporal Buchan rides up to the towering palace above the village of Al-Shar, or when explorer Arthur Ogden is haunted by a mysterious presence in the arctic.
“I wanted a sort of world that people would find a refuge from their workaday lives,” Baird said.
“You have this knee-height perspective on this world that you don’t understand.” Ross’ art shows just that – pictures in the story show the characters dwarfed against the desert landscape or the giant doors of the palace. It’s not unlike the scope and scale of “Lawrence of Arabia,” a movie Ross saw as a kid that he credits with influencing his work.
The Begovich exhibit also includes some of Ross’ other work, such as that for a proposed comic series based on the TV show “The Sopranos,” his art for the graphic novel version of Spike TV’s “1000 Ways to Die” and some of his recent pop culture paintings.
Those paintings are worth a look as commentary on the superhero icon in pop culture. One, called “Deus Ex Machina,” shows a muscled Superman type flying high above a city at night. With his cape floating behind him, he looks Christ-like. The idea is that superheroes today seem to fill a niche that God and Christ filled in the Renaissance.
“I’ve heard from certain people that the Superman story resonates with them because of their faith in God, which to me is problematic,” Ross explained. “These stories are created for mass entertainment and driven by profit.”
As for whether there is a Volume 2 of “The Explorers Guild” coming, Baird said he hopes to make an announcement soon. Ross is the obvious choice for an illustrator, he said.
“Rick has made it so his own,” Baird said. “You can tell that this is a singular voice that we have found.”
Contact the writer: aboessenkool@ocregister.com
