Microinterview with L.E. Badillo

Today our old friend L.E. Badillo, artist of “In the Field” in The Future Fire #71, dropped by for the next installment in our microinterview series.

Art © 2024 L.E. Badillo

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “In the Field”?

L.E. Badillo: “In the Field” had some nuclear fallout vibes and I tried to portray a toxic atmosphere humans could not directly interact with. I tried representing this with a yellowish background and smokey textures.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

LEB: Besides my artwork, I'm exploring interactive fiction with programs like Inky and Twine. Hopefully, I can join a team and make a game or at least release some small games in the near future.

---

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/10/new-issue-202471.html.

Micro-interview with L.E. Badillo

Please welcome L.E. Badillo, artist of “Space Gardens” in The Future Fire #69 (and cover artist) for today’s brief chat about illustrating and artistic medium.

 

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Space Gardens”?

L.E. Badillo: L. J. Lacey wrote a great story that was easy to work from. The feeling of loneliness and a repressed need to fill that place in one’s life played a huge part in my approach. A feeling of desolation, duty, and the perseverance of age.

TFF: What's the most unusual or challenging medium you can imagine working with?

LEB: I’d love to fully commit to working in oils. That’s an area I’ve never been able to put real time in. I find the amazing works of Bram and Patrick J. Jones equally intimidating and inspiring.

---

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

New issue: 2024.69

“L’abolition [de la peine de mort] a connu une irrésistible progression à travers le monde. Ce mouvement, comme en Europe, influence le droit international dont, en retour, les évolutions confortent l’abolitionnisme et lui donnent les assises nécessaires pour connaître un rayonnement encore plus grand.”

—Robert Badinter, 1928–2024

Issue 2024.69

Special issue on hopeful SFF

Flash fiction

• ‘Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain’, Marc A. Criley - art by Ellis Bray

Short stories

• ‘Space Gardens’, L.J. Lacey - art by L.E. Badillo
• ‘Terranueva’, Katie Kopajtic - art by Melkorka

Poetry

• ‘Sunrise over Neo-Tokyo’, Lae Astra - art by Katharine A. Viola
• ‘Manipulating the Light’, Mahaila Smith - art by Fluffgar
• ‘Guidelines for Living Your Fairy Tale (in no Particular Order)’, Amanda Cook - art by Joel Bisaillon

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB

Micro-interview with L.E. Badillo

Welcome, L.E. Badillo, artist of “Crumb Cutie Exodus” in The Future Fire #67, for one of the last micro-interviews of 2023!

Art © 2023, L.E. Badillo

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Crumb Cutie Exodus”?

L.E. Badillo: “Crumb Cutie Exodus” was a lot of fun to work with. Bernie Jean Schiebeling provided some really great visuals for this. There were a few ideas I didn't have enough time to explore but went with the ones I felt strongest about. Trying to capture the moment when the ’Cuties escaped from the ship was key as well as the feeling of dread with the bonfire before the realization that they were in fact alive.    
TFF: What is the most terrifying thing about the sea?

LEB: There is so much about the sea that is awesome and terrifying. It's one thing to swim in a pool and another to find yourself unable to touch ground or see below you. With the discoveries of long thought extinct sea creatures happening with some regularity, it's not hard to let your imagination get the better of you. I prefer showers to baths thank you very much.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

LEB: I'm currently pouring my energies into working as a storyboard artist. This is a really fun field to work in and not far from illustrating for stories since you work from scripts. You can see my latest work at https://www.elbad.net/boards.html.

---

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2023/10/new-issue-202367.html.

New Issue: 2022.63

“Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.”

—Angela Davis

Issue 2022.63

Flash fiction

• “A Sea Change’, Shelly Jones (illustrated by Dr T Eratopo)
• ‘AITA for throwing away my wife’s haunted dolls?’, Annika Barranti Klein (illustrated by Dr T Eratopo)

Short stories

• ‘Spindle House’, Jennifer Hudak (illustrated by Eric Asaris)
• ‘Bridge’, S. Brackett Robertson (illustrated by Josep Lledò)
• ‘Treacle Blood’, Joyce Chng (illustrated by L.E. Badillo)
• ‘Seams of Iron’, Adriana C. Grigore (illustrated by Katharine A. Viola)

Poetry

• ‘charybdis’, Marisca Pichette (illustrated by Fluffgar)

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB | Mobi

Editorial by Djibril al-Ayad

Micro-interview with L.E. Badillo

We are joined by L.E. Badillo, illustrator of “Every Quivering Fold of Flesh” in The Future Fire #60.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Every Quivering Fold of Flesh”?

LEB: The two images were really important to me as I thought about the story. Having the characters sitting on the beach with the fire and some of the other items really fleshed out the scene such as the hotdog roasting stick, the beer bottles and pack. The second image was also important as the girls were more and more affected by bright light. Having the porch light as strong as it was and the strong silhouette helped show she is no longer welcome in the light.

Illustration © 2022, L.E. Badillo

TFF: What is your favourite library?

LEB: I love my own library because it is full of great art-of, how-to books, manga, comics, non-fiction, and of course fiction. I’d love my house to essentially be a library – six bookcases so far and counting!

TFF: What one lesson would you offer to a budding artist?

LEB: I would tell budding artists when they are getting tired or burnt out to ask themselves, “Would you rather do this (think of day job) or this (think of art project)?” That’s helped me push through every time. Also, don’t be afraid of having your work critiqued, just be sure to learn something from it and discard anything mean or nasty.

You can comment on any of the stories or illustrations in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2022/01/new-issue-202260.html

Interview: Evelyn Deshane and L.E. Badillo

A couple years ago we published a lovely speculative flash story by Evelyn Deshane, “The Cryptographer’s Body,” which due to scheduling issues at the time, was published without an illustration. Now, the superb L.E. Badillo (profile) has provided an image to accompany the story, and I think you’ll agree it works beautifully with it! To celebrate this, and to remind people to read the story again, we invited Evelyn and Lou to come and chat about the process of writing and illustrating. This conversation turned into a bit of a mini-interview, and we’re delighted to share it here.

---

Evelyn: When you illustrate something from someone else’s mind—such as a short story—do you focus on the details of the piece, or the tonal message you think it’s sending?

Lou: The tone is most important. How a story makes me feel is the foundation of the work. I hope to convey what the story makes me feel and I hope the illustrations can act as a primer for the reader and make that connection on a more visceral level. Details bring credibility and make the illustration cohesive with the story. I hope a reader can then look back on the illustration and identify things from the story.

Lou: Do you know anyone who has gone through transition like Kylie in the story? I do and I can’t imagine what they went through. If you don’t know anyone who went through this, how did you make such a deep connection with the characters in the story?

Evelyn: Yes, I do; I’ve known many trans people and they’ve all played large parts in my own life. My empathetic skills have also been honed especially well through my academic study of transgender people and their lives.

One of the reasons I wrote “The Cryptographer’s Body” was because I was in the middle of my comprehensive exams for my PhD, studying trans writing and social media, and one or two articles mentioned cryptography. One author (can’t remember now) called it a kind of translation—and I immediately thought of someone in a future landscape who was both decoding signs/language and also themselves. So hurrah for exams!


Evelyn: Describe your artistic process in three adjectives. Why have you selected these?

Lou:

1. Many: I need to filter out the scenes envisioned.
2. Exciting: Watching the idea come to life is always thrilling. Commissions often pose surprising challenges.
3. Relief: Completing the work and knowing it is done having met the criteria and my expectations is a great feeling.

Lou: What is the main takeaway you want readers to experience by reading “The Cryptographer’s Body” in today’s social environment?

Evelyn: I see it as a love story more than anything. Kylie’s relationship with Scott has absolutely nothing to do with the social climate in which they live—it is a pure connection between them—but of course, it does end up meaning something within a larger culture (as this story surely does), since we all must participate in some way with the world we live in. So I suppose the main takeaway is that connection is what matters more than ideological message. When we actually face people and talk to them, we have so much more common than we first may believe.

Evelyn: When you draw something from your own imagination, does it come to you as a finished product that you must then find, or is it an experience of discovery?

Lou: Sometimes an idea is so powerful it carves itself from my imagination and into reality. Other times it is like hunting the elusive White Stag through a shadowy forest and sometimes on that hunt I find something even better along the way!

---

Thanks to both Evelyn and Lou for joining us! Please check out Evelyn Deshane’s professional site and L.E. Badillo’s DeviantArt gallery for more great work from both of them.

New Issue: 2014.30

“[Persistence] is a truth that applies to more than writing. It applies to anything that is important, but difficult, important but frightening. We're all capable of climbing so much higher than we usually permit ourselves to suppose. The word, again, is persist!”

—Octavia E. Butler

Issue 2014.30

• ‘The Man Who Watched the Stars’, Carol Holland March, artwork by Cécile Matthey
• ‘Phantom Hearts’, David Gallay, artwork by Lou Badillo
• ‘Passcodes’, Melinda Brasher, artwork by Laura-Anca Adascalitei
• ‘No Chimeras’, Ranylt Richildis, artwork by Lisa Grabenstetter
• ‘I m d 1 in 10’, Victor Fernando R. Ocampo, artwork by Eric Asaris

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB | Mobi