Will Murai: Personal Space

Will Murai is an illustrator, graphic designer and comic book colorist living in Arujá, Brazil. His short yet prolific career has seen him work with the likes of Marvel Comic, DC Comics and Lew'Lara \ TBWA, along with building his personal portfolio which includes t-shirts, prints and private commissions. Behance sat down with Murai to get the skinny on working from home, early disappointments, and staying true to his original vision.

Murai relishes his home office and the freedom it allows him in his work. "I get more freedom to manage my time. I can sleep some extra hours in the morning, and go to bed later, - late night is when I am more creative - which makes me more productive when I am working. Also, I try to separate hours of the day for other tasks like answering emails, keep stuff organized for easy access when I need them, reading and sports."

In his artwork, Murai finds it intensely important to portray his subjects' individuality. "I am aways careful with colors, composition and the human figure. Those are the features in my work that i study and try to improve the most. I like to create funny situations, sometimes more poetic scenes, but the stronger points in my work are definitely the female characters. Every woman I create has an individual look, as I try to use less photo reference as possible in the creative process. I let my mind and sensibility dictate how they will look at the end."

Documenting all his ideas makes it easier to come back to them later, for further development. "I usually write down everything I think that can become a potential image, in a little notepad or on the cellphone I carry with me. Then I sketch the idea to see if it is really going to be a beautiful image with a cool concept. I try to define all the elements on the first sketches, from lighting and environment, to characters and clothes. This step is usually the one I spend more time with. I try to be very loyal to the first points I defined, but I have trained myself to be more, intuitive too. I think this way I can be more creative and flexible, without losing my original goals."

Early in his career, Murai encountered a setback that would eventually see his career progress substantially, despite the initial disappointment. "I remember when I was working as designer in an advertising office here in Brazil, I got a proposal from an American comic book publisher to work as colorist. The editor said he liked my work, and everything was about to start. After some thinking, I decided to quit my day job job, and become a full-time freelancer to give my best on that project.  One week and six pages later, he said he changed his mind, and decided to choose another guy for the project. That made me feel very bad, sad, disappointed and unemployed! But since I made that decision, I give my best all the time. I had more time to practice, to improve my skills, and other projects came. That decision turned out to be the best one, after all!"

His ultimate motivation lies in self-improvement and bettering himself as an artist.  "I want to be better and better at what I do. The yearning for knowledge is what keeps me going! And, who knows. It might help my art reach people in the centuries to come. I'm trying to be open-minded to all stimuli, everywhere, all the time. Some great ideas can be on the other side of you are looking for."