Zelda interviews Zina!

Zina Saunders is the talented, beautiful daughter of renowned Mars Attacks artist Norm Saunders. An artist herself, she has worked on many projects including the 1994 Mars Attacks "Archives" card set and comic book series. She has painted Star Wars, Magic the Gathering, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules, Battletech and others. Zina did all the artwork on the 1995 Bon Air Collectibles card set "Native American Indians" card set. She has also done numerous illustrations for books and the prestigious New York Times, and has created artwork for postage stamps. Her love of art and her natural talent, nurtured by the guidance of her famous father has made her a very successful and sought-after artist.

Her most recent project, Overlooked New York, is a fascinating look at true New Yorkers doing what they love best in the midst of that amazing city we call the Big Apple!

Tell us about your dad and the 'Mars Attacks' cards.
Zina: When dad did them, I loved them. That and 'Civil War'. And I liked 'Batman'... The 'Mars Attacks' cards were very eye-opening! They were so wonderful! I was particularly impressed by the blood and the green 'gooshiness'! My father had no idea that they would be the sort of 'cult' favorite they've become. I think in the early 1980's my father began to be contacted by comic conventions. He was pretty old by then, like mid-70's... He was just amazed. When he came back from a couple of those conventions he was just dumbfounded at the reaction that people were treating him like a movie star! He always referred to the Martians as the 'bug-eyed monsters', and having all these nuts who loved them- he was tickled pink, of course, thrilled!

Everyone knows your dad is now famous for the work he did on the 'Pulps' back in the 30's and 40's. But back then artists were virtually unknown. Why was that?
Zina: The reason my father didn't sign his art is because he didn't want competitors to know which publications he was working for, because if you were working for one publishing company, they would get mad if you were working for other publications.

How did you become interested in art?
Zina: When I was a little girl, actually, I believe I drew before I even spoke. My father would work at home (both my parents were home when I was a kid), and he would be working at his desk doing covers and stuff like that. I would sit next to him on the floor sometimes, watching him, and I'd be scribbling on a piece of paper. As I got a little older I would trace. He had a tracing board and I loved horses when I was a little girl, so I would trace horses over and over. If you trace something enough times, your hand memorizes the movements you make and you learn how to draw it. Dad would give me advice.

I used to 'work' on his paintings that he was working on (without his knowlege). You know how little girls like to make fashion models...I would make long eyelashes on his women- I did it on the 'Mars Attacks' cards! And years later, when I was in my twenties, I told my father that I used to do that. 'Oh, hell, Zina, I knew you did that!' I said, 'You DID?! What did you do? I can't imagine how p****d off you must have been at me for doing that!' And he said, 'Oh, no, I'd just go back and fix it up!' I can't imagine how aggrevating that would be because that was how he was making a living!

I would watch him and wanted to emulate my dad. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I was sure I wanted to be an artist, specifically an illustrator. I wasn't interested in being a 'fine' artist in galleries and all that stuff. I very much wanted to be an illustrator, which was true of my dad, too. I was a good artist, and I had a talent for it. Plus, my father gave me a lot of advice, much of the time unwelcomed, because I was a kid! Now, I'd love for him to be alive- there's a million questions I want to ask him all the time.

What was your formal training in art?
Zina: I went to the public schools here in New York, and I went to a high school here called the 'Music and Art High School'. They would take people who showed talent in being artists and also musicians. I was accepted in that school as were all my brothers and sisters (there were four kids in my family: two boys and two girls). I went through high school there, and it wasn't a real in-depth art education but it was a lot better than not having gone there at all. And it was fun, too, because it was the 60's and I was a little hippie! Then I applied and was accepted at 'Cooper Union College' which is a very good art school here in New York. I went for about three weeks and dropped out to go live on a commune in upstate New York. That was the end of my formal education!

What was your first real paying job as an artist?
Zina: When I was in the commune in upstate New York, there was a man in a neighboring town. His name was Rao and he had 'Rao's Art Gallery' that catered to the summer visitors in the Catskills. He sold paintings of American Indians and rabbis. They were his specialties. What he really did was he contracted out to me to do the paintings and then he would sign his name. Actually years later I did that trading card set about American Indians, so I guess it worked out.

You mention the 'Native American Indians' set. You also painted the title card and some others for the 1994 'Mars Attacks' set. What other cards have you done?
Zina: I've done a lot of cards for 'Magic the Gathering'. I've also done cards in that same genre for another collectable card game called 'Battletech'. I really like some of the work I've done for that. And 'Dune': 'Dune' is out, but the cards I did aren't even out. I've also done cards for 'Middle Earth'- J.R.R. Tolkein- I did a group of things for them.

How did you get involved with Topps?
Zina: I had been working on regular illustrations, the insides of books, stuff like that. Then I got it in my head that I should call Topps and see if they would want to use me for anything. I wound up getting in touch with Len Brown and he, of course, knew my dad and seemed happy to hear from me. I had sent in a group of samples of work I had done, and they called me and said 'bring your portfolio'. I went in and met with Len- he's a wonderful guy. We met, he liked my work, and we said 'goodbye'. When I got back home- this was like an artist's dream! There's a message on my answering machine and it was from Len Brown. He said, 'We want to give you a 'Star Wars' card to do.' I was just totally thrilled! And I cried because for me to work for Topps- it's like truly following in my father's footsteps. It was as if I had proved myself worthy to be my father's daughter! Even doing stuff for the New York Times, which was kind of cool, prestige-wise, it didn't measure up to being accepted by the people who accepted my father!

Did it ever feel like you were working under the shadow of your father's reputation?
Zina: It didn't at first, for the first few years, being involved in the same sort of industry as him because it was just very exciting. I do very much admire my father's work. Even as I grow older, I become more and more conscious of what a large part my father has played in my being an artist. It wasn't simply that I was around an artist, but it was very much a desire for me to measure up to my father and to, in a way, to win his admiration and respect by succeeding in an area that he succeeded in. He worked very hard to be a good artist and for me to succeed to be a good artist would make, on some psychological level, would make him approve of me and value me. My father was always very encouraging about my artwork and he very much thought I was a really good artist, which was wonderful.

Can you tell us how it was to actually work on the 1994 set?
Zina: Gary Gerani called me and he said, "What kind of paintings do you like to do?" And I said "I like to do portraits." Then he said, "Well, how about doing a portrait of, let's say, J.F.K. and a Martian?" I thought that was a great idea, so I did about ten sketches of J.F.K. being held hostage by a Martian in all kinds of different poses. They also asked me to do the title card, which had been the (original 1962) wrapper, but to do it in like a 3-D painted style which was cool, because I felt that was a big honor. I actually took out my father's old cards to see how he got across the shadows and highlights and the uniform of the Martian.
Then, Len Brown asked me to do the cover for the comic with the kid in the bathroom. When I was doing that cover...I almost always use myself as a model for all the characters in my paintings, men and women. I also use friends of mine- I’ll pose people. My father did the same thing. He had a Polaroid camera and he would photograph my family and himself as all the characters in his paintings. I even have photographs of my father in a dress! Because he would actually pose like an old lady or something like that. He would put a dress on and shoot a photo of himself! I bet I’m one of the few women in America that has pictures of their father in a dress- and he’s got a mustache and a hairy chest! He definitely didn’t make a very pretty woman! For the pretty women he used my mom! So anyway, I shot a picture of myself to be the woman- the teacher- killed in the bottom of the page. That is me- and it looks like me. In the original sketch, when I sent it over to Topps, I had my hand sort of flung back over my head. They said they didn’t like my hand that way- it didn’t "work". So I was saying, "How would you like me to put it?" and they were thinking about it and they said, "Oh, just cut it off!" So I just got that arm and cut it off! I thought it was a great solution- such a Topps solution- such a "Mars Attacks" solution!

So things have come full circle with you working for Topps?
Zina: Yes. When I did the Topps-Star Wars thing, they asked me to work on "Mars Attacks" (the 1994 "Archives" set), and that, of course, was the biggest thrill of my life! It was unbelievable. It was as if I was working on the project with my dad. When I was painting the pictures, I remembered him painting those same crazy-looking Martians! And it was unbelievable working on it- it was like I was shoulder-to-shoulder with my dad. I wish he were still alive- that's what I always think about. I miss him a lot!

All honor to Zina Saunders for taking the time to participate in this exclusive interview, and for sharing her thoughts and feelings about herself, her father, and the "Mars Attacks" experience!

Be sure to check out Zina's website to see more of her artwork!

Also, view Zina's most recent project, Overlooked New York!

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