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“I hope fans will see the show in a slightly different light,” says creator Vince Gilligan.
VINCE GILLIGAN:I can tell you exactly when.
Jonathan Cohen
They’ve been putting these up for at least two or three years.
And they said, “This is fan artwork from all over the world!”
And I said, “Whoa!”
Mukuch Chanchanyan
And then a week or two later, there’s a second corkboard full.
I’m talking a push-pin board that’s 6 feet by 4 feet.
And a week or two later, there’s three of them.
Racknar Teyssier
They’re multiplying like rabbits all over the office.
“I’m here looking at the [art], in the hallway!”
So there’s hundreds of these pieces of art on each corkboard.
Scott Listfield
You look at this thing from a distance, it’s this crazy collage of color.
I could stare at these things for hours.
So when the opportunity arose to share this with the world, we jumped at it.
Chad Manzo
You’re talking about theSauloffices.
I remember during the original run ofBreaking Bad, seeing some of that art in your offices.
I knew of its existence then.
Xenia Shatova
But this is like a geometric proliferation of fan art that I didn’t see coming untilBetter Call Saul.
So we tried to give the best cross-section.
There is validation through awards, through ratings, through critical and fan praise.
Xenia Shatova
But when art inspires art, is that one of the ultimate compliments?
What did all these pieces mean to you, as a former aspiring artist?
It is the ultimate compliment.
Xenia Shatova
Awards shows are great.
I’m proud of every award that this show was ever won or been nominated for.
It’s a very profound feeling of gratitude.
Xenia Shatova
It’s the deepest kind of honor.
And I’m just so happy this book exists because it’s a way to thank these artists.
Walter White transmogrifies into increasingly uglier versions of himself over the course of the series.
Gabe Lanza
What resonated with the artists?
It’d be interesting to plot this on some kind of bell curve.
What is the most common subject of this art?
Elisabetta Quaraniello
And I suppose if you laid it out, you see more representations of Walter White than anyone else.
It may be Mike [Jonathan Banks].
But a lot of the art is dark, as is the show.
Nikki White
So thematically, a lot of it feels serious and heavy in emotional terms in a good way.
There’s a surprising amount of lighthearted, cartoony art.
And what I love is seeing some of these highlight visual moments echoed over and over.
Plastic Cell
You see a lot of the RV and the desert, with smoke coming out of the top.
You see a lot of Gustavo Fring straightening his tie, with half of the face blown off.
Tortuga’s [Danny Trejo] head on the tortoise in the desert.
Plastic Cell
And then there’s someone in Europe or in Australia.
It’s funny seeing these key visual touchstones showing up over and over again.
Was there a medium that an artist used that particularly amused or intrigued you?
Insight Editions/Eugene Huang
Those are my favorites.
Having said that, the old-school media that you see on display here too, it’s so top-notch.
I love the hyperrealistic, photorealistic stuff.
Vince Gilligan (right) with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul on ‘Breaking Bad’.Gregory Peters/AMC
They seem to glow; they seem as if they’re lit from within.
God, I could look at those all day.
What is the ratio of hobbyists to professional artists in this book?
I couldn’t tell you and that’s part of what I love about this.
I would have guesses, but I might be wrong half the time.
I really thought I had some sort of professional visual arts in my future.
And it never went that way.
I left it behind without meaning to.
I don’t even do it for fun anymore.
I looked at this book and these folks who have been inspired byBreaking Badin turn, they inspire me.
I’m seriously thinking I need to put pen to paper again.
I need to get some colored pencils out or some acrylic paints or something.
I need to take my shot at creating art again, just for myself.
It’s like two mirrors facing each other.
I love the endless reflectivity of that.
There’s something very exciting about that.
That’s a piece for the collection.
What was the most surprising work you included?
To me, that there is actuallyWendyart is a feat onto itself.
I loved that Wendy [Julia Minesci] did not get left out.
Her as a subject is one of my favorites.
I love seeing Huell [Lavell Crawford], never get tired of seeing Huell pop up.
I love the deep dives when it’s a character that is not an obvious choice.
And often that is by subject matter, and painting Wendy goes a long way toward that.
[Laughs]
How muchBetter Call Saulart are you now seeing?
And when can we expectthatbook?
It may be 50-50 these days.
What did the cast think of all this adoration through art?
The cast loves it.
I mean, how could you not?
And every now and then, once in a blue moon, I’ll see a drawing of myself.
What do you hope that fans will take away from this book?
I learned about my own show from looking at this book.
And I hope that fans ofBreaking Badget even a fraction of the feeling I got.
