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Italian illustrator and reknowned paleoartist, Fabio Pastori, has one of THE coolest jobs in the world: he brings dinosaurs back to life. Not in the exact same sense as they did in Jurassic Park – there’s no magic DNA machine – but nonetheless just as amazingly rendered and painstakingly envisioned. In fact, many of the creatures that Pastori is called upon to “re-discover” are often nothing more than bones and fossils, which the artist must then take and recreate with one foot in the world of scientific fact and the other in his imagination. It’s the kind of work that some illustrators dream about as children.

Thanks to a common friend (John Carlson, author of Rex Riders), I was able to catch up with Fabio from his studio in Italy. As one of the advocates of the old guard of illustration (everything hand drawn) and advertising the interview proved to be as insightful as it was educational.

Thanks for joining us here at FUEL today, Fabio! How you got started in illustration?

You are welcome Rondal, thanks to you and to the author John Carlson who got us in touch with each other. I always loved to draw from when I was child and I started the High School of Arts with the clear goal to become an illustrator in the advertising field. Thus, when I was eighteen, I had already completed my studies in two schools, one by day and the other by night, and I was ready to start working with many ad agencies and to start teaching in the Superior School of Art of the Castello Sforzesco of Milan under request of the director himself.

That’s a pretty impressive way to kickstart your career! Since much of your experience is in advertising, how has that world changed since you first started as a freelancer in the 80s?

The advertising world is totally changed from 80s. Hyper-realistic illustration by airbrush was the trend at that time; the most popular art directors distinguished themselves using strategies and philosophies that right now are the “story” of the great Italian style. Imagine a world without computer graphics… everything was made by the hands of freelance artists like me; not only for the illustrations, but also for enormous backdrops on photographic and movie sets. Special blue/green screen sets were still sci-fi at that point!

So how did you get into “paleoart?” Were you fascinated by dinosaurs as a kid?

I always been fascinated by dinosaurs and my passion was increased when I started studying them during the end of the 90s. I understood that to love these superb creatures means to love our planet – admire its biology – and realize how small man is in the story of the Earth. We are just a microscopic part of the big puzzle of the Evolution. In fact, this is my real first passion, fed by many readings, starting from my “hero” Darwin to my beloved Dawkins. I started seriously work as paleoartist in 2002, after a terrible car-crash which had “nailed” me to the bed for an entire year.

Is your work based on actual historical references or do they emerge solely from your imagination?

Of course the imagination has an important role, above all if the subject is about a fantasy story as I did for the cover of Rex Riders. But remember, paleoart is a revealing art form which requires lots of responsibility in teaching “how our ancestors were meant to look like,” so is very important to study and follow what the paleontologists are teaching to us. To be a good paleoartist means to find a right balance between scientific knowledge, personal imagination and artistic personality.

Speaking of scientific knowledge, you’ve even been asked to put your skills to use in reconstructing actual paleotological findings before, correct?

Yes, it has happened many times. Just to tell some… Paleontologist Jorge Calvo (Argentina) gave me the honor of reconstructing a giant, beautiful sauropod named Futalongkosaurus; Octavio Mateus (Portugal) gave me the opportunity to do life restorations of his new findings in Angola (Angolachelys and Angolatitan adamastor); Cristiano Dal Sasso (Italy) commissioned me a life restoration of the precious fossil Scipionyx samniticus aka “Ciro.”

What sort of process do you go through when trying to reimagine something that no one has ever seen before?

First of all, I start reading the scientific article regarding the species in question. After that, the internet is the best way to find references to see what other artists have already done regarding the argument. I like to take a look to my books to observe animals living today which have a similar attitude, ethology and ecology. The last bit of inspiration, a glass of a good rhum (rum), can help me find the right idea for a good composition.

And you do all of this work freehand, no computer graphics or clever remodeling programs?

Yep. Absolutely freehand. I study anatomy and comparative anatomy heavily, and of course I use my skill in drawings and techniques. Let others buy on-line models already done with computer programs; fortunately I am still able to use just my ability without any help. I’m really proud about this. I can count on one hand the names of the artists who are able to use programs obtaining as great results as when they were doing everything freehand.

It definitely sounds like a lost art. What’s one of the biggest paleontological projects you’ve worked on thus far?

I’d like to mention my last one that I did under the scientific supervision of Matthew Mossbrucker, curator of the Morrison Natural History Museum in Colorado. I have conceptualized 17 sketches in pencil regarding the species of Quarry 5 in Colorado, and a particular painting depicting babies of Apatosaurus ajax (aka Brontosaurus) which are running on the hind-limbs based on the scene off the biomechanic study done on the prints. It was a greatly satisfying to conceptualize something so different and working with Matt was a great experience!

Many of your pieces seem to capture a specific moment in the life of these creatures. Is there an intenional narrative that you aim to create with each one?

I’m happy you have noticed this, that is [actually] my intention. I like to depict the creature in dynamic postures in order to describe its (or his/her) personality as a real character.

The Ankylosaurus has always been a personal favorite of mine. Something about the armored plates and club tail always thrilled me as a kid. I gotta ask… what’s your favorite dinosaur?

Well, its not so easy to choose just one favorite, but for sure I can tell that I’m in love with Theropods (the bipedal carnivorous), above all the Dromaeosaurids, that include the popular Velociraptor. They are called “non-avian dinosaurs” because they are “brothers” of the avian ones living today (birds). I’m very happy to know that dinosaurs are not really extinct and they are still flying around me every day.

You aim to “make a drawing credible, convincing and nice by using great realism.” How does this hyper-realism differ from photography? What can an illustrator reveal in a picture that a photo cannot?

First off, a photo cannot shoot to a subject like a dinosaur! *laughs* All jokes aside, using hyper-realism I can depict how many details I want in focus and play with the out of focus as I see fit. I can also make a lot of judgement calls that a photo requires using mechanical alterations to pull off. Hyper-realism is more than realism… I can put in whatever details need to be there that don’t exist.

What’s a more recent project that you’ve worked on (paleoart, book, concept art, etc)?

I’m working on concept design for a sci-fi movie; I’ve conceptualized creatures and space-dresses, but I can tell you more right now. I’m so sorry.

That’s quite alright, Fabio. I’m sure we’ll be hearing about when the time comes. To wrap things up, in one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

Ok, in a word: PASSION.

www.fabiopastori.it
paleopastori.deviantart.com

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The infamous bassist of the punk rock group, Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious was once quoted as saying towards the end of his career, “I was the only guy with any bit of anarchy left.” It’s that snide spirit of rebellion that, for a time, encouraged an entire generation to explore entirely new forms of expression including “fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film.” That said, a little anarchy in the art world can be a good thing; a catalyst for radical change that strays from the norm and seeks to defy expectations… it’s sort of the entire premise of art school.

This week’s guest, Joanna Mulder, has taken this to heart, creating her own art movement called JOANNARCHY; a colorful pastiche of zombies, monsters, sexy girls. That’s only half of Mulder’s talent, though. She’s also worked with major brands like Aeropostale, Burton Snowboards, Disney, and Sears/Kmart. To learn more about the artist I recently went behind the scenes of Joannarchy and managed to discover quite a bit about Mulder… or should I say “Bonnie Voy’age.”

Thanks for being our first guest of the new year, Joanna! Tell us a bit about you became interested in illustration.

Thank you for having me! Well, like most, I’ve always loved drawing and painting, or making things since I was a little kid. I was pretty content to sit quietly and draw most of the time, and I think right around high school I decided I would like to do that for a living. (It was actually a toss up between becoming an artist or an actor, but based on being both a member of the cast and a member of the set crew, I decided I liked painting big sets and using table saws much better.)

I went to college at the University of Arizona and majored in Visual Communications with an emphasis in Illustration. However, I took as many other disciplines in the Fine Arts department as I could get my hands on. It was in college that I really started geeking out about the field of Illustration, as I was surrounded by incredibly talented peers that were as serious about drawing as I was. With returning alumni also coming to speak to us about their successes in the “real world”, I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to do, too.

Your background is primarily in fashion. How did your experience in screenprinting prepare you for working with companies like Aéropostale, Old Navy and Burton?

Oh, that’s a great question! My first job out of school I looked in the employment section of the newspaper and, through the slim pickin’s of anything even remotely related to art, I saw an open position for a graphic designer/illustrator for a small screenprinting shop. I remember it was in a really shady part of town and there were bullet holes in the front window. Awesome. I also remember that the owner actually made me take a spelling test before I was hired. Ha! More places should do that. Anyway, there I learned an immense amount about the screenprinting process. I also learned quite a bit about embroidery machines, too. I worked at a few screenprinting houses in Phoenix until the fateful day when a good college friend called me and said that Old Navy was looking to hire a new artist in New York, and that I would be perfect for it. My heart skipped a beat when I envisioned myself getting out of the desert and moving to the big city!

I flew out, and met with the art director, who said that he thought I was talented, but I also had the unique experience of actually working in screenprinting and knowing all the processes behind it. That was what ultimately got me hired, and from there I’ve gotten around a bit within the industry. And on a side note, I don’t think that it is considered too often amongst budding artists, but working in the fashion industry is incredibly lucrative for illustrators, especially when t-shirt design is such a hot item nowadays. You get paid to draw every day… with benefits! Not only that, but you pump up your typography skills as well, which I think is crucially important.

Your work often employs a lot of bright, neon colors that lend a “pop” aesthetic. How would you best describe your style of illustration?

Well, my personal work does (and my wardrobe, more often than not, but that’s not important right now). I love color. Not only that, but I love the science of color. I like the idea of placing colors side by side so that they not only vibrate, they almost hurt to look at. I do a lot of cartoony stuff, both for my professional career and my own endeavors, and bright, vibrant colors are an obsession. I don’t know how many times I’ve said to people, “Don’t be afraid of color!” I would say my style in general, is on the cartoony side. My personal work has been described by others as being a bit twisted, if not downright “just wrong” [and] I’m cool with that.

Do you have a specific method or technique when completing a piece of work?

I do. I feel the thing that works for me the best is simply to sketch… a ton. I work it out so much on paper that by the time I come to the actual piece it’s tightly mapped out and I can just sit back, relax and have fun. Once the ground work is laid, then it’s time to embellish, and add details. Believe it or not, I get my best thinking and plotting done on the subway. It’s a good chunk of time to mentally plan your next project, despite being smashed up against your fellow daily commuters, sardine-style.

What is Joannarchy and how did it get started?

Joannarchy is actually a nickname I had in college. I guess I was going through my “disgruntled youth” phase. The name stuck, and I thought it would be a great identity for my personal work, where anything goes, and a departure from my more commercial stuff. I can do whatever I want there, whether it be selling prints and t-shirts, or announcing upcoming gallery shows, etc. It started to really evolve as a “company” when I started exhibiting at San Diego International Comic Con, and sold t-shirts emblazoned with sexually-satirical graphics portraying certain popular sci-fi characters…ahem. I’ve been doing it for quite a few years now and have had so much success with it I had no choice but to set up shop online. Hence, Joannarchy was born.

Any plans to expand the Joannarchy line in 2012?

I think I’m always trying to expand. I’m the kind of person that’s a jack-of-all-art-trades, master of… some? Maybe? I literally always have about ten projects going at once and they run the gambit from animation shorts to sewing, sculpture to prints and [even] painting. I’ve been plowing through developing a whole new series of prints and will hopefully have them up and for sale on the site soon. I’ve also been involved in showing work at a few galleries and that is something that I will be striving for more of this year. Currently, I’ve been wearing my sculptor hat and I am working on some multimedia pieces that I think when completed will be… um… interesting.

I believe that you’re a fan of cartoonist Jon K., is that right? What is it about his work that appeals to you?

Oh, Jon K. is the best! How could you NOT love Jon K.? The man is brilliant… his style is so fun and sick and hysterical. It’s the entire aesthetic really and just some of the best thinking outside the box ever. I love the fact that you can take two widely recognizable cartoon characters, namely Ren & Stimpy, and draw them literally hundreds of ways, distort them beyond belief, and never lose character integrity. Good examples being Ren’s Brain, where he is basically reduced to just a brain walking around with a fedora, sunglasses, and a tie, and one of my favorites I Was a Teenage Stimpy, where Stimpy hits puberty and goes through all sorts of awkward physical mutations… hilarious!

I also think his blog is fantastic, as he shares his techniques and just fun ways of drawing; definitely a great resource for any illustrator, no matter what your style is like.

Are there any other artists that have had a notable impact on you or your work?

Ha! Rather than listing all the amazing artists that inspire me, I will just say that I consume visual media with a voracious appetite. I pour over art books, websites, blogs, gallery shows, social networks, etc., mainly because I simply just love looking at art. I think that an artist’s creativity and passion is what really impacts me on a personal level, rather than the work alone. I always strive to define my own style and looking to my contemporaries is more of a motivating kick in the butt than anything else.

One suggestion that I would like to make is do yourself a favor and join Twitter. I know, I know… I was reluctant, too. But setting up an account to follow your favorite artists is great! They are constantly posting new work, sketches and works in progress, and art shows they are involved in. And if they follow you, it’s also a key way to get your work out there, and forge relationships.

Burlesque is another particular interest of yours. What drew you into that scene?

Oooh, here’s where the interview gets juicy… I can’t really answer this question without revealing my secret identity!

Secret identity…?

Until you asked, I have never before publicly confessed that in addition to being an art junkie, I am also a “mostly-retired” NYC burlesque performer under the stage name of “Bonnie Voy’age.” I was heavily involved in the scene for about five years, performing a few times a week if not more. I also had some regular gigs with various troupes and gained a fantastic burlesque family in the process. I’ve gone on tours, met legends, and caroused with magicians, clowns, sword swallowers, belly dancers, and more freaks of nature than you can shake your tailfeathers at. I’ve even been featured in the UK’s Bizarre magazine, clad in a barely-there Klingon costume!

You’ve also done some illustrative work in that field as well, right?

And as a wonderful side effect, I carved out a nice little niche doing gig posters and logos for my fellow performers. Some of my posters can be seen in the book Burlesque Poster Design, the Art of Tease, published by Korero Books. It’s a lot of work when you’re not only doing all the promotional materials, but performing in the show, too! But like I said, I had the whole stage performance facination from the beginning, so I guess it finally got to me, ha ha. Ultimately, due to massive time constraints, I was forced to focus on one thing, making art or performing on stage, I couldn’t do both. Art won, again.

What’s the most popular public misconception about burlesque and how do you address it in your art?

Well, with it’s gained popularity over the years, I’m hoping that people realize that burlesque performers are truly artists, and not… well… just strippers. It’s something that is talked about a million times over and usually stems from people that have never actually attended a burlesque show. Just trying to get my friends to come to shows was like pulling teeth, because they thought it was going to be like Sodom and Gomorrah live onstage. In reality, it is a gigantic celebration of glamor, comedy, theatrics, magic, music, costuming and absolute brilliance.

My personal performance style was always humorous. There’s nothing better than making a crowd laugh with goofy antics, and seriously, if you can get up on a stage in front of a hundred or more people and take your clothes off, then you can do pretty much anything. So I take that basic feeling, the feeling of creating yourself, creating entire worlds, where anything goes and everything is possible, the ability to make fun of life and be fearless, and apply it to making art. The sky’s the limit, you guys!

In one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

Oh boy. Well, I fervently feel that while I’ve got my turn on Earth, I want to do it all. Or, at least try it. So, in one word?
Time. And it’s always runnin’ out…

www.joannamulder.com
www.joannarchy.com

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They can if Bristol-based illustrator Jessica Bradley has anything to say about it. In fact, she’s made a career of drawing some of literature’s most fearsome beasts in all of their soft and squishy glory including an assortment of werewolves, fish men, zombies and – yes – even the Elder God himself, Cthulhu.

I had the opportunity to meet Jess, as she likes to be called, recently to discuss how someone who excels at “cute, colourful and quirky” could also publish something like Brains Etc: Zombie Survival for Kids! and stay relevant with her audience. As it turns out, it’s easier than you might think!

Thanks for joining us, Jess. Can you give us a brief introduction on who you are and where you’re from?

Hello there! I’m an illustrator and character designer from Bristol, England and I love drawing (obviously). I work on a lot of kid’s books but also do all kinds of other cool things like designing t-shirts, self-publishing my own books, drawing amusing fan art and attending a lot of UK comic book conventions. I also somehow manage to play a lot of video games and watch a lot of films too. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I left the house…

I heard that you’re also a big tea drinker… do you have a favorite kind?

I’m rather partial to Mr Earl Grey (being a Brit, what what, pip pip,) but I’m into a lot of the Asian smokey teas too. Lapsang and Oolong are amazing. They smell like bonfires!

So, how did you first become interested in illustration and charater design?

I’ve always been into drawing since I was a kid; my parents recently moved houses and I inherited a ton of old artwork and cobbled together comics I used to make. These will remain in a locked vault and never see the light of day because of how embarrassing they are but they are a nice reminder that I’ve always scribbled my way through life. I discovered illustration (or what it really entails) at art college in 1999 and fell in love. It was just a natural progression from there to University and onward to freelance illustration jobs while working part-time. I also worked in a comic shop for three and a bit years so that had a huge influence on the direction my work went in. I just did what I enjoyed doing and people started to notice so things kind of fell into place from there!

You graduated from UWE Bristol in 2003, what was the most important lesson you received there?

Be yourself and stay true to your own personal style. Which is ironic as half the time, our tutors wanted us to be more mainstream and keep up with current illustration trends. They despised comic books at the time too and tried to get us away from them, which goes to show how under-the-radar a lot of graphic novels still were at that time. I got a lot of great advice there though and I guess being myself paid off because I came away with a First (First-Class Honours).

Did you go solo after graduating or did you join a studio?

I went solo. A lot of my friends are all illustrators too but we all remain quite seperated when it comes to our artwork. I like the idea of working in a studio but I still get nervous if people watch me draw; I think I’d get too distracted working in a studio! My partner is a comic book colourist for IDW Comics though so it’s nice to have someone close by to panic over deadlines with! I’m a member of a collective at the moment called Jurassic Dorks which is a lot of fun. We do a lot of geeky, pop-culture stuff and [even] had our first gallery exhibition this past December which had a great turn out.

What challenges did you experience while trying to find your first clients?

The initial approach was very scary; I wasn’t sure if I was sending the right work, saying the right things, etc. but I had interest pretty much as soon as I left Uni so I must have been doing something right! I collected a great stack of rejection letters too which at the time was disheartening, but necessary for me to take stock of my own work. I found self-promotion harder back then too; now though, all my modesty has gone out of the window! *smiles* You really have to let people know you exist to get anyway as an illustrator. That’s why I’m all over the internet like a bad smell.

Speaking of bad smells… you recently released your first ebook, Brains Etc. (Zombie Survival for Kids!), for the Kindle. How would you describe the book?

It’s a fun and silly activity book/comic about the living dead. It’s all-ages and gets a lot of chuckles at comic cons! Last year, I had the Draw Yourself As A Zombie page photocopied and got people at comic cons to draw themselves and get their photos taken with their drawings. I’ve got hundreds of them! It’s a nice way to break the ice and people seem to like drawing themselves with maggots coming out of their ears and their skin hanging off.

Is there anything, in particular, about zombies that made you decide to put this book together?

I hadn’t drawn or produced a self-published comic for years so I wanted to get back into it. I thought something fun and humourous would be a good start and zombies have been a favourite ghoul of mine for a while. Hopefully I found a few new twists on a very used formula for my comic! The back of the book also has a list of my favourite zombie films, much to my partner’s chagrin (he hates zombie films!)

Actually, you seem to have a knack for doodling all sorts of pop culture icons, from Lovecraft to Legend of Zelda. What appeals to you about these types of characters?

As a kid, I was always very devoted to my cartoon heroes; I used to draw Bert Raccon from The Raccoons all the time along with characters from Dungeons & Dragons and Ulysses 31. It’s the same now but as an illustrator, you can add something new to a character everyone knows. I’m a total geek too so I can’t help but indulge myself in drawing my favourite characters from games and films; it’s great to see the reaction you get from people too when they see your version of a character.

I believe you’re also working on a Brains Etc. coloring app, is that right?

The lovely publishers of the ebook, Zeta Comics, are looking into this as we speak! I think it’s a great idea and has made me start to think about producing some interactive comics. I’m totally unsavvy with this kind of thing though so we’ll see how it goes! I’ve got some ideas that would hopefully work really well so I’m willing to put in the time to learn.

So are there any more books planned for 2012?

I’m doing some more kid’s books for various publishers (starting one as we speak) and I’ve got two more books lined up with Zeta Comics and about three self-published ones of my own; one based on H.P Lovecraft’s stories and characters, one about tea and one I’m keeping secret just incase the idea doesn’t work out! Hopefully I’ll also be working with some other awesome artists on various project too. A busy year ahead!

Busy indeed! If you had to consolidate it all into one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

Imagination!

www.jessbradley.com
www.squid-bits.blogspot.com

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As often as we get to feature various illustrators here on the site, it’s far less often that we get to show the other side of the commercial artist equation. Today, however, we not only get to shed some light on the business side of things, but we even get to help celebrate an anniversary! Specifically, we’re being joined by Nicholas Dawe – founder of the UK-based Folio agency – who is currently celebrating 35 years of service.

Over that time, Dawe has hard worked to adapt and grow Folio into an internationally respected agency representing over 50 artists that cover the gamut of styles and skills. He’s worked with big names like Salvador Dali, Paul Hogarth and Tony Meeuwissen in addition to ushering in some of today’s top talent. Dawe was kind enough to spare a few moments of his time to fill us in on the company and some of the major milestones that led to it’s current status in the illustration world.

Artwork by Andrew Ingamells

Congratulations on the 35th year anniversary! What, if I may ask, is your official title at Folio?

The taxman says I’m a sole trader. I guess I’m also the owner, the proprietor and the boss.

That’s a lot of hats. Are you also an illustrator/artist yourself?

No, but way back before Folio, I used to think I could be. Then I met and hung out with people who were at art college, such as George Underwood, and I realized how much more talented they are. That put an end to those hopes, but it did help me develop an ‘eye’.

When you first started the company, did you ever imagine it would have grown into such a highly regarded agency?

Of course I wanted it to be successful. My concept at the start was of not just an agency but artists’ studios too, and perhaps a gallery to promote them. The drive and the energy were there. Over time, though, ideas evolved to meet changing circumstances. I saw other agencies fall by the wayside, which surprised me at the time, but we survived and we continue to flourish.

What prompted you to start Folio in the first place?

I’d been in the business awhile as an agent, working for someone else. I hadn’t been offered a partnership, so I thought I’d best start my own agency; my experience told me that I could do things differently, more efficiently, and on my own terms. I couldn’t find the right person to go into business with so I raised some capital and went it alone.

Artwork by Jason Brooks

Who can benefit from Folio’s service?

Being an artists’ agent involves many skills, among them the soft skills of interpersonal relationships. We have clients on one side and artists on the other, and to be successful we have to make and keep both sides happy (as much as possible). On the client side, it’s ad agencies, publishers and sometimes private individuals who benefit from us and behind them, their clients.

On the artists’ side, it’s our job to nurture talent, to take care of our artists and listen to their concerns, to make sure they are paid appropriately, and so on. If we do our job well, I hope we satisfy and benefit both sides.

At what point did you realize that this (Folio) was going to work?

Well, it had to work from the outset, otherwise I’d have been in a hole with the bank! Seriously though, I had enough drive to succeed that I was confident, even at the beginning, that Folio would thrive. That’s not to say that there weren’t some rocks, even sometimes boulders, in the road along the way.

What are a few of the other milestones that Folio has experienced over the past 35 years?

Professionally, you mean? Well, first and foremost, working with some of the great names in illustration, and on some major projects. The Royal Mail has been one of our clients for years, and Tony Meeuwissen’s Francobollo D’Oro Award for his designs was significant. Paul Hogarth, the grand old man of illustration, did some for them too and worked with us for many other clients as well. Syd Brak’s iconic Athena posters of the 80s, Jason Brooks‘ Hed Kandi and recent Virgin work… these are big figures who have worked on major projects in the world of illustration. I’m not too modest to say that we have never poached artists from other agencies; they have come to us of their own volition.

Being one of the first to open offices abroad (in New York) and having tie-ups with overseas agencies also stick in my mind. Communications nowadays have changed all that, but back then it was a big deal for me.

Artwork by Mike Terry

Speaking of how things have changed, how has Folio adapted to meet the demands of the marketplace? Obviously digital artists didn’t exist in 1976.

Yes, computers changed everything; not only did they bring digital artists, as you say, but it’s commonplace to say that they have also transformed the way we do business. We have to keep ahead of the game in those respects – looking for innovative digital work on the one hand, and regularly updating our hardware on the other.

Computers have also modified our relationships with clients and with artists: we no longer get to meet them face-to-face as much as we used to, which is a pity, but which means that we must work doubly hard to keep that ‘personal touch’ which I believe has always been a Folio hallmark. We’ve also been lucky enough over the years to have had some wonderful agents working for us who have always been ready to innovate and adapt as circumstances have changed.

Have you picked up on any trends (either in the UK or elsewhere) that up-and-coming artists should prepare themselves for a career in illustration/art?

Trends come and go, in illustration as in other businesses. To tell an artist to follow this or that fashion is to go about it the wrong way, in my opinion. By all means an aspiring illustrator should experiment and take notice of what’s currently fashionable and available, but the goal is to develop your own style – that’s what clients are looking for – something unique. That’s not to say that, once found, the style can’t or shouldn’t adapt, change or be modified; the ability to do this is one of the signs of a successful commercial artist.

Artwork by Syd Brak.

So is having a range of artistic styles/skills an advantage or disadvantage in the eyes of a potential client?

In regards to balance I feel it’s a disadvantage for an artist to spread themselves too thin – rather like those ‘international cuisine’ restaurants you see – a little of everything, but not much substance of anything. That said, Folio does have artists who can turn their hands to different styles as the need arises and often very successfully. But I’d say it’s a natural talent, not one deliberately fostered. David Lawrence for example, is an extremely naturally talented artist with an amazing eye, who can tackle any style that’s thrown at him, from the old masters to fine etching, but has also comfortably and successfully adapted his work digitally.

How does Folio typically connect artists and clients?

In contrast to some other agencies we are keen, where requested and appropriate, to put artists together with clients. We feel it’s part of the Folio ethos to promote a good understanding of what’s required between the two sides, so it’s something we facilitate as much as possible. In addition we regularly update artists’ work on our website, we have a news section there and an RSS feed, a monthly newsletter and of course we’re on social media – Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Artwork by Owen Davey

In what ways does Folio differentiate itself from other creative-focused talent pools such as Behance or Krop?

Well look, I’m going to blow Folio’s horn here for a minute, because I do believe we are very different to these vehicles and that we do make a difference. Anyone can join up with these ‘pools’ as you call them, and float in the ether, but that’s all they may end up doing. However, in my experience, clients usually want professional guidance and the knowledge that the work they’ve commissioned is being taken care of along the way to completion. Furthermore, an artist being discovered as part of an established and trusted agency reassures the client that the job will be done to the highest standard. Because the artists we represent are professional and reliable there’s no doubt that client projects will be managed professionally and reliably!

From the artists’ side, when we take someone onto our books, they can feel assured that they will have our support and nurture and that their work will be promoted to the best of our abilities. After all, that is our job.

Thank you so much for joining us, Nick, and once again congratulations on 35 proud years!

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Fuel Your Illustration goes international this week with an interview featuring Hungarian digital artist Luca Molnar. Like most up and coming illustrators, Luca has honed her skills on a healthy dose of Photoshop and Illustrator that have resulted in a style that is “colourful, shiny, luscious and extremely detailed” – not to mention all her own.

With such a style, Molnar has already established an impressive clientele that include high profile names like Ogilvy & Mather, Landor & Associates and MTV Networks.

Thanks for joining us, Luca. Can you fill us in on how you got started in illustration?

Thank you for having me! I got close to illustration and Photoshop in high school. I fell in love with all the magic and possibilities that digital art had to offer.

Many seem to classify you as a “digital artist.” Do you feel there’s a need to distinguish between being an illustrator and a graphic designer or do the two disciplines complement each other?

Yes, many people classify me as a digital artist and I’m happy they do that. Lots of people still don’t think that digital illustration is a form of art, I think it’s such a shame and I try to do all I can to change this. What we do is art, there’s no question about.

Originally illustration and graphic design are two very different things, however these days the two seem to blend into each other. I think it causes some confusion in the industry. This is one of the reasons why I like to call what we do, digital art.

Your work is definitely on the more commercial side of things. Do you ever feel yourself restrained by project guidelines?

Definitely. Many times I would love to create a more unique, more artistic piece, but usually brands don’t like taking such a risk. We have to find a way to put more personality and style in our works, while still keeping the project guidelines, it can be a real challenge sometimes.

What has been one of the most creatively rewarding projects you’ve worked on so far?

It has to be my latest tutorial piece (H2 O) I created for Advanced Photoshop magazine. The brief was simple and it’s really easy to work with Advanced Photoshop’s team. It took forever to finish this typography piece, but it was definitely worth it. Basically it looks like the underwater letters are made of liquid glass, there are also many interesting shapes and forms.

You describe your work as “simple yet complex.” Can you elaborate what you mean by that?

I like using simple shapes on a complex way. As you can see my latest illustrations are all made of simple shapes, such as circles and triangles, but the finished work still has lots of details and a certain level of complexity.

Being that the end result of your work is digital, how does a typical piece begin? Do you sketch everything out first?

Yes, I do it the old fashion way. I draw everything on paper first with my favorite pencil. When I finish it, I scan the drawing and redo everything in Photoshop.

What has been one of the biggest struggles for you as an independent illustrator?

Just like any other illustrator I had trouble getting myself noticed, getting signed and get enough projects the work on. Some of these are battles we have to fight everyday.

Who are a few of your fellow Hungarian artists or design studios whose work really impresses you?

There are two Hungarian illustrator I really admire. Jozsef Vass and Csaba Fekete. They are both great artist and have wonderful styles.

In one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

Love.

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We all do it. Whether its from the shadows or staring at someone in public, its base human nature to “peep” at other people, creatures or things. We’re innately curious beings and rightfully so – it’s kept us alive this long after all (unlike those lemmings). This is also the concept behind an upcoming indie book, Peepholes, by creator Laurie J. Proud that mysteriously found its way into my inbox a week or so ago with an ominous subject line: “Peepholes, A New Book by Laurie J Proud.” As you might have guessed, my voyeuristic intentions got the better of me and I just had to give it a peek. A few days later and that peek turned into a full 122 page preview which in turn resulted in this very interview. Sometimes it pays to peep… even if just a little.

Your latest book, Peepholes, is a virtual miasma of various visual and narrative styles. Has your work always been so diverse or is this something employed specifically for the book?

I know there’s almost an expectation that a comic artist or illustrator has one signature style but i see no real reason why an artist should feel obliged to stick to one only, although i understand the idea that it might make your work more instantly recognizable, and therefore marketable. I never really settled into just one style, and before beginning each story i play around with the look for some time to get the right tone or feel. I’d even go further and say that certain worlds couldn’t happen without certain styles. I think style should serve to illuminate the content.

What were some of the challenges of putting together such an expansive collection of work?

Peepholes collects work from 8 years of drawing comics in my spare time, when I wasn’t doing commercial freelance work (animation and storyboarding), so producing it was fairly challenge-free, after all no one was waiting for it. There were no deadlines or script re-writes. It was all self initiated. In some ways the comics became an outlet for everything i couldn’t do with the work i was doing to earn a living. When you’re doing a storyboard for a skin care product it’s amazing how sharply your imagination hones in on what you’d really rather be doing. As for technical challenges, there weren’t any really. Kenny Penman from Blank Slate pretty much gave me free reign to layout and design the book as I saw it.

So is this your first published work?

I did have one section of a longer free-form comic story published in 1997 in Alice magazine issue 01, a short lived artsy publication by Simon Henwood (who also did a magazine called ‘Purr’). It looks rather raw to me now, but not completely cringe-worthy.

Movie theaters and/or voyeurism seem to be a consistent theme throughout the book. What’s the significance behind these elements as they relate to each story?

My mother used to work in a theatre and I would sometimes visit and still remember the powerful sense of mystery in the narrow backstage corridors. There seemed to be many doors and you never knew what they would open onto. I have had many dreams set in similar corridors (and my sister who was there too, also has them) so something of the labyrinthine geography in a lot of my work relates to that I’m sure. Voyeurism is a pretty vast subject and I could write an essay about it. There’s something inherently voyeuristic about much art to begin with; cinema and painting and comics being literally like windows into other worlds (often with a female nude as the object of focus). There’s the suspense and mystery that comes from the act of voyeurism; famous film examples include Blue Velvet, Rear Window, Peeping Tom and Monsieur Hire. Comics often function as a kind of repository for the darker, grubbier sides of the psyche so it seems only natural that voyeurism would find a home there (especially among male comic artists who are the more voyeuristically inclined).

You mentioned Blue Velvet just now. I understand that you’re a fan of both David Lynch and William Burroughs – two individuals with idiosyncratic forms of creative expression. What is it about them that inspires/influences you?

These two are so influential now it’s a bit of a cliche to even mention them isn’t it ? I saw Eraserhead when I was about 18 and even though I didn’t get it straight away (it took a few more viewings over a few years to really sink in) it was as if something had been fundamentally altered in my mind. That film is easily the biggest single artistic influence on me. Burroughs came a bit later. The obvious thing to mention about Lynch is his powerfully dream-like, dark and surreal atmosphere which is just very seductive, but If there’s something in common between Lynch and Burroughs I’d say it’s the ‘narrative leaps’ you have to make as a viewer / reader. You have to literally make an imaginative leap from one idea to the next whenever the conventional narrative breaks down. Some people find that infuriating (I think mainly because they don’t feel they should have to make the effort). I find it really thrilling, and feel something poetic happens at those moments when you have to engage your own imagination and ‘fill in’ a bit. Of course it’s very subjective. In Peepholes the story that uses this method most obviously is 100 Ruined Cities, where there is almost no link between one image and the next, apart from the fact they they all seem to be happening in the same world. So as a reader you’re required to find your own connections. Some people will get into that and some won’t.

How important to you is color in narrative storytelling and in what ways have you used it here to enhance the emotional impact of each individual tale?

I can’t stand overly bright, happy or garish colours so will usually go for a muted palette, but it really depends on the content of the story. I use black and white as a way of evoking a noir-ish world or a past era. I actually began Night Offices in colour, which seems contradictory since it’s such a noir aesthetic, but i was going for Edward Hopper-ish colours initially as that story directly references Hopper’s painting Office at Night… it almost takes that painting as a starting point. Anyway, halfway through I began turning the artwork to black and white in Photoshop and preferred it, so the latter half of the artwork is painted in tones of grey. Lycanthrope has a very restricted palette of burgundy with cyan pools of light. That story has a structure based on cheap porn movies; an almost non-existent plot which moves from one sexual scenario to the next, so I wanted it to look like a seedy sex dreamscape. Bob’s Big Whack could easily have worked in black and white but I don’t think it would have really captured the exact mood of 1930s L.A. sunlight on a diner floor without full colour.

You mentioned your mother earlier, were either of your parents particularly supportive of your artwork growing up or did your interest in the field not occur until later in life?

I’m one of those people who was always drawing. My dad was a Graphic Designer / Paste-up Artist in the pre-Photoshop days. I get very nostalgic thinking of all the commercial art products that were in his workplace in the pre-digital age; Pantone markers, Grant enlargers, Letraset, Letratone, Cow gum, line tape, Rotring pens… these were standard in any design studio up until the mid 90s, and I loved to play with all the different pens and drawing gadgets whenever I visited him. Lots of pens, pads and Letraset would come home too, so I blame him really. My parents were both supportive but in a very hands-off way. They could see I loved drawing and let me get on with it.

Speaking of tools, what sort of tools do you typically use? Have you ever employed mixed media (photos, sculpture, etc) into your work?

I think of my work as ‘mixed media’ because it is a mixture of traditional pen, brush and paper materials mixed with digital. Some of the stories (Dead Laurence, 100 Ruined Cities) are drawn on paper in pen, scanned, and toned / textured in Photoshop. Some are drawn in Flash (Bob’s Big Whack, Lyncanthrope) and finished in Photoshop. Aubrey is entirely painted on paper and Night Offices is painted on paper then treated in Photoshop. I view Photoshop as a colouring and layering tool, but more importantly as a way to put the final page together as I never create a whole page on one sheet of paper / card the way comic artists traditionally did. I don’t usually like work that is obviously Photoshop created and like to keep the audience guessing as to the exact technique.

Hotel Charlie is the only character in the book to receive more than one story. Was there any specific reason for him appearing more than once or did it just happen to work out that way?

Most of the stories in the book are self contained but Hotel Charlie is the sort of character you could throw into almost any scenario. I had several more scenarios jotted down for him, and couldn’t resist drawing another. I could probably do a whole Hotel Charlie book, but I’m also keen to get onto another longer story and don’t have the time to do everything unfortunately. Maybe I’ll return to him in the near future. Lycanthrope could also return as it’s very open ended, plus he’s a time-traveling werewolf so can basically do anything. Incidentally, the werewolf character in Lycanthrope is actually called Gütersloh, which is a German city. I didn’t know that at the time I named him… I thought it was just a surname. So if you’re German that would be like having a werewolf character called Birmingham (to use an English equivalent) or Philadelphia (an American equivalent). I thought it might just confuse any German readers so i left it out, but he’s still Gütersloh to me.

When is the book scheduled for release and where can people find it?

Barring any delays it should be out on the 26th of October. It’s mainly available through Forbidden Planet, Waterstones and Blackwell’s in the UK, as well as independent comic shops. If you’re outside the UK you can order directly from the Blank Slate Books site.

If you could collaborate with any other artist (living or dead) from any medium, who would it be and why?

Well, collaborating with another visual artist would be difficult I think but I’ve often thought about meeting a writer who’s stories would be perfect for me to turn into comics. That hasn’t happened yet. Most of my favourite writers are dead so I’m going to restrict this question to the living to make it more difficult for myself. Probably the only living writer who’s inspired my visual world as much as visual artists have is Tom Waits. I know he’s a songwriter / musician and the music probably does as much if not more to create his atmospheric worlds and subsequently influence my own, but I also think he’s a brilliant wordsmith, so yes, a short story by Tom Waits to turn into a comic would be wonderful.

Nice choice! I could totally see some sort of album/comic collaboration. Okay, last question… in one word, what “fuels” your work?

… compulsion.

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It should be no surprise to you by now that I’m a bit of a horror-phile. That is to say that I’m a huge horror fan, which also makes this my favorite month of the year because of HALLOWEEN! Luckily, I’m not alone in my monster-obsessed state of mind. For instance, this week’s featured guest is a fellow Halloween addict who had taken his love of the genre and injected it into his work… introducing Jeremy R. Scott!

Coming straight from the presses for his latest book, Dracula is Afraid of the Dentist, Jeremy was kind enough to spare a few moments of daylight to answer some of our questions including the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere and taking a quizzical look at George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.

If you would, Jeremy, can you give our readers a general introduction on who you are and how you got started in illustration?

Hello, my name is Jeremy R. Scott, and I like to do drawings and scare my little sister.

Is it true the first comic you ever read was The Adventures of Kool-Aid Man?

Yeah, Kool-Aid Man battling the Thirsties in OUTER SPACE! I can’t remember how many kool-aid points it took to send away for it, but I vividly remember reading it while watching The Wiz on TV. I never really read comics as a kid; in fact, the first one I actually bought was the first issue of Dark Empire from Dark Horse when I was a teenager and that was only because it was Star Wars – you know, when Star Wars was still cool.

Were you influenced by anything (or anyone) in particular growing up?

Cartoons were a huge part of my life. I grew up out in the country with very poor TV reception, but I had endless amounts of cartoons on VHS tape. So, that’s pretty much all I watched: Looney Tunes, classic Disney shorts and films, Transformers, He-Man, entire blocks of Saturday morning cartoons and of course The Muppet Show. If I didn’t have that VCR, I probably would be an accountant today.

I have also been a Halloween junkie as long as I can remember. There is almost a tingle in the air when October rolls around, bringing pumpkins, witches and ghoulies with it. Part of my fascination with the holiday also stems from the fact that because I was a kid living out in the middle of nowhere Ohio, I couldn’t go Trick-or-Treating.

That reminds me, you have a new book that will be coming out shortly called Dracula is Afraid of the Dentist, right? What can you tell us about the story?

Dracula is suppose to be a big scary guy; but as the title describes, he is in fact frightened of a simple dentist – which is especially rough when you rely on your teeth as much as he does.

The book was just a vehicle to mix some Halloween imagery with a story that kids can relate to because heck, no one like to sit in the dentist chair. It was also a chance to write in prose, which I have never done before.

The book will be available directly for digital download in addition to print. What are some of the differences between the two? I understand the digital version is animated?

Well, unfortunately for now, the book will just be available as a printed book and a PDF download. I planned to also release it as an animated iPhone app, but I lost my app developer. I did animate the entire book and am currently trying to figure out the best way to release it. Check out my website to order the book. It should be popping up to buy in the next couple days.

Is this your first children’s book or have you done any other books or comics previously?

I have done a few others for Image Comics. I illustrated a story that my friend Justin Shady wrote called The Lava is a Floor. It’s about a couple of bored monsters who invent a new game to pass the time and spend the book pretending to be something new and exciting – human beings.

I wrote and illustrated a book called PTA Night. During a late night PTA meeting at Austintown Middle School, which just happens to be my old middle school, a lot of strange and spooky stuff goes down. It was a fun book to make because it has 6 independent stories going on at once that all eventually collides at the finale, and it is all told with almost no words. So the whole thing kind of feels like a Where’s Waldo? book, and will have you flipping the pages back and forward to figure out the whole story. So, it was a challenge to make it all come together in the end, but I did get to draw lots of spooky, Halloween type imagery.

I also wrote an Illustrated a three-page story in Image Comics’ collected book Fractured Fairytales called The People VS. Hansel and Gretel. It was a fun little retelling of the Hansel and Gretel story, except this time around the poor old lady in the gumdrop house takes the kids to court for destroying her home.

Your style of illustration is very bold, using flat colors to define various shapes and elements. Do you have any special techniques or tools that you use?

I sketch out all of my ideas on paper, but after that I primarily finish all of my work on the old Mac using vector tools in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I also have been doing a lot of animation in Adobe Flash, so that is another reason why I use vector tools to draw my characters.

Illustrator has really heavily influenced my drawing style and character work over the years. It really forces me to look at each character I draw and break it down into its basic shapes to simply convey its attitude.

Coming back to your influences, what is it about horror/monsters that appeals most to you as an artist?

Like I said above, I love Halloween and Monster movies. The first time I saw Night of the Living Dead I couldn’t sleep for a year. Heck, I still have nightmares about zombies. God, I can still hear that sound when the little Cooper girl stabs her mother. Wait a minute… she is a zombie, what the heck is she doing stabbing her mother with a hoe for? Shouldn’t she be trying to eat her? She is a zombie after all, not a murder. Jeez, I never really thought about it before. Maybe it is best not to think about it to hard. Anyway, I have been a horror junkie ever since.

Point taken. So… if your such a big horror fan, what’s your favorite monster cereal?

Always was a FRANKENBERRY man, mostly because I never really liked chocolate much as a kid.

Since you brought it up, though, what the heck happened to Frankenberry? I just had a bowl yesterday, probably my first since I was 12, and I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed. The sugar flavoring wore off after a couple of seconds and the marshmallows turned into a soggy, gooey mess. I might be wearing my rose tinted glasses here, but I remember the cereal tasting better when I was a kid.

Isn’t that the truth? All three of them of become more – dare I say – “nutritious” in recent years. I’d kill for a good box of sugar soaked Boo Berry cereal.

Well… at least the characters are still kick-ass.

True. So, what other projects are you currently working on at the moment?

Just trying to finish up Dracula now. That and try to keep adding fresh artwork to the blog on my site called BLOGENSTEIN.

In one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

Boo.

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Of all the illustrators alive today, there has been one man whose work has been a constant fixture throughout my life. I was one of those strange girls that would rather be outside excavating dinosaur bones in my backyard, getting my hands and knees dirty, than inside with a dollhouse. I spent countless hours pretending to be a world-famous archeologist, discovering hidden temples and pretending I had stumbled upon portals to other worlds. My favorite book reflected this: Dinotopia by James Gurney. I poured over those books, taped print-outs of his paintings on my wall, and I still have my first copy of The World Beneath on the bookshelf – now with the spine taped together because of the many times that book accompanied me into the woods. When I graduated high school, as my gift, my parents drove me hours away to a tiny museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where James Gurney’s Dinotopia paintings were on display. They are even more incredible in person. My favorite painting? The Black Fish Tavern from The World Beneath. The use of light and detail in that painting is incredible and I remember walking around the last corner of that gallery and there it was, sitting on an easel as you walked out the door.

For those who don’t know him, James Gurney is a writer and illustrator, best known for Dinotopia and his work for National Geographic Magazine. “He specializes in painting realistic images of scenes that can’t be photographed, from dinosaurs to ancient civilizations.” In fact, one of my favorite art guide books is Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn’t Exist, an excellent book for anyone interested in fantasy illustration. You can learn much more about James Gurney and his work by visiting his website, which was recently redesigned by his talented son, Dan. Check it out and take a look at his gallery. Thank you again to James for this fantastic interview. Enjoy!

On with the Dinosaurs! …I mean Interview!

As a kid, dinosaurs played a huge role in my everyday imaginary adventures. How were you first introduced to dinosaurs and the different civilizations that make appearances in Dinotopia and when did they begin to appear in your sketchbooks?

I was bitten by the dinosaur bug as a kid, thanks to the Zdenek Burian illustrations in the Time/Life book on evolution and a few trips to natural history museums. I was also fascinated by lost civilizations. I grew up with a bound set of old National Geographics outside my bedroom door. I’d tiptoe out in the hall at night to read about great explorers like Hiram Bingham discovering Machu Picchu. My ambition in third grade was to find a dinosaur or a lost city. I started excavations in my backyard and had my friends helping me until their mothers told them they couldn’t come over anymore because they always came home with their pockets full of dirt.

I majored in archaeology at UC Berkeley, and then worked for many years as an illustrator for National Geographic. They put me in an early grave, you might say, by sending me on assignment to Etruscan Italy to poke around some recently discovered tombs in Tarquinia. They also sent me to Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem, and I worked with a lot of archaeologists and paleontologists. Around 1988 in my spare time I started doing big paintings of lost empires and I came up with the idea of drawing a map of an island and telling about it through the journal of a Victorian explorer named Arthur Denison.

Does your artistic process differ when you’re working on paintings for your fictional books in comparison with work for instructional art books or commissioned pieces?

Not really. Both my Dinotopia paintings and my scientific illustrations are imaginative work, meaning there’s no photo to copy. The idea is to do a realistic painting of something that isn’t visible in front of me. For both science and fantasy paintings, I have to do lots of sketches, and maybe pose models or build maquettes. If it’s a commissioned illustration, I might have to resolve the sketches a bit more than I would if I was doing a Dinotopia painting. The artistic process does differ of course for my plein air work, where I work on oil primed panels, drawing the subject directly with a brush.

In your experience, what was more beneficial in helping you grow as an artist: formal art education or your personal travels and learning on your own?

For me the most beneficial thing was learning on my own and traveling, simply because most art schools weren’t teaching the good stuff 30 years ago. You had to dig it out from the old art instruction books that were 50 or 100 years old. Doing that felt like having Norman Rockwell or Harold Speed or Andrew Loomis as your teacher. Many art schools are better now, and are offering a good skill-based foundation. Still, I’m a real believer in learning through direct observation of nature, which means carrying a sketchbook around constantly, and painting outdoors.

Imaginative Realism is a fantastic book, but for those who haven’t read it – how do you go about creating your paintings of creatures that no longer exist? What steps must you take for the creatures to look as real as they do?

I work completely in pencil and oil. My studio is upstairs in my house, and it’s crammed full of art books, maquettes of architecture, old theater costumes, and sculptures of dinosaurs. My method is based on the nineteenth century academic approach: thumbnail sketches in black and white and color, studies or photos from costumed models, plein air sketches, and lots of reference photos filed away in a set of filing cabinets. The really elaborate paintings can take as long as six weeks, but an average painting goes together in about six days. During my lecture tour this fall I’ll be doing presentations at several different art schools and studios in LA and Ohio. People can find out the list on my blog under “Upcoming Appearances.”

Your blog is an amazing resource for all sorts of traditional artists. What is the biggest piece of advice you could give to a blossoming illustrator?

Thanks for the compliment. As far as advice, I’d start by saying: don’t worry! Professionals in the business often complain about the headaches of stock art, photo-illustration, lousy contracts, and disappearing clients. There’s no doubt: it’s a tough time right now to make a living as an illustrator. But it has always been a changing business, whether you were working in 1905, 1925, or 1955. In many ways, this is the best time ever to enter the field. We live in a more visual culture than ever, and never before has fantasy and science fiction been so central to our culture.

I’d also recommend balancing imaginative and observational work. Sketch from life and sketch from your head. And don’t worry about developing a style. Just observe nature faithfully when you’re young. The style will come naturally.

We have more resources at our fingertips—tools, references, printing technology—than any of our artistic ancestors ever dreamed of, and there are unlimited opportunities if we can just try to rise to the high ideals and standards that they stood for. Illustration is a proud calling. We should never forget how lucky we are to be able to conjure dreams out of thin air.

And finally… in one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

Probably the same thing that has fueled artists all along—the desire to tell a story, to bring a character to life, to create a doorway into a world that no one had ever imagined before. I’m constantly reminded of the impact that still pictures can have over us. I got a letter last week from a young woman who is an art student in Germany. She said she found her old copy of Dinotopia after it had been misplaced for many years, and she remembered something her father said about it. He told her that it was a magical book, and that every time she opened it up, there would be a new picture hidden somewhere in its pages that she had never seen before.

You can learn more about James Gurney here:

• Official James Gurney Site
• Dinotopia.com
• Journey Gurney Blog
• Facebook
• YouTube

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This week the staff here at Fuel Your Illustration is proud to introduce a very special guest: Marcelo Vignali. Vignali is currently a Visual Development Artist for Sony Pictures Animation but he’s been working in the field of commercial art since 1985. During that time, he has worked on a variety of projects that span television to feature films for some of the largest entertainment studios in the industry including Walt Disney, DiC Entertainment and Sony Pictures.

My Co-Editor, Nikki Jeske, and I were recently lucky enough to get a few moments of Vignali’s time to discuss everything from persevering through educational adversity to the “true origin” of Lara Croft and how boxing can teach you to become a better illustrator. So grab your sketchbook and get ready because Marcelo Vignali is about to take us to school (no stuffy art degrees or high interest loans required).

I understand that did a bit of boxing when you were young? That’s awesome! Can you tell us a bit more about that experience?

Alas, I have no crusty, sordid tales of my prowess in the world of sweet-science. No tales of bare-knuckle pugilism in some abandoned barn just outside the city jurisdiction. No sweaty, bloodied and battered bodies pounding it out for a meager paycheck from some corrupt boxing promoter — just to get some money for art supplies. There really isn’t much to tell. I boxed between ages 10-11 in a youth boxing club, and then again between ages 16-17 — during which my stable mates were Paul Banke and Zack Padilla, both of whom became world champions in their respective weights. Our gym was very small, but we had a couple really good trainers.

What boxing did taught me was perseverance, training and performance. All the wisdom I still employ in my field of art:

• Working as a commercial artist is highly competitive, so perseverance for artists is very important. Also, discouragement and adversity come from unexpected places, and if we want to succeed we have to have the perseverance to keep fighting.
• Training is equally important. I’ve seen various artists become comfortable in their own success and stop growing. That’s where maintaining one’s skills and growing one’s knowledge is vital to staying relevant in this industry.
• And, lastly, there’s performance. In the same way boxing champions are able to elevate their game to suit the challenge, artists must do the same. You have to raise your game and perform, regardless of the task at hand.

So when did you become interested in illustration?

I became interested in illustration when I was in art school. I’ve always wanted to work in animation, but in 1983 there wasn’t much going on in the world of animation. Illustration seemed like the next logical step for me. I wasn’t interested in abstract “fine art,” so naturally I gravitated towards a field where my skills of creating representational art (the craft of making one’s art something recognizable) would be more useful.

You attended Otis Art Institute/Parson’s School of Design, what was the most important lesson or advice that you received there?

Well, unfortunately I was very dissatisfied with my education at Otis. I believe the early 80s was a Dark Age for students looking to become representational artists. Most of my teachers at Otis were former hippies that fought and won a long hard battle against representational art. To draw or paint things that were representational was seen as philistine, and I was sorely made to feel that condemnation and contempt from my teachers.

That’s where perseverance comes in. I had to hang tough and fight to mold my school’s abstract assignments into assignments that I believed would become useful to me. In my abstract expressionist assignments I would manage to introduce a figure, or representational object, from which to craft and render. In this way, I could continue to educate myself. Fortunately there are a lot of books by which one can learn from. I went to a four year art college, but learned perspective from a $2.00 Walter Foster book.

Throughout my time in school, I continued to draw in my sketchbooks. There, I would develop my ideas, characters, backgrounds and practice rendering exercises. When I landed my first job in animation they weren’t interested in my portfolio, just my sketchbook. In the end, it was my perseverance and belief in what I was doing was right that proved to be more useful to me than my education at Otis.

I’d also like to add that a great many people believe they can’t make it in this industry because they didn’t go to the right school, get the right training, or study from the right teacher. Never let that get in your way. With the easy access to quality art books, art lesson’s on Youtube, schools on the internet, and the blog-sphere a click away, there really isn’t any excuse — if you apply yourself. You must be persevering and unyielding.

Shortly after graduating you made the transition from commercial art to animation. Was there any sort of learning curve between the two fields?

Well, truth be told, I never got my diploma. I was a few classes shy of graduating when I got the opportunity to work in animation. I took the job at DIC Entertainment with the hopes of paying off my school debt, and then going back to school to get my diploma.

However, once in the field I began to realize how little training I had been given at Otis to prepare me for the real-world. The learning curve was huge because my school simply had NOT prepared me for the job market. Despite my attempting to twist the assignments into something I could use, I was still unprepared as an artist.

I realized then that my education at Otis, my assignments, and a diploma were simply rendered irrelevant by the elitist-attitude toward representational art. It simply didn’t make sense to go back to Otis, pay out even more money for tuition in order to get my diploma, so I endeavored to learn as much as I could and continue my education outside of Otis. This goes back to one of those principals I learned while boxing, the importance of training. I began going to figure drawing workshops, and continue to attend them 24 years after I left Otis. The irony is that I now teach figure drawing, and attempt to address the problems most art schools simply don’t teach.

Truth be told, there were a small number of teachers at Otis that were able to draw and paint in the classical sense. Their words were like a lamp unto my feet, and for that I’m very thankful for their instruction. Thanks to Everett, Will, Robert and Al. I’d also like to thank the late Louis Quiarte, my art history teacher — he really opened my eyes.

Figure drawing seems to be a consistent part of your creative process. Speaking to a student, how important is understanding real human anatomy in animation?

Figure drawing is best described like training for a boxer; whether that’s road work, punching the bag or sparing. Even though a fighter understands how to play the game, they still need to train, and figure drawing is that for artists.

Ha! Let’s face it, the opportunities to draw anatomically correct naked people in animation are few and far between, but the skills learned are immeasurable. Because my art education at Otis was so poor, I decided to dedicate myself to becoming a good artist after the fact. To do so I started to regularly attend a weekly uninstructed figure drawing workshop. It wasn’t until I spent three years of figure drawing on my own that I began to see the importance of figure drawing in my professional work.

The importance of getting the anatomy correct is not as important as the whole of drawing: getting the balance, proportions, perspective, musculature, light and shadow, cast shadows and form shadows, construction drawing, design and understanding are all equally as important.

You’ve worked on some classic animated series over the course of your career– what have been a few highlights for you personally?

At DIC, I worked on a variety of television shows. Starcom was my first series, and ALF was my first Saturday morning television show. Captain N: Game Master was the first time I had the lead role as character designer. That’s why those shows in particular will always hold a sweet spot in my memory. It’s like a first kiss, you always remember it.

DIC was also where I met some amazingly talented people, among them being Richie Chavez, Fil Barlow, Dan Quarnstrom, and the amazing Steve Swaja. I still keep in contact with them on a regular basis.

Do you have a favorite character that you’ve created/worked on?

Yes, but it’s a character that never saw the light of day. Years ago I was working for a gaming company and they were looking for an Indiana Jones type character — and wanted me to do some exploration to come up with some new ideas. Among the various characters I designed, I designed a female character — get this — with shorts, combat boots, a crop top, a backpack and pistol. In essence, I had designed Lara Croft. But, the game developers didn’t think the idea was sound and went with a more conventional approach — some brutish looking tough guy. A few years later, completely unrelated, Lara Croft the Tomb Raider would become a sensation.

I find that sort of stuff amusing. It’s important as an artist to be cutting edge, and provide employers with the “right” choices, even if the ideas aren’t recognized at the time.

After that you moved onto Disney where you worked feature films like Lilo & Stich and Atlantis. How did it feel to take on your first role as Art Director for Surf’s Up (2007)?

Surf’s Up was a joy to work on. Aside from a few problems, I really enjoyed the work and my crew.

Working as an artist on various projects through out the years really did prepare me for my role as Art Director. One of the biggest problems other projects have had is that they don’t trust their team. I have found that in animation no one person, no matter how talented, has all the answers. And, if an art director, production designer, director, or producer believes they have all the answers, the project will never be better than that single person. Whereas, successful films are a collaboration where every player involved plays to their strength. This only happens with trust – trusting the team is essential because animation is a team effort.

You received an Annie Award nomination for that film, right?

Yes, I did, but film credits can be deceiving. I appreciate the recognition from the academy of my peers, but there were so many hands lending their skills into that project that it seems unfair that individuals would be singled out for their achievements, as opposed to singling out the team for their achievements.

Paul Lasaine was the Production Designer on Surf’s Up, and needed to be nominated as well for his tireless efforts. He was also the ideal production designer, allowing and encouraging everyone — including me — to work at their strength. I owe him a lot.

Going back to Lilo & Stitch for a second, is it true they didn’t tell you Stitch was a alien until late into production?

Yeah! I was freelancing from Utah at the time, and the Disney company was struggling with its competitors for protection of its intellectual properties. The directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders wanted to work with me, but it was a risk for them since I was not at the studio. So, they had to be carefully guarded. They asked me to develop designs around Hawaii, and they gave me assignments about the little girl and the house she lived in, but nothing about Stitch — other than he was a dog. After a while I think they had forgotten that they hadn’t told me the full story and just presumed that I understood that Stitch was an alien. Months later I incredulously remarked to Dean into the phone, “What! STITCH IS AN ALIEN?” There was silence on the other end of the telephone, and then laughter! Both of us had a good laugh about it, and he cleared things up right away.

Chris and Dean are wonderful to work for. I think they are the embodiment of a team effort, and their projects reflect that the entire team is working at its strength.

You mentioned on your blog that you got to go snorkeling in Hawaii as research for that film– what sort of life experiences has your career opened up that you might not have gotten to do otherwise?

Yes, I’ve been fortunate in that way. Working for Walt Disney Imagineering I had the opportunity to do a little traveling. One of the high points was traveling to New York to meet with the people at the Jim Henson Studio. And, I got a chance to meet Jim Henson himself.

Wait– you met Jim Henson?! I have admit, I’m more than a little jealous right now.

That certainly ranks at the one of the top of my experiences.

So after a decade at Disney what prompted the decision to go freelance?

Well, the idea was to leave the hustle and bustle of the big city, and raise my family in a more family friendly environment. But when the animation business began to change from 2D to CG, I realized that I had to come back to California if I wanted to remain relevant to the industry. It was the right choice, and I learned a little something about myself and my family.

I know it sounds hokey, but home really is where the heart is at. There is no magical place where the grass is always greener, and every place has pros and cons. The reality is that the best place to raise a family is in a loving home.

Earlier this year you and several other artists at Sony Pictures Animation began a new comic project. Can you give us any details on what the book is about?

Well, there’s no title as of yet, but we’re calling it the “exquisite corpse” as per the Victorian parlor game where everyone takes turns drawing a person on a large folded paper, without knowing what the others have drawn. When it is unfolded, everyone has a good laugh about the anatomy of the person — hence the name “exquisite corpse.” It has nothing to do with zombies or dead people, it’s just the name of the parlor game.

For years I’ve dabbled in comics, but never for print. I learned the mechanics of story telling via the comic format, but never put that into practice. This was a perfect opportunity, and I’m really happy with my story. We were all given as many as eight pages to create, and I used all eight. In the end I realized that the characters I created for this story were a reflection of my daughters! One thing for sure, this story has made me want to do more comics, but I have to work that around my day-job schedule.

Does the book have a release date yet?

I wish I had a date of release, but I’m guessing we won’t have it ready and printed till the end of this year or the start of next year. Corralling artists is like the proverbial herd of cats. I’ll announce it on my blog when it happens.

It’s clear that you work easily in a variety of styles. Who are some of your biggest influences?

Some of my biggest influences aren’t really people working today, but rather those illustrators and artists of yesteryear. Arthur Rackham, Frank Frazetta, Heinrich Kley, JC Leyendecker, Albert Dorne and Gustav Tenngren.

More contemporary influences are the brilliant works of Jack Davis, Sergio Aragones, Harry North, Paul Coker and Mort Drucker of Mad Magazine.

Speaking of MAD Magzine, is it true that you also got to meet Jack Davis?

Oh yes. My friend Stephen Silver (character designer and creator of Kim Possible and Danny Phantom), was holding an award celebration for Jack and he invited me to come along. I was able to meet Jack, Serigo and Paul at that banquet. Really, another highlight in my art career.

Thank you SO much for joining us, Marcelo. It is truly an honor for you to spare some of your time with us.

Thanks for the interview Rondal, I appreciate the opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you and your readers!

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Regardless of age, race, or creed just about all of us can surely remember hearing some sort of myth, legend, or fairytale growing up. Some of the stories were about gruesome, ugly creatures whose hatred served to convey a moral about the dark side of human nature while other stories showed us the inherent good/beauty in the world.

Today’s guest, illustrator Cory Godbey, never forgot those types of stories and in fact his love for them has guided him to some strange places. From the wild forests of Where the Wild Things Are to Wonderland Godbey’s work is a celebration of the fantastic – and often times magical – world of myths and legend.

Thanks for joining us, Cory. Is it true that you wanted to be a hat designer when you grew up?

Ha ha! Well, who knows for sure. As the story goes, I figured out what I wanted to do with my life in kindergarten, no joke. We had to draw a picture of what we wanted to be when we grew up and I really hadn’t given that much thought up to that point. Aside from playing Super Mario Bros. for a living I wasn’t sure of my options. I remember staring at the page and thinking, “Well. A policeman, right? That’s good.” I started drawing it, drew an old-timey policeman’s hat I guess like in movies… then I paused. I remember thinking to myself, “Hey, that’s good looking hat,” I had the points on the hat (the badge). “Ok, I think I got this” [and] I’ve proceeded from there [ever since].

In what ways did you pursue your talent for illustration in school?

I drew all of the time. I’m sure I’ve said it before but my abiding memory of school was doodling in my books, looking up [to] realize everyone had moved on, and getting back to drawing. I remember so many times seeing the teacher at the board and thinking, “What is she talking about?”

After elementary school art wasn’t required so I took after-school classes. Also, in high school I took art as a elective each year.

It was in high school that you met the future co-founders of Portland Studios, correct?

Right, I met Justin Gerard and Brannon McAllister. They went on to form the company [and] Matt Silver came on later as well as Danny McNight and many others. I think at most there were over 20 people working there.

What sort of work did you do there? Are there any projects that stood out for you?

Le Cadeau du Temps. I spent a little over three months working day and night to complete it. [It's] one of the most rewarding projects I’ve had the opportunity to do. As a group we collaborated some, my favorite was whenever I got to pair my art with my friend (and former Portland web developer) Ben Kammer’s music. He’s an amazing pianist and still any chance I get I try to put his music to my work. As a group we did some animated pieces, but as fortunate would have it they were always waylaid by client jobs and never (to my mind) satisfactorily finished. I show you this one purely so you can hear some of Ben’s music (check out The Mountain King).

Portland Studios, unfortunately, closed its doors this past year citing a “bad economy and robot bears” (or was it bad robots and a bear economy?). How have you things changed for you since that time?

Well, it reached a point where it made more sense to be independent. I’m incredibly grateful for the time I spent at PS and I gained invaluable experience from it. Matt Silver represented Portland Studios and I’ve stayed on with him representing me so in that respect practically nothing has changed for me.

Back in 2009 you were responsible for organizing a massive collaborative project, Terrible Yellow Eyes based on the work of Maurice Sendak. What inspired you to take on such an ambitious project?

The fact that I loved the book so much and I wanted to do something more than talk about how much I liked it. I found it completed and expanded my enjoyment of the book to explore it in tribute.

What were some of the challenges that come with coordinating a community-driven project like that?

I invited over 200 people to work with me on it and I received an overwhelming amount of work to organize and post. It was a massive undertaking but one that was so well received and I loved doing it that it wasn’t difficult. Of course I got many, many (I guess you could call the “unsolicited”) contributions (I say that because to maintain quality and protect the integrity of my contributors I wanted to keep the project by invitation only), but some of those turned out to be some of my most favorite pieces of all. I had to decline many as well but sheer amount of incredible work is just a testament to how much people love Maurice Sendak.

Are there any more collaborative projects planned for the future?

I haven’t done any since, for sure, they’re time consuming and a little exhausting, fun as they are. Since [then] I’ve focused on individual personal projects.

Sendak was once quoted as saying “Art is an exploration of yourself.” What aspects of your personal life tend to find their way into your work?

Well, that’s a good question. I don’t think about it all that much but to take the question literally my one cat James finds his way into my work all the time. Any chance/excuse I get I stick him in there. He’s tubby, white and tan spotted makes a good background element. I’ve been accused of every girl I draw looking like my wife so there’s another. I’ll accept that.

Speaking of your wife, Erin, she is also an artist (interior designer, decorator)– do you ever find that your work influences each other (directly or indirectly)?

She’s got an incredible eye for color and shapes, especially so I’ll get her to take a look at things from time to time. She also doesn’t really hold back either (which makes it extra awesome when she does like something I do.) As for me influencing her, probably not! She’s too good for that. I love being in a room she’s designed. She recently re-did my whole studio and I don’t know how I made it I made it before. She’s the best; I love her.

A lot of people comment on the fact that you enjoy sharing the process behind your work. Have you ever been an instructor/mentor or considered teaching?

Yeah, I enjoy sharing what I’ve been able to figure out, anything to help. There’s nothing worse than being frustrated by a lack of something but you don’t even know what you’re looking for (if that makes sense). That’s where you can sometimes find the key from someone else. I’ve actually been offered teaching positions in the last year, (a couple, I’m terribly flattered) very kind offers but I’ve got more learning to do myself before I inflict my focused attention on actual students. Someday I’d love to, I think.

What elements in illustration are most important when creating a narrative?

Whatever achieves a well told piece, for me, is what’s most important. If it’s something you love then odds are there are other people that will respond to it.

Since you like to both write and draw, which typically comes first when creating a story– the imagery or the plot?

That’s a great question. I think it varies, project to project but typically I’m either just stringing some kind of loose narrative through a series of images I want to make or it’s more focused, I write first and I work through it that way. There are certain elements I love to draw or I love the idea of and they always manage to find their way in. In either case I begin with drawing/writing, where I’m sort of writing words but it blends into drawing/writing with pictures and back again. It’s a really fun way to explore an idea and turn something loose into a reality.

What can you tell us about your most recent project, The Hidden People?

The Hidden People is the first stage in the largest personal project I’ve attempted yet. The ultimate other goals being original ink and watercolor pieces and an original graphic novel set in the world, [but] those two are a little ways off as I’m only able to spend time on them between client projects. For this (my 2011 sketchbook) I wanted to push the drawing as hard as I could. I decided to not think about anything else and make drawing the focus of this book.

I began planning the pieces several months ago. My wife and I were able to tour Europe a little last October and I got to visit the John Bauer Museum in Sweden. Bauer is one of my heroes, his work has influenced me quite a lot and to be able to visit his hometown and see so many of his pieces was truly inspirational.

I didn’t start actually planning the work until several months later in the Spring of this year. I had a hard time narrowing down my focus to which personal project I was going to do but no matter which way I looked at it between all of my options I kept coming back to The Hidden People. One I had all of the pieces planned (which was basically me working through all the ideas I wanted to draw and organizing, arranging them. Much like Ticket my first real personal project, The Hidden People is a collection of all the kind of things I like to draw with a loose story strung through it.

Once I begun to finish the actual drawings for The Hidden People (most of which are pretty substantial, some around 20 in. x 25 in.-ish) I started to see where organizing them into “chapters” would be interesting and make the sketchbook feel more cohesive, give it a little narrative push.

The response to The Hidden People has been amazing. I don’t usually do a massive print run of my sketchbooks, but for this I’ve gone into a second printing. That means a lot to me, a second print run is a first for any of my books and so any chance I get I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported the book. Especially those asking for more! More is coming, I promise. Thank you!

You seem be very fascinated with folklore and mythology– do you have a favorite myth/legend?

I love fairy tales and mythology. They’re the magic stories that we’ve told ourselves for ages to help make sense of what we experience. Picking a favorite is hard, there’s so many. I love the imagery and ideas in Grimm fairy tales, the trolls and princesses of Swedish folk lore, and the grandeur of Norse and Greek mythology. Ultimately any story where the Tolkienian idea of “eucatastrophe” (a good catastrophe, a sudden turn of events in which the outcome is joy, not sorrow.) is present gets me every time. For my money that concept is most clear in Grimm fairy tales (outside of Tolkien’s own works of course).

In the author’s [J. R. R. Tolkien] own words,

It is the mark of a good fairy-story, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it can give to the child … that hears it, when the ‘turn’ comes, a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart.

In such stories, when the sudden turn comes, we get a piercing glimpse of joy, and heart’s desire, that for a moment passes outside the frame, rends indeed the very web of story, and lets a gleam come through.”

In one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

It sounds so silly to say it out loud but my first thought for a one word answer (and the word I kept coming back to) is “love” — believe me I tried to find another one, it just sounds silly. The more I think about it though, I love what I do. I love when I can show others something that they can love. I love to draw, the feeling of focusing on a drawing problem until it cracks and you got it. The moment when a story finally reveals itself and you know what to do to. When you’re able to make a “moment” for someone with your work, when they love it. Really makes me happy.

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When I was little, I was obsessed with the Dark Crystal (okay, maybe I still am). As I grew older, I discovered more works by Brian Froud and fell in love with his faeries and goblins and brownies and creatures of all sorts. It was a gateway into my current affinity for drawing faeries and winged-creatures of my own. So when I ran across this Kickstarter project, A Field Guide to Chrysalies, They’re Not Faeries, by illustrator Paul Keskey, I knew I had to help him reach his goal. To me, his paintings are a throwback to a classical fantasy style from my childhood, fitting between David the Gnome and my collection of Beatrix Potter books. I would love to get my hands on a book like this.

Paul’s Kickstarter project is an attempt to get his Chyrsalies book published. The costs will cover the publishing of the book and the book itself is going to be beautiful. “The Field Guide to Chrysalies there not Faeries will be a soft cover, print run of 2,000. The book will measure 8.5”w x 12”h. The book will be printed in full color, with a solid paper stock (100#) for the interior pages.” This is his dream and I hope anyone reading this takes a moment to make a pledge towards helping him achieve it. He has some fantastic rewards for different pledge levels so definitely take a moment to go through them.

Paul was gracious enough to answer a few questions for me and I hope that his work gives you the same nostalgia as it did for me. Please contribute to his cause and enjoy the interview!

They’re Not Faeries: The Interview

Hi Paul! Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into art.

I have always been a daydreamer and drawing imaginary worlds as long as I can remember. The two activities took up much of my class time in my elementary school days. By the time I was in High School my interests were on other things, but I had an art teacher who was always trying to encourage me to take it more seriously. Her words did not start to resonate with me till a couple of years after high school.

In my early twenties I began to take my art more seriously, so I left Milwaukee Wisconsin and enrolled in the fine art program at Rocky Mountain College of Art in Denver, Colorado back in the 1980s, when it was only a two year program. That was all I felt I needed to improve on my drawing and painting skills.

The name of your Kickstarter project is “A Field Guide to Chrysalies. They’re Not Faeires.” How did the idea for this story come about?

What first started out to be a few work up sketches of a butterfly for an idea I had about a painting, the sketches started to evolve into Chrysalies faerie like creatures, I just kept going with it, it seemed like it had its own energy. My first impression was – I had just made another faerie drawing. As I looked through some of the sketches, they seemed to be more butterfly-like than faerie, That is were They’re not Faeries part of the title comes in.

The sketches and paintings of the Chrysalies generated they’re own story. The story began by me jotting down notes and questions next to some of the sketches, like field notes. I decided to make them real and put them in a natural setting, as if they have been around us for centuries, they became stewards of the environment. Taking care of host plants to butterflies, and other beneficial plants as well.

The illustrations are very whimsical. What medium are you using for the book?

I used various mediums starting from pencil sketches to oil paintings, water colors, and acrylics. Being whimsical is part of my nature of sketching and drawing and I tend to keep this style throughout in each medium.

How is the artwork in this book different from your classic work?

My classic work has more of surrealistic feel to it, a more dream-like quality. The new work is almost all fantasy trying to fit an imaginary creature into our world.

our work reminds me a little of Brian Froud’s faery books. Are there are any artists that you look to for inspiration?

I believe inspiration comes from within,though the following artists have had an influence upon me in many ways. They have captured my interest with their imagery and the mastery of painting and drawing.

I remember when Brian Fraud came out with his first book in the 1970’s I spent a great deal of time flipping through those pages, because I was fascinated with some of his images.
There are others: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, Johannes Vermeer, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Frazzetta, and Michael Parks.

And finally… what “fuels” your illustration?

Painting for me has always been a meditative process, some people go to the gym or take yoga, I create new worlds.

Find out more about Paul and his project here:

• MorningMist Studios
• Official Kickstarter Page

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Whether its during classes at school our on the walls of their neighborhood, just about every artist learns to draw by doodling. Some artists enjoy the process of doodling so much that they continue with it, going deeper than most and making it a part of their overall style. Today’s guest, Leeds-based illustrator Phil Wall, is one such artist whose passion for doodling along with his obsession for geek pop culture and coffee has led him to start Project Photo Doodle; an ongoing series of artworks in collaboration with various photographers and non-artists alike.

A place to rest. Harrogate. Collaboration with photographer Benn Kafanke

Thanks for joining us, Phil. Can you tell us about yourself?

Hello, I’m based in Leeds and live with my wife, my little girl and an evil cat. I like to doodle on photos and I’m addicted to coffee.

How did you become interested in illustration? Did you doodle a lot in school?

Art was the only subject I really had any interest in at school. To be honest, I was never really settled in school, my mind always wandering as I doodled away in the back of text books. I was really bored, I wanted to be creative and didn’t find it the best atmosphere to ‘learn’.

I’m from a fairly creative family and I had people around me that inspired me. The thing that really got me interested as a kid were cartoons and comics, my uncles each had a load of old comics (Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, that sort of thing) and they’d draw the characters. I would draw my own comics up, that’s what I wanted to do!

So what inspired you to create Project Photo Doodle? Are you a big traveller?

I don’t get to travel about as much as I’d like to, but I do love to see places. My wife’s a keen photographer and wherever we go she takes photos of interesting architecture and scenery. I started doodling on them as a fun collaboration and it was a nice memento of where we’d been. Friends and family liked them, so I started drawing on their photos too. That’s when I got the idea to make it into an online art project and get people to email me their photos from around the world.

Stuck. York. Photo by Hayley Wall

I heard you got to go to Tokyo for your honeymoon, what was that experience like?

Absolutely amazing and overwhelming! I can’t justify it with words. It was a lifelong dream to go there, I love Japanese culture. It’s the most inspiring place I’ve ever been, I would love to live there. It sounds cheesy, but I really felt like that’s where I belong. To take everything in you’d need to live there for at least a year. I want to go to China next, very obsessed with the orient!

In the past few years doodling has become more widely accepted in the illustration and design community. Why do you think this trend is becoming more popular?

That’s a tough question! I think artists like to see each others thought process. Sketchbook doodles are a great way of expressing an artists ideas and inspirations. Social networks have made it easier for us to share our work and ideas.

How does each creature take on life? Do you draw inspiration from each photo itself (color, shape, size, etc)?

I usually know what I want to do as soon as I look at the image. I sometimes experiment a little with ideas, but I try not to overthink it. It depends on the photo how much detail I put into them, I want them to look like they do actually inhabit the image, but keep them looking like a doodle.

We're in the Skip. Huddersfield. Photo by Benn Kafanke

Is everything done on the computer or do you always start with something hand drawn?

I draw straight over the picture in Photoshop using a graphics tablet.

What other sort of tools do you typically use aside from the tablet?

Just my trusty bamboo Wacom and Photoshop.

Coming back to Project Photo Doodle, can anyone submit a photo for you to doodle on? If so, what are the requirements?

The project is about getting people involved and getting their photos from around the world. I prefer big, high resolution photos with natural lighting. My email address is on the blog, if anyone wants me to doodle on their photo send me a picture with your name and the location of the photo.

Spirited Fishing. Knaresborough. Collab wih photographer Benn Kafanke

How does doodling affect your inner emotions?

I enjoy populating photos with beasties! It amuses me.

What/who are some of your primary influences when it comes to creating your work?

With Project Photo Doodle I draw all my inspiration from the photos. I look at the world in a similar way, when I’m out and about I like to look around and imagine giant monsters stomping over the horizon…

In the form of a photo doodle, what “fuels” your illustration?

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For those who don’t know how to wield it, diversity in art can be a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand having the ability to weave in and out of various styles can be creatively rewarding and allow an artist to take on all kinds of work. On the other hand, clients seeking to hire a specific “look” may be turned off by a portfolio full of ever-changing art styles. This is no more evident in commercial art where, more often than not, landing a client can mean the difference between popping open another bag of Ramen or hitting up Red Robin for a 5 course celebratory meal.

Today’s guest, Emmet Mullins, is one artist who understands this and masterfully employs a variety of techniques ranging from stylized lineart to highly textured conceptual pieces that blur the line between illustration and design. Mullins was awesome enough to offer some insight as to how he’s able to work with such diversity, including the advantages and pitfalls therein.

Just to cover anything I may have missed, can you give us a brief overview of who you are and your background in illustration?

I’m a graphic designer / illustrator working and living in Dublin, Ireland. I have used illustration in as many of the projects I’ve done through the years and have worked on trying to perfect a select few styles.

How is the current art community in Dublin? Is it pretty active or more secluded?

Its quite vibrant. There is a collection of fine illustrators here.

Are there any other artists (local, living or dead) whose works has served as either inspiration or influences?

I’m rather fond of the work of Lord Dunsby and the Clayton Brothers. I admire illustrators who find their style and successfully flaunt it; Graham Roumieu is a fine example of that.

You have a pretty diverse range of art styles that you employ depending on the project. What’s the biggest advantage of being so flexible?

It can be an advantage sometimes of course because then you’re open to getting more work.

What’s are a few disadvantages you’ve encountered (if any)?

I suppose if you take someone who primarily pitches themselves as an editorial illustrator then they will have the one style on their site and they’ll become known for having it and doing it well. I pitch myself as both an illustrator and a designer so I simply have to show some diversity. That can go against you sometimes however.

Much of your conceptual work contains an ample use of texture and detail. Does your background in Graphic Design factor into this work?

I guess so. Having experience in graphic design and working in advertising has influenced the way I work – whether it be the detail or lack thereof in some pieces. I suppose ultimately I’ll illustrate something that I think will sell or will sell something for the client.

Why did you decide to become an illustrator? Is there a specific event that triggered your interest?

I used to find myself constantly looking for ways to shoehorn illustration into my design jobs and then ultimately I fell to the charm of using pen and ink moreso than using the pixel. I prefer using the old reliable methods sometimes.

Would you say that you’re a scribbler or do you just dive straight into a piece with an idea in mind?

Sometimes both but more often than not I would plan something out carefully before starting.

As a commercial/editorial illustrator I’m sure you’ve had to draw a variety of things- is there anything that you’ve never quite been able to depict?

I struggle sometimes with caricatures. Sometimes I can capture them but there’s always someone you just can’t draw for some reason – that’s why I wouldn’t feel confident pushing that as an offering.

I think just about every artist has his/her eccentric behaviors (nail-biting, can only draw with a special pencil, etc)- what’s one of yours?

Cursing wildly at the computer as it decides whether or not its going to crash and destroy the previous hour’s work.

In one word, what “fuels” you illustration?

The wonderful feeling that Im working on a job that is fun to do.

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If you can fondly remember the original Atari gaming system or at the very least can appreciate the simplicity in a game of Space Invaders then you’ll love today’s guest, Andy Rash. In fact, if you’re a techie like myself you may have already seen his art floating around likes of Wired, Laughing Squid and Boing Boing. Heck, it’s even made its way onto the website of the Washington Post!

There’s an art behind these self-coined “iotacons” beyond mere pixel-pushing as Rash revealed in our exclusive interview. In fact, the artist has a wholly different illustrative style that you might imagine that has filled volumes of more than a few children’s book (which he has also written) as well as magazines, newspapers, and other commercial work.

Glad to have you here, Andy. Would you care to give us a brief rundown of just who Andy Rash is?

Hero? Genius? Savior? These are just words… just words… they seem so inadequate. I am an illustrator. An illustrator, sir!

How did you first become interested in art? Was there a defining moment that you thought you’d make it a career choice?

I was born interested in art. I think everybody was. That’s why children’s books usually have pictures in them. My question is: what happened to everybody else? What was so distracting? Was it soccer?

Hahaha, my vote would’ve been American Idol. You’ve gotten quite a bit attention online recently for your “iotacons.” Can you describe what they are exactly?

Iotacons are extremely low-res full-body portraits of celebrities and characters from pop culture. They are usually no more than 25 pixels high, and end up looking like they walked out of an early video game.

How did the project first come about, are you an old school gamer?

I used to draw on an Atari 800 computer with a joystick when I was a kid. The results were similar to iotacons, except I only had 4 colors to work with. Sometime last year, I remembered how much fun that was, and started doing it again, only on a much better computer. My friends on Facebook gave my Star Wars portraits a good reaction, so I set up the blog.

Where did the term “iotacon” originate?

The word iotacon is a combination of “iota” meaning a tiny amount, and “icon.” I made it up.

Do you take commissions of personal portraits?

Absolutely. Contact me through the blog if you’d like one.

That isn’t your traditional illustration style, though, is it?

Nope, I’ve been illustrating magazines, newspapers and children’s books for a long time now, and most of the work was done in gouache and ink. I still do a lot of book work that way, but the iotacons are also showing up in magazines now. I have some in this month’s Wired.

Speaking of your other work, what’s one of the most recent books you’ve released?

The most recent I’ve written and Illustrated is called Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story. Available online, as well as at your local Spencer’s Gifts between the black-light posters and fake dog doo.

Sweet– I do all my best shopping in that aisle! So what are a few of your influences outside of illustration?

I love the movies and I study them to get the details in the iotacons right. People are very quick to point out that you got something wrong, like the color of a light saber. As far as video games go, I guess the one that had the greatest influence on iotacons is Berzerk.

In one word, what “fuels” your illustration?

In one word? “Limitations.”

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Although Toronto-based illustrator Kagan McLeod has been creating commercial illustrations for international magazines and newspapers like Entertainment Weekly, Complex, Fast Company, and Wired since 1999, this year’s San Diego Comic Con marks the first time the artist has found a large scale audience for his other passion… kung-fu. More specifically it marks the debut of McLeod’s decade-in-the-making comic, Infinite Kung-Fu, which sees an ex-soldier named Yang Lei Kung battle against all sorts of zombies, ghosts, and ancient evil to save the Martial World from total annihilation– all of which is rendered in the artist’s gorgeous, greyscale splendor.

Let’s kick things off proper… what’s the best Gordon Lui film: 8 Diagram Pole Fighter or The 36th Chamber of Shaolin?

Hmm, that’s a good one. I’m partial to The 36th Chamber of Shaolin since that was the first Shaw Brothers movie I saw. Training sequences sometimes feel like filler but in this one the beginning and the end are the less interesting parts, and the middle, the training, is where it’s at! 8 Diagram Pole Fighter is dark and awesomely gloomy — some say because of actor Fu Sheng’s death in a car crash during filming. Anyway, I’d recommend either one.

The complete Infinite Kung-Fu hardcover will be released this week courtesy of Top Shelf Productions, but I can remember picking up on the first few issues way back in 2001. How long exactly have you been working on this book?

An embarrassing 10 years… it shouldn’t have taken that long but I put it on hold constantly. Nice to hold the whole book in my hands though, it’s almost 3 lbs.

Wow– 10 years and 400+ pages of material is a massive body of work. What’s kept you motivated on such a long term project?

I definitely had interest from readers even when I wasn’t putting out anything, so that was a major motivation. With commercial illustration work I rarely hear back from the public, it comes and goes. But comics strike a chord with people, they let you know when they like your work! It was torture to go to a comic show and have someone ask “what’s new?” when the answer was “Nothing yet!”

So when did Top Shelf come into the picture and what advantage(s) did working with them offer?

I gave Top Shelf some floppy issues in 2005 and once they read them they were psyched to publish a collection. Printing and shipping on your own is expensive and time-consuming, so I’m happy to pass that off to them! Not to mention that they make great-looking books, so I had no worries about the quality. It’s also nice to let other people do what they’re good at sometimes, rather than try to do it all yourself. That way I can just draw.

Just from reading the bonus content in the back of the original issues it’s obvious you’re movie buff. Can you remember the first kung-fu film you ever saw?

I mention it in the back of the graphic novel. I don’t remember what it movie it was, but one scene involved a guy pulling out another guy’s beard. I must have been 4 or 5 and it really shocked me. Maybe it warped me for life.

Is it true that you used the Legend of the Eight Immortals as the basis for the initial cast/storyline?

If you’re talking about a movie, no, but the actual legend, yes. I did find a VCD (video CD) that was badly translated as The 8 Gilarious God, but I don’t think it was really inspiring for the book! It’s always cool if I find a scroll in a Chinese restaurant with the Eight Immortals on it, they kind of look like comic characters to begin with.

Speaking of that, your work seems to share a very fluid, ink-washed look that’s reminiscent of ancient scroll art. What kind of tools do you use to achieve this effect?

Thanks! I like to work in brush and ink. I’m not great at spotting blacks and high contrast stuff, so I use ink wash to compensate. But I have lots of fun mixing ragged bamboo brush lines with tighter watercolor brush lines. I really look to a lot of Chinese brush painting, not just because of the subject matter of my book, but because I really like it.

How/when did you become interested in art?

My dad was an illustrator at a newspaper before he moved into design, so I always had that influence. I thought animation might be cool when I was around 16, but decided to stick with illustration and I’m really happy I did, I love it.

If I recall correctly you used to do a lot of wall murals there in Toronto, right?

Not really, [at least] nothing special! I did have a graffiti mural period for a while, but I don’t think I did anything noteworthy.

Your style shares a lot in common with Joe Morse and Sam Hiti (among others)– are either of these artists influences? If not, who are a few artists you admire?

Yes, Joe Morse was an instructor of mine in college and Sam and I met selling our books at conventions. They’re both inspiring, for sure. I’m way into golden age illustration as well, Albert Dorne, Robert Fawcett, Noel Sickles.

Your brother, Sean McLeod, is an artist as well. Have you guys ever talked about collaborating on an Infinite Kung-Fu short film?

Maybe! I have some ideas for more kung fu-themed videos to help promote the book, but animation is really a lot of labour. The punch-sequence in my video trailer (see link) was 2 days of work, and it’s less than a second! But like I said, it’s good to let other people do what they’re good at. I just handed Sean a bunch of images and he came up with that awesome trailer. I’m sure we’ll do some more collaborations soon.

If you could invent your very own style of kung-fu, just for you, what would it be called?

Maybe… Drunken Werewolf?

I could totally see Jackie Chan pulling out his Drunken Werewolf against Jet Li’s Fire-Breathing Lizard style, haha. To wrap things up, how would you describe what “fuels” your illustration in one word?

Either “fun”, “deadline” or “paycheck.” Sometimes one, sometimes all three!

For a full review of Infinite Kung-Fu, be sure to drop by Strange Kids Club.