Thursday 30 September 2010

Mark Beer busy on "Oak Swamp"

An early design for Votary Films upcoming Oakswamp film by Mark BeerSciFi Art Now contributor Mark Beer has been in touch to say that he's still trying to make it as a comic book cover artist, but in the mean time has been keeping busy in the film industry.

"I'm currently finishing up an album and booklet for an up and coming heavy metal band, and working as a concept creature designer on The Legend of Oak Swamp and The Mysteries of Ironwood for Votary Films, an independent production company out of Massachusetts.

"It's a young sci-fi adventure set in the 1950s which is well along in development," Mark explains, "involving genetic splicing for warfare, mixed with an adventure/fantasy for children and adults alike."

An early design for Votary Films upcoming Oakswamp film by Mark Beer"The time when only big studios could make big visual effects heavy features has passed," says Boston-based director Jedidiah Burdic, whose first film, Silk Trees has been completed and awaiting distribution.

"With the gathering of highly skilled artists, from concept design, to modelers, animators, and compositors from around the world, even independent films can partake in the fantastic.

"The film has huge potential, and is currently seeking funding, but that isn't stopping us. The team is pushing forward with creative development, payment up front be damned.

"We all believe in it, and that's a powerful thing, when a team is willing to work together if for nothing other than the art."

• Check out Mark's work at: http://reebkram.daportfolio.com

• More about The Legend of Oak Swamp and The Mysteries of Ironwood

View a trailer for Oak Swamp on the official Oak Swamp web site!


An early protagonist design for Votary Films upcoming Oakswamp film by Mark Beer

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now really isn't this expensive to buy...

Artist John Malcolm came across a copy of SciFi Art Now being offered on Amazon.co.uk.

We'd just like to assure those waiting for the book to come out that it really isn't this expensive...

Monday 27 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: Jeff Michelmann

Feuersbrunst
by Jeff Michelmann
Jeff Michelmann (aka 'Gucken') is a young self-taught artist living in Germany. Space Art is his favourite kind of art - much of are scenes happening in space or on fictional planets in unknown galaxies...

SciFi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?

Jeff Michlmann: When it comes to traditional art, which I hardly do anymore, I mainly use pencils of all kind. Most of the time I'm sitting in front of Photoshop CS3 together with my Wacom Intuos3 A5.

SciFi Art Now: Why?

Jeff: I'd love to use Painter some time, but I never got my hands on it. But, then again, Photoshop is all I need -- Photoshop and a Wacom, of course!

SciFi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?

Jeff: It all began with an online multi-player space simulator called Freelancer... Oh, it was classic...

SciFi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

Jeff: The funny thing is, that it wasn't advice that was given to me directly. I learned it through different ways like watching others paint, hearing their stories about life and so on. But the main thing that was stuck in my head for all these years, which I'll never forget, is to never give up!

SciFi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?

Jeff: There are way too many. But the one artist that inspired me and helped me the most is Tobias Roetsch. We are big buddies, constantly helping each other out and inspiring one another.. without him, I wouldn't be where I am right now.

Another big artist who majorly inspired me was is Bobby Chiu. His first video podcasts really helped me a lot in the past.

There are many more artists who inspired me in the past and still continue on inspiring me with their art -- Greg Martin, Gary Tonge and Dylan Cole come into my mind, but there are lots more that I can't add right here, as the list would go on forever.

SciFi Art Now: What is the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?

Jeff: Oh, science fiction is a brilliant genre! The best thing about it, is that you can go crazy with your ideas. However this applies to any other genre, of course, fantasy or surreal art for example. So, what I love about science fiction in particular, is the futuristic setting, which sets it apart from any other genre, in my opinion.
The combination of different genres is always icing on the cake. Surreal space art,.. Robots in a fantasy world.. That's something that I haven't seen that much of lately.

SciFi Art Now: Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

Jeff: I really enjoyed working on my latest landscape scene called 'First Sunshine'. It took me a lot of time to complete that work, which I hardly even realised, as time just flew by.

First_Sunshine by Jeff Michelmann
Working on my latest space art, 'Polaris'  was much fun, as well. It's the second version of an old piece I created four years ago and I was able to see the progress I have made during that time by comparing both versions.

SciFi Art Now: In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

Jeff: Well, not really. Except for  the computer crashing on me once and for all out of the blue, but that's happened to so many digital artists before, so it isn't really bizarre anymore.

SciFi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?

Jeff: This is an easy one! My own mind and perception. It can't be any more frustrating, when a project just won't work out the way you want it to, and you constantly think that everything you try to paint is bad due to a temporary low.

SciFi Art Now: What keeps you going, despite the hopefully occasional frustrations?

Jeff: Every time this happens, I say to myself that this is only one more step to being a better artist. Every brush stroke I make, will help me on my way. After all, everyone has to start somewhere, and all I have to do is keep on practising -- and  keep on painting.

The_Observer
by Jeff Michelmann
SciFi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?

Jeff: I think this is rather obvious and very cliché, but.. don't give up, practise makes perfect.

• Check out Jeff's work at: www.GTGraphics.de or on the brilliant DeviantArt web site at: http://gucken.deviantart.com

• To contact Jeff email him via j.michelmanngtgraphics.de

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: John Malcolm

A cover for Markets Media Magazine
by John Malcolm
The format of SciFi Art Now - out this October - is such that it promotes the art of the creators, but there's not much room to tell you more about them and their work. We're publishing interviews with creators here to redress the balance. 

Artist John Malcolm lives in Paisley, Scotland. His “proper” job for the past 17 years is designing adverts for a newspaper group – which is where he got his first exposure to Photoshop. Digital art began as a hobby a while back...


SciFi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?

John Malcolm: I use Painter 11, Photoshop CS5 and Artrage Studio Pro. I use an Wacom Intuos4 Large tablet with my desktop PC, and have and older, smaller Intuos3 that sometimes gets used with a laptop.

SciFi Art Now: Why?


John: Artrage is great for starting things. It's just a very nice fast program for sketching. Being able to flip the canvas instantly by simply holding one key down (H or V) is a trick Adobe and Corel should learn from. It's also very affordable.

The vast majority of my work is carried out in Painter 11 however. Even with Adobe adding the Mixer Brush and Bristle Tips in CS5, Painter is still far superior, especially in terms of blending.

I still feel I have a lot to learn about Painter and that I could get more out of it – at the moment I use a tiny fraction of the brushes – but that suits my technique at the moment.

Photoshop CS5 always gets used in my workflow as well. I often save PSDs from Painter and jump back and forth. I use Photoshop for masking, image adjustments like levels and colour balancing, path drawing and I prefer Photoshop's transformation tools to Painter's - as well as stuff like Liquify and the new Puppet Warp. These last two are great for fixing drawing errors. I find that Photoshop and Painter compliment each other. They both have strengths and weaknesses.

I don't know what to say about the Intuos4 -- I just can't imagine not drawing with a tablet. This is my third Wacom tablet since I first got a tiny Graphire2 about nine years ago. That tablet is still working perfectly and lives in comfortable semi-retirement in my workplace. It still sees daily use.

The Intuos4 is my favourite though. I love the size and extra sensitivity. I think using a larger tablet has enabled me to loosen up my drawing a bit. It's far easier to work when you can move your entire arm to make fluid drawing motions rather than using tiny cramped finger movements.

SciFi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?

John: I've always loved drawing and painting. I was considered “good” at it as a young child. Sitting losing hours day-dreaming and drawing was one of my favourite activities. I've kept a love of fantasy and sci-fi art from those early days – I used to drool over books of fantasy art I'd borrowed from the library.

I kept art up as a hobby, but it was only around 10 years or so ago that I began to explore digital art but it's only in the past three or four years that I began to properly start learning and practising in earnest, and investing in the expensive tools listed above.

SciFi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

John: I can remember various pieces of advice from one of my art teachers at school, Fergus Hall – most of which I ignored at the time. He was a great art teacher and inspiring artist called Fergus Hall, who painted the 'Witches Tarot' cards that appeared in the James Bond film Live and Let Die.

He used to rant a bit about a couple of things. He hated students using black paint. He encouraged us to keep our palettes clean: “Clean paints are happy paints, and happy paints sing”.

Finally, he encouraged us to work as big as possible – something I was guilty of ignoring at the time. Another thing he discouraged was shading with the side of a pencil.

Those lessons he taught me long ago are finally starting to sink in!

SciFi Art Now: What was your first paid commission?

John: My first commission was a series of covers for a New York-based financial magazine, Markets Media Magazine – which was a bit strange, yet fun – they wanted things like superheroes representing various financial institutions. Doing these made me more confident about my illustrating and I'd like to thank them for having more confidence in me at the time than I had in myself.

Art by John for Digital Artist
This helped when I was offered some work for the magazine Digital Artist. I knew I could do what was asked of me and have been lucky enough to get more work for them.

SciFi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?

John: Rodney Matthews, Frank Frazetta, Brian Bolland, Angus McBride, James Gurney, Simon Dominic, Paul Bonner, Jason Seiler, John Howe, most of the guys at ConceptArt/Massive Black, and a whole host of others too many to name.

That's the great thing about the internet – it's so easy to find and see great art these days.

SciFi Art Now: What is the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?

John: Science-fiction appeals to me because we are limited only by our imagination. We might struggle to find the right technique or way of describing visually what we imagine – but these limits can be overcome with practice.

SciFi Art Now: Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

John: I'm not honestly sure I have a favourite. In common with many artists I think, once an image is completed we become slightly obsessed with the next one. I often find that most ideas for an image seem to come halfway through working on something else.

Steam Gent by John Malcolm
I still have a soft spot for one of my oldest digital images. It was part photo-manipulation, part illustration, and was inspired, and based on, a good friend who loves Steampunk. It's still the image most favourited by people on DeviantArt.

It was also the image responsible for bringing me to the attention of Digital Artist magazine – from whom I've had several commissions. I'm tempted to see if I could develop something with the same character, but with the addition of the experience I'd developed over the past couple of years.

SciFi Art Now: In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

John: Nothing I can think of. Cats wandering over my Wacom tablet is a daily occurrence I'm afraid. I have two lovely cats, Pepper and Pickle – but they know the best way of getting my attention when I'm sitting at the computer is to sit on the tablet right in front of me.

SciFi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?

John: Perhaps not being able to convey in an image what I see in my head.... that and cats sitting on my tablet!

SciFi Art Now: What keeps you going despite the hopefully occasional frustrations?

John: For commissions, the money helps, but more importantly the satisfaction of a job well done. For more personal work then nothing makes me happier than people getting drawn into an image. I love putting details in images which perhaps encourage the viewer to use their own imagination.

If I can put something in an image which causes people to ask questions and then provide their own answers then I'm involving them in the image. That makes me happy.

Steam Ships by John Malcolm
SciFi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?

John: I'm actually slightly jealous of youngsters just starting out – the amount of resources, inspiration, training and tools available to them are awesome. The obvious advice is practice as often and as regularly as possible. Also take full advantage of the resources mentioned above. There are loads of affordable video tutorials available – it's the next best thing to standing looking over someone's shoulder. Finally, seek out and act on any constructive criticism you can get.

• For more of John's work visit:  johnmalcolm1970.co.uk. To contact John email  johnmalcolm1970ATgmail.com

Monday 20 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: Mo Ali

Wind Farm by Mo Ali

The format of SciFi Art Now - out this October - is such that it promotes the art of the creators, but there's not much room to tell you more about them and their work. We're publishing interviews with creators here to redress the balance.

Artist, poet and writer Mo Ali lives in the south-east of England, which really doesn't help. His recent work has included pin-up art for the graphic novel Wolfmen 2: Fall of the Wolfmen by Dave West and Andy Bloor, artwork for the BBC News website and cover work for the novel Crown Wearer written by William Couper...


SciFi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?

Mo Ali: It depends on the specifics of a project or piece, but good old pencil and paper usually, followed with digital tools like Photoshop. But I try not to limit myself to any one tool.

SciFi Art Now: Why?

Mo: It's just the way that works for me and, in terms of not limiting the tools you use, it keeps you flexible and adaptable, and can result in something different and unique every time.

Wolfmen by Mo Ali
SciFi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?

Mo: Honestly, I'm not sure. It could have been from watching cartoons and art shows as a kid, reading comics and books and admiring the covers and artwork inside, and wanting to be able to create stuff like that. There wasn't a lightbulb moment of revelation though.

SciFi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

Mo: That there is no 'right way' or style when it comes to creating art...and also to practice, practice, practice.

SciFi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?

Mo: I don't know about 'most inspire', but I like art by Dave McKean, Frank Quitely, Moebius, surrealist painter Yves Tanguy, Lierre Foest, David Lloyd, Lubna Agha, Klark Kent... it's a constantly evolving list though.

SciFi Art Now: What is the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?

Mo: I think it's because, at its best, science-fiction can combine the fantastical with the very real in interesting ways that engage the imagination. And because of the robots. Obviously.

A portrait of cult author Jeff Lint,
writer of such classics as Jelly Result
and The Stupid Conversation.
Illustrated from a now-lost
photograph of the author
circa-1990.


A bio of Lint, written by Steve
Aylett can be found here at
www.steveaylett.com/Pages
/LINTpage.html
SciFi Art Now: Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

Mo: Alas, I'm too self-critical to have a favourite, but I recently did a portrait sketch of cult SF author Jeff Lint which turned out rather nice.

SciFi Art Now: In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

Mo: Sadly no, all the bizarre stuff just happens in my head. Its probably better that way.

SciFi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?

Mo: That I'm not able to draw or paint exactly what I imagine in my mind. I'm accepting it over time, but it still annoys me.

SciFi Art Now: What keeps you going despite the hopefully occasional frustrations?

Mo: That one day soon I'll draw something I'm happy with.

SciFi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?

The cover of the novel
Crown Wearer
written
by William Couper

Art: Mo Ali
Mo: Copy, trace, mimic and learn from other artists. Copying isn't bad, its part of the learning process.

And also practice, practice, practice.

• For more of Mo's work visit: www.moali.co.uk. To cotact Mo email: infoATmoali.co.uk

Monday 13 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: Yigit Koroglu

Aircraft by Yigit Koroglu. More info here
The format of SciFi Art Now - out this October - is such that it promotes the art of the creators, but there's not much room to tell you more about them and their work. We're publishing interviews with creators here to redress the balance.

Yigit Koroglu, who hails from Turkey, has been working as a freelance illustrator for almost two years. His work so far includes paintings for a card collection, art for a Massively Multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) which is currently under development, and various commissions.


SciFi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?

Yigit: Wacom Intuos4 A6 and Photoshop CS4

SciFi Art Now: Why?

Azazel by Yigit Koroglu
Yigit: Because I love Wacom products due to their durability. The reason for the small size is because in a digital medium I don’t need a lot of area. Large ones do no good other than taking up lots of space on my desk. The reason for using Photoshop is due to its flexibility about what you can do and CS4 works really fast on my PC. I’ve tried CS5 too and they did a good job on implementing realistic brushes, but it still needs a little bit of improvement to be on competitive with Painter’s realistic feel.

SciFi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?

Yigit: Probably my father. He's an engineer, but also writes sci-fi stories with a mixture of mythology and a bit of religious things. The result is really satisfying to read and it lets you think twice about the alternative history of humankind which maybe wasn’t told to us. So it's kind of pseudo science.

SciFi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

Yigit: It was from Kerem Beyit, who told me to focus on my art and push my limits and to not care for the money in the first place since it would eventually come - once I could accomplish the quality of my art first. And it worked!

SciFi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?

Yigit: Kerem Beyit, Todd Lockwood and Luis Royo. Although they're mostly known for their fantasy art, their style and mastery at it is a true inspiration for every artist.

There are also a number of really talented artists that I discover every day on art web sites. It would take pages if i would try to list them all.

Taming a Dragon by Yigit Koroglu
SciFi Art Now: What is the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?

Yigit: Its unlimited power of imagination.You can go as far as your imagination lets you. And the potential realism of it all appeals to me - perhaps one of the kids who is watching a sci-fi movie will be so inspired by it that one day he will invent next-gen spaceships or maybe robots like that in Transformers, who knows? You may laugh at this but all those engineers and scientists have an inspiration that was the spark of their inventions.

Just think about Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon -- who knows if that story wasn’t the reason for someone designing a spaceship?

SciFi Art Now: Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

Yigit: Yes, but they're my personal paintings. (Art here - warning! mature content!). I'm inspired by Giger in this piece. I adore the contrast between machinery and human but only in art... And I’m very afraid that that is where we are headed.

SciFi Art Now: In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

Yigit: No. Well, actually I think not having any problems as an artist sounds more bizarre...

SciFi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?

Apple by Yigit Koroglu
Yigit: In my country, being an artist is regarded as being unemployed and people pity you. That’s what saddens me the most.

SciFi Art Now: What keeps you going despite the hopefully occasional frustrations?

Yigit: I’m one of those guys who believe everyone has a unique mission in this life and I feel that there will be a time that I will execute this mission. Maybe a kid who will be an important person in the future and he'll remember one of my works when he’s grown up and will be inspired by it and will do something important (be it a movie, a scientific discovery or maybe an artwork). But still, I need to work much more to get to that point. That hope keeps me going.

SciFi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?

Yigit: Well, my advice is mostly for concept artists.They shouldn’t think the idea of dwarves, elves and orcs are very original and should try to design something new.It’s not only about drawing but about imagining the unknown.

For more of Yigit's work check out his web site at: http://yigitkoroglu.deviantart.com and www.yigitkoroglu.com. Contact him via yigitATyigitkoroglu.com

Friday 10 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: JK Woodward

The U.S.S. Cairo for the comic Captain's Log: Jellico,
to be published soon by IDW. Art: JK Woodward
The format of SciFi Art Now - out this October - is such that it promotes the art of the creators, but there's not much room to tell you more about them and their work. We're publishing interviews with creators here to redress the balance.

JK Woodward is comic book artist best known for illustrating the monthly series Fallen Angel, Fallen Angel: Reborn and Star Trek comics published by IDW Publishing (His most recent Trek story is Captain's Log: Pike, is on sale now). He's also illustrated covers and sequential work for Marvel, Top Cow, Devil's Due Press, Boom! Studios and Archaia. 


SciFi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?

JK Woodward: I work mostly in gouache. I paint a black and white value and then colourise it digitally. Occasionally, I'll work in the comic industry's more traditional pencil-and-ink and digital CMYK color method, but not often. You can see my process here [Facebook link - Ed].

The first page of IDW's Captain's Log:
Pike
- on sale in comic shops now
SciFi Art Now: Why?

JK Woodward: Well, I prefer oil, but gouache is a good, commercially viable substitute. It dries quick and can blend in much the same way as both oil and watercolour. So once you learn how to use it, it's kind of an all purpose medium.

I have two reasons for apply colour digitally. First, because a small tube of gouache can be very expensive, it's simply cheaper to buy only two tubes, black and white. Second, sometimes there are colour changes made by editors and I don't want to try to recreate a whole painting.

SciFi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?

JK Woodward: Science Fiction and comic books. I used to watch Creature Double Feature on UHF and Star Trek reruns as a kid. I used to like to draw the Godzilla monsters, the Enterprise, Cylon Warriors, and of course, Spider-Man. I used to watch those old Filmation reruns and it just inspired me to draw for hours. This eventually led me to other styles of art and other subject matters. I found myself drawn to mostly cubism and surrealism.

SciFi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

The cover to Fallen Angel: Reborn #2
JK Woodward: Don't take it personally. I forget the name of the artist, but my grandmother took me to a gallery showing. I was maybe 12 years old at the time and this artist told me that I was choosing a career that is going to have a lot more failure than success and that I need to be prepared and understand that it doesn't mean that I'm not a good artist. He told me that every sucess would probably cost at least 10 rejections and that I shouldn't be discouraged.

SciFi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?

JK Woodward: It's so hard to say. I love Georges Braque, H.R.Giger, Frank Frazetta, Alex Ross, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Byrne, Alex Grey, Sorayama... They're all very different and they all influence who I've become as an artist.

SciFi Art Now: What is the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?

JK Woodward: It's the same as surrealism. It's based in realism, but not confined to it. It's imaginative, but it still has parameters.

'Steam Witch' by JK Woodward
SciFi Art Now: Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

JK Woodward: My favourite right now is a piece called 'Steam Witch'. It's a creation of mine, a steampunk adventure I concocted. I did it just for fun, but I have plans to publish it in the near future. I can't say any more about it at this time.

SciFi Art Now: In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

JK Woodward: I'd been working for over 30 hours straight without sleep and very little to eat. I was working on a Fallen Angel splash page where a church was being blown up. I was extremely tired and the line between awake and asleep was beginning to blur. I must have lost consciousness for a second.

I remember opening my eyes and not knowing where I was, I panicked looking at the explosion and was halfway out of the studio when I realised I had looked at an image I had just painted.

At that point, I realised I needed to call it a day and get some sleep before I completely lose my mind...

SciFi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?

JK Woodward: The deadlines and the financial woes. Being an artist I notice that I either have time or I have money, but never both at once.

SciFi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?

JK Woodward: Get your work out there by any means necessary. I worked for three years with out making a cent, constantly publishing my work, before I started getting the money gigs. To succeed as a freelance illustrator will require sacrifice. If you think you're working too many ours, you're probably not working enough. Anything less than everything you've got is not enough to succeed in this business.

• Check out JK Woodward's work via his official website at www.jkwoodward.com, his blog, or check out  a lot of original work on his Facebook page. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Thursday 9 September 2010

Rian Hughes 'Yesterday's Tomorrows' collection gets US publishing

Yesterday's Tomorrows, a collection of comics by "luminescent pop culture demon" and SciFi Art Now contributor Rian Hughes spanning over two decades of his career, is being re-published in the US by Image Comics in November.

Previously published by Knockabout Comics in the UK in 2007, the 264-page collection features two infamous and hard-to-find collaborations with Eisner Award winner Grant Morrison: Dan Dare, a post-modern classic that sets the aging and retired iconic British character Dare against a modern British landscape he no longer understands; and Really and Truly, a high-octane psychedelic road-trip torn from the pages of cult comic 2000AD.

Also included is one of Hughes’ first longform comic tales - The Science Service, also the first professional commission written by SciFi Art Now editor John Freeman back in the 1980s, created in duotone for Magic Strip; while Hughes explores an evocative noir palette replete with dramatic angular lighting for Raymond Chandler's Goldfish, adapted by It’s Superman author Tom DeHaven; and The Lighted Cities by acclaimed comics creator Chris Reynolds.

Rian is an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, comic artist, logo designer and typographer. He studied graphic design at the London College of Printing before working for an advertising agency, i-D magazine and a series of record sleeve design companies. In 1994, he founded his own studio, Device, and has since worked with a wide range of international clients in publishing, advertising, music and fashion. He has also worked extensively for the British and American comic book industries, both as artist and designer. 

In addition to sketchbook pages, merchandise and rare strips Yesterday's Tomorrows features an introduction by comics guru Paul Gravett, who published Hughes’ very first strips in his seminal independent comics magazine Escape.

Rian also has a number of books about different aspects of 20th century design scheduled for release from Fiell Publishing Limited, either already published this year or due for publication soon. Out now is Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s (Amazon UK link), a survey of magazine artwork from the Swinging Sixties. Featuring over 1,000 gloriously inventive and stylistically diverse illustrations, it offers a fascinating insight into the extraordinary artistic talents of the illustrators featured, it also reveals the social aspirations of this unprecedented era of political optimism and sexual freedom.

Complementing this release is Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s (Amazon UK link), also due for release in November, an overview of the astonishing artistic skill of the leading lifestyle illustrators of the period, revealing the changing social aspirations of the post-war generation and their growing optimism for the future.

Out in October is Custom Lettering of the 40s and 50s (Amazon UK link) is a celebration of the stunning and stylistically varied headline lettering that predated modern computer type. Each a unique one-off, custom hand-drawn lettering had a stylistic freedom and creative energy unfettered by traditional typographic rules and regulations.

The handbook features over 4,500 examples of custom lettering - from urgent rough block capitals to sophisticated looping copperplate scripts, elegant fashion brush scripts and dynamic illustrative sans serifs, the extraordinary range of graphic styles is as exciting as it is stylistically diverse. It should appeal to typographers, graphic designers and, of course, retro culture fans, lettering aficionados and printed ephemera collectors.

More information about Image Comics new US edition on the Image Comics web site

Buy the Knockabout Comics edition from Amazon UK

• Rian Hughes official web site: www.devicefonts.co.uk 

Fiell Publishing Limited 

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Showcasing Liam Sharp on YouTube



SciFi Art Now contributor Liam Sharp - whose credits across many comics and publishing projects – including Gears of War and Death's Head II, which I was editor of - are legion. Now, Liam's put together an impressive showcase of 25 years of work for YouTube, which you can view above - or visit his YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/user/MachivariusPoint.

Monday 6 September 2010

Sci-Fi Art Now Creator Interview: Bill McConkey

Mechanical Heart by Bill McConkey
The format of SciFi Art Now - out this October - is such that it promotes the art of the creators, but there's not much room to tell you more about them and their work. We're publishing interviews with creators here to redress the balance.

British illustrator Bill McConkey has been a freelance illustrator for the past eight years, and in that time he's been fortunate enough to work with some of the biggest names in UK publishing including work for New Scientist, Egmont Books, Men's Health, Scholastic Books, Mojo, Wired, MacFormat, The Guardian and many, many more...


SciFi Art Now: Tell us a bit about your work and career so far

Bill McConkey: I work predominantly in the editorial market; working to quite tight deadlines on a regular basis for a variety of major magazines on all manner of subjects. That's everything, from horoscopes, lifestyle to technology, health and of course a bit of Sci-Fi here and there. In fact I've produced somewhere over 2000 images for print, my images have appeared in various books about illustration, and last year I was also presented with an award for my contribution to the field of medical illustration.


SciFi Art Now: How has your work evolved in the eight years you've worked freelance?

Bill: Unusually for an illustrator in which a 'recogniseable' style is seen as a prerequisite for a successful career, I've adapted and changed my work greatly over the years. Originally I started out as a digital collagist in the vein of artists like Dave McKean, then when digital cameras became more advanced my work became far more photographic, only for the work to then return to a more painterly quality. I suppose this came about with advancements in tablets and brushes in Photoshop and Painter.

Finally, the majority of my work and most popular style at the moment is my line work, which I suppose in a way brings me full circle, as my earliest influence was the American comic book.

SciFi Art Now: What tools do you mainly use to create your art?

Bill: I always work out thumbnails by hand, usually in a notebook, but the final image, regardless of style, is done digitally via Photoshop. Other equipment I use are digital cameras, a Wacom tablet, and I dip into programs like Illustrator, Poser and Painter when required.

SciFi Art Now: Why?

Bill: I started out as a traditional mixed media artist and then taught myself how to use computer software later. The transition from analogue to digital was surprisingly smooth, as I'd already been making complex collages in a series of layers anyway.

The reason I use Photoshop is for the flexibility of the program, the depth and quality of finish i'm able to achieve and the ability to make alterations almost instantly; which given my deadlines is a must!

SciFi Art Now: What inspired you to become an artist?

Bill: I'm not sure there was ever one thing, person or experience that inspired me to go down this arduous route of being an illustrator. The fact is I showed talent from an early age, and when your good at something you want to do it all the time. I also think my brain was always just wired this way; I have family photos where my brothers had just bought remote control cars which must have been the "in thing" at that time and are proudly displaying them to the camera. I on the other hand had spent my money on a copy of the The Complete Works of Lewis Carrol!

Why? It was heavily illustrated by the likes of John Tenniel, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac etc... Even from an early age I had an eye and passion for quality illustration.

SciFi Art Now: What was the most useful piece of advice you were given when you began learning your craft?

Bill: Unfortunately I don't think there's ever been one stand out piece of advice, more an amalgamation of things... I think you take what's useful and applicable to you, sometimes just snippets of information and apply it in real life.

SciFi Art Now: Which artists most inspire you?

Bill: There are way too many artists to mention here, and the list is constantly changing, but I would say I've always favored the illustration work from America; that's everyone from Golden Age; like Norman Rockwell and JC Leyendecker through to new wave like Brad Holland and Marshall Arisman, and on to contemporary artists.

I really like the work of Tim O'Brien at the moment; who produces gorgeous realistic oil paintings in a matter of days for some of the biggest magazines in the world such as TIME, Rolling Stone and others.  Other illustrators I follow at the moment are; Yuko Shimizu, Tomer Hanuka, and countless others. Many are on the site; www.drawger.com

SciFi Art Now: What's the appeal to you of science fiction as an inspiration for some of your work?

Bill: Well, not unlike a lot of Fantasy/SF artists I grew up with things like Star Wars, Marvel and DC comics, 2000AD... I dare say seeing these things at such an early age has had a dramatic effect on a generation.

The appeal of working in this genre is that I suppose you revert that childlike sense of wonder, where creating is just a joy and anything is possible if you are able to imagine it... also drawing Aliens, weird and wonderful worlds, Robots, Spacecraft are, let's face it, just plain cool!

John Grant, for Mojo magazine
SciFi Art Now: Do you have a favourite piece of work or project you have worked on?

Bill: It's hard to pick a favourite image. As I've already stated, I have quite the back catalogue and on all manner of subject, but I suppose a recent successful job was for Mojo magazine; where I was asked to provide a portrait of the American musician John Grant [whose work includes the album Queen Of DenmarkQueen Of Denmark- Ed]. A short while ago John actually emailed me to tell me how he absolutely loved the artwork, and now he owns a signed print of the illustration.

Another picture that seems to resonate with people is actually an image that appears in SciFi Art Now, which is of a robot with a mechanical heart. That was is done in my more photographic style and it's just one of those images that kind of transcends... so I'm glad that even more people will get to see this as a result of the book.

SciFi Art Now: In your career, have you had any bizarre experiences while creating your art?

Bill: I haven't had  too many bizarre experiences. I've met plenty of bizarre art directors though!

SciFi Art Now: What most frustrates you about being an artist?

Bill: Where do I start? It's an odd thing in that often illustrators like myself are incredibly disciplined, because we have to work and keep to schedules and deadlines, and of course there's a pressure to constantly produce great work, so consistency is key, however the job is anything but stable. You're often at the mercy of a commissioner's whims, to say nothing of fashions/trends... and then there's the whole financial thing, of negotiating the right fee and then more often than not chasing up payment...

Another big thing is that at the moment pretty much whenever I plan to do anything on a weekend, I can generally guarantee I'll get a job through, which means i'm constantly letting people down as I always have re-arrange my plans, Being a jobbing freelance illustrator means I can't pick and choose as and when my deadlines are.

SciFi Art Now: What keeps you going despite the hopefully occasional frustrations?

Bill: It's this simple; when you get a great brief through, with a great art director then I have probably the best job in the world.

SciFi Art Now: What advice would you offer to anyone starting out as an artist?

Bill: First of all you've got to love it,. You don't become an artist because you want to make lots of money, you don't do it because you think it looks a cool lifestyle... you do it, because you are passionate about it.

In fact, I often feel like I had no option in the matter, it's just what I am and what I've always done. Tto go against it would to go against the very fabric of who I am.

Secondly, read about the subject and become steeped in its history; this shouldn't be a chore, this ties in with the first point, because only by having a full understanding of the subject can you understand your place within it.

Thirdly, continue to develop your talents and try and be the best you can be.

• More of Bill's work can be found at: www.billmcconkey.co.uk 


• Contact Bill via his blog - www.billmcconkey.blogspot.com - or via email, which can be found on his web site.

Dave Huges Morecambe-based Comic published for iPad

Lancaster cartoonist Dave Hughes comic story Thomas Wogan is Dead (reviewed here on British comics news site downthetubes) is now available to read on Apple's iPad.

Set in Morecambe and the hereafter, this quirky comic tale from one of our SciFi Art Now contributors is British publisher Tabella Publishing's first ebook on Apple's iPad platform, the result of what they say comes after reading many books on iphone development, doing tutorials, submitting forum posts and more.

norman_massage.jpgDave is the cartoonist for Geoscientist magazine, a small press comics producer, who works as a technician by day. He's currently running an appeal on his blog for cartoons featuring a character called Norman and, possibly, a book? Check on Dave's posts labelled 'Norman' for an idea of the content and email him on stonechatproductions aahht yahoo dott co dot uk if you want to join in.

Buy Thomas Wogan is Dead for the iPad

Thomas Wogan is Dead is still available in print from Tabella Publishing for £5.99: more details here.
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