By Oisin McGann

After a getting a first class honour in Visual Communication at DIT Mountjoy Square, Olivia Golden threw herself into the small, but extremely varied world of commercial illustration in Dublin, producing work for design, advertising, publishing and editorial clients, including the likes of Glaxo Smithkline, Kraft Foods Europe and Guiness among others. The challenge for any commercial illustrator in Ireland has always been staying power, as well as versatility in both style and technique, and over her expansive career, Olivia has varied her graphic, but organic-looking style to suit the demands of each project she takes on. For the last ten years, she has focussed on children’s books, with thirty under her belt and more on the way.

Olivia, what kind of stuff did you read as a kid?
As a kid, reading was not high on my list of interests. I lived on a farm so there was a lot of time spent outdoors. Drawing and making stuff in general was my quiet refuge. I did enjoy the Beano and Desperate Dan as often as I could get my hands on them. My interest in storytelling and characters grew from listening to my dad telling stories of his childhood, which by the way he told them could have graced the pages of either comic!

Which artists had the most influence on your style?
It was probably in secondary school that I started to become aware of artists and art history. The texture, contrasting light and often very simple compositions of painters like Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, and Paul Henry caught my attention. Then college opened up the world of illustration for me – from Arthur Rackham and PJ Lynch to Ralph Steadman, Gerald Scarfe, Brad Holland and Lane Smith. These folks’ work excited me about the prospect of becoming an illustrator.

You studied graphic design in college. How relevant would that training prove to be for an illustration career?
Strictly speaking, I don’t think it was all that relevant as such. Of course many of the same principles apply in an illustration as a design project – colour contrast scale, etc. The experience of college itself gave me the discipline I would otherwise have found difficult on my own. Things like making deadlines and delivering on a brief.

Tell us a bit about your process. Has it changed much over the years?
I started off straight out of college creating everything in traditional media – ink or acrylics on paper or board. I was a total technophobe. Then I swung into the digital process. Today, it’s whatever the project requires. With a book project I read the script, often making tiny thumbnails as I go. Thumbnails really help me to simplify my idea as there’s no room for the unnecessary. Having found a rhythm between the busy and quiet images the next stage is pencil sketches of a character or two. Once I’m happy with those I do scaled rough sketches followed by finished drawings in pencil or ink and scan them and colour digitally. Occasionally the final image will be 100% digital. I’ve found over time that simple compositions work for me, I admire but don’t have patience for the very complicated.

Are there any kinds of stories you particularly like working on?
Anything a bit dark.

What’s the strangest experience you’ve ever had as an illustrator?
I suppose there’s not been too many. I was in discussions with a self-publishing client. Needless to say their budget was small. I had shown them the style I could work in to produce a decent result. They came back to me with a few ideas of their own. Their preferred style reference was Shirley Hughes! With that the discussion was over. You get used to clients having high expectations and trying to get more than they can pay for. But you also learn to work out something to suit both sides. That was probably the most ridiculous proposal ever. The conversation ended there.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out on this career?
Get your social hat on. Like the “get out of the house” hat as opposed to your social media hat. Draw every day . . . on paper!

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a job?
Large scale projects come to mind. The kind where you get to swing from the shoulder and not the wrist. Two projects come to mind. Three large murals for the children’s ward in the South Infirmary Hospital Cork and a 5 x 12 foot line drawing for Dublin Chamber last year. Both projects had some challenging constraints and took me away from my desk.

What’s the toughest challenge you think illustrators face in publishing today and why?
Getting your work in front of the right people has, and will always be, a challenge, but today it seems the hardest thing in publishing is making your living from creating artwork or writing alone.

What would you most like to work on that you haven’t already?
There are so many things I’ve not done! I guess I would love to satisfy that question kids ask a lot: Have you written your own book? So to write and illustrate my own work. That would be a good place to start.

If getting paid and meeting deadlines wasn’t an issue, is there anything you’d change about your work process?
I think I would love to return to doing everything by hand.

What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?
I am working on two books, one is at finished artwork stage and I have another for younger kids, which I will starting on in the coming month. With your previous question in mind I also have a number of private landscape and portrait commissions on the go.

Thanks very much to Olivia Golden for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can check out more of Olivia’s work at: https://oliviagolden.wordpress.com/.

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Paul Bolger has spent most of his career in the animation and film industry. He started out working on features such as the animated classics The Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven, and has since designed, written and directed a host of animated and live action projects, including contributing to the Sony/Aardman animated features Pirates – Band of Misfits and Arthur Christmas. Along the way, he has animated Kim Basinger and worked with the director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Richard Williams, on his troubled epic, The Thief and the Cobbler. He even had time to stop off and do some teaching in Dun Laoghaire School of Art and Design back in the nineties, where I had the pleasure of being one of his students for a while. It was in 2015, however, that Paul made waves in Ireland as a writer and illustrator in print, with a Kickstarter project that produced Hound: Protector, the first of three comic books about the legendary Irish warrior, Cúchulainn.

Paul, what was it that made you want to be a professional artist?

Warren Comics from the US, Action and 2000AD from the UK and seeing Jim Fitzpatrick’s Thin Lizzy album covers and Irish mythology books inthe 1970’s as a kid. Also, not wanting to work outside in the Irish weather or fast food restaurants . . . that helped too.

The animation studio, Sullivan Bluth, gave a lot of Irish artists their first start in professional work – what was the animation scene like then, and how have things changed?

It did give me my start, along with Murakami/Wolf (who did the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show). I left college in the mid-80’s and was facing emigration or a less than favourable return to fast food production, as there weren’t many ways for an aspiring artist to make a living in Ireland unless you went into printing or graphic design, which I didn’t want to do. There wasn’t much hope of getting into comics when you lived in Waterford, so I sent in a portfolio to Sullivan Bluth and they hired me as an Inbetweener. So I put away the illustration dream for animation and 30+ years later I have come full circle with Hound. There were very few, if any, home-grown Irish studios at this time, so I ended up going to Berlin and then London with the idea of starting my own studio some day – which eventually came with Dagda Film, based in Dun Laoghaire in the 1990’s.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced your work on Hound?

From “fine” art it would be Caravaggio and from comics and illustration it’s Hugo Pratt, Alberto Breccia, Dino Battaglia, Bernie Wrightson, Frank Frazetta, Harry Clarke, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller – although the list is endless.

How does your animation process differ from your illustration one?

I don’t animate much any more, actually. When I do work in animation it’s mostly as a director, designer, writer, producer and storyboard artist now. Animation and illustration are bedfellows at the concept and design stage. They part ways when they go into production in my opinion. I do like animating on paper (if I do it, which is very rare if at all these days) and I like illustrating digitally. So animation is like a 10K relay race where I depend on others to get it done but a comic is more like a sprint or 200m relay where you can do most of the running yourself or with a smaller team.

What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you in your career?

There are too many to mention.

Which do you prefer, working with a team in an animation studio, or having the place to yourself, doing illustration work, and why?

I like both. The control you get over your output from doing illustration is nice. You are in the driving seat and only have yourself to congratulate or blame when it goes right or wrong. If it is your own project, you can play god and if you are working for hire, all you might have to contend with is an editor and the few other creatives you might work with. Animation is like an aircraft carrier – slow to move, dependant on an army to run it and can often be overwhelming.

What kinds of problems have you hit along the road to getting the Hound series off the ground, and how did you overcome them?

Hound has a LONG history. It first started out as an animated feature. I almost got it made in 1999, but it didn’t happen, as is the way with a lot of films, so I put it to bed. The first challenge I faced was trying to make a fantasy adventure movie in animation. I realized Hound would never fit the family/comedy market or art-house scene either, so I went off to direct a feature as a “gun for hire” and let my angry dog lie for a while. When that directing job ended in the late 00’s I brought Hound back as a live action movie. The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the likes of 300 with their mix of live action and animation/VFX showed the way to get the balance right when adapting myths to movies. Then Game of Thrones proved fantasy could be made for adults. The book series grew out of the script and storyboard I have for that. So with the books finished now via Kickstarter, we are planning to have international paperback editions out in the near future. There are Irish language editions published by www.leabharbreac.com

If you weren’t drawing and writing, what would you be doing?

Songwriting and music production.

What’s the most valuable experience you’ve gained on a job?

It was more a piece of advice that has always stayed with me – “get good, get fast and get out!” As in learn, become valuable and move on. Move across town to another studio or another country, if those you work with can’t, or won’t, offer what it is that allows you to shine.

What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?

I am designing a feature film that will be released worldwide (we hope) in 2020, plus in the early stage of a new comic retelling The Children of Lir, and I am developing two new original animated feature films written by Barry Devlin. And I am back making music again – so busy, busy!

Thanks very much to Paul Bolger for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can find out more about Paul’s ongoing comic and film project, The Hound, here: http://houndthemovie.com/.

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A comic creator on the Irish indie scene, with a Manga-influenced illustration style characterised by flowing lines and movement, Leeann Hamilton also works as a graphic artist on computer games. She studied at the Irish School of Animation at Ballyfermot College and is a graduate of the West Wales School of the Arts. Now living in Meath, she has worked with Cartoon Saloon, Kavaleer Productions and Jam Media. She is the creator of the comics Fish & Finn, a retelling of the legend of The Salmon of Knowledge, and Kitteenies.

Leeann, were there any particular experiences in your childhood that inspired an interest in art?

As a child, I adored watching cartoons and playing video games. Comics seem to be the only outlet where I have full creative control, when I get around to making one.

Can you tell us a bit about the artists who’ve most influenced you?

Kevin Eastman, Richard Elson, and Leiji Matsumoto were important comic creators/artists to me when I was growing up. But it was the work of game character artists like Tetsuya Nomura, Yoji Shinkawa, Yoshitaka Amano, Naoto Ohshima, and Nobuteru Yuki that really appealed to me as a teenager.

Talk us through your process.

If I work traditionally, I use brush pens, Copic markers and fine-liners for other details. If I work digitally, I use Photoshop or Paint Tool Sai and my Wacom Intuos to draw with. Recently I’ve been warming up to Clip Studio Paint.

Have your work practises changed much since you started out?

Drawing non-stop with a billion pens and pencils since I was a toddler? Heck no!

What’s the strangest thing you’ve encountered in your career?

That my work is liked by people.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a job?

‘Just have fun with it!’ is the singular most frequent sentence brought up by a client who will be an absolute fuuuuuuucking nightmare to work with. You can’t easily compel an artist to love the job you give them. That’s why they need to be paid, like every other service worker.

Have you ever had any interesting disasters on a project?

Maybe the entire time I drew an entire graphic novel for a manipulative person (and an equally awful comic company) for almost no money. The ‘interesting’ part came from when I was finally paid by cheque in the post; even though my ex-editor insisted, because I was a non-US artist, that I could only get my money by bank transfer. And *I* would be charged $25 for it.
That was a decade ago. Never did that amount of work for anyone in a similarly professional realm since.

What do you think have been the biggest changes in comics over the duration of your career?

Several!
1. A much bigger spotlight on female/POC/LGBT+ creators, because the surge of manga in the 2000’s proved that ANY story can be told by anyone for everyone (a key quality that American comics lacked by a milestone).
2. Irish comic book series appeared for more than a blip during the year. Probably after some critical reviews written about them proved the scene could do a lot better (coughwrittenbymecough).
3. Stable digital and online reading comic formats thanks to the onset of smartphones, apps and HTML 5.
4. More companies opening up to publish even more comics, rather than closing down.

What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out?

1. A regular income will support your making of comics. There’s no shame in having ANY job to support your life outside comics.
2. With the advent of Kickstarter and online patronage to support creators (Patreon, Ko-Fi, PayPal.me…) you don’t need permission from a comics publisher to release your work anymore. Just take your work to a dedicated book printer and find the right price/distribution method.
3. Be active on social media outlets promoting yourself, OR continue to bitch about people not buying your work. Your choice. You don’t have to be a modern Shakespeare, just post your work regularly!
4. Being critically/financially successful in comics in your 20’s is actually a rarity. We’re not pop stars and there’s still loads to learn.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 and you’ll never have to work for ‘exposure’. In fact, never ever work for free.
6. I may be a bitter woman, but I will move mountains to help you.

What have you got coming up next?

Convention appearances, and a project with New York-based OddLight Comics called Panacean.
I still write and draw drawing tutorials for NEO Magazine.
I’m also a part time lecturer at Pulse College in Dublin, so there’s always ongoing classes.
Other than that, I’m not sure yet.

Thanks very much to Leeann Hamilton for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can check out more of Leeann’s work here.

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Back in the mid-nineties, I was working in an illustration studio in Dublin among a mix of keen amateurs and a few full-time professionals. Eoin Coveney was one of the more experienced guys, already well set on his career. It was a bit of a mental place, but we were extraordinarily lucky to work with comics grandmaster, Will Eisner, while we where there and Eoin would become the lead artist on one of the biggest projects the studio produced, Ireland: A Graphic History, written by Michael Scott and Morgan Llewellyn. As well as Eisner, he has also gone on to work with comic greats like Gordon Rennie and John Wagner, and divides his time between commercial illustration and comics work, where his enduring, old school style and dynamic storytelling have found a place in 2000AD, among others, as well as earning him a co-creator credit on his latest series for the comic, The Alienist. One of Ireland’s true veteran illustrators, Eoin’s commercial clients include FHM, ZOO, Harper­ Collins, Dorling Kindersley, the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Metro London and The Independent in the UK.

Eoin, what was your first piece of published work?

I guess it has to be a fan drawing in 2000AD in 1983! I won £10 for it. Of course, the thrill of seeing it in print lasted much longer than the money.

What first got you into comics and why?

Again, 2000AD. I had been aware of war comics as a kid. They didn’t interest me greatly, thematically or artistically. It wasn’t until the arrival of 2000AD and in particular, the cover of prog 3 (featuring a man being eaten by a T-rex and begging to be killed before being eaten!) that I really fell under the spell of the medium.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced you?

Early influences were Bolland and Redondo. As I hit my teens, the magnificent work of Cam Kennedy on Rogue Trooper became my firm favourite. At first the characters looked boxy and unusual and I couldn’t quite understand the aesthetic. With time, though, I realised what a unique talent he was and the sheer strength of his vision.  Around my late teens, Sienkewicz, Moebius and Chaykin were all firm favourites. Lately, the work of Sergio Toppi has begun to influence me.

Tell us a bit about your process.

I read the script, during which I begin to see how some panels might look. I read it again and if necessary a third time. After that, I have firm images in my mind for about half the script. The panels that don’t present a mental image are usually the ones that require specific staging solutions. They must be worked out in thumbnail form. Then, I start to gather all my references. After that, it’s onto the graft of pencilling. I try to make my pencils as finished as I can because then it’s onto the fun part- inking.  All my work is done on paper with pens and brushes, so that gets scanned at hi resolution and delivered to the client in digital form.

What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you in your career?

Probably it was being asked to draw a one-off story for the Judge Dredd Megazine in 2014 which featured a character originally drawn by my idol, Cam Kennedy. Two Ton Tony Tubbs is a “fattie” and this took up his story, thirty years after his first appearance. I remember loving this character when it originally ran in the prog and to be asked to take up the mantle of drawing this character was both weird and very daunting. Of course, I came nowhere close to his standard but I think I still did a decent take on Tony.

You demonstrated your inking technique in a recent interview with PJ Lynch. I still use a brush or dip pen too and rarely use digital tools for linework. Have you ever been tempted to go digital?

I have considered it many times- especially those times when I blot and spoil a wet spot during the inking process! But I feel I am still learning the craft of inking. It’s a mountain I am still climbing. If I ever reach the summit (or at least my limit) and I find software that is a real analogue of the real thing, I’ll be on it like a starving dog!

What kinds of problems have you hit along the road as an artist?

Being an artist is about problem solving- be they creative, practical or otherwise. The problems I deal with now are different to the ones I faced at the outset of my career. Then, I was consumed by learning the basic crafts of drawing, rendering and storytelling. Now, my biggest problems are less obvious – but no less daunting. I would say the biggest hurdles I’ve had to deal with are the quiet times between jobs, especially during recessions. Thankfully, those phases have been very few and far between but it is tough to suddenly find oneself idle and with too much time to wonder and worry. I have kept myself sane in those times by going back to my anatomy books and working to improve my craft- something which pays dividends when the phone begins to ring off the hook again!

Do you think it’s easier or tougher to get started in illustration these days, and why?

I think it’s likely a lot easier to get started, thanks to social media, exhibition spaces and the internet. However, I think it’s probably harder to stand out and get established now than when I began. There are just a lot more people now who want to be illustrators, so it’s much more competitive. Trends come and go with greater rapidity than ever, so it can be hard to focus on what kind of artist you want to be. It’s very easy to be pulled this way and that and lose sight of what’s important – which is, in my view, determination and confidence to stick with what you consider to be worthwhile and beautiful. Trends come and go but you have a better chance of success if you possess a certain bloody-mindedness and remain true to what you believe in.

If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?

I’ve put so much energy into this, it’s hard to imagine having done anything else. But, it would have been something else creative- probably music or music production, I would say.

What’s the most valuable experience you’ve gained on a job?

Valuable experiences are sometimes not obvious when they happen; some are. Years ago, I recall Will Eisner telling me I needed to “loosen up.” At the time, I was bewildered at what he might mean but with time, I can see precisely what he meant and how right he was. A valuable experience can be that one job where a lingering difficulty with some element of drawing suddenly clicks. Sometimes it can be a sentence spoken by a trusted fellow creative that can unlock something. Being open to them is important but one has to balance it against listening to any advice from anyone. Not every piece of advice given necessarily has good intentions.

What work are you most proud of?

It changes from year to year. In the past, I’ve generally been less than pleased with work of mine that is more than two years old but in the last few years, that has lessened somewhat – hopefully that means I have reached a certain level of confidence and ability. At the moment, I would say that the last series I drew for 2000AD, The Alienist: Inhuman Natures is the work I’m most consistently satisfied with. But I may be cringing at some of it in a few years- who knows!
What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?

At the moment, I am providing artwork for a board game for a client in the U.S. After that, I have a graphic novel project lined up to begin in the new year.

Thanks very much to Eoin Coveney for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can learn more about him and his work at: http://www.eoincoveney.com/

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Though her colourful, eye-catching work is now an ever-present sight on the shelves of bookshops in Ireland, Olwyn Whelan’s long career has stretched across a range of industries. After studying visual communications in Dublin and then illustration in Edinburgh, she started off working in design agencies in Edinburgh and Glasgow, moonlighting as a part-time lecturer, she then chose to devote herself full-time to illustration. Initially, she worked on editorial illustrations and cartoons for the Scotsman Newspaper, before finding her way into children’s books. Now living back in Ireland, Olwyn can boast a gorgeous collection of books, having established a reputation for producing richly decorative watercolour artwork, a style particularly popular for collections of myths, legends and fairy tales.

Can you remember when you first decided to be an illustrator?

I remember when I was in 4th year at school we were taken to a Harry Clarke exhibition in the Douglas Hyde at Trinity. His illustrations for his books blew me away. I think that sowed the seed in my head about illustration.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced you and why?

Harry Clarke for his depth of colour and detail.
Lisbeth Zwerger for her skill with watercolours.
Ivan Bilibin for his decorative borders.
Emma Chichester Clarke for her warm and beautiful illustrations.

Whose work has been catching your eye lately?

The Instagram artist known as Unskilled Worker. Her work is naive, full of detail and gorgeous colour.

Can you talk us through your process?

I read the story and then usually go for a walk and daydream about it. I start to then produce very rough thumbnail ideas. I use a lot of rough work paper to then build up the image and work out a more detailed finished rough. I never use colour for my rough work, it’s either pencil or pen and ink.
I mainly use watercolour and pen and ink for the finalised art piece. I love the depth of colour you get with watercolour. I build up by gradually adding layers, using masking fluid to highlight certain areas.
I have started to experiment with digital drawing; I would really like to try and incorporate a mix of digital with the hand-drawn technique.

What do you think are the biggest changes in the illustration trade since you first started?

When I started off I used to fax roughs to art directors for approval. It was all phone, fax and post. This is all done online now, so it’s a lot easier and more efficient for illustrators today, especially in terms of working on international projects; there is no need to worry about roughs getting lost in the post!

What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting art in this career?

Perseverance.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had in a job?

Receiving my first ever printed and soon to be published book in the post!

What would you most like to work on that you haven’t already?

A book with no words, just sumptuous pictures that would tell the story.

If getting paid and meeting deadlines wasn’t an issue, is there anything you’d change about your work process?

That would be lovely but I might just eat chocolate and binge on Netflix! Therefore, I think I am better with deadlines to focus and build momentum for a successful end result of the project.

Thanks very much to Olwyn Whelan for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can find out more about her and her work here.

The post Paint Me A Picture: Olwyn Whelan: To Walk and Daydream appeared first on Dublin 2019.

A few years ago, I was asked by Penguin to write two novels for a new online medieval fantasy game that was in development called Kings of the Realm. It was being produced by an Irish company, Digit Games Studios, and I got to visit their HQ in Dublin a few times while I worked on the stories. There, I had the pleasure of seeing some of the gorgeous concept artwork that was being created for the game. One of the key artists was a guy named Denman Rooke, whose beautifully rendered work hummed with life and colour. Denman has also been published internationally in issues of the Spectrum Annual, Digital Artist magazine, and ImagineFX, and was selected as one of ImagineFX’s 2013 Rising Stars in the field of Fantasy & Sci-Fi Illustration. He has now moved on to become lead artist at Romero Games in Galway, where he’s working on some hush-hush designs that we’re just going to have to wait to see. In the meantime, he was kind enough to be this month’s guest on Paint Me a Picture.

Denman, can you remember if there was a particular point in your childhood when
you knew you wanted to be an artist?

Not really. I guess I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t drawing, honestly. My twin brother, Dylan, and I grew up drawing everything. Ninja Turtles, G.I.Joe, and our own imaginary stuff. My Gran was a professional artist, so I think my family was always very encouraging of the idea. Growing up I always seemed to know I’d be an artist. I never really thought about another option.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced your work?

Probably some of my favourite artists are John Singer Sargent, N.C. Wyeth, and J.C. Leyendecker. For fantasy art in particular there’s definitely the amazing Frank Frazetta. I love how all those artists control their brush strokes. I started professionally as a traditional painter, so I will always have a love of gorgeous paint control.

What is it that particularly draws you to fantasy art?

Hmm . . . I feel like this should have been easier to answer. I guess, the nature of creating wild, fantastic new worlds has always captured me. Worlds where anything can happen. The rules are different than what we’re used to and can change. The participant can feel like or relate to a protagonist who can feel unique and special and powerful. Whether that’s through a wizard cast magic spells or a mighty warrior fighting off a ferocious beast or an adventurer going on a fantastic quest.

Can you tell us a bit about your process?

Sure. It’s a pretty similar process whether it’s illustration or concept art with a few slight differences, but for this answer I’ll reference illustration. Before I start, I make sure I gather all the reference images I need for the project. Starting out, I didn’t do this enough, but it’s essential for a good illustration. Then I usually start off by creating a load of really quick thumbnails to try and nail down an interesting composition and story. I’ll usually redraw the ones I like a few times just to try slight variations and make sure I like them. Then I take my favorites from the lot and develop a few sketches. The sketch stage is to identify and explore the details and refine the forms. I then move into the values in greyscale before adding color, but sometimes I start right into color. I like to generally use a limited palette of colors to help with the tone and mood of the piece, and mix up a palette based off them. Similarly to how one would use oil paints. Then from there it’s all rendering.

How early in your career did you start painting digitally?

I started freelancing in 2007. But I didn’t move into digital painting till around 2010 probably. Took me a little while to get used to a Wacom tablet (a few months I think). But since then I’ve never really looked back. I do the odd traditional piece here and there, but every single commercial work I’ve done since has been digital.

Is there anything you’d like to work on using more traditional methods?

I’d be interested to do some commercial illustrations in oil paints. I’d probably still use digital tools to do the sketches and color studies as it’s faster to manipulate and change. But I really like the idea of a finished piece in oils.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to put in a picture?

As a sci-fi and fantasy artist you always get weird creatures to draw. Probably one of the oddest was a half human, half octopus creature fighting a naga (half human, half snake). But honestly the weirdest stuff I got asked to draw was when I used to work at a tattoo studio designing the tattoos for the clients. This was before I started freelancing. I definitely received the most bizarre requests there. Once got asked to draw a realistic bass (fish) with betty boop arms and legs that was supposed to look sexy (I have no idea why). I also got asked to design a Dumbo the elephant tattoo for someone in a very NSFW area. I ended up declining that one, ha ha!

Digital illustration is becoming the accepted norm in games and publishing, but the set-up costs for an artist can be high. What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into it, but can’t afford professional-level gear?

Top tier stuff can definitely be pretty expensive. But you can definitely get started with some great gear on a budget. If you have a decent enough computer to run Photoshop, you can get that for a low monthly cost at €12 a month. And Wacom’s cheaper tier drawing tablet at €200 (new). But honestly, just looking on Adverts.ie I see a ton of cheap older generation Wacom tablets that would be perfect starting out. My first digital tablet was a small Intuos 2 hand-me-down from a friend. And it was plenty good enough to get started learning.

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened on a job (that you can talk about)?

I worked at a t-shirt printing company for a time. I was a part of the art department there. One time I had to spend something like two full days googling dog butt photos for one of our sales reps, who thought the next biggest t-shirt design was going to be a dog looking back at you, looking at its butt (and butthole) with the phrase “Sexy and I know it” on it. Not only was it a gross idea, but I fell asleep at my desk numerous times having to scroll google endlessly to find the “perfect” dog butt photo.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a job?

Honestly, my current gig as the Lead Artist at Romero Games is the most fun I’ve had. I joined in May on a new project (not yet announced) and was able to create the art design and direction from the ground up. It’s probably the most creative freedom I’ve had on a project that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working on.

Are there any other illustration styles you’d like to work in, if the opportunity presented itself?

I’d love to get better at that kind of gorgeous cinematic realism style that’s been pretty popular the past few years. My background is the more painterly approach, which I definitely love. But man, when I see one of those gorgeous illustrations done in that style I just don’t know how they do it, and I want to steal that magic.

What are you working on at the moment?

Sadly, I can’t talk about Romero Games work at the moment. But personally I’m working on a couple things. Other than brushing up on art skills like 3D character modeling and personal illustration work. I’ve been creating my own card game. Everything from the game design, graphic design, and illustrations. I’ve shared a bit of the artwork from the cards on my instagram and social networks. I’m pretty excited about that one. Been slowly working on it for over a year and currently iterating on the design and play-testing it. Still a bit of work to go on it. So we’ll see where it goes.

Thanks very much to Denman Rooke for taking part Paint Me a Picture. You can find out more about his work on his website or on ArtStation.

The post Paint Me a Picture: Denman Rooke: Wild New Worlds appeared first on Dublin 2019.

Back in 2013, Children’s Books Ireland put together an exhibition of the work of Irish children’s book illustrators entitled Pictiúr, which ended up touring parts of Europe before returning to be displayed in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, among other venues. I was familiar with most of the artists’ work, but there were a few names that were new to me. One of these was a French illustrator named Lily Bernard, who had produced striking artwork for Tommy Donbavand’s Scream Street series of books. After studying fine art and animation in France, Lily started her professional career with Barley Films in Dublin, and ended up at the Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny as a background artist. Now working as a concept artist and art director, she has worked on some of the company’s most critically acclaimed projects.

How do you think growing up in France has influenced your aesthetics, compared to artists in Ireland?

I grew up watching a lot of Japanese anime, reading French and European comics, playing PC video games, and eating croissants. This built a lot my appreciation for the visual arts in entertainment. There is also a great culture of children book illustration, and even more nowadays. We also had a lot of American animation of course. Over all, I believe we were surrounded by a lot of really different styles, as well as wine and Camembert baguettes. For my generation, working in an artistic profession is rather well respected and encouraged in France. And there are museums everywhere. It’s free for art students

Who are the artists who’ve had the biggest effect on you?

It isn’t easy to know who inspires us the most. I’ve had a big mix of inspiration. Inuit art! Especially Pudlo Pudlat. Check his work out. Quentin Blake’s book Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered was the best cure to feeling lost about how I should or shouldn’t draw. I got a pretty huge smack in the face when I discovered Masaaki Yuasa, Moebius and Druillet, Mary Blair, Shigeru Mizuki, Anouk Ricard, Ghostshrimp, Hobo Divine, Chiyomi Hashiguchi, Amanita Design, Pixel Jam, Katamari, Yuri Norstein. These are the first I think of, but there are so many more . . . And younger: Yoichi Kotabe, Jim Henson, Lucas Arts Games, The Wind Waker, Samurai Jack, Osamu Tezuka, Tove Jansson . . . Everyday, I discover plenty of incredible artists online or around me.

The films you’ve worked on with the Cartoon Saloon have a real picture book feel. Is this a conscious influence, or did they just evolve that way?

I think the art directors got their own inspiration from various artists. For example on The Secret of Kells we wanted something very flat to suggest medieval drawings or stained glass. The nature imagery is based more on Celtic knots and curls. Gustav Klimt was also one of our references, actually. Overall, this studio is putting a lot of effort in creating original styles, working on details and atmospheres, I think.

How does your process vary, depending on the job you’re working on?

We work partially on paper, which is very nice. Tracing lines, painting textures and assembling them in Photoshop, then working on the atmospheres more – this is one of the main approaches on all our feature films (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and The Breadwinner). On other projects, it often saves time to draw directly in Photoshop though. But when it comes to the process itself, from the storyboard, I like starting with a colour sketch. It helps me a lot to have an idea of the atmosphere and composition. It always looks better than the final background, I find, because a sketch or a doodle is always so full of energy. Keep your doodles and sketches! They are precious!

What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out on this career?

Jump! But don’t forget a parachute!

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a job?

Teams change a lot in Cartoon Saloon, but you often find yourself surrounded by a good bunch of funky people. So it’s always great to work together and hang out with them and easy to have a blast, even when a production is under a lot of pressure. There is potential for utter fun in every day – you’ve just got to seize it. And, we live in Kilkenny after all!

How do you think the web has changed the environment for professional animators?

Artists can share and learn from each other so easily. The culture of image is omnipresent through Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, etc . . . They can be contacted directly by studios for job offers. Even here, for recruiting, we browse portfolios online if we need to fill a specific position. Before we had to print and send our work or come to the studio we’d like to apply to. The internet looks like it has everything for someone working in this industry nowadays. An artist can get a lot of recognition through it, though personal networks will always make a difference. Studios would often trust recommendations from people who’ve worked with their company.

What would you most like to work on that you haven’t already?

Video games, script writing, stop-motion, puppetry, comics, illustration, land art, a colouring book for adults! A lot! I’d better get crackin’ or I’ll need more lives to do everything . . .
If anyone wants to hire me for these, contact me!

You started out in animation working as a background artist. Do you think your approach to illustration work would be different if you’d started in a different area of animation?

What’s bizarre is that I never really draw backgrounds for myself. I love very simple funny doodles. So I’m pretty much doing the contrary of my actual job in my spare time. I would have loved to do that for a living though, but background artist has a pay-check at the end of the month and I can’t animate . . . C’est la vie!

Are you content to work alone on projects when the opportunity presents itself, or do you miss the buzz of a studio?

Working in a studio and/or with a team is very motivating. I love it! Being on my own gets really depressing after a while, to be honest. I’m rather quiet and autonomous, but being around people is the best. I’m happy in the corner of a busy room.

What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?

Right now, my job is to create concepts for any project that comes in Cartoon Saloon.
Switching styles from one day to another was quite acrobatic for the first few months, but these days I feel more and more comfortable with experimenting. Another thing is that I find I put more of myself into each artwork with this new position. It’s probably because I don’t know what I’m doing, so I’m just doing it and seeing what happens. I think it works. I hope it does . . . Where is my parachute?!

Thanks very much to Lily Bernard for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can see more of Lily’s work here: Tumblr, DoodleLab, Professional Portfolio.

The post Paint Me a Picture: Lily Bernard: The Parachute Jump appeared first on Dublin 2019.

With a client list that includes Warner Bros, Disney, Amblin Entertainment, Wired and Penguin among others, Matt Griffin has established himself as one of Ireland’s leading – and busiest – commercial artists, with a distinctive blend of dynamic illustration and graphic design. Though he lives in Ennis, County Clare, he is originally a Kells man from County Meath – a town that also produced my wife, Maedhbh, so it’s a place that must be doing something right. And as it happened, Maedhbh recently brought him back to do some events for the county’s libraries, so I got to watch him demonstrating how to draw a new character from scratch in front of a room full of kids, which is no mean feat. He was there to promote his series of children’s novels, The Ayla Trilogy, a playfully dark weaving of Irish myth and contemporary horror. When I started Paint Me a Picture, he was one of the first names on the list of people to talk to.

What made you want to be an illustrator?

I have always drawn pictures, every day, since I could hold a pencil. I thought I would probably be a fine artist of some description (if music didn’t work out, which it didn’t) but that was mainly because I didn’t really understand what an illustrator did or what I really wanted to achieve if I was to be one! I thought I would have to do picture books, or storyboarding or maybe political cartoons, which I dabbled in but never with much interest (or, in hindsight, skill). But over a number of years I started to learn about the world of illustration and knew it was where I wanted – needed, even – to be. So I worked at it, incessantly, feverishly and the more I learned about it, the more I loved it.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced you?

There are so many. As a young kid, it was Tolkien’s own illustrations in The Hobbit, and various covers for the fantasy books I gorged on. As a teenager, it was comics (2000AD, Simon Bisley, Kevin O’Neill, Cam Kennedy, etc.). In my 20s I was more into graphic design and typography. But it was in my 30s that I really obsessed over illustration – Harry Clarke, Jack Kirby, Chris Foss, Roger Dean, Moebius, John Harris, Kilian Eng, Charley Harper, Eyvind Earle . . . I could go on, but these guys probably top the list.

Whose work have you been most impressed with lately?

Again, so many to name. I’m completely immersed in the world of illustration, so the work of many of my contemporaries is a constant source of inspiration (especially in the poster scene). To pick one – Kilian Eng. He consistently blows me away. The natural successor to Moebius in my opinion.

Tell us a bit about your process.

It depends on the job, but as a general rule I start with visual research relating to the brief. I’ll look at images, or read about the subject – fuel for the creative fire. Then I’ll scribble in a notebook – words and thumbnails – until a good idea hits me. Then I refine the idea in sketches, and at this point you usually work with an art director, so the sketches are refined based on feedback and then the final art is created.

Has getting published as a writer changed the way you look at illustration?

I don’t think so . . . Tough question! My social media bio reads: ‘Draws pictures, writes stories and vice versa.’ What I mean by this is – I write very visually, descriptively, trying to paint a picture in the mind of the reader. And when I draw for myself, I always hint at a wider story behind the image. Getting published gives me confidence in my ability to tell stories, and it’s inspired me to be a storyteller both in images and words. So I guess in that sense, it has.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out on this career?

I get asked this a lot, and my answer is always the same ¬– work like a maniac, learn, improve, work harder. There are tough times, but this game rewards those with staying power and a strong desire to improve. Don’t be disheartened by a slow start – be patient, back yourself and . . . work even harder.

Ever had any interesting disasters?

Once again, too many to mention. You need to be careful when reading a brief – a slight misinterpretation can result in disaster. A good example of this is when I was hired to design packaging for Bulmers 6-packs, to promote the Forbidden Fruit festival. For some reason I went dark – really dark. Crows, thorns, rotten fruit . . . The creative director thankfully saw the funny side, and pointed out that Forbidden Fruit was a happy summer festival of music, joy, good times and gave me time to change before Bulmers ever saw it. They would have fired me straight away . . .

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a job?

I think when working on a professional brief I put too much pressure on myself to truly have fun. I tell myself to enjoy it, especially as most jobs I work on these days are on things I love – DVD covers, movie posters, book covers etc. But I can’t seem to have fun (although of course I enjoy it). I have fun when working on my own stuff – creating characters, telling stories in a single image . . .

What would you most like to work on that you haven’t already?

I’ve crossed an awful lot off the bucket list, but one dream job is to work on a Folio Society publication. They produce stunning editions of famous books, with the artist providing the cover and interior illustrations. The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Tower series or anything sci-fi like Asimov, Philip K Dick. Or Lovecraft. Some day

Looking back, is there anything you’d do differently, if you could?

I would have started on this road earlier, before having a family. The first few years of this career are tough, and going through that period with a wedding and two kids made for some stressful times (my wife should be sainted.) I also think I’d be truer to my own vision, and not try to create work I thought other people would like. I only really found my ‘voice’ when I started making stuff I thought was cool.

If getting paid and meeting deadlines wasn’t an issue, is there anything you’d change about your work process?

I would definitely enjoy the process more! I love the research part, coming up with ideas, filling my brain with inspiration. I’d spend longer refining a really good idea. But then I’d probably get nothing done!

What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?

These days, thankfully, I tend to have a lot of jobs on at once. A mix of long and short deadlines. So, as of today I have *deep breath*: two book covers, five movie posters, an animated music video, two DVD box-sets, a DVD cover, a DVD booklet cover, an image for a 2000AD exhibition and about to start on a big concept art job for an animation. That’s not to mention my own work, which currently stands at a graphic novel concept which ties in to a new novel, and a new business venture that I am working on in the background. I need a holiday, but I wouldn’t have it any other way I’m very lucky.

Thanks very much to Matt Griffin for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can find more information about the man and his work at: http://www.mattgriffin.online/

The post Paint Me a Picture: Matt Griffin: To Work Incessantly, Feverishly appeared first on Dublin 2019.

Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick is one of Ireland’s most accomplished writer-illustrators. Among her many accolades, she has won Ireland’s most prestigious children’s book prize, the Bisto Book of the Year Award, three times for her picture books, then after it was renamed the CBI Book of the Year Award, she won it again for her third novel, Hagwitch. I’ve known Marie-Louise for years and have always admired the way her style has evolved in response to each project she’s worked on. After taking the plunge into writing novels several years back, she then threw herself in the opposite direction entirely, because . . . why not? When we were on a tour together in Canada recently, she was promoting her latest work, Owl Bat Bat Owl, a wordless picture book, where she had taken a new approach to her illustration once more.

What kind of stuff did you read as a kid?

I gobbled books. Adventure stories – Blyton, Malcolm Saville, Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons, the Dr Dolittle books; classics – Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, the Little House books; Irish, Greek, Roman legends and the Arthur stories; comics – Bunty, Judy, June & School Friend.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced you?

I first came across Victor Ambrus and Edward Gorey as a kid. I only learnt their names as an adult but I admired their lines as a child. I love everything Helen Oxenbury has ever done and I’m convinced I was Shaun Tan’s first Irish fan – I was introduced to his work back in 2002 on a visit to Australia. Probably the biggest influence on my work was a trip to the Bologna book fair in 1996. The illustrators’ exhibition knocked me out and I came home determined to raise the bar on my work by a metre or so.

What did you study in college, and how relevant would it prove later in your career?

I studied design. By fourth year I knew I wanted to illustrate kids’ books but it took a decade to slowly break into it.

You’ve produced books in a range of styles. Can you tell us how your process has changed over the years?

My first books all use watercolours but my drawing line is naturally scratchy and quick and I tighten up when using watercolours. Acrylics suit my style much better. I switched to them to do I am I, a book about anger and violence – watercolours weren’t robust enough for the subject matter! With my most recent book Owl Bat Bat Owl I’ve gone digital.

What’s the strangest experience you’ve ever had as an illustrator?

Book ideas tend to pop into my head straight from my subconscious. When the beginnings of ‘You, Me and the Big Blue Sea’ first arrived I sketched a little doodle of the mother.
‘She’s sweet but a bit airy-fairy, ‘ I thought. ‘And she gets violently seasick.’
Suddenly the little woman I was drawing stood up on the paper and glared at me – at least this is how it felt. ‘No, no, no,’ she said. ‘I’m not feeble! I’m a strong, feisty character, and my family are all excellent sailors. If you need someone to get seasick you must bring along my sister-in-law, Alice.’

I remember staring at the drawing in astonishment but I immediately realised that Mother had to be based on someone I knew, and that’s why she was refusing to be malleable. Several years later I bumped into an old neighbour from my childhood called Róisín L and realised she was Mother. A memory came back of Róisín telling my family about a sea voyage she’d made when she was young. The woman sharing her cabin died but Róisín didn’t notice for almost two days. I realised that the whole basis for ‘You, Me…’ came from that story I’d heard as a six year old. In the book all sorts of chaos goes on onboard the ship but Mother doesn’t notice a thing.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone starting out on this career?

Find your own visual voice. You are the unique thing you have to offer.

What’s the most fun you’ve ever had on a job?

Hmm. Fun. Do I see work as fun? Not really. Now there’s something for me to ponder and do something about! There’s a lot of frustration and angst and uncertainty, but also much joy, so here are some incidents of joy:

Dancing around a fire in the woods of Oklahoma with Choctaw families while researching The Long March.

Immersing myself in 18th century Dublin so thoroughly when researching a novel that I had Inception-like moments whenever I went into the city. Georgian Dublin rose up inside my head and folded itself over the modern streets. It was very trippy, almost hallucinatory.

Whenever a new idea arrives, that’s a magical time. Teasing it out, playing with it, that’s the best.

What’s the toughest challenge you think illustrators face in publishing today and why?

Competition. There’s a sea of illustrators out there, all bursting with talent. Picturebooks, graphic novels and comics are having a moment right now but the market expands to the demands of consumers, not suppliers.

What would you most like to work on that you haven’t already?

A graphic novel for young kids.

As a writer, what kinds of things do you like to add to a story purely to make it more interesting as an illustrator?

I look to create opportunities to draw nature and to play with light.

If getting paid and meeting deadlines wasn’t an issue, is there anything you’d change about your work process?

I’d go live in France or Italy, only make the books I want to make and do nothing else at all – no media stuff, no workshops, no PR. Eat, drink, write, draw.

What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?

I’m at various stages of developing six picturebook ideas including a possible graphic novel for kids. I have three ideas for novels floating about too.

A big thanks to Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. You can find out more about her work at: http://www.marielouisefitzpatrick.com/.

The post Paint Me a Picture: Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick: Finding A Visual Voice appeared first on Dublin 2019.

Colin Lorimer: An Unwavering Desire

I first encountered Colin Lorimer at Dun Laoghaire School of Art and Design and then later when we both worked in pre-production in Fred Wolf Films in Dublin. Even back then in the nineties, Colin had an obvious passion for comics and was developing a drawing style characterised by dynamic storytelling with sharp-edged shadows and linework. These days, he lives in Vancouver, Canada, and works as a comic book artist, illustrator, and writer. He has worked with Image, Dark Horse, IDW, Titan, and Boom! Studios. He is a co-creator of the books, HARVEST, UXB, Burning Fields, and Curse, and has worked on major mainstream titles such as The X-Files, Hellraiser, Blackout, Millennium, and Dark Horse Presents. On top of his comics work, Colin is also an award-winning storyboard artist, and has worked across a wide range of media, including film, animation, and gaming.

Colin, what was your first piece of published work?

Just out of art college, I got a few book cover gigs with a local agency. Mainly kid’s books, I remember a biography about some Irish doctor called ‘Doctor in the Wilderness’ and some crime novel. To be honest, I never did see the published work … but I was paid! One I did see through to print was a kid’s book with the Irish publisher An Gum. A friend wrote it and I illustrated. It was called Na Luchorpain Agus Na Cnonna Feasa and that would have been in 1999.

Who are the artists who’ve most influenced you?

From 1978 to ’92, 2000AD was my bible. Artists such as Mick McMahon, Brian Bolland, Garry Leech, Kevin O’Neill, Steve Dillon, Glenn Fabry, Steve Yeowell, Bryan Talbot and Dave Gibbons all played a huge part in my formative years. I also discovered Frank Hampson at a young age and fell in love with his meticulous attention to detail, and it would be remiss of not to name-check both Leo Baxendale and Dudley D. Watkins. Outside of the UK: Frank Miller, David Mazzuchelli, Bernie Wrightson, Al Williamson, Mike Mignola, Daniel Clowes, Alex Toth, Steve Ditko and Michael Golden to name but a few. I haven’t even got to my favourite painters yet.

What was it that made you want to be a professional artist?

I never really wanted to be a professional artist as such, rather, I wanted to be a ‘creator’ writing and drawing my own stories. I knew this is what I wanted to do from a very young age dating way back to when I would be sat reading the old British humour comics by publishers like DC Thompson and Fleetway. Comics has always been what I’ve wanted to do and that desire has never wavered.

Tell us a bit about your process.

With comics specifically, I don’t need to write full scripts describing every aspect of my story panel to panel, because I’m the one drawing it. I’ll usually start with a rough outline for each issue and slowly work my way through that, breaking it down into scenes and concentrating more on dialogue and mood. Once I get it to a place where I feel it’s working, I then start breaking it down into thumbnails and layouts, constantly refining and changing up various staging aspects as I go. Then, I start drawing, digitally inking over my rough layouts until I have a full, 22-page comic; getting into the final stages I’ll go in and tweak the dialogue based on how everything is now sitting on the page, rewrite the script as need be. It’s a very organic process.

What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened to you in your career?

Nothing too weird, thankfully. Casey Affleck deciding to pop on a Van Morrison album while we chatted about The Hunt was a little surreal. In a good way … I guess.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to draw or paint?

I’ve drawn much of everything in my career and always seemed to find a way of drawing what was called for without too much of a problem. There was one comic where the writer was constantly writing in a cast of thousands to his scripts with huge crowd scenes and numerous character interactions. Not so much hard to draw just incredibly time-consuming and if it’s page after page it can get a little tedious.

What kinds of problems have you hit along the road, either as an artist or a writer?

A few times on the creator-owned comic stuff certain ‘collaborators’ have attempted to slice out a larger piece of the pie for themselves and seemingly forgot about our agreement that we share everything equally. Money and ego can make for deadly combination.

If you weren’t doing this, what would you be doing?

Creating food art. Always fancied myself as a bit of a chef.

What’s the most valuable experience you’ve gained on a job?

Learning that it’s OK to push back on clients if you’re feeling that their demands are a little unreasonable. Early in my career when working with an older, more experienced board artist, I listened as he told the producers that the time-frame to complete their project was just not feasible and asked for another two weeks. They agreed. I had previously always just agreed to what was placed before me and never really questioned it.

What are you working on now, or what have you got coming up next?

I’ve a new comic book in the works that should see the light of day sometime in 2018 and another one, as illustrator, for an English publisher that should hit later this year. I’m currently also neck-deep in a new Netflix series supervising storyboards, and this September will see the release of Albert Hughes’ latest film The Solutrean on which I worked as an illustrator and storyboard artist.

Thanks very much to Colin Lorimer for taking part in Paint Me a Picture. Colin’s latest comic series, the critically acclaimed horror, The Hunt, is now available in a collected edition.

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