From an interview with the Beestonian magazine, published June 2024:

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Tell us how you got into art? 

My mum was an art student at the London Royal College of Art when I was still a baby. She managed to stay there for 9 years, so I kind of grew up in and around the college – the smell of paint and wood glue is still a huge nostalgia kick! She would sit and teach me how to draw until it just became a part of who I was. 

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How has your style changed over the years?

I went through a period of working in charcoal on massive sheets, which was great, but messy. Now I tend to work much more with pen and ink or digitally – sketching out pictures on a drawing tablet – especially for my commercial work.

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What techniques were used to create the piece of art we feature in the summer issue of the magazine?

Pencil drawing to get the picture right, then I add pen and ink. The pic is then scanned into the computer and coloured in photoshop. This gives me the freedom to try different colours and ideas without ruining the pic if I go wrong. Once complete I supply to a printer in Nottingham that produces limited edition, high-end Giclée art prints. These are then signed and numbered.

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Who/what are your artistic inspirations and why?

Gilbert Shelton, Dave Sheridan & Robert Crumb – three amazing artists who all got their start in American underground comics (Shelton is the creator of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers – a huge inspiration for The Beest of Beeston – and a co-founder of Rip Off Press.  Because my mum was an art student when I was little, I grew up on their comics. They got me into pen and ink, which gradually evolved into the work I produce now. Also: Edward Hopper – I had a book of his work growing up and always thought his work was just magical; Mervyn Peake (see below); Hergé – I read all the TinTin books over and over and loved the artwork; and Francis Bacon, because he was cool.

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Can you discuss a piece of art that changed your perspective or approach?

It was actually a book: The Drawings of Mervyn Peake. Peake was an incredible illustrator (look up his pics for Treasure Island to see what I mean) and it was seeing his work that made me realise what I wanted to do. I always thought there was a difference between artists and illustrators, and that I should aspire to the former; Peake made me realise that they’re one and the same. On a second note; he was also an amazing writer – the Gormenghast Trilogy is just a jaw-dropping piece of gothic literature – and I loved that he could be both writer and artist.

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See the full article here

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Please visit the Commercial Work page to see my latest commissions. 

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