Becky Dreistadt is a painter and comic artist working in Los Angeles. She the artist of comics Tiny Kitten Teeth, and Capture Creatures.
Growing up in Virginia, and raised on cartoons, Dreistadt dreamt big. “Wanting to be the very best, like no one ever was.” At just 15 years old, she began working as a caricature artist at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Her quest then led her to Georgia, where she studied at Savannah College of Art & Design.
Her path crossed with fellow adventurer, glory seeker and writer, Frank Gibson. The two packed up and headed to picturesque New Zealand. There, they worked on Tiny Kitten Teeth and Tigerbuttah together. In 2011, the couple set sail again, back to their homeland, but this time settled in the city of Angels, Los Angeles.
Dreistadt has worked in comics, children’s literature and animation. Her clients include Disney TV, Nick Jr, Cartoon Network, Mondo, Oni Press, and Boom! Studios, among many others.
You may already be familiar with Tiny Kitten Teeth, or it may just sound familiar. The lush hand painted webcomic was featured on our list, 15 Webcomics You Really Should Read. The comic has since been compiled and published in a glorious Deluxe Hardcover Edition, whose canvas and textured cover is sure to ignites your nostalgic receptors.
Dreistadt’s and Gibson’s other series Capture Creatures, which also started life on the web, was picked up for an ongoing series by Boom! Studios. Issue one was released September 2014. Currently there have been four issues released with fans eagerly awaiting the fifth instalment.
Dreistadt works traditionally, painting with gouache and ink. Yet you would be forgiven for thinking that it may have been created digitally. Her outstanding control of the brush means her lines are always crisp and defined. Her presision and care is perticularly beautiful in the tiny details of fur and natural textures. Dreistadt’s hard work has definitely set her apart, with a style and skill that is quite rare. I would say that her childhood dream has been realised.
Dan Panosian is an American comic book artist living in Los Angeles. He has worked with the top three comic book publishers, illustrated for advertising and storyboards. He is also the co-founder of the Original Drink and Draw Social Club.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Panosian has become known as the Urban Barbarian. One part artist and one part barbarian. He kick-started his career when he brought his portfolio to the New York Comic Convention. Two comic book legends, Neal Adams and Walt Simonson took notice of Panosian’s skill. Both artists offered him positions. Adams offered him a position at his ad agency Continuity Graphics and Simonson helped him get a job at Marvel Comics.
Panosian started working in comics on back-up features for Captain America, Batman, Spider-Man and Thor but soon enough, he became a regular inker on the X-Men line of comic books. Since then, Panosian has gone on to pencil, ink and create cover art for hundreds of titles for Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse and many other comic companies.
Panosian has designed for video games The Suit (1996) and Duke Nukem: Forever (2011). He also worked on Warner Brother’s Harry Potter Production Crew.
In 2005, Panosian, along with Dave Johnson and Jeff Johnson, established the Drink and Draw Social Club. What started as a small group in LA has now multiplied to over 1600 participants, with splinter groups popping up around the world.
Gael Bertrand is a self-taught illustrator and comic book artist from France. He has worked as a graphic artist for video games, as well as illustrating for comic companies DC, and Image.
After a stint at a couple games companies, Bertrand moved to the New York office of French video game developer’s Gameloft. He worked as a 2D graphic artist on Cosmic Colony (2012) and Ice Age: Village (2012), and concept artist on Cars: Fast as Lightning (2014). Simultaneously, Bertrand was working for DC Vertigo as a Penciller and Inker on their titles, Hellblazer (issues #280, #284 and #291) and Time Warp #1.
Currently, Bertrand is illustrating the story “A land called Tarot” for Island Magazine. Island is a comics anthology spearheaded by Brandon Graham and Emma Ríos, as a platform to explore the depth and breadth of what comics are capable of. Bertrand’s “A land called Tarot” first appeared in Island #4, and continued in the most recent January issue. The story has received an abundance of praise, making Island Magazine well worth picking up for Bertrand’s contrbution alone.
Flicking through Bertrand’s portfolio, you will come across one of his own characters, Constance. Only three images at the moment, the steampunk, League-of-Extraordinary-Gentlemen-esqu illustrations looks very fleshed out and exciting, so I wonder if Bertrand has plans to create a comic of his own based on Constance Chesterton and the Cogs of Karma.
An unmissable strength in Bertrand’s artwork is rich and detailed backgrounds. Details that bring his worlds to life, adding realism, and fittingly housing all manner of characters. In the past, Bertrand’s style certainly has varied project to project. Since directing his focus on comics, I feel a particular style of his has started to emerge. It is not strictly manga, nor is it typically western, it is a fusion of both. You can see elements of European artist, such as Hergé (owed to his use of Ligne claire) and Moebius, at the same time as some very obvious manga and anime traits and influences.
You can find more of Gael Bertrand’s work on Tumblr and DeviantArt.
Dylan Meconis is a comics artist, writer, and illustrator based in Portland, Oregon. She studied history and literature at Wesleyan University. Her love of history is the cornerstone of a lot of her personal work.
Her career as a professional comics artist began in 2000, while still in high school, with the online publication of her first comic, Bite Me!. Utilizing her free periods in her senior year, Meconis began posting Bite Me! online at a weekly rate. It took inspiration from A Tale of Two Cities and Interview With the Vampire, and has become “the foremost vampire French Revolution graphic novel farce.” Dylan completed the story in 2004, and has since published a paperback edition of the comic.
After concluding the sprawling vampire saga, she decided to create on a few shorter comics. She contributed a story to the very first Flight Anthology, “All Time Low,” illustrated by Bill Mudron. In 2012, her short comic Outfoxed was nominated for an Eisner Award in the category of Best Digital Comic.
Nowadays, Meconis is a full-time freelancer with her own imprint, Elea Press. Which is part of Scott Kurtz’s self-publishing company Toonhound Studios. As well as a publishing partnership, she also co-writes the long-running webcomic PvP with Kurtz.
Meconis is currently writing and drawing the graphic novel Family Man. Set in the 18th Century, she began to serialize Family Man online in 2006 and is now well into its fourth chapter. In 2014 Family Man was nominated for a Reuben Award in the category of Best Digital Comic – Longform. The prologue and first two chapters have been collected into glossy 176-paged printed publication.
Guillaume Poux aka El Gunto is a French freelance illustrator, currently based in Barcelona, Spain. He has worked on several comics for publishers Bamboo and Soleil, and worked as a Concept Artist and Character Designer for the entertainment industry.
Poux studied illustration at the famous Ecole Emile Cohl art school between 2000 and 2004. After graduating, he illustrated for children’s books and magazines before releasing his first Comic book Lenny Valentino tome 1 “Poison Town” in 2006. It was written by Fuat Erkol and Christian Simon, and was followed up by Lenny Valentino tome 2 “Dead End” a year later. He also worked with writer Jérôme Félix on one-shots Mort & Entêté, and Le Plan, both published by Bamboo.
Alongside his editorial work, Poux works as Concept Artist. Designing characters and developing visuals for Duncan Studio, Gameloft, Nerd Corps, Triotech and Axis Animation. Through it all, he always finds time to produce a pretty pin-up, or two.
Kenneth Vernon Hultgren was a gifted draughtsman and notable Disney animator. In his relatively short career, he left behind a substantial body of work that continues to inspire and educate people.
Hultgren was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1915. He studied at a local School of Art, before moving to California to pursue a career in animation. In 1936, one year after moving to California, he joined Disney Studios. He was an animator on the short film Farmyard Symphony (1938). He then worked on the feature film Bambi (1942), which he also created model sheets and layouts. Hultgren showed he was very comfortable drawing animals from any angle.
In 1942, Hultgren illustrated the Bambi comic adaptation, along with other stories based on the characters from the movie. He left Disney Studios in 1943 to animate and illustrate stories for other studios. He continued drawing Disney comics. He illustrated Mickey Mouse stories as well as the first comic appearance of Panchito Pistoles, in Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #35. From 1943 to 1949 Hultgren worked at Sangor Studios on comic titles including The Duke and the Dope, Robespierre, Hopalong Hoppity, Izzy & Dizzy and Uncle Pigly.
When Sangor Studios closed in 1949, Hultgren took the time off to create The Art of Animal Drawing. The accumulation of years of experience showed how to draw animals both realistically and as caricatures. Dividing the body into three parts, making it easier to understand, pose, and animate. The book has stayed in print for decades, for good reason, I highly recommend it.
Just a few years earlier, Hultgren created the book The Know-How of Cartooning by Ken Hultgren. This book is out of print and very difficult to come by, but thankfully Sherm Cohen has scanned every single page and put it online for all to enjoy.
Hultgren returned to Disney Studios in 1955. Back in the animators chair, he worked on the short Paul Bunyan (1958) and the feature Sleeping Beauty (1959). He also worked on animated TV series Mr. Magoo, Popeye, and The Archie Show. Hultgren died in 1968 at the age of 53.
Ken Hultgren left a great legacy behind him, much of you can find online. As a starting point, check out Comic Book DB to see some of the comics he worked on, and IMDB to see all the animation he was a part of.
Raul Trevino is a comic book writer and illustrator based in north Mexico. Working in comics for more than 15 years, his previous clients include Marvel, DC Comics, Dark Horse, Glénat, and Les Humanoïdes Associés.
Known for his action-packed adventures, in 2003 he was awarded first place in the International Norma Editorial Competition for the Best Short Story. The exposure helped him publish his first creator-owned graphic novel called The Dance of the Conquest. A thrilling adventure trilogy based in a pre-Hispanic Mexico. It was released in 2004 and was nominated for a New Talent Fnac Comic Book Award and Best New Author at the 9th annual Expocomic event in Spain.
At the end of 2009, Trevino began to write and draw the post-apocalyptic webcomic Tinkers of the Wasteland. It has been described as a cross between “Mad Max and The Goonies.” It is frantic fun that is sure to please comic fans and petrolheads alike. In 2013, he released an English version of the collected paperback edition. It is the first of three volumes, leaving English-speaking fan eagerly waiting for the second. In 2014, Tinkers of the Wasteland won two Butze-Vargas awards for Best Writer and Best Graphic Novel.
Thomas Campi is a comic book artist and illustrator, currently based in Sydney, Australia. Working professionally for over 15 years, with international publishers Flesk/Spectrum 22, Sergio Bonelli Editore, Glénat, LeLombard and Dupuis.
Campi was born and raised in Italy. In 1995 he completed a Master of Applied Arts (MAA) programs in Visual Arts at Istituto D’Arte Dosso Dossi. After his Masters, he started his career illustrating high school textbooks for the Zanichelli publishing house.
In 1998 he joined the studio of Germano Bonazzi and Roberto Zaghi, who were working for Comic Book Publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore. In 2008 he moved to Shanghai, China. While working on episodes of the criminologist comic book Series “Julia”, he teamed up with the French writer Frédéric Brrémaud to create an adaptation of Lev Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Orginally published by Glénat, it was reprinted in English in 2009 by IDW.
In 2010 he moved to Hangzhou, China, starting a collaboration with belgium writer Vincent Zabus. The first project they worked on was “Les Petites Gens.” A tale of two facing buildings and a handful of characters that you are likely to pass every day. It was published by Le Lombard in 2012. The duo collaborated again on “Les Larmes Du Seigneur Afghan.” The story was inspired by Belgian reporter Pascal Bourgaux and her experience of filming a documentary about a warlord in Afghanistan. Published by Dupuis in 2014, the comic won a Prix Cognito award for Best Graphic Novel.
Campi latest work, “Macaroni!” is yet another collaboration with Zabus and will be published by Dupuis this year.
Recently comic book artist Sean Gordon Murphy (Chrononauts; Punk Rock Jesus) tweeted a simple, yet thought-provoking question, “Do you need to read comics consistently to be good at creating them?”
Although the results were close, of the 331 responses, the majority of voters veered to “No.” This surprised me as my gut instinct was to hit the “Yes” button. But I couldn’t. I froze because I struggled to come up with a strong argument in favour of reading comics consistently.
Do you need to read comics consistently to be good at creating them?
In the discussion, some of the arguments for not reading comics consistently were that you have fresher ideas when you are not over-saturated in comic books and that inspiration should come from other mediums. The “No” camp also argue that the vast amount of your previously read comic books should have taught you everything you need to know.
I always encourage people to look outside of their medium for inspiration (that is, after all, the driving force behind the Illustrator’s Lounge) but the question is not if we should look outside of comic books for inspiration: of course we should. The question is can reading comics consistently, make you a better artist? Well, now that my head has caught up with my gut, I say “Yes!”
Firstly for the sake of clarity, let’s define “consistently” as always having a comic book (or graphic novel) on the go. Sitting down and reading, at least, weekly.
The Complete Maus; Watchmen #4; Saga #8; The Spirit #41; Blankets
I started collecting comics seriously at around 11-years-old, buying roughly six single titles every two weeks. By 17-years-old, I slowed down buying singles and started to buy more trades. That was until recently, when a wave of talent and new titles enticed me back into buying singles. I have read easily an excess of a thousand comics, and I’m sure there are others who are much more prolific readers than I.
The idea that having a history of comic book reading in your toolbox means you don’t have to keep reading them is naive. Our tastes and opinions are in a constant state of change. No matter how wonderful or awful something was, I guarantee if you read it again you will look at it from a different perspective and getting something new from it. By not consistently reading comic books you are limiting your opportunities to challenge your current perspective.
Just like any industry, the majority of comic books published each year are throwaway. So of the thousands of comic books you have read, it is likely only a handful of them really had an affect on you. There is definitely an argument for reading bad work; you quickly discover what not to do. But, without a doubt, you gain more from exposing yourself to good work.
Hawkeye #19 Written by Matt Fraction, Art by David Aja
The medium of comics had a shaky start (to say the least), but throughout the years, pioneering artists have developed a solid foundation. By slowly building rules they have enhanced the storytelling experience. Rules you simply cannot understand without immersing yourself in comics. They are constantly evolving and being challenged.
Artist including Chris Ware (Building Stories; Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth), Dave McKean (Arkham Asylum; Mr. Punch), and David Aja (Hawkeye) are pushing the boundaries of comics.
The comic book medium is unique, with theories unto itself. Many of which are not interchangeable with other mediums. It’s easy to see the influence of other mediums on comic artists such as Frank Miller (Dark Knight Returns; Sin City) and Mike Mignola (Hellboy), who took the strong contrast and heavy shadows of Film Noir to inform their work. But films did not teach either of them how to position panels, word balloons nor captions. Artists should use other mediums as influences only, and not as a justification to set comics aside. Reading comics will not make you a good filmmaker; just as watching films will not make you a good comic artist.
Afterlife with Archie #1 Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Art by Francesco Francavilla and Jack Morelli
With the last few years welcome wave of talent breathing new life into the industry and producing exciting work, rules are being re-written. If you’re not consistently reading you’re missing out on Chris Samnee (Daredevil), Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie; The Black Beetle), and Phil Noto (Black Widow). These artists (and many, many others) are proudly inspired by the comics that came before although aware of their past failings and mindful of today’s readers.
Without consistently reading comics, new and back issues, you limit your exposure to what others in the industry are doing and have done before. You cannot hope that tools you picked up in the past stay sharp. Comic books are an evolving medium, and their audience with it. As an artist you need to know the history of comics and keep an eye on its future, otherwise you’re destined to get rusty.
Anthony Hope-Smith is a London-based writer, illustrator, storyboard artist and comic artist. He has storyboarded for BBC television series, Being Human and web series, Resonance. He illustrated the graphic biography of journalist Hunter S. Thompson, Gonzo, and Image Comics mini-series, The Dream Merchant.
Hope-Smith studied Animation at Surrey Institute Of Art And Design. Graduating in 2001, he has worked professionally for over a decade. In that time has created visuals for advertising campaigns, book covers, and children’s book. His first love, however, has always been comics and in 2010, his first graphic novel was released. Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson was written by Will Bingley and published by SelfMadeHero. It tells the extraordinary life and public perception of the counterculture icon. Gonzo was praised by critics, readers, and Thompson fans alike.
In 2014, Hope-Smith worked with artist Konstantin Novosadov for three issues (#4-6) of Image Comics The Dream Merchant, written by Nathan Edmondson. I read on Sequential that he was working with Nathan Edmondson on his follow-up graphic novel, Borealis.
Sounding like an excellent collaboration my interest was piqued, but with no other information, I decided to contact with Hope-Smith to ask about the project. He kindly responded to let me know that Borealis has in fact been shelved for the time being. However, he did mention that he is developing his own series which is currently in the writing and concept art stage.
You can find more of Anthony Hope-Smith’s work on his website, blog, and follow him on Twitter.
Federico Bertolucci is an Italian comic artist and illustrator. He is best known for his award-winning series of silent wildlife graphic novels, LOVE. Alongside French writer Frédéric Brrémaud, Bertolucci has illustrated four volumes, LOVE: The Tiger, LOVE: The fox and LOVE: The Lion and LOVE: The Dinosaur. Bertolucci was nominated in this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist.
In 1998, after completing a course in comics at the Disney Academy in Milan and graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, Bertolucci was hired by Disney Italia as an artist for their weekly Topolino magazine.
A few years later, in 2001, he started working for Disney Italia’s W.I.T.C.H. magazine. In addition to illustrating stories and covers of the series, he also contributed to several special issues and the first Panini sticker collection. He also produced short stories for Monster Allergy, The Flintstones, and coloured the comic adaptation of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch.
At the same time, he was embarking on a working relationship with Frédéric Brrémaud. Richard Coeur de Lion, was a two-volume book written by Brrémaud, and drawn and coloured by Bertolucci. It was published in France by Soleil between 2005 and 2007. The book was later published in Italy and Spain in 2008 by Planeta DeAgostini. The creative duo went on to work on Les Tennismen (Bamboo, 2006), Rocambole de Ponson du Terrail (Delcourt, 2009), before finally starting the series LOVE.
The LOVE series was originally published in France by Ankama Éditions and has been translated for Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Germany. The first book, LOVE: The Tiger, was published in 2011 and won the “Grand Guinigi – Special Jury Award” at the Lucca Comics festival. The series was picked up by American independent publisher, Magnetic Press in 2014. Magnetic Press has published three of the four volumes so far.
You can find out more about Federico Bertolucci on his blog, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can even watch him work on his YouTube channel.
Cyril Bonin is a French comic book writer and artist. Born in Montceau-les-Mines, France, Bonin studied Fine Arts in Mâcon, then Decorative Arts in Strasbourg before completing DESS (masters degree) in Computer Graphics, where he focused on Image Synthesis.
After graduating, Bonin began working as a graphic designer for a small video production company. He stayed there for almost two years while illustrating on the side. In 1996, writer Roger Seiter approached him to illustrate a new series called Fog. Set in 19th Century London the story follows the crimes of Jack the Ripper. The series went to eight volumes, published by Casterman between 1999 to 2004.
After completing Fog, Bonin worked on the one-shot Quand souffle le Vent (Dargaud, 2009) with writer Laurent Galandon. Bonin eventually had the chance to illustrate his own story. A two-volume mystery, Chambre Obscure, was published by Dargaud in 2010. It was quickly followed up by La Belle Image (Futuropolis, 2011) and L’Homme qui n’existait pas (Futuropolis, 2012). Both of which Bonin wrote and produced all the artwork.
Tenaciously continuing his solo creative path, in 2013, Bonin began the romance-comedy series, Amorostasia. Published by Futuropolis, the second volume was released at the beginning of 2015, with the third volume teased at the end of last year.
His most recent work, The Time Before (Bamboo, 2016), tells the story of a 1950s photographer, Walter Benedict, who is given a talisman after helping an old man. Benedict now has the ability create a perfect life for himself by going back in time and correct his past wrongs. The Time before addresses all the moral and psychological dilemmas that such power brings.
Frank Hampson was a British comic artist and illustrator. He is best known as the creator of the popular Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future. Hampson’s obsession with accuracy made his sci-fi worlds vivid and believable. Raising the bar for the whole of the comic industry.
Hampson was born 21 December 1918, in Audenshaw, near Manchester, England. He received his first commission from Meccano Magazine when he was only thirteen. At twenty, he enrolled at the Victoria College of Arts & Sciences. Not before long, he joined the war effort serving in the Royal Army Service Corps and later becoming a lieutenant. After the war, he attending the Southport School of Arts and Crafts, while also trying to make a living as a freelancer.
In 1948, John Marcus Harston Morris, with aspirations to found a national Christian magazine for youngsters, hired Hampson full-time. Together they created Eagle. The first issue went on sale in April 1950 and sold about 900,000 copies. The magazine was revolutionary in its presentation and Hampson’s Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future strip was a fan favourite.
Dan Dare quickly became very popular, with millions eagerly anticipating the next episode. Hampson initially wrote and drew the strip single-handedly. However, he soon amassed a group of assistants, including artists Desmond Walduck, Harold Johns, and Donald Harley, as well as writers Alan Stranks and Arthur C. Clarke.
Many would agree, that Dan Dare’s popularity stemmed from Hampson’s thoroughness. Using family members and assistants as models his characters were completely believable. The same approach was used for his technology. Systematically designing them after steep research and model making. All of which you can see in this wonderful clip from the 1956 British Pathé archive.
In 1959, after Eagle moved to a new publisher, Hampson’s studio of assistants was disbanded due to its cost. Then in 1961, as a result of some mismanagement and misunderstanding, Hampson was forced to resign. His unpublished Dan Dare strips were impounded by Longacre Press’s legal department. Hampson left Dan Dare in the good hands of Frank Bellamy.
During his time with Eagle, from 1950 to 1961, Hampson worked on a variety of other strips including The Great Adventurer, Tommy Walls, Rob Conway and The Road of courage. Hampson was also approached by author Peter O’Donnell to interpret a new script, called Modesty Blaise. After accepting the offer, Hampson took many weeks to produce the strip. When O’Donnell saw Hampson’s work he was not pleased, feeling he had misunderstood the character. The job ultimately went to his former partner, Jim Holdaway.
Straight after parting ways with Eagle, Hampson went back to working as a freelancer for various publications, including Ladybird Books. Over the next six years, he worked on nine Ladybird titles. Keeping his penchant for accuracy and always meticulously researching historical subjects.
In 1975, aged 57, Hampson was invited to the Lucca Comics Convention, in Italy. He was given the Italian Yellow Kid award and the specially created title “Prestigio Maestro.” For such a resounding career, I am shocked Hampson did not receive more accolades during his lifetime. In 1985, due to ailing health, Hampson died in Surrey, England.
There is fortunately no shortage of places to find out more about Frank Hampson. You can start with this website, set up by his son, Peter. There is also this brilliant book, Tomorrow Revisited. Published in 2010 to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the launch of Eagle. It chronicles his career and features full-colour strips, illustrations, and sketches.
Philippe Druillet is a ground-breaking French comics artist and creator. He is best known for his large-scale science fiction tales of gothic worlds, aliens and adventurers.
Born 1944, in Toulouse, France. Druillet spent the first eight years of his life in Figueiras, Spain. Returning to France in 1952 after the death of his father. A fan of science fiction and comics, his favourite writers were H. P. Lovecraft and A.E. van Vogt. He would draw for fun. At 16 years old, after graduating from high school, Druillet worked as a photographer for a couple of years. His photographs were published in many international books on cinema and fantasy.
In 1966, Losfeld published Druillet’s first comic book, Le Mystère des abîmes (The Mystery of the Abyss). It introduced Lone Sloane, a space rogue, and a recurring character in Druillet’s work. In 1970 Druillet joined Pilote magazine where he resumed the adventures of Lone Sloane. Expanding the saga and innovating the comic medium. He used saturated colours and original page layouts. He designed gigantic structures, inspired by Art Nouveau, Indian temples, and Gothic cathedrals. He was given the nickname “space architect”. George Lucas said that Druillet’s drawings were an influence for Star Wars.
In 1972, six Sloane tales were collected in Les six voyages de Lone Sloane. Which has been hailed by many as Druillet’s masterpiece. He followed this, in 1973, with the graphic novel Délirius, written by Jacques Lob. In 1974, Druillet and Michel Demuth created Yragaël inspired by the fictional character Elric of Melniboné.
Up until 1975, much of Druillet’s work was published by Dargaud. After feeling disappointed his relationship with the comic publisher he partnered with Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Bernard Farkas and Moebius to form the publishing house Les Humanoïdes Associés. Their first publication was the magazine Métal Hurlant. Which would later be published in the United States by National Lampoon under the title Heavy Metal.
Humanoïdes was to be a platform for the artist to showcase their finest work. Druillet continued his series Lone Sloane and Vuzz, alongside other stories including La Nuit (The Night), and Nosferatu. From 1980 until 1986 Druillet worked on Salammbô. A three-part comic based upon Gustave Flaubert’s fantasy novel of the same name.
Starting from the end of the 1970s, Druillet began focusing on multimedia projects. Experimenting with film, animation, architecture, sculpture, and painting. Between 1978 to 1983, he collaborated on Rolf Liebermann’s Wagner Space Opera. He was involved in the renovation of the Porte de la Villette subway station in Paris. He also designed large parts of the background for the 2005 TV miniseries Les Rois maudits.
Druillet, now focused on fine arts, still remains just as innovative as when he began 50 years ago. You can find out more about Philippe Druillet on his website.
James Harren is an American comic artist, based in Brooklyn, New York. A creative storyteller and highly sought after cover artist, he has worked on titles for Marvel, Vertigo, Dark Horse, Image, and IDW. He is currently working on his first creator-owned series, Rumble. Which is written by his longtime collaborator, John Arcudi.
In 2010, Harren was working at Marvel on Heralds and various X-Men titles. He was approached by Arcudi to illustrate a two-part Abe Sapien story. Released in 2011, The Devil Does Not Jest marked Harren’s first foray into the Hellboy Universe. Shortly after, Harren and Arcudi worked together on B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth.
After three years of Hellboy titles the duo had developed a productive working relationship. And felt like it was a natural time to work on something of their own. Over lunch, Arcudi pitched Harren an idea for Rumble. The premise played to the duo’s strength and Harren was sold.
Harren and Arcudi partnered with Harvey Award winner letterer Chris Eliopoulos, and Eisner Award winner colourist Dave Stewart. Rumble #1 was released by Image Comics in December 2014. To date, ten issues have been released, with #11 and #12 planned for June and July respectively. All ten issues have been collected in two trade volumes, Volume 1: What Color of Darkness? and Vol. 2: A Woe That Is Madness.
You can find more of James Harren’s work on DeviantArt and Twitter. You can find some of his older illustrations on THE BOG. A joint blog with artists Ryan Ottley, where they “explore the dank murky limits of their minds” and show off their process along the way.
Luke Pearson is a British illustrator and comic artist. He has worked with a wonderful array of client including The New Yorker, Penguin, Cartoon Network, The Guardian, and Little White Lies. However, he probably best known for his award-winning series of comics, Hilda.
Born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1987. Doodling from very young, Pearson started adding speech bubbles as soon as he figured out how to draw people. He knew early on that he wanted to be a professional cartoonist. But he was daunted by, and unsure of, how the industry worked. And so, he went to university to study illustration.
Graduated in 2010 Pearson has since kept his back firmly hunched over his desk, working as hard as possible. He has illustrated for magazines, newspapers, book covers, posters and animation. He has written and storyboarded episodes of the Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. He has created various short comics, as well as a mature tale of a failing relationship called Everything We Miss.
Hilda is Pearson’s most notable comic work. Heavily inspired by Scandinavian folklore, the all-ages comics follow a young girl named Hilda whose inquisitive mind leads her into all sorts of adventures. Published by Flying Eye Books, Nobrow’s children’s imprint, the series is currently on its fourth book and already feels like a classic. It has won the British Comic Awards Young People’s Comic Award 2014 and The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kid’s Comics 2015. You can read an excellent review of the series on Comics Alliance.
Cory Godbey is an American illustrator based in South Carolina. He has worked on David Petersen’s Mouse Guard, the award-winning documentary film The Last Flight of Petr Ginz, contributed to the award-winning Flight anthologies and is a member of fantasy art collective Muddy Colors.
Like many children, Godbey just loved to draw. When he was a little older, he majored in art in college but did not go to an art school. Self-motivated and largely self-taught, he would learn from his friends, Maurice Sendak, Peter de Sève, Carter Goodrich, and Golden Age Illustrators.
In 2005, Godbey met Kazu Kibuishi at BookExpo in New York. Kibuishi liked Godbey’s work and told him to keep in touch. Three years later, once Godbey had completed his personal project, Ticket, he reached out to Kibuishi. The two met again at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con. Kibuishi introduced Godbey to the Flight staff and invited him to contribute to the sixth volume. Flight was Godbey’s first venture into comic since grade school.
Godbey has since gone on to work on picture books, covers, comics, editorial, advertising, animated shorts and films. Some of his clients include HarperCollins, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Disney Publishing, The Jim Henson Company, Archaia, and Penguin. His worked has been featured in annuals and publications including Exposé, Imagine FX, The Society of Illustrators, and Spectrum.
If you read our post on Justin Gerard, you will already know that Godbey is one of the three founders of the online educational platform, The Lamp Post Guild. His course, The Art of Personal Work, is teaches the habit of creating a strategic body of personal work. He also has an hour-long in-depth painting demo available through gumroad.
Oriol Hernandez Sanchez is a Spanish illustrator and comic artist. Signing his work as “Oriol”, he is a frequent collaborator with prolific author, Zidrou, and the proud recipient of the Barcelona International Comic Revelation Prize.
Oriol was born in Terrassa, Barcelona, in 1983. He studied at the Escola Joso until 2002. There he met Montlló Miki, Oriol Pérez and Aleix Valldeperas. After graduating, he worked in illustration, advertising and animation. He did a two-years stint at Filmax Animation, where he worked on Donkey Xote (2007) and Nocturna (2007). Oriol also went back to Escola Joso to teach a digital illustration course.
His first professional comic job was Maman Noël, a short story in the album Joyeuses nouvelles pour petits et grands enfants adultes. It was written by Zidrou and published by Dupuis.
In 2010 he collaboration with Zidrou again on his first full album, La Peau de l’Ours. Published in 2012 by Dargaud, it was exceptionally well received and due to Oriol’s expressive style was nominated for the “Ouest-France” award. Oriol and Zidrou worked together again on Les 3 Fruits, published last year by Dargaud.
Zidrou’s and Oriol’s latest work is titled Natures Mortes. It is set in 1899, Barcelona, and will be out march 2017.
Oriol has a great ability to capturing moments that reader can relate to, enriching the story. He creates atmospheric scenes by using foreboding shadows, strong contrasting colours and exaggerated angles. His recent work is set during the Impressionist movement and borrows from the art style of the period. From what I have seen so far, each panel is a mini-masterpiece and Natures Mortes will shaping up to be one of the most impressive comics ever created.
Stéphane Fert French illustrator and comic artist. He recently released his first solo album, Morgane. It was published in April, this year, by Delcourt Editions, and was written by Stéphane Fert and Simon Kansara, and illustrated by Fert. The book is a unique take on the well-known Arthurian tales. Flipping perspective and following the enchantress Morgan le Fay as she battle against her brother, King Arthur.
The most notable element of Fert’s work is his strict use of limited colour palettes. Often staying within a warm, cool, or earthy tones. When he break this limitation, by adding patches of pink among a sea of blue, it captures the viewer’s attention instantly. Interesting too is his use of repetition and geometric shapes, which can turn a castle or a field of flowers into a decorative pattern.
Fert’s draws influences from a range of sources. Among them, he has named contemporary illustrators Mary Blair, Mike Mignola, Cyril Pedrosa, Frederik Peeters, and Taiyô Matsumoto. He has also included fine artist Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse, as well as film directors Fritz Lang, Federico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick, Park Chan Wook and Lars Von Trier.
You can find more of Stéphane Fert’s work on Tumblr and Facebook.
INJ Culbard is an award-winning comic artist and author. He has adapted several literary classics into comics. And worked with top comic publishers Vertigo, Dark Horse, 2000 AD, BOOM! Studios and SelfMadeHero.
Ian Culbard was born in Greenwich, London. As a boy Culbard read Hergé’s Titin, Morris’s Lucky Luke and works by Jean-Claude Mézières. He discovered H. P. Lovecraft around 10 years old, after buying a roleplaying game called “The Call of Cthulhu.” The game led him to his local library where he picked up all the Lovecraft titles that he could. Birthing a life-long love of the author’s work. Culbard developed a love of Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, after reading A Study in Red for the first time. He was blown away by Doyle’s persuasive storytelling.
Culbard studied at an Art College in Middlesbrough, where he learnt classical drawing techniques including oil paint and charcoal. However, nowadays he primarily uses a graphics tablet.
Amidst a career as a director and animator, Culbard entered the Dark Horse Comics’ New Recruits anthology competition. Two of his stories (Wild Talents: The God Machine and The Way of All Flesh) were selected from thousands of entries. He made the transition into comics in 2006, now signing his work under the pseudonym “INJ Culbard.”
Writer Ian Edginton contacted Culbard to illustrate a series of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adaptations. Published SelfMadeHero, the first book in the series was The Hound of the Baskervilles released in 2009. Four books followed; A Study in Scarlet (2009), The Sign of the Four (2010), A Study in Scarlet (2009) and The Valley of Fear (2011).
Further adaptations include five H. P. Lovecraft stories; At the Mountains of Madness (2010), The Case of Charles Dexter Ward (2012), The Shadow Out of Time (2013), The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (2015) and The Shadow over Innsmouth (2016). All published by SelfMadeHero. In 2011, he received the British Fantasy Award for Best comics or graphic novel adaptation form At the Mountains of Madness.
Culbard has frequently collaborated with writer Dan Abnett. To date the duo have worked on eight-issues Vertigo mini series, The New Deadwardians (2012), four issues of Dark Horse’s Dark Ages, and two volumes of Wild’s End. In 2014, SelfMadeHero released Culbard’s first original graphic novel, Celeste.
You can follow INJ Culbard on Twitter, and find some of his older work on Blogger.
