Hi There! I'm Really Taken By Your Style - It Reminds Me Of Some Books I Used To Love As A Kid. I Can

Hi there! I'm really taken by your style - it reminds me of some books I used to love as a kid. I can see you're influenced by older classic illustrators, but I can't put my finger on which ones. Who are your inspirations in terms of style?

Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I don’t know how long this has been sitting in my inbox! There was never a new message icon so I only spotted it when I was hunting for something else, I hope it hasn’t been here for too long.You’re absolutely right that I’m influenced by a lot of older illustrators! Unfortunately I saw a lot of them in books that were so old the illustrator wasn’t necessarily credited (in the 1970s that was fairly common), so I can’t tell you who all of them were. I liked the simple style of paperback illustrations in books like The Chronicles of Narnia, which I thought at the time had been done with a fountain pen but were probably more complicated than that.Some I can actually name are all the obvious people like Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac’s early work, Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations for Alice in Wonderland and so on. Back then most illustrated books had a large number of inset black and white illustrations done in pen and ink, and a much smaller number of colour plates done in very highly rendered watercolour, so I copied that same style. (I’ve learned to use other media over time, but as a child I had the idea that ALL book illustrations were done that way and I happened to like those two methods so I didn’t really question it.)I was also very inspired by modern illustrators who work in the same style, like P. J. Lynch and Tony DiTerlizzi, or Alan Lee and John Howe who did some of the best-known illustrations for The Lord of the Rings.I should probably admit that I also learned a lot of my technique from a certain set of How To Draw Manga books that I’ve seen getting a lot of flak online, but actually do contain some good exercises. My dad went on a business trip to Japan when I was about 12 and brought back a couple of those and 2 volumes of Sailor Moon for my big sister, which she handed off to me when she got bored of them. I LOVED those books and still have them now! There’s some similarity in technique between manga and ‘Golden Age’ British illustration (believe it or not) so it’s not always clear to me which parts of my style come from which source.I hope that’s helpful. Sorry to have left this waiting for so long, I almost never get any asks so I feel bad for not seeing it!

Inktober 2017 : Day 21 - fineliner and felt tip Eventually the school agreed that Nettle should just sit out of P.E. lessons.

Sometimes I pause cartoons and sketch frames that appeal to me, I’m never sure if it’s good practice or a massive waste of time. I do it for fun though so I don’t suppose it matters. Practically every frame of Blue Diamond appeals to me so it’s a good thing she’s only had about 15 minutes of screen time so far.

Today on ‘I love spot colour and anime’, my two favourite pro heroes from My Hero Academia, Eraser Head and Present Mic. (Previously on ‘I love spot colour and anime’ - Hōzuki no Reitetsu)

Inktober 2017 : Day 24 - brush inking and coloured ink

Nat can do all sorts of magic, but generating fire has always come very naturally to him. I regretted not using coloured ink on day 1 every single time I saw the picture in my sketchbook, so I finally gave in and did another one with the same concept. Here’s the spot colour I think I should have used the first time!

A picture I did for @niuniente of her webcomic character Fuzzy, for her birthday a couple of months ago. I sent her the original so I didn’t want to post a scan until I knew it had arrived. I love drawing characters who are always in silhouette, it’s a challenge to make sure it reads correctly once the black is filled in. Fuzzy is a mysterious creature who lives in a temple, where a professional Seer named Irene tries to stay on top of her work while various magical forces try to entangle her and her shadowy guest in strange and opaque schemes. The webcomic runs on webtoons and tumblr if that sounds like your cup of tea!