As she readies a major career retrospective in London, the creator of Tamara Drewe and Gemma Bovery looks back on a life in comic strips.
When did your passion for comic illustration begin?
I made comics when I was really small. I can remember being really pleased drawing little men carrying buttons and writing in text balloons. I was so fascinated by comics because there were so many in my house when I was growing up, particularly ones by Ronald Searle and in old copies of Punch. [My comics] started out mostly of things like animals but, when I was about eight years old, they became really quite violent. I can remember one involving lots of people being bumped off called Bullet Vengeance.
What inspired that particular strip?
There was an American base close to my village and the children of the soldiers went to my school. They would give me their comics once they had finished reading them, including copies of Superman and Spiderman, but there were always a few horror comics thrown in. I can remember my mother being horrified when she found me reading one.
What made you first consider art as a vocation?
Denne historien er fra July 2019-utgaven av Artists & Illustrators.
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Denne historien er fra July 2019-utgaven av Artists & Illustrators.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Still life IN 3 HOURS
Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn
Movement in composition
Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement
Shane Berkery
The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio
The Working Artist
Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work
Washes AND GLAZES
Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING
Hands
LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands
Vincent van Gogh
To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display
BRING THE drama
Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene
Serena Rowe
The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall
Bill Jacklin
Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration
