Inspiration from the web…

DreamState

Jamie Todd and Scott McGregor Moore (Scott M2), two good friends of mine, whom I met in Toronto, They formed DreamSTATE as a result of their love of experimental and ambient music.

It is a Canadian ambient music project known for their soundscape installations and early live ambient performances. Their soundscapes combine electronic music processes with found sounds and range from light to dark ambient.

Bill Sienkiewicz

Bill Sienkiewicz is one of my favourite comics artists and illustrators. Over his extensive career he has illustrated most of the major characters and personalities in this genre. His work is remarkable because he draws influences and references from many artistic styles and has explored the concept of graphical storytelling quite creatively. His work is quite detailed and is famous for his use of different media and mixing many graphical styles in the creation of his “pages”.

Frank Miller

An artist who is without a doubt one of the most influential of his time. This writer-artist is famous for creating seminal works such as The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil: Born Again, 300, Sin City and Electra Lives Again. He is another of my faves, my earliest recollection were the landmark Daredevil comics which featured dark and moody themes as well as introducing Elektra, Stick and the Ninja’s of the Hand.

Travis Charest

Travis Charest is a Canadian comic book artist, best known for his interior and cover art for Wildcats and covers for Star Wars. His artwork demonstrates a love for detail, strong lines and subtle use of colour. A fan favourite and much sought-after artist for covers and at conventions – His covers and art are often very dramatic and sometimes touch on the humourous.

Neville Brody

Neville Brody is perhaps the best known graphic designer of his generation. He studied graphic design at the London College of Printing and first made his way into the public eye through his record cover designs for artists such as Cabaret Voltaire and Depeche Mode in the early 1980s. In 1981 he became typographer, graphic designer, and art director of The Face magazine, where his ground-breaking work earned him international praise.

The Ambient Ping

Since 2000, Scott and Jamie have also been curating THE AMBiENT PiNG (Toronto’s long running live ambient music event) as a garden for new ambient music growth in the city and a welcoming spot for touring ambient performers from across the continent. Very cool stuff and well worth a visit.

In the early days, I was their official photographer and worked with Jamie on promoting the event.

Dave McKean

David “Dave” McKean is another of my favourite artists. his work encompasses many types of media he is a comic book artist, graphic designer, illustrator, photographer and filmmaker as well as a musician. His work embraces a multimedia approach which incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art and sculpture.

Jeffrey Catherine Jones

When I was in my teens, and still at secondary school here in London, I and a group of friends had developed a passion for fantasy art and comics. I picked up a book called “The Studio” which featured four artists: Jeffrey Jones, Barry Windsor-Smith, Michael Kaluta and Berni Wrightson. Of these artists, Jeffrey Jones was my favourite because the art spoke to me on a level which echoed my passion for the historical and romantic in ART. Whilst my early influences were from Graeco-Roman history and mythology, “The Studio” was to introduce me to celtic mythology and its influences.

Ever since then I’ve had a love for Celtic art, crafts and mythology, and also for Arthurian legends. Much of this passion for art has manifested itself in a passion for collecting art books and artistically rendered comics. Jeffrey Jones is an amazing artist who has inspired many a young person to start their own journeys in art

Rick Berry

Rick Berry is a digital artist whose work I have enjoyed for a long time. He works in a style which features a strong technorganic quality an is an award winning artist whose illustrations have featured on the covers of many comics and fantasy and science fiction novels. His work can be found at his personal portal Rick Berry Studio and has been featured in books by Stephen King, William Gibson and Steve Perry.

Barry Windsor-Smith

Artist, writer, and graphic storyteller Barry Windsor-Smith, is on  e of my favourite creators and someone who I have followed as an artist for well over 40 years. This link takes you to his website presenting news and biographical information, original art and prints for sale, and an extensive selection of published and never-before-seen current and classic art, comics, and texts from throughout an acclaimed career
spanning five decades.

Mike Mignola

Another of my faves, his unique style, sometimes know as “Spotting the Black” is quite powerful and very distinctive. He is known for creating Hellboy, B.P.R.D. and other titles published by Dark Horse Comics including Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien, The Amazing Screw-On Head and many others.

Michael Kaluta

Michael William Kaluta is another one of my early artistic inspirations. His career as an illustrator has spanned over 4 decades. He first became famous for his work on The Shadow comic book in the early 1970’s. His fantasy art prints were what attracted me, as well as his association with other “The Studio” members, Jones, Wrightson, Windsor-Smith. His more recent works include producing some beautiful covers for many of DC’s Vertigo Imprint such as The Books of Magic and fantasy related titles. His love of Art Nouveau and Deco Art is evident in his works as is his penchance for fairies, angels and other denizens of the world of myths, legends and fantasy. His eye for interesting composition and design is second to none.

Ashley Wood

Another of my favourite artists is Ashley Wood, who is well know for his work on titles like Spawn, Popbot, Lore and Automatic Kafka. His work hints at nightmares and dreams, mixes mechanisms with sexual imagery and looks more like fine art than what most comics fans would associate with conventional sequential art. He is a three-time Spectrum Award winner and a two-time Communication Arts award winner.