How long have you been doing professional pencil art?
I don't know if I'd call myself professional. I have a separate, full time job and only draw/sell my work in my own time. However, I have been doing this since before I left school in 1985, so nearly 40 years.
Is fantasy your main art genre?
I draw the characters in the movies I like to watch, which are mainly Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, especially the old Universal stuff. However, my main interest is actually folklore and mythology — a lot of what I do involves the re-imagining of the characters and archetypes from myths and legends. The most important thing for me is to just draw faces — to re-create or create an individual, someone whose eyes I can look into and see a soul looking back.
Your art is highly lifelike, and very detailed. How do you achieve this level of depth?
Well, I try to draw as accurately as possible, to an extent at least. I like my drawings to be detailed, but not TOO detailed, and to still look like a pencil drawing. I work over and over them, layer after layer, for 7-8 hours on average, until I'm happy with the result. I put most of the detail in and around the eyes, nose and mouth, the bits I find most interesting, and generally fade out the other areas to keep the focus on this central area.
Out of all the major fiction works out there, both book and film (LOTR, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.) what is your favorite?
To draw, probably LOTR. You have the heroic types I like to depict, and also tones of monsters. I can draw monsters all day long. I also love to draw characters from the original Star Wars films, which really influenced me as a kid. To watch however, Star Trek is my thing, with MCU a close second.
Lately there have been all kinds of AI apps that create pencil sketches. As an artist, what would you say is one thing you can do that such an app cannot replicate?
An AI image is only a virtual image, and at best can only be printed out. There is no original, physical drawing. That's what they can't replicate.
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