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Fraser Interview Part 1
 Simon
Fraser is best known for his work on Nikolai Dante, the Russian rogue, who's
"too cool to kill". A co-creator of the series, together with writer
Robbie Morrison, Fraser's easily recognisable style fits the series like a glove,
with some of the most instantly recognisable characters to hit the magazine in
years. Dante has become one of the the highpoints of the 2000AD's recent history,
and looks set to remain one for a good while yet.
We caught up with Fraser
to put a few questions to him about his background, drawing style and plans for
the future.
What was your
inspiration for getting into comics, and did you have any training?
My inspiration
for getting into comics was...comics! I read a lot as a kid and it slowly dawned
on me that some people out there made a living drawing this stuff....what a great
job! Also Roger Kettle who is the writer of 'Beau Peep' and 'a Man Called Horace'
is a family friend so he showed me it was possible.
What tools do you use
on the job?
A number of automatic
pencils, I have a large collection of them now and use the one that best suits
my mood. Steel Pen nibs, dipped into Indian Ink, they may be old fashioned but
nobody has come up with a more expressive and capable tool for drawing black and
white lines. The best new ones are Japanese, but a number of antique nibs are
very good, it can be tricky to find good ones as most modern nibs are nasty. A
sable brush for filling in spaces, Windsor & Newton series 7 Sables are the
best but they are often kept very badly in shops and the point is broken , so
be careful when buying one that it still comes to a good point.
I'm using Photoshop 7 more
and more to finish off my artwork. All colour is done with PS and sometimes I
ink with it too, it depends on the result I'm looking for.
You first started working
with 2000AD drawing Shimura in the Megazine. How did you get your first assignment?
I was working on
another Fleetway publication 'Roy of the Rovers' which was actually a very difficult
job for me to get as the Editor knew that I wasn't that interested in Football,
so he was reluctant to hire me. From there I did a couple of full colour Dredd
samples for Dave Bishop and he gave me the Shimura job.
 In
Nikolai Dante, there is an extreme level of detail in the futuristic Russian Architecture.
What kind of research (if any) did you use to achieve this?
I got a couple
of books on Imperial Russia, then I asked all my Russian friends to send me postcards
when they went back to Moscow. After a while I'd drawn so many onion domes that
I could pretty much make it all up in a kind of Russian style.
You've moved
away from colouring your own work. Is there a particular reason for this?
I haven't coloured
my own stuff much since episode 3 of Dante, there just wasn't time for me to draw
and colour. Alison Kirkpatrick is an old friend and she stepped in and did a great
job on all the early Dante then I got another friend, Gary Caldwell, to take over.
I don't mind not colouring if I trust the person doing it and both Gary and Ally
are very good.
I'll be doing more
of my own colouring in the future as I am working on a book which will be in a
kind of full painted style....which I'm writing too.
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