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¦ Features ¦ Steve
Yeowell
Interview Part 1
 PART
1 |
3rd
February 04 |
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Batman
from Legends of the Dark Knight |
Since
his work on Zenith, Steve Yeowell has been a consistent fan favourite and one
of the most unique artists to appear in 2000 AD. His work has an unmistakable
feel to it that harkens back to classic comic book storytelling with its fluid
linework. One of the few artists to easily carry off both colour and black &
white artwork, he's recently come back to the comic in style with The Red Seas,
co created with Ian Edginton.
We start with the
usual question for artists...
What tools do
you use on the job, and have you had any training?
For most freehand
line work I use a dip pen (Gillot 404 nib) and a Windsor & Newton Series 7
No.3 sable brush. For filling in I use a largish Nylon brush - I can’t tell
you the exact make and size because I've been using it so long most of the paint
and markings have worn off the handle. The sable brush, by contrast, gets replaced
every couple of months on average. I use Rotring pens of various sizes for any
mechanical looking ruled lines and things like panel borders, occasionally using
them for drawing freehand too. I've started using marker pens again for various
bits and pieces - Faber Castell Pitt Artist's pens (recommended by Duncan Fegredo
and Sean Phillips) which use Indian rather than a spirit based ink. I think I
ought to stress at this point that it's important for aspiring artists to try
out as many different tools as possible to find what they feel comfortable with,
rather than stick to anyone else's list of favourites.
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Judge
Dredd |
Paper - For 2000AD
I'm currently using Daler Rowney Heavyweight Cartridge Paper (hot press surface,
220gm weight). DC and Marvel supply their own board. DC can supply two types:
a coarse surface which is slightly too coarse and a smooth surface which is slightly
too smooth!
When I was painting
covers I worked on either Oram And Robinson Watercolour board or the same company's
Fine Pen Board. Both had a strippable surface so the image could be wrapped around
a Laser separator drum. It's been so long since I've done any painting that I
gave away what I had left of those boards to my Mum when she started her art evening
classes a couple of years back, and I’m not sure if O & R exist any
more so I've no idea what I'd work on now.
My art education
background was in 3D design (silversmithing and jewellery) which I studied at
Sheffield City Polytechnic. I kind of drifted into it at the time as I had no
real idea what I wanted to do. While in Sheffield I started reading comics again
for the first time in years, first Epic Illustrated, then 2000AD, then mainstream
American titles, Warrior etc etc. As if by magic I started drawing again in my
spare time for my own pleasure, something I'd completely stopped doing (when I
was younger I'd drawn constantly). Seduced by the idea of working in a spare bedroom
rather than going to the expense of setting up a metal working shop I decided
comics would be a great way to make a living.
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Zenith |
How did you
get your first job in comics, and how did you start in 2000AD?
My first meeting
with a proper comics pro was with Bryan Talbot at Media Scene in Sheffield. There
also to meet him with portfolio under arm was Matt Brooker (D'Israeli). Bryan
told us both about The Society Of Strip Illustration (now The
Comic Creator's Guild) and suggested we join. At their regular
meetings at The
London Sketch Club you had the opportunity to rub shoulders with
the then Great and Good of Comics Creatordom. By this time I'd moved back to my
Parent's in Harlow, Wessex, had a temporary job at Harlow Technical College as
a Workshop Technician and in my spare time was writing and drawing a science fiction
strip (Hawker) for semi-pro (in other words no money) small press mag Totally
Alien.
In the way that
one thing leads to another, I took over from Mike Collins and Mark Farmer on Lieutenant
Fl'ff in Swiftsure, worked on a strip for a dummy comic David Lloyd was
putting together for IPC - the writer of which was one Grant Morrison, helped
out John Higgins on a half page strip he was producing for music magazine The
Street, filled in for Kev Hopgood on Zoids - again written by Morrison,
and got offered the regular Zoids gig when Kev moved on to Action Force. Meanwhile
Grant had been putting Zenith together with Brendan McCarthy for 2000AD. When
Brendan decided he wasn't able to commit to the series I was second choice. Fortunately
for me, Zoids weekly had been wrapped up and the proposed American monthly had
come to nothing so I was filling in on other strips (Action Force, Thundercats)
and was in a position to take it.
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Devlin
Waugh |
Your work in
2000AD and elsewhere has been both extremely prolific and varied, taking in a
large number of genres. What do you look for to interest you in a strip?
The work's been
varied because I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to draw a lot of different
things and I've only ever turned work down on the grounds that I couldn't meet
the deadline. All I'm looking for in a strip now is a certain indefinable something
that piques my interest. When I started out I only really wanted to draw the kind
of fan favourite material that was appearing then, but with what I suppose you
could call professional experience I’ve become far more interested in the
craft of the thing and I’m happy working in any genre. That said I do enjoy
costume dramas particularly, and I'd love to draw an, er, love comic.
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