The art
1) First off, how long have you been drawing?

I think it's fair enough to say that i've been drawing ever since I was little, it was always something I enjoyed doing at school. In fact I used to draw digrams and things in my school books instead of writing about them! I used to get told off about it.

2) And what inspired youto first start drawing?

That really is a hard question! I think disney inspired me to draw as I used to copy disney
characters alot. Animals and nature are also one of the things that first got me drawing. I never
used to like drawing people!

3) What were the first things you ever drew, were they dragons?

Alas I did not start drawing dragons until I was 16. The first things I remember drawing are animals such as horses, dogs and cats. I was really into Whales and dolphins and got quite good at drawing them too.

4) What made you want to draw dragons?

I had a dream about this sleeping dragon and for my project at sixth form I had to make a sculpture and I knew instantly that I had to make the dragon from my dream. The film Harry potter had just been released and so he got called Norbert after that. I hadn't really drawn many dragons untill
then, a few chinese ones so I had to do lots of reasearch. I began copying dragon statues such as land of dragons and Enchantica before finally being able to draw dragons without any reference.
So if it wasn't for that dream I had I doubt I would have ever started drawing dragons.

5) What emotions do you add to your drawings?

Eek another hard question. It all depends on the subject really. For instance the mother and baby dragon I really wanted to convey the emotion of love and caring in that piece and I hope I did!

The Artist
6) Your favourite dragon if you have one? This can either be aspecific dragon or just a picture you've seen.

Oh it has to be Gorbash from flight of dragons because that really was the first story I saw that heavily featured dragons when I was really young. I still get nostolgic when I see that film.

7) Do you have any special things you like do to while or before drawing to help give youinspiration?

Music helps. I listen to power metal bands such as Sonata artica for inspiration but sometimes
it can be too over powering so in that case I have some meditative CDs which I have put on while
I've painted.

8) Have you done any courses in art of any sort?

A long list! I took A-level in art and then went on to do a two year national diploma in art and design followed by a three year course in Illustration. I also use alot of on-line tutorials so I am always learning new techniques.

9) What is your favoured medium when it comes to your art?(eg pencil, oil pants etc)

I am a digital artist and love using my computer skills to create very vivid colourful images. I also
like using marker pens and watercolour.

10) Tell us a little bit about the stages you go throughwhile drawing your pictures.

It has to start with a image on my mind. If I can reproduce that image it is a bonus! I have a sketch book where I can work out roughs for a piece and then when I'm happy I transfer this image on to
A4 paper in pencil. I used to go round this image in fineline, but I skip this step now. Once the
image is drawn I scan it in at quite high resolustion and then begin working on it in photoshop
using my wacom tablet and pen. My images are worked on in layers. So I'll have a background
layer which will have a scale layer over that and a shadow layer over that and so on. I's very much like cel art for animation.

11) List a few ofyour other interests apart from drawing.Is drawing your full time job? If not,what do you do?

I am interested in VW buses and have created a children's book based on this vechile which I hope will get published. I am also interested in Japanese manga (comics) and anime (animations) and I think this influence can be seen in my art work. Unfortunetly drawing is not my full time job as much as I hope it will one day. I work part time at a restaurant and craft shop at the moment.

12) Who is yourfavourite artist?

I have many which I would consider being great influences to me. John Howe, Nene Thomas, Brian Froud and Peter Pracownik to name a few.

13) Anythingelse you would like to add?

Yes! I am open for commissions! I need the money.