Author Archives: amy

Martin from Blank Slate Books sent over Nick Edwards latest work, a comic entitled Dinopopolous – and I think Nick is a genius! While he’s still studying, he’s also balancing it with professional illustration works for clients.

Read on for a quick little interview I did with him:

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you got into comics?

My name is Nick Edwards and I am currently studying Illustration at Brighton. I got into comics when I was about 11 and a friend in the year above lent me a copy of Squee (issue four) and it blew my mind. I’d read a lot of superhero comics up until that point, but a B&W comic made by just one person was just so appealing to me. I immediately started making my own terrible comics, done just in pencil. With the help of the internet I learnt a lot more about craft and got feedback on my work. Later on alt comics by people like Jim Woodring, Crumb and Dave Cooper mixed with other lively “all-ages” comics like Tintin, Krazy Kat and Dragon Ball (to name a few) would really influenced my way of thinking about comics.

I just read your latest comic – Dinopopolous. Could you tell me how the idea for the story came about?

I’d been doodling this boy and his dinosaur character for a while and when I heard from Blank Slate that they wanted to publish a comic by me I just grabbed that idea and ran with it. Most of the comic is planned, but long stretches were just made up on the spot. I like working that way. I hope it reads as being energetic and packed with detail as I intended.

What’s your process like, and what/who are you inspired by?

I tend to doodle and sketch around characters and stories for a while. It can take a year or a few months to nail a story down in my head. When I’ve got some of it laid out I tackle each page as it comes, changing things all the time. I use a mechanical pencil and a Hunt 102 nib with india ink. I’m very inspired by the comic artists I mentioned earlier, but I really love film, cartoons and music just as much as I love comics. Recently I’ve been re-watching Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, which are completely insane and incredible. I’ve also been listening to a lot of metal like Melvins, Metallica, Sabbath and Sleep.

You’re currently studying while illustrating professionally. How do you juggle the two?

With difficulty! I’ve really been feeling it recently. I’m not in a position where I can turn down jobs, so doing both successfully just means I can’t play as much videogames and drink as much beer. Real first world problems.

You’ve worked on character design for Disney TV and also published titles under small publishers – which is your favorite project so far and why?

I think Dinopopolous just because it’s mine. One of the best things about small press comics is the amount of creative control. Johnny Ryan’s “Prison Pit” is a good example of something that couldn’t really exist anywhere else (although it’d make an awesome animation) and its entirely his creation and his amazingly violent and filthy mind. The project I’m most excited about, though, is always my next project. If all goes well it’ll be a story about a beetle in a vast unforgiving universe with lots of monsters and jungles and lazer swords.

Can you email us a picture (or two) of your working studio? And perhaps a few shots of your sketchbooks?

Sure!

What advice do you have for people who are looking to follow in your footsteps?

The usual. Draw every day. Draw for yourself. Keep healthy. Don’t listen to the haters and don’t believe the hype! Also watch a lot of cartoons and buy lots of comics.

——————

Thanks Nick!

You can get flip through a preview and pre-order Nick’s latest comic – Dinopopolous over at Blank Slate Books !

I am fascinated by Portugal-based artist Joao Rodrigues’ ‘Perspective of a Dead Nature’ series and also his studies and renderings of trees, particularly Bad Nature – a linocut print inspired by the forces of nature, and how we are destroying nature by feeding into the greed of others.

You can see more on his Etsy shop, and also his portfolio website.

I know it’s been awhile, but I’m so pleased to announce the launch of a new zine under our Pikabooks label!

Artist Kelly Lasserre has produced a beautiful 28-page zine called Oh Won’t You Come On In, filled with drawings of her most prized possessions that she doesn’t want to live without. Best of all, with each purchase of the zine, we’ll donate one new book to children in need via First Books.

We did an interview with Kelly on her book and what’s next for her!

Hi Kelly! Tell us a little bit more about yourself!
Oh boy, that’s a big one. Well, I’m an artist and illustrator that focuses on hand drawn letters, telling stories, the horrors and humor of life. I love that I am able to share my honesty and neuroses with other people through making things. I’m always on the lookout for a good laugh, a perfect weather day and an outstanding bloody mary.

Tell us about the zine – what was in your mind when you started drawing the items?
I have always been really excited about the objects that I have acquired over the years. I had previously toyed with the idea of documenting them all, but there are just too many, so I decided to do the several that are featured here for the zine. Once I got it in my head, there was really no going back. I love that these little things have a history, they came from some place, I chose them for some reason and I remember how and where I got them. They each have a story, and however simple or involved the stories may be, I now associate these things with different times, important people, a myriad of feelings and long lost places in my life. A lot of them make me feel quite sad, actually.

What/who are you inspired by?
I am fascinated by all of the people, behaviors, overwhelming beauty and nonsense in the world, mostly. Sure, I draw some inspiration from certain artists, illustrators, musicians, history and specific cultures, but for the most part, it is just being a part of this life each day. The way people act and treat each other, the reality that the ocean is so terrifying and wonderful, the fragility of human life and being here on this earth, the things people write on the stalls of bar bathrooms, the fact that animals are truly insane when you stop to think about it, that humans can create buildings, babies, hearing aids, music, airplanes, murder, complicated machines, etc. These things are not lost on me, and I don’t take much for granted, this place is amazing and really scary.

What’s next for you?
Haha, Interesting timing for this question. As you know, I just “moved” to Brooklyn on Monday so this is a potentially loaded response that I will not overwhelm you poor people with. That being said, I am in a coffee shop using the internet, looking for a job, and pretty upset that they are playing Bon Jovi. Aside from that, I am going to continue making art and working with nice folks on exciting illustration projects (if all goes according to plan!) 😀

{Thanks Kelly! Her zine, Oh Won’t You Come On In is only available in a limited edition of 100 copies!}