One of the joys of the second phase is being introduced to people you weren’t really aware of and then being blown away by their extreme talent. One of these characters is ausven.
Ausven has brought a wonderful new dimension to the group and works seamlessly with others while having a distinctive style that makes you look several times to catch the detail you missed the first time you marveled at his work.
A hard working champion and a joy to work with.
What do you think you are going to bring to the Game of Kings Project?
I was aware of the project prior to being invited onboard.
I had began some correspondence with Si regarding his work ad became aware of it through him. I am a big fan of chess, although Ii don’t play so much now but the combination of the game and my other love of comic/fantasy art led to my secretly yearning that there would be a second project and Ii would be asked to be on board – and here I am!!!
Your opinion of the project so far?
I think….no…check that…I know… phase 2 is going to be something very special and very different to Phase 1. The scale is totally different, every image has the potential to be an absolute epic.
When Ii first received the scenes I would be illustrating I thought….shit….where do I start? But having battled on with thumbnail after thumbnail I have managed to complete my first piece and am chuffed with the outcome, I’m thinking so far so good.
A quick run down of your influences and achievements here on Red Bubble and the outside world?
I grew in London and have always loved comic and fantasy art, I used to play the Steve Jackson Fighting Fantasy role playing books and Dungeon and Dragons game with friends as a kid. In fact the first novel I ever read was the Hobbit when I think I was around 11 – so that kind of paved the way for my love of Fantasy. I used to collect Marvel comics avidly, and would always be in awe of artists such as Art Adams, John Byrne, John Romita Snr and Jnr, I guess these were major influences in my style today.
For several years I tossed and turned with what Ii wanted to do with my life, I have always loved my art but was put off pursuing comic and fantasy based stuff for a while after attending formal art school, formal training kind of beats the comic/fantasy style out of you. Instead Ii focused solely on my painting for a few years – my paintings tend to be more abstract.
However, Red Bubble has played a major part in re igniting my fire for the comic and fantasy art and the talents such as Si Sherry, Matt Dunn and Sturstein have really been a great encouragement for me. Once again I am thriving on what Ii am doing and because I am working along side such talents I am being pushed to move forward and drive my ability to new highs….which is very cool.
If you check out some of my earlier designs such as Si Fi Tragedy and compare it to later works such as The Colonial you can see how far my style has progressed over a year or so. And not just the style but also the technique and know how – I am really pleased with this and again I have the RB posse to thank.
I am now preparing a new portfolio to get out there to promote my comic/fantasy art and hope that this time next year I will be able to pretty much support myself working purely as an illustrator instead of a 9 – 5 with a lil illustration on the side.
I am now at a stage in my life where if I don’t make it happen I’m concerned I never will.
Anything you wish to flog?
Anyone or anything I want to flog? Do you mean sell? In Britain flog is slang for selling something. Or do you mean flog as in hit repeatedly with a length of knotted rope?
I’ll answer two in one – I have a length of rope with a knot in it I would be happy to sell to anybody who will use it to repeatedly hit the last two British prime ministers with.
Thank you for having me – not literally of course.
