Artist Interview: Greg Broadmore

The art

I’m fascinated with creating images, whether that medium is pixels or paint, I don’t care, it’s all about the image. Everything else is wank.

Greg’s initial foray into the world of digital art started with one of the very early versions of Photoshop: “I got a version of Photoshop 2 or 3 I think, I played around with that with a mouse. I didn’t embrace it until I got to Weta, where I was put in front of a wacom tablet and painter classic and photoshop and let loose. No going back after that.” It is evident in Greg’s workflow that digital tools will never be able to replace the aesthetic value of the pencil, and that digital tools are a means to an end in the illustrator’s working process. “Actually, I still love pencils, pens and paint. Photoshop is awesome, a lifetime of learning with just that as a tool. It’s could always get better mind. Painter classic and Artrage are fun, but I’m not concerned with replicating the effect of paint. I think I get this to a degree anyway by having learnt to illustrate with paint. Digital tools make it faster, sometimes lazier but you can see yourself doing this and counter it. Basically it offers up options that wouldn’t be available traditionally, those options don’t make an image better or worse, but they can make it different. And that’s always good. I don’t see any difference (apart from technical considerations) between traditional and digital art. They look different, and those differences are best, I think, when they are embraced. I’m fascinated with creating images, whether that medium is pixels or paint, I don’t care, it’s all about the image. Everything else is wank.”

This combination of digital and traditional tools are evident in Greg’s working methods, as he explains how he typically goes about creating an image: “It differs week by week, but in the simplest practical scheme: pencils (very quick and dirty) – scan – photoshop – smeary blurry multiply layers to build up colour and basic form – some hoary texture or five to break up the image and give my eye something interesting to find it might not have otherwise seen – then lots of semi to fully opaque pixels to shape and define the forms. Then backwards and forwards through those steps many times, sometimes I do some freak -out colour grade just to see the image differently. I find that the more I use straight forward brush strokes, and less tweaks and bullshit early on, the happier I am with the image. I’m always interested in finding new techniques, especially new ways to examine light and colour. I don’t use literal reference very often, in fact practically never, but to save time on concept work I do end up using photo elements to execute mundane or tedious parts of a picture (like a object or background or anything that doesn’t need designing). This is something I’d like to do less of and practically never appears in my personal work. It’s just not as much fun when you don’t touch every part of an image with your own pixels.”

Inspiration
Greg’s favourite artists are numerous and mostly include comic artists and illustrators. “Howard Pyle, N.C.Wyeth, Simon Bisley, Geof Darrow, Frank Frazzetta, Mike McMahon, William Stout, Rudolph Belarski, Bill Waterson, Katsuya Terada, Gil Elvgren, Charles R. Knight, Goldie, Jeffrey Jones, Zdenek Burian. I think the list could go on forever. I like a lot of different styles and techniques. And locally I’ve been inspired by Jeremy Bennett, Martin Emond, Gus Hunter, Simon Morse, Christian Pearce, and just about everyone I work with has shown me someway of creating an image I would never have thought about on my own.”

Daily inspiration seems to be an undulating entity, as Greg contemplates the question of how to stay inspired: “Good question, I have no idea. It goes up and down, from desert plain doldrums, to not being able to realise all the ideas in my head. Who knows how you keep it steady?”

Greg’s Single most important piece of professional advice:

“Draw Lots.”

Check out Greg’s website and Weta Workshop profile, where you can see more of his fantastic work -

Greg Broadmore – Personal website

Greg Broadmore – Weta Workshop Profile

The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island

Be sure to stop by and check out the Weta Originals raygun collection!

Weta Holics: Weta Originals Rayguns