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<\/a>Managing to finally catch the busy bee, I get him to let us in on his personal creative world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m a self-taught artist.\u201c he informs me. \u201cI\u2019d always\nbeen into comics as a kid, especially 2000AD and other less mainstream comics\nas opposed to superheroes. I\u2019d also always been into drawing but only for my\nown pleasure and not for public consumption as I wasn\u2019t really that good at it.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Following a degree in Biology he met a friend who he subsequently ended up living with and started producing designs for his punk band\u2019s posters, flyers and t-shirts. From here he took drawing a lot more seriously and endeavoured to improve his drawing skills going on to produce posters for one of the local venues in Bristol and self-publishing \u2018fan-zines’ of his work. At the end of the summer of 1998 he decided to move from Bristol to Cornwall to teach himself how to draw \u2018properly\u2019 and spent six years drawing all day everyday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cHaving traveled around a bit,\u201d he continues, \u201cI moved to Brighton where I have continued self-publishing, culminating in an A3 coffee table edition of my work and many large scale murals around Brighton, initially all done in marker pens, paint brushes and \u2018Tippex\u2019, but more recently large scale paste-ups. I\u2019ve exhibited successfully and continue try to improve my skills by pushing myself as hard as I can both technically and in the issues addressed in my work. More recently following breaking my hand, which made it impossible to draw, I have taught myself how to make pop-up books.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Biology degree he did had a big influence on his work in terms of the attention to detail in all the aspects covered on the course. In terms of artists that have influenced Etienne the most, Geof Darrow (Hard Boiled) is a strong contender. \u201cI was blown away by his work when I was a teenager. Some of, if not the most, detailed artwork ever to appear in comics.\u201d he tells me. \u201cIan Miller has been another big influence, again incredibly detailed work, but also really quite dark and unnerving. His draughtsmanship is incredible. I also have the privilege of calling him a friend. Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) is also an influence, again in terms of detail but also in his sense of world building, storytelling and mechanical design. The artists on 2000AD of the early 80\u2019s have also been a huge influence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n