Dan Mumford
Dan Mumford is a freelance illustrator and has been since 2007. His illustration style was described as 'alternative', which is best suited for music which is where he started off and is still working now. Dan has a huge interest in comic books and comic book art which derived from childhood, particularly Marvel, DC and 2000 AD (especially, because they are based within the UK). He has a strong fascination with both comics and movies, these are his main inspiration.
Big, unusual movies such as Alien, Blade Runner and The Fly he found highly inspiring because it gave him the idea and realisation that anything is possible within film.
He also has always had a deep love of music, being influenced by Punk, Metal and Hardcore mostly, and he finds music to be very important to him.
Dan Mumford studied in Brighton University between the years of 2004-2007. Here he found he was able to experiment greatly and was given many good opportunities within his study. During this time he was approached by a band whom he knew a member of, to work on their latest album cover with them.
The band, Gallows, asked Dan to work on their album 'Orchestra of Wolves'. He did so, designing the wolves illustrations for the cover shown below:
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| Dans artwork for the album Orchestra of Wolves by Gallows, found here |
The illustration originally did not have text on it at all for the cover, as it was important that it was all about the artwork and aesthetic for the band.
The musicians were soon after discovered by Warner Brothers, and Dan was then recurrently approached to work on the designs for the bands album covers, which was a brilliant thing for him. Designing the first cover for Orchestra of Wolves had a huge impact on the artist and his work.
After designing for Gallows, the artist was then greatly inspired to continue working for bands and brands within the music industry, wanting to collaborate with as many artists as possible. Recently, printing and designing artwork for merchandise and t-shirts has became more and more popular, because CD's themselves are not as popular as customers choose to download music more often today.
Working for artists within the music industry provided Dan with amazing opportunities, such as working alongside his favorite musicians. It also helped him to develop his own unique style, and the style which was more aimed at horror type art.
Dan Mumford was also given the opportunity to work on a spread for the band A Day to Remember, which for him opened his eyes a little bit, as he realised how much of a responsibility he had. This was due to so many young people being so strongly impacted by both the music and the artwork he was producing for the band. Many young people began contacting him with the hope to discover what the meaning behind his creations were.
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| His artwork for A Day To Remember, found here |
Growing vastly in popularity, people even began getting his work tattooed onto their bodies, which he claimed he found frightening but humbling - that people admired his work so strongly that they would want permanent pieces of his art on their bodies for the rest of their lives.
Dan decided to change his art style after he realised it was becoming so interchangeable and how many people were taking such a great amount of inspiration from it. Breaking away from his old style and separating himself helped him to begin enjoying creating art once more. He began creating black and white pieces with the only intention of creating beautiful art, and finding pleasure in not being weighed down by clients and working just for himself.
He was approached later by notice boards who requested he created designs for 3D items such as motorbike helmets. This opportunity for him was a fun one, whilst also giving him the chance to see his own work in new ways and forms, bringing with it new possibilities.
Dan was also approached to create movie posters for films such as The Fly, Friday the 13th and Wickerman, being a British classic. For this movie (Wickerman), he made a screen print which was greatly successful and used as a cinema poster and DVD cover.
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| His work for Wickerman, used as movie poster and DVD cover. Image found here |
Dan was given more and more opportunities to work for more and more people, movies and bands. He created his first gallery piece in an exhibition. He had never before this seen the point in gallery work because of the money side of things, but he proceeded with it as a charity event. This experience also opened up many new opportunities for him.
When discussing working for another artist of any kind, he advised us to try hard to enjoy whatever it is we're working on because when your hearts not in it, it becomes such a difficult task. Because of this, it is a good idea to create artwork for yourself alongside the work you're doing for others. Working for others though is a great opportunity above all as it is incredibly helpful for getting to know your personal strengths and weaknesses.
Dan Mumfords website: http://www.dan-mumford.com/
Drew Millward
The second artist we were introduced to this day was Drew Millward.
Drew discussed with us also how passions from his youth inspired his art work. Particularly the children's book 'Where The Wild Things Are'. This was his favourite book through childhood and although he did not realise it in the beginning, it had a huge impact and was of a great influence to his own creations.
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| Where The Wild Things Are, book cover found here |
He was also greatly inspired by the work of Peter Firmin, who created childrens TV shows such as Bagpuss and The Clangers. The filmwork for these shows he found to be hugely influential towards his practice, as he found the handmade DIY aesthetic to be 'enchanting'. Another childrens tv show he mentioned was Jamie and the magic torch, but overall he found many television shows and other things originating from this era, the 80s, very inspiring, purely based on how imaginative they were.
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| Image captured episode of Bagpuss, a show which strongly influenced Drews artwork. Found here |
Other things that influenced Drew Millwards work included things such as scary books from his childhood, music and his favorite bands.
Drew lived in Manchester originally, but moved to Leeds. Here his interest in punk music began which began to inspire his art style.
He studied a degree in Fine Art whilst living in Leeds, which he now sees as a mistake, feeling as though the three years he spent there were quite a waste of his time, but they did provide him with a wide range of opportunities and studying this course is where he began to develop his passion for gig posters. He discovered the artist Frank Kozik here, who quickly became an inspiration to his poster designs.
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| Example of Frank Kozik's poster work, found here |
His passion for poster design grew and grew, and he began getting approached by people who wanted posters being produced. Drawing for posters was new to him, as when he was studying in university he was taught not to draw, so he had to independently build up these skills. Like Dan, Drew was lucky enough to be in touch with band members. New gigs occurring meant that his musical friends were able to ask him to design posters for their gigs and bands.
Also similarly to Dan Mumford, Drew began to grow tired of his own work, and also began creating work for himself. He found greater success through taking risks. This gave him confidence to keep experimenting with his work and with his new found style.
Drew designed the Leeds International Beer Festival poster, as well as the Hartlepool Festival of Illustration poster, both shown below:
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| Drews design for Leeds, which I found here |
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| Drews design for Hartlepool, which I found here |
Drew is currently enjoying experimenting with his work, and had a solo show in Leeds on March 20th.
Both artists advised us to work with people that we actually want to work with, and informed us that if we are at any point interested in working for a particular artist or company, it is always best to contact them independently. It is also a good idea when doing this to link them to your work, so they can immediately see what you have to show.
We were also told that we could be contacted at any time by any company to produce work for them if they have seen what we are capable of and admired our work.
I found meeting these artists very inspiring, because not only did it introduce me to new artists whose work I admire, I was able to get some advice and points to remember for both now and my future as an illustrator, and it has also once again inspired me, because both of these artists were once at the point that I am at now, unsure of where they are headed exactly. It has taught me to keep going with my practice because opportunities can arise at the most unlikely times.
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