The Darker Path – Interview with Artist Alex Boyd

Cover Art by Alex Boyd

I asked Games Workshop artist, and creator of the cover art for Asurmen: The Darker Road – Alex Boyd – to answer a few questions about his work.

Alex’s pictures will be familiar to anyone who has been part of the hobby for the last twenty years or so, with his work gracing the Battlefleet Gothic & Inquisitor rulebooks, all Warhammer 40,000 editions since 3rd, and a whole host of Codexes from Eldar, Dark Angels, Tau, Tyranids and Blood Angels to name but a few, as well as a similarly impressive body of work for the Warhammer universe(s).

How would you describe your painting process? Do you have firms ideas of the finished image or do you focus the ideas as you are painting?

My painting style was always to make a mess first and tidy it up as I worked through. With traditional mediums this was about quick dip pen drawing and ink washes then working over in opaque paints. I love the accidents that happen with washes and the monsters that form out of the shadows. I always have an idea of the main characters and the feelings that I am trying to get across – the power of space marines, the speed of elder, the horror of chaos or tyranids – that sort of thing, but around that things change and ideas develop especially on the verges of the painting.

I originally painted the Asurman picture in black and white ink taken directly from the figure [you can see this image in the gallery below], the illustration was later tidied up (a bit) and coloured digitally. I always most enjoyed exploring the darker side of the imperium of man – the strange characters like servitors that supported the characters and soldiers – all of the stuff that adds depth to 40k that would never get made as a military figure for the tabletop, but you know dwell in the shadows and behind the scenes of the world – things like the black ships and inquisitor courts.

Drawing of Alex from Inquis Exterminatus

You’ve drawn and painted thousands of images for Games Workshop over the years. I’m not going to ask you to pick a favourite, but is there a subject or theme you like the most – for example, the Imperium, or sweeping landscape scenes, or figure vignettes?

I still have fond memories of doing illustrations for the Inquisitor game. I find I most enjoy and engage with a picture when I make up a story in my head first and then illustrate that, like illustrating an important still in a sequence. Even with a single figure you can imagine say the moment the hero thinks he has defeated the last foe and is standing over the body only to turn and see an even bigger enemy running from cover to attack. In your head you then start to imagine the tension in the pose and the expression that would come over their face.

Is there anything particular you think of when painting eldar, as opposed to, say, orks or space marines? What ideas are you looking to convey about them?

One of the things I like about Asurman and eldar in general, is the inscrutable masks. Especially with things like the harlequin there is something horrific about the emotionless nature of the eldar in battle (I always thought the web spinner weapons and monofilament weapons were truly horrifying). Compared to the other races you always have to think about graceful shapes and dynamics with eldar, the curves of the armour and their vehicles help with this.

Alex’s has been painting his ork army for many years – there’s a lot more than this!

In the ancient days when I was still working in the design Studio, you had an awesome orks army for 40K. Do you still have a special spot for the greenskins, or has another faction caught your eye in recent years?

I still have my ork army – it’s growing and being constantly repainted and messed around with. I recently took my old dreads and kans and updated them with the new models weapons and bitz. I don’t get as much time these days to convert, paint and play as I would like, but still enjoy the occasional dinner break hobbying.

Huge thanks to Alex for taking the time to answer my questions – you can see more of his work below.

If you’ve found this interesting, you may also like to see my artist interviews with Neil Roberts (Horus Heresy), Akim Kaliberda (Azrael), Mike “Daarken” Lim (Asurmen: The Hand of Asuryan), and Victor Manuel Leza (The Beast Arises series including The Emperor Expects and The Beast Must Die).

Buy Asurmen: The Darker Path

**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**

Please Feel Free to Share: