This Time it's an Illustrator Interview!!

Okay, so not only is this the first time I've interviewed an illustrator, it is also the first time I've interviewed my brother. We've actually been collaborating on and off for over twenty years (anyone remember the comic book?), and now we find ourselves in the realm of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Enjoy the interview and we'll let you determine which of us is Sherlock and which is Mycroft. Hopefully, you don't find either of us to be Moriarty.

1. You are part of a long line of artists who have visually brought Sherlock Holmes to life on the page. How did you go about capturing the look of the great detective for The Amazing Airship Adventure?


I thought, “what do I think of, when I think of what Holmes looks like”? Thin. Wiry. Severe. Professional. Analytical. Suit and tie. You know --- Jeremy Brett! I’d just finished watching the entire run of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett, so that version of the character had, and still has, a major influence on my work on The MacDougall Twins. To me, it’s the one series that comes closest to realizing Doyle’s vision of Holmes and his world --- although there are many other fantastic adaptations out there.



I also had fun playing around with the look. I’m not Sydney Paget; my style tends to be very cartoony/caricaturish. So, my Holmes isn’t just thin, he’s impossibly thin. Oversized head --- although that probably comes from The Hound of the Baskervilles, where Dr. Mortimer goes on and on about how he loves the shape of Holmes’ skull. And if his eyes bulge right off of his face, so be it. This series is meant to be fun, and that includes the artwork, too! So there you go – my version looks like Guy Smiley mixed with Jack Skellington. Let the lawsuits begin.


2. You provided the cover illustrations for both volumes of A Study in Terror as well as all of the artwork for The Amazing Airship Adventure. Which piece of artwork was the most difficult for you to create? Which piece is your favorite?


The cover to the first volume of A Study in Terror was probably the most difficult, if only because it was unlike anything I’d ever drawn before. I knew right away that the cover had to reference "The Horror of the Heights." The image of a biplane soaring through the air, as dozens of hungry tendrils pulsed towards it… brrrr! I researched all sorts of images of planes from that time period, and sketched the artwork from the side and overhead views before settling on the finished piece. I also reread my reprints of EC Comics’ Aces High --- a five issue series with amazing artwork by Bernie Krigstein, Wally Wood, Jack Davis, etc; and especially George Evans.



I’m much better at drawing cartoon characters than I am at drawing machinery or buildings, so it’s always a challenge when your scripts call for a particular kind of horse-drawn carriage, or an airship, or a building. I’ll take a curve over a straight line any day! I welcome the challenge, though – it’s the only way to improve!


I recently finished a piece for the first chapter of The Attack of the Violet Vampire, where we see Mr. & Mrs. MacDougall sitting in a carriage. There’s nothing particularly detailed about that shot, but for some reason, it took me twice as long to complete that image as anything else I’ve ever done. Sometimes you’re firing on all cylinders; sometimes you’re just out of gas. Either way, the work still has to be done.


My favorite piece so far is the group shot of the MacDougalls, Holmes, Watson and Mrs. Hudson staring out of the window at an airship flying down Baker Street. I didn’t think that it was important to see the airship; to me, the story was happening in everyone’s reaction to this impossible flying machine. Holmes is the center image; analyzing every detail of the situation while everyone around him is either startled, astonished or outright terrified. I think that image works really well, and I thought it might be good to use as the front cover. Hey, it looks great on the back of the book!


Still… my favorite piece is the one I’ll draw tomorrow. That one’s always my favorite.


3. For A Study in Terror Volume 1, your article was an interview with Christopher Penczak on how there are a growing number of people in the world that have the same or similar spiritual beliefs as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What most surprised you about your findings?


The thing that surprised me the most was that Chris agreed to be interviewed! He’s VERY busy with his writing, his ministry and his public speaking, so I was grateful that he was able to answer my questions.


What I really found surprising wasn’t so much about how spiritualism is still alive and well today – I mean, it’s all over the place. You can buy a Tarot card deck at Barnes & Noble, or a Ouija board at Toys R Us. There are people who don’t believe in any of that, but will still read their horoscopes online everyday, you know? No, it was learning how much Doyle’s beliefs cost him, both personally and professionally. By the end of his life, Doyle had been skewered in the press. An image I kept seeing was an editorial cartoon of Doyle with his head literally in the clouds. That was how people viewed the creator of Sherlock Holmes. His friendship with Harry Houdini suffered… it was very disheartening to read about this. We all want our heroes to have happy endings, but that’s not always the case.



4. Sydney Paget is the best known Sherlock Holmes artist because of his phenomenal work in The Strand. Is there another artist whose depiction of Sherlock Holmes you feel really admire? What makes their depiction stand out?



I always liked the way that Kevin O’Neill drew the great detective in the first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novel series. Holmes just has a very brief appearance at the Reichenbach Falls with Professor Moriarity, but everything’s there – the physique, the clothing, the body language. O'Neill also does a great job with Moriarity and later on, with Mycroft Holmes. As a fan of comic book art, I like to wonder about how other artists would have portrayed Holmes. I’d think Eddie Campbell would be absolutely perfect for the job. His work on the graphic novel From Hell sets the standard for capturing Victorian England. Can you imagine a Sherlock Holmes as rendered by Berni Wrightson? Kelley Jones? Shawn McManus? Jae Lee? Dave Sim? Mike Mignola? I really could go on all day like this. Alan Davis and Paul Neary did a great job portraying a team up between a VERY old Sherlock Holmes and Batman…


I have to mention the graphic novel Baker Street: Honour Among Punks by Gary Reed and Guy Davis. It’s an alternate world setting, where Holmes and Watson are young female punks. The story’s a real departure from the canon, but the artwork still captures the spirit of the original Doyle work.


5. You may be an illustrator, but you still get the question. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have one Sherlock Holmes story, which would it be and why?


That’s tricky. Part of the appeal of the Sherlock Holmes canon for me are the variety of the stories. When I read these adventures, I don’t just read one story, I’ll read a few in a row. It really gives the sense that you’re reading about someone’s life, and that we’re just getting the highlights as told to us by Watson.


That being said…. Hmmmm….


Okay. Although my favorite story is currently "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" (“You see it, Watson?”), I’d have to go with The Hound of the Baskervilles. First and foremost, if I’m stuck on that island, I’m not going to want a short story; I’m going to want a novel. Hound is a great novel – my favorite of the four that Doyle left us. It’s fun; it’s scary; it’s so atmospheric you can feel the chill of the moors seeping into your bones. It’s also a rare chance for Dr. Watson to show off his skills, as Holmes is absent for a good part of the story. This provides a real balance between these two friends and shows that not only is Watson a capable investigator in his own right, but that Holmes and Watson need not be joined at the hip to work together on a case.


I read a description of The Hound of the Baskervilles somewhere that talked about how this was the only mystery novel that even people who hate mystery novels will keep in their libraries. I think it’s a wonderful introduction to the series. You could do worse than having the Hound with you for company on that desert island.

6. What are your upcoming projects?

Currently, I’m illustrating Attack of the Violet Vampire (The MacDougall Twins Mysteries with Sherlock Holmes #2) and having a blast with that. Vampires, gaslight theatres and the return of Nolan the Newsboy --- you’ve gotta love it! Once that’s done, I’ll start on the next MacDougall Twins book, and the one after that, and the one after that… so long as you keep writing ‘em, I’ll keep drawing ‘em! There’s also a book of “monster poetry” I collaborated on a few years ago that I really want to see published in 2015… that’s my top priority, after Violet Vampire’s done, of course. I’ve also been asked to illustrate a sequel to H. G. Wells’ First Men In The Moon as well --- had great fun sketching out the Selenites the way Wells described them. Did you know, even Ray Harryhausen didn’t stick to the original version? I still love his take on them, though --- along with everything else he ever did.

Finally, when I’m between freelance projects and commissions, I’ll contribute new pieces to my site http://www.redbubble.com/people/zhahadun to make into t-shirts, posters, coffee mugs and all sorts of fun stuff.

Of course, I live in New England, so all of that comes after I shovel the driveway.

7. Any final thoughts?

Yes ---
- it’s been bizarre being interviewed by my own brother.
- I like to have old episodes of In Search Of playing in the background while I draw. The combination of Leonard Nimoy’s voice with that eerie seventies background music somehow puts me into creative overdrive.
- I really should be drawing now. Excuse me…

Derrick Belanger is the author of The Amazing Airship Adventure: The Macdougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes Book #1 and editor of the A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural anthology series. Currently both Brian and Derrick are working on the second McDougall Twins book, Attack of the Violet Vampire. You can see more of Brian's artwork at his website: http://www.redbubble.com/people/zhaha... can order our books from Derrick's Amazon page as well: http://www.amazon.com/Derrick-Belange....