[music playing] ♪ - Hello and welcome to "Comic Culture."

I'm Terence Dollard, a professor in the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

My guest today is Greg Staples.

He is an Illustrator.

Greg, welcome to "Comic Culture."

- Hi, great to be here.

- Now, Greg I see behind you, you have what appears to be an original art piece that you did for universal.

It seems to be Frankenstein.

So I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about how you get involved with big clients like Universal to do officially-licensed prints.

- I think-- well, that particular run of prints was done through a company called Vice Press, who had worked with occasionally on-- well, I'd actually just done a print for ThunderCats, actually a painting for ThunderCats.

And we got along really well.

I really like the quality of their products.

They got in touch and just-- well, I actually sort of said to them before, I'm a big Universal Monsters fan.

So if anything like that comes along-- and they got in touch and just sort of said, look, we've got Bela Lugosi Dracula and Frankenstein if you want to do it.

I said, yeah, of course, that'd be great.

They were sold through Bottleneck Gallery, as well as on site.

And eventually, the Frankenstein behind me, I think, was sold somewhere else.

I can't remember.

But luckily, I mean, they all sold out very quickly.

So I was quite happy about that.

So yeah, I'm working with them again at the moment, but I can't say too much about what that is.

Great guys to work for.

- You've got a background in comics working at 2000 AD on characters like Judge Dredd.

So how do you sort of get started in comics and then move on to book covers, and magazine illustrations, and the work you're doing now?

- It's funny.

It was actually quite a difficult one.

I'd always wanted to draw for 2000 AD since I was a little boy.

I'd read the comics since I was seven years old, although it was actually not allowed in my house, because it's really violent, and it was, back then.

But I just loved it.

It had this really strong character.

Judge Dredd was great, but it was the city he lived in and the characters had lived in.

So I'd always wanted to draw that character for that comic, 2000 AD.

And after pursuing that for a long time, I eventually got into that comic, although that's a whole other story.

I realized that I sort of back myself into a bit of a corner, because 2000 AD is very much its own character.

It's a very different way of doing things to, say Marvel and DC and various other kind of things.

So it did take a little bit of time just sort of work out ways of where I could take those style and sort of apply it to other areas.

So I think the first thing was that I started working-- other than little sort of side jobs, I started doing some work for a company called Gremlin back in the very early '90s.

And my first job for them was to design a game called Loaded for the PlayStation One.

It was one of the original PlayStation launch titles.

And because the characters were very comic, very sort of like-- they basically just said, look, you just use your imagination.

So I just draw some crazy stuff.

But it was very much like what I've been doing.

And for some reason, it started to springboard into other areas.

Yeah, so I think that kind of opened up other doors.

- If you're doing characters for a video game and you're given free reign, are you responsible for the world they inhabit, or is it just character design and maybe some of the cut scenes?

- Things are very different now, I think.

Back then, I was given a crazy amount of freedom.

I mean, I don't think I realized how it look that was back then.

So I kind of came on board and started designing these characters, and then starting to design maps for the game.

Because the teams were not that big.

They were not like you see now.

They were actually relatively small.

And there was new technology coming in with the PlayStation that nobody had seen before.

So it was all kind of a bit of a test ground.

And I was very young, and just a bit cocky, and just thought, you know what, I'm just going to go for it, just like I kind of always getting told of or kind of, you can't do that, you can't do that.

And yet for some reason, they all kind of got made.

And it was that-- it was less about the illustration, it was more about the big picture about what do I want to say about this.

And it was always about just really wanting to push some boundaries and do something like I'd never seen before.

Now, there's a brilliant team on that, so I was definitely inexperienced and whatever else.

But yeah, I've realized that that was very different from what you do now.

Because you might design some concept art for some characters, but then that might be handed over to some other people, and then they might do something else with that, and then it might-- with that, it was kind of literally from the drawing board to the model that the programmer-- I still remember doing maps for that game just on graph paper.

I had no idea what I was doing.

it's just like-- it was like nobody's designing this thing.

So I'll draw some maps on this graph paper.

And the game has got a bit of a cult following now.

So I'm actually quite proud.

I don't think I realized quite what it was at the time, but yeah, it was a good experience.

- It's interesting, because when we're young, we tend to do things fearlessly.

And when things work out, we don't necessarily think of the steps that we've taken as being bold.

And then we kind of look back, we start to see that there was something epic about that.

And it seems that you've sort of been progressing, maybe being more measured in your career.

Because you've gone on from that game to being a concept artist for films, like "World War Z."

So what is it that a concept artist does?

- For "World War Z," I was the costume Illustrator, which is different from the costume designer.

Now, I've got a few friends who were concept artists on "Friends" and on other films.

So I'd wanted to explore different areas.

And I knew that it was a really famous concept designer on that called Mayes Rubeo, who now is doing the costumes for all the Marvel films.

She think she's just she did the last Thor film And I believe she just did "WandaVision."

So you know she's-- I mean, she's amazing.

She's gone on to even bigger and most amazing things.

So I kind of illustrated her ideas.

That was a whole new area.

So it was concept art, but it was sort of an area that I'd not really done before, because it had to be functional.

And most of it was for the lead character Brad Pitt was playing and some of his other characters, one or two I don't think we're in.

A lot of it was done for a certain section in the film that was cut as well, but there were other areas that it wasn't.

Generally speaking, I think concept art, I've realized that it's not the same as art.

It's more like industrial design, which tends to be the art comes last.

It's functional.

It has to look right, but it's not about looking pretty, it's about doing its job.

So I realized eventually that as much as I enjoy kind of doing that, I enjoy working with creative people and another amazing talented people, which is always blows my mind when I'm working with somebody that's got their own talent, I kind of like doing my own thing.

So I'll step in and out of those sorts of projects these days.

But you're very much a cog, a small cog in a big machine.

Concept art is very much design not.

So I tend to call it concept design.

- I'm imagining this is going to be different than, let's say maps on graph paper.

So if you're trying to come up with something that is functional, how are you doing that?

Is it, again, on paper and with pen and ink or is this something where you're using some digital 3D tool, where you can kind of see how it works and make sure that it does function?

- Well, I think for most of mine, I've sort of stuck with Photoshop and Corel Painter.

I started to do a little bit of 3D, but it's getting more and more realistic, especially some of my friends that sort of have worked-- some of my friends have worked on big movies like "Harry Potter" and things like that.

And it's all becoming very 3D and very much more about sculpting in 3D.

And it doesn't quite interest me as much as illustration.

So for things like that, a lot of it was-- sometimes I take photos and sometimes just illustrate.

And it just kind of had to look realistic like it would work.

And then we'd often dressed dummies with these costumes and sort of pin certain things and kind of get that to work.

But for example, the last-- I suppose the last big film, I've done a few films since that call.

I should mention, [inaudible] But the last film was the last "Hellboy" film, where I designed the lead-- my whole job on that was to design the lead character and come up with a new way of approaching it but still be familiar, which is actually much more difficult in a sense.

So I did kind of go in and sculpt a little bit in ZBrush for that and then kind of did some paint overs for that.

But yeah, it's such a different experience to actually illustrate.

I find it quite a lot of pressure.

And yeah, it is.

That's why I don't-- there's a director that I like working with a lot called Neil Marshall.

He did "Dog Soldiers" and "The Descent," a few episodes of "Game of Thrones" and things like that.

And we're very much on the same page.

And I kind of like him, because his films are not as massive budget as some of the others.

But we're very much on the same creative thing, and it just kind likes kind of what I do.

And I feel more comfortable with that, I think.

- It's interesting.

You talk about having to recreate the iconic look of Hellboy for a new film series.

And it's tough.

I'm imagining, if I'm working on something like a Batman film, the costume is pretty much the same.

I just have to have the cape, and the pointy ears, and the cowl.

But when it's someone's face, how are you sort of making sure that it stays true to the way the comic was and the other films are but also reflects the new personality, the new actor that's playing that character?

- Yeah, that was very much-- that was the real-- that was the thing.

Because I think it was very much of, we want something totally different, but it's still the same.

And it doesn't come overnight.

You see, things like that, that's where the ideas come from.

And an idea doesn't simply just pop up through a drawing.

It comes up from a lot of reference, and a lot of research, and a lot of sort of what's this and this.

I think some people find this quite easy, but I found that quite difficult.

And then one day, I remember when it actually did click, and that was when-- there's a band called Motorhead and Lemmy had died while I was in Vancouver working on this.

And for some reason, it clicked.

I just thought what if I made a bit more like that, more grungy, grimy, and a bit longer-haired.

And maybe that's a more approach.

I'm not saying that he was like a rocker or anything like that, but he wasn't smooth with his hair tied back.

And he was definitely more sort of-- it been through the mill.

He'd had fights.

He was like a devil that crawled out, scarred, and rough around the edges.

And yeah, so I think he was the original-- but it took me about-- it took me about three weeks to get that.

Many, many different designs.

Being another artist, we were both sort of on him.

And then I was on in full time after that.

And then it sort of developed from there.

And the director, it's always about what the director likes.

And often, the director might say, yeah, which is usually um-hmm or maybe nothing.

And then occasionally, will just go, yep, that's it.

And then you kind of go [sighs] And then you can kind of build on that.

I've also noticed that the concept art, concept design is like building.

So I didn't do the whole thing.

Then it was like, I got the head, who was his body look?

Who was his arm look?

And then there's the costume.

So it's very tricky, especially when it comes to something as iconic as Hellboy.

- When you mentioned Lemmy, it's interesting.

He's one of those guys who when you see him or saw him, he had a classic look, but at the same time it was of a certain time period.

He never really seemed to update his look.

And yet, if you apply that to a character like Hellboy, suddenly, I mean, that's just a great combination of two aesthetics to create something new and exciting.

It's inspired.

- Thank you.

I think the inspiration comes from the strangest places.

And sometimes, you don't quite know where it comes from.

But yeah.

And then when, of course, the idea goes down well, I see it better.

And the best thing was that they took actually really closely to, well, at least his head.

He's had looked very close.

And I actually went on to set one day and talked to the producers.

And the producers said, see, we got it pretty close.

We've got it close.

And there's nothing better than that, because sometimes it might be handed over to the prosthetics or makeup designer and all that.

And they might take in their own direction.

But no, that's still pretty close.

So yeah.

It's quite nice to see that kind of thing realized in 3D in front of you.

And it was great.

I thought David Harbour was brilliant in that role.

Obviously, it's a shame that it didn't do as well as what it kind of should have done, but that's just the name of the game, really.

- Well, it's funny too, because there have been a number of films that have not necessarily done the best at the box office.

But somehow, through airings on television or I guess now with streaming services, they can find a new audience and build an excitement and a fan base from that.

You had mentioned inspiration.

And I know it's important for an artist to be inspired, but you're a professional artist.

And I'm sure there are times when you are facing a deadline doing a project, and maybe that inspiration is not 100% there.

So how do you sort of motivate yourself to get the work done and do the best job possible even if you aren't quite feeling it?

- Well, I do a lot of planning these days.

I think in the old days, I just do things on the fly.

And I think the kind of work showed a bit of that, whereas now, I'll take my brief, whatever that might be, and then I will just-- I actually don't work.

I have a life outside of this.

So I enjoy my life outside of it.

So I'm not somebody who's in the studio the whole time.

I think that get your best inspirations while you're actually living a normal life and doing things.

And often, I'll take my sketchbook and just go down to the coffee shop and just enjoy what I'm doing.

And things don't always-- see, you don't need to be inspired to do that.

You could just be sat in a nice coffee reading through your brief.

And I'll do a little thumbnails and little ideas here and there.

And then I might take them back to the studio and do a little bit of research.

Once I eventually got an idea, then I'll often do a fairly detailed sketch.

And I'll always do a color rough now based on that sketch.

So it's kind of like in steps.

So when it actually comes to the final painting, I almost kind of don't feel that I don't need to be inspired, because it's all there just waiting to be done.

And I know how it's going to be done by that point.

I think that's the difference between being an artist and where you're sort of feeling it all the time and being an Illustrator where you've got a job to do.

But I love my job.

I absolutely love my job.

And it's not always that easy.

And things do go wrong occasionally.

But the more that you plan, the easier your job comes when it comes to that day.

- It's interesting.

Because when we look at a single illustration, let's say the Frankenstein piece behind-- Frankenstein's monster behind you or a covered of a book that you may have illustrated, there's a story in that cover that's not the same as the story that's told sequentially or in prose form.

So when you're working on an illustration and you're thinking about what to put in that image, how much of the story are you considering and how much of maybe just a scene or just a feeling you want to convey?

- It really does depend on the project.

Personally, I always like to have a scene.

If it's a novel, it might be what the standout scenes in this.

Because you might not always get the chance to read the whole novel.

So you might actually have a brief, which will explain some key moments.

And then I might choose something like that that'll just literally be cool.

And I think at the end of the day, when you do something-- well, at the end of the day, definitely, regardless of whatever, my job is to make sure somebody picks that up and reads it.

So sometimes, even if it doesn't always feel that way, I was trying to kind of get close to the story or close to whatever it is for the respect of the writer, or the publisher, or whatever else.

But the end of the day, that's got to look good.

It's got to look cool.

I just want people to pick it up and go, yeah, what's that?

What is this?

And then the book can do its stuff.

I know Frank was that it was-- we used to take that to the extreme, where he would-- there'd be a novel.

And often, the covers would not be related, wouldn't relate at all to them.

And sometimes, they'd write a novel around his covers.

I'm not quite that extreme, but it's definitely a way of-- I have to kind of think-- I've got to spend some time doing this.

It's got I've got to enjoy it.

- Is there a particular genre?

I mean, it seems like you are good with fantasy and horror illustrations.

Is there a genre of books that maybe you've done some work in or a game that you've done some work in and you think to yourself, it's not quite in my set of skills, it's not quite what I'm familiar with, but I can make it work, because I've got a great sense of color, or I've got a great sense of composition?

And even though the palette might be brighter, the light might be different, I can make it work.

- Yeah, it's a good question, actually.

Because I think one of the reasons why I've managed to be quite successful in a game like Magic, The Gathering or something more successful in getting at least more work.

Because it's always about where is the work going from next is because of my comic book background.

When we worked in comics, and I was one of the handful of painters that started around the time of Simon Bisley back in the early-- in 2000 AD back in the day.

And you had to be fast, and you had to be able to draw and paint anything fast.

And I see a lot of illustrators who do these beautiful paintings, but they might take weeks, months over them.

So I sort of learnt a technique, where I kind of thought I can do that quite fast.

And so I was kind of getting work based on a guy could probably have that in a couple of days.

But the quality would still be there.

Now, I've slowed down a little bit as I've got older, definitely.

And also, I kind of don't want to be kind of constantly on those deadlines, like being myself there.

But yet, being a comic artist definitely helped with that speed.

Because if you weren't fast, you didn't get paid, and you were starving in that month.

Dermot Power, who is a good friend of mine, who he's the-- we both used to draw Judge Dredd for 2000 AD back in the early '90s.

And he said that's one of the best things was starting out as painters in comics back in the early '90s, because it was brutal.

We had editors that were very tough.

So coming to work for a company like Magic The and Wizards of the Coast, who are just wonderful to work for and just very supportive.

And I pride myself on being able to kind of be a jack of all trades but really-- I my worst critics, and my standards have to be high regardless of whatever it is.

In my own, that's why I try and do anyway.

- Now, I see we have about five minutes left in our conversation.

I wanted to talk to you about-- you made a point before about how there are things outside of the art studio that you want to do.

So how do you sort organize your day in your week so that you can get your work done but still have time for the family and other outside studio activities?

- Well, d very much treat my work like a working day.

I start work at 9 o'clock and usually finish around 6:00.

Sometimes, I can go on to 7:00.

But I always try and keep weekends free, unless I really need to work or if I really need to hit a deadline.

So I take holidays.

I'm just trying to have a good life outside the studio so that when I come into the studio, I'm fresh.

And there's no better place once you realize that over, I think the last four or five years that the studio is where I'm very happy.

It's got everything that I want.

It does what I want.

It's constantly surprising me, my work, and constantly having ideas.

And I think that's because I do treat it like a job but the best job, the best job in the world.

And are you working at a studio in your home or are you renting an office space somewhere and getting out of the house to keep working?

- I did used to have a studio, which was close by.

But now, I had the loft at my house converted into a studio, because the lighting's really good and it's quiet where I am.

And yeah.

And I quite like it, because I can just kind of go up to the studio and tinker around with a painting at any point if I want to.

So yeah.

And it's a nice environment.

Lots of memories of lots of things I worked on just dotted around the room.

So yeah.

- Well, we have about a minute or so left.

Before I ask if there's a way audiences can find out more about your work, working at home, does that mean that you hear the knock on the door, maybe there's a chore that has to be done that you've got to say you can't do because you're working right now?

- Yeah, well, that's very often somebody knocking at the door for post or whatever else.

And I'll go downstairs holding paintbrushes and coat and paint.

So just part of daily life.

- And, Greg if people wanted to find out more about your work, where can they find you on the web?

- They can check me out on Instagram, on @gregstaplesart or my website, gregstaples.com.

- Well, Greg, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me today.

It's been a fun and fast half hour.

- Oh, thank you.

It's been my pleasure.

- I'd like to thank everyone at home for watching "Comic Culture."

We will see you again soon.

[music playing] ♪ Comic Culture is a production of the Department of Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

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