Chris King — Comic & Figurative Illustrator, UK

Photography, film-making, animation, fine art, painting and sculpture – Yorkshire-based artist Chris King tried a whole range of disciplines before settling on illustration. The feeling you get from drawing with a pencil on paper is like no other for him, and so he launched his illustration career in 2008. From an early age, he’s taken inspiration from comic books - everything from The Beano to Akira – and some of his earliest memories are of copying out pages of Asterix the Gaul in coloured crayons. Film is another big influence, it’s the story-telling element that he likes to portray in his art. Music is always playing when he’s working.

Training

Chris studied at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle where he gained a degree in Media Production, specialising in Animation and Character design. Prior to that he’d taken courses in fine art and photography.

Approach

Chris usually begins traditionally with pen or pencil on paper. The drawings are scanned and coloured digitally, with textures imported and layered over the line work, before he tweaks the image until he gets the result he’s looking for.

Style

Chris’ figurative style is influenced by comics, but applied in all kinds of contexts from editorial through to advertising and online. It’s something he’s always developing, both in terms of technique used and the overall look. As his own tastes have changed, so has his aesthetic.

Client list

The Guardian Guide T3 Variety Usborne Orion Dorling Kindersley Harper Collins Kawasaki FHM Philips Image Konami Digital Entertainment Tiger Beer Computer Arts Oxford University Press