FAQs
by thisnorthernboy
I get quite a lot of comments on my posts on social media, and often people are asking me the same questions, so I thought I may as well answer a few of them here.
“Where can I find more of your work?”
I post regularly on social media, so find more of my illustrations on –
Instagram
Facebook
Tumblr
Twitter
Artstation
“Do you have a Patreon?”
Yes I do. On my Patreon page I’ll be building more of my Weird Field World of spaceships and alien technology. I’ll regularly post sketches, finishes illustrations, maps and charts, and even some written fiction. Supporting me gives you access to unseen work and gives you the opportunity to buy original art before anyone else, and also the chance to get involved with the world building of my Weird Field universe.
“What pen do you use?”
This is the question I get asked more than any other, and I know other illustrators get it a lot too. The first thing to say is – it isn’t about the pen. Yes you might get a bit of a difference in quality of line from pen to pen, obviously a brush pen gets you a different look to a pigment liner, but the pen doesn’t make you any better at drawing. The only way to get better at drawing – is to draw.
However, if you’re interested in the geekery of pens:
Copic Multiliner – 0.03 to 0.7 nibs
Rotring Tikky – 0.3 to 0.7 nibs
Pentel Pocket Brush
Kuretake No8 Brush Pen
Stabilo Point 88
Blackwing 602 pencil
Tombow Mono100 pencil
Steadtler Tradition HB pencil
Rotring Tikky mechanical pencil
Lamy Scribble mechanical pencil
Platinum Carbon fountain pen
Kuretake Zig Manga dip pen
Other kit…
Minisun A3 Lightbox
Sumi Ink 60
Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid
Daler Rowney A4 Cartridge paper
Moleskine A5 Sketchbook
“Where did you learn to draw?”
I was always the kid that drew, from as far back as I remember I was always drawing. When I was a little kid I used to sit in an armchair at home with a bit of wood across the arms, like a desk. I’d sit there and draw spaceships and monsters and dinosaurs and dragons for hours. Throughout all my school years, despite studying art, I don’t really recall being taught anything at all. Even at college (studying for a graphic design degree) I don’t think I got much in the way of tutoring. After college I barely drew at all for twenty years, since then all my progress has been through practice, and being inspired by all the great artists doing great work out there. One thing that has definitely helped since I started drawing again, has been daily drawing projects. For a whole year I drew a robot every day, and I’ve also taken part in the Inktober initiative for the last few years. Committing to drawing every day, even if it’s only for five or ten minutes, is a fantastic way to improve.
“Where do you get your ideas?”
Where aren’t there ideas? If you read books or comics, if you watch TV or film, if you look out of your window at home or school or work – there are ideas everywhere. You just have to look and let everything soak in. I get inspired by all kinds of things – looking at industrial buildings from the window of my train commute, the weird old oak trees in the park near my house. Films and books are a big influence – I’ve always been a sci-fi nerd so in my work you can see bits of Ralph McQuarrie, Jim Burns, Carlos Ezquerra, Cam Kennedy, Jean Giraud and Enki Bilal.
“Why don’t you do a book?”
I’m working on a book. Slowly. It’ll be written and illustrated by me. Currently it’s about 75% written, but I’ve barely started thinking about the illustrations yet. So, nothing will be out for a while. There will definitely be a book at some point. And it will be about trolls. I have worked on illustrations for a couple of other books – Build! A Knight’s Castle, and The Illustrated World of Mortal Engines (of which you can read more about here).
You can also find my work in Beginners Guide to Sketching: Robots, Vehicles and Sci-Fi Concepts, Sketching From The Imagination: Sci-Fi, and Issue 2 of the brilliant Graphite Magazine.
“Where can I buy your work?”
You can buy prints of my work here. My good friend Jon Elliman runs Ellipress and has an amazing eye for detail and makes sure my prints look great.
If you would like to own some original artwork drop me a message on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and let me know what you are interested in. There’s a little more information here.
this northern boy 
Hey, thanks for the post. I love everything about your art. I would like to ask what do you think about copying other artworks. I don’t mean it like I draw what you drew and sell it as my own. I try to draw and I don’t think I can draw by my own so I just “redraw” what others draw (so many draws here 🙂 ). It’s just for my own pleasure. Is it a way to learn the craft or should it be more independent (I mean I know I should, but it’s just so intimidating sometimes).
Thanks for posting this I just love your work, and continue to work on my art and I agree it is not the tool it is the artist.
I think copying can teach you a few things, and it can certainly improve your basic skills with a pencil or a pen. I think it’s best to progress to being influenced by someones art though. So for instance, I love Ian McQue’s work. I have to try very hard not to end up making copies of his illustrations simply because I love them so much. So instead I try to be influenced by them. I look at his stuff and work out what I love about it, and try and put that in my drawings.
Another great post and hugely insightful! I have been a Copic Multiliner convert now for over a year from reading your posts and never used to use anything but Sakura Micron pens. I find the Copic’s have a smoother flow to them, and softer tip so thank you!
A quick question, and one I battle with every time I finish an illustration, what is your approach to scanning your work to ensure a nice clean copy to work on digitally? I like the softness retained in greyscale but this can sometimes pick up the inconsistencies in ink flow, but boosting the levels can leave harsh edges. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Also, it’s very hard to not be influenced by Ian McQue. One of the greatest of our time (including yourself).
Really glad you’re finding the blog posts interesting Jon.
Scanning artwork is just about balance I think. I do exactly what you do, scan in greyscale and adjust levels. I’ll try and adjust the levels the absolute minimum to get a good black. Sometimes I will duplicate my inks and change the layer mode to multiply at around 50% opacity to give the black a bit more punch. I also add a paper texture (as the real texture tends to get lost in scanning) which can help soften the lines without losing the black.
Thank you for the advice, I will give this a try! I have recently started to add a rough watercolour esq style of paper texture to help so I will try duplicating layers and blending. Thanks again!
How can I transition from my art style (https://img01.deviantart.net/3349/i/2010/065/6/e/2_word_find_by_tiruch.jpg) into more like yours?