The interview below with Eric Brown was conducted in person, over the phone and via email during 2003.               To contact me, click on the butterfly woman

Labyrinthine Journey: From Page to Painting,
The Art of Dominic Harman.

Eric Brown

I visited Dominic Harman at his studio, in the small town of Southwick, with certain preconceptions as to the life and work-places of artists and illustrators: eccentrics with weird working practices, inhabiting all manner of strange abodes... Needless to say, Harman and his studios fail to fall neatly into this stereotype. He works in two rooms; the smaller, where he does his real-time painting, is more like a traditional painter's quarters, filled as it is with the paraphernalia of the trade: half-finished canvases, messy palettes, buckled tubes of burnt sienna and rose madder. His main work-room, though, is small and full of shelves stacked with books and video cassettes; a WWII gas mask hangs beside an old chair and every surface bears an eclectic collection of visual stimuli: the skulls of rams and, more disturbingly, human beings, dried sea creatures, cases of exotic butterflies and insects, and a beautiful Eurypeima Spinicrus (a large spider), cocoons and chrysalises. In pride of place in the centre of the room is a massive table where the Mac sits, alongside two monitors and hard drives, technology which gives a surreal sensation juxtaposed as it is with so much evidence of antiquity and the eldritch.

Over a strong coffee, with the late October sun streaming in through the west window, we talked about his career to date, his success and his ambitions for the future. Relaxing in his worn-out chair, Harman sips his coffee and reflects on what has been an eventful six years in the business.

His visually fantastic, technically accomplished SF and Fantasy artwork has been garnering praise and awards in Britain for some years now, and has recently been making a splash over in the States. Cover commissions for St. Martins Press, Absolute Magnitude, Weird Tales, and Asimov’s have been followed by work for Baen Books and Analog.

“Finding a way into the book market was very difficult at first," Harman says, "especially without an agent. Now that I have a British and a US agent it makes it easier to focus on the creative side of my work.

“The desire to succeed was and is very strong. In my experience, all creative people have an abiding faith in their ability. I find myself constantly having to remind editors and publishers of my standard of work and availability. It’s a waiting game, in a way, and if you can constantly improve while knocking on the door, then opportunities will eventually present themselves.”

I first became aware of Harman’s artwork when Interzone editor David Pringle commissioned him to illustrate my short story, “Vulpheous.” It’s always a double-edged sword to have your fiction made visual. A bad illustration can say the wrong things about a story. One of Harman’s strengths is the effort he goes to in order to render the feel of a story as well as to maintain visual accuracy. He says: “When reading a story I try to pinpoint areas of interest. I try to be as faithful to the stories as possible, but also there sometimes has to be some artistic licence, the need to put across my perspective, a feeling for the book or story which comes from my reaction to the text as I try to capture the essence and atmosphere of a writer's work.”

A measure of Harman's success in illustrating my own stories is that his scenes of gloriously alien worlds, extraterrestrial beings, and human characters have replaced my own original working visions. How does Harman feel about the response of the writer to his illustrations?

“It’s great to get feed-back. I get a fantastic sense of achievement when writers say how close my visualisation came to their vision. That, to me, is the highest praise an illustrator can get, considering the fact that you’re employed, essentially, to help sell something. Not only must you make the cover eye-catching - as it won’t be sitting up on the bookshelf by itself - but you must also be true to the text. It doesn’t necessarily have to depend on the depiction of a dramatic or violent scene - a strong use of colour and composition can also have great effect."

Harman has served a long apprenticeship. “I was forever drawing: Fantasy, horror and science fiction. An early influence was the work of Derek Riggs, who created the album covers of the British rock band Iron Maiden. I remember poring over the details of the record covers, working out the technique.” But his inspirations and influences also included the works of the surrealist and classical painters, Sassoferrato, Casper David Friedrich, Salvador Dali and Beksinski, among others.

“When I was studying in oils, I used to spend hours emulating their techniques. It was a magical moment when I discovered the SF and Fantasy works of Frank Frazetta, the Brothers Hildebrandt. And in particular Boris Vallejo. The experience of studying his book, Mirage, which featured in my opinion his finest work ever, left me totally stunned. This cemented my desire for a career in SF and Fantasy artwork.” He also read widely in the field, and found that influential. “I was into High Fantasy novels from an early age. The works of Robert E. Howard possessed raw energy and an explosive, non-stop action. They were an immediate attraction to me as a child. It was later, though, that I started to read classic SF writers such as Poul Anderson and John Wyndham. With their luscious descriptions of alien worlds and bizarre plant life, they were totally inspiring."

On the subject of aliens, does he enjoy drawing them? “They’re certainly a challenge. To a large extent I go by the description in whichever story I’m illustrating, but sometimes there isn’t much description and I use my imagination. I start with sketches in pen, paint, pencil, or draw straight onto the Mac, and then if needs be I scan the drawing into my computer and work directly on the drawing/sketch to flesh out the creature, so to speak. Depending on alien’s appearance, I will refer to human, animal, and sea life to study what possible types of structure and skin will best suit it. Sometimes I won’t look at any reference works at all, and just play about with the image. I most enjoy painting aliens and creating surreal landscapes (even though I’ve received praise and awards for my hard SF illustrations). I love the idea of creating a life-form and working out what kind of environment it might inhabit.”

After finishing a Foundation college course in Northbrook, Worthing, West Sussex, Harman sharpened his skills over the next few years and then finally gained the confidence to show his work around.

His first professional sale, at the age of 23, was to Interzone, in July 1997. In just six years Harman has sold over 230 interior illustrations and over 100 magazine covers/book jackets.

They’ve had great responses, being nominated six years running for the BSFA Awards in Great Britain, winning in 2001 and also in 2003. He won The Paper Tiger Award 2000 (Best in Show) at EasterCon in Glasgow, Scotland, for the cover of Absolute Magnitude, winter 1999, in 2000 for the same artwork won the Tangent Online Award for best cover, and most recently the Asimov Award for best cover artist of 2002.

He is a familiar face at SF and Fantasy conventions in Britain, and the year before last he attended the WorldCon in Philadelphia where he received a rosette in the category Best in Show for the cover, 'Masks', Weird Tales, issue 319, spring, 2000. Recently Harman was Guest of Honour at NewCon2, Northampton. “It was a one day event with Stephen Baxter, Ben Jeapes and Ian Watson as part of the line-up. It was a great day. I was a little apprehensive at the thought of being interviewed, but it went very well. It was great to get feedback and reactions from the audience, and I found the question and answer session stimulating.

“One of the delights of being a Fantasy and SF illustrator is attending conventions and exhibiting my work to fans and potential clients. It’s also a great way to meet up with other artists and writers, to gain feedback and inspiration, as I have done when talking to various writers whose work I’ve illustrated.”

In the early years, Harman worked with oil and acrylic, utilising the traditional techniques of painting. Now he employs a wide range of media such as pencil, charcoal, photography, oil and acrylic techniques, scanned images and textures, and designed elements in 3D soft-ware, plaster, clay, metal and resin work with the final piece brought together and completed on a Mac.

“For drawing on a Mac, I use a Wacom Graphics tablet. It’s a flat pad that you draw on with a pen. The image then appears on the screen, just like pen to paper. The only difference is that you're looking at the screen and not where you're drawing. It takes a little getting used to, but it’s a fantastic invention that has enabled me to draw and sketch on the Mac, which gives me so much freedom to explore different possibilities.” He goes on: “Commercially, working mainly in the digital format has benefits for the artist and the art director, making her or his life easier. Multiple options for colour adjustment, and the manipulation of elements, makes the Mac such a valuable tool - but it is only a tool. I often see artwork done by people who have just splashed out on a Mac/PC and some 3D and photo manipulation software, and they think there is nothing else they require. But a fundamental understanding of composition, colour sense, and of course being able to draw in first place, are essential."

How long does it take Harman to complete a commission? “That varies a lot. If I get a longer deadline, all the better. But it does seem to work out that if an art director gives me two days, I’ll finish it within that time-scale, but if I am given two months, then I’ll make use of the leeway. I think most artists are the same when it comes down to it. If allowed too much time, I think most artists would kill a painting by continually fussing over it. But sometimes it does help having a deadline looming. It makes you become more efficient with your time management.”

All creative people, artists and writers alike, are forever asked which among their work are their personal favourites. Harman responds: “To be honest, I can’t really say that I have a favourite. I like many different ones for different reasons, although I’m very pleased with the cover art for Interzone, July, 2000, 'Hideaway'. Among other examples of my work I’m pleased with are ‘Quicksilver Rising', HarperCollins, ‘Faces of Mist and Flame,' Macmillan/Tor, 'Infinite Worlds', the cover of Infinity Plus 2 edited by Keith Brooke and Nick Gevers, from PS Publishing, 'Alien Nativity', Interzone, January, 1999, 'Dark One’, ‘Derision', a US CD cover, and the cover of Weird Tales, issue 319, entitled Masks. I'm also very fond of several personal pieces, including 'Serpents Milk', ‘Humatetras’, 'Old', and 'Butterfly Woman'."

In his spare time, snatched between work, he enjoys watching old horror and sci-fi B-movies, rummaging through car boot and jumble sales to build up a visual reference library of anything that catches his eye, and actively seeking out visual inspiration. “And also sleeping - as I don’t get much when on a commission!”

I ask him if he feels constrained by the need to represent hardware rather than people or ideas. "Well, fortunately I found early on that I had a facility for machinery, spaceships and gadgetry - but as it happens things have developed recently."

He goes on to say that his work has changed direction over the past year. With major publishing houses looking for something a little different from the usual covers, he has developed his style beyond his traditional approach, moving towards more of an icon-orientated look, increasingly textural, atmospheric, and emblematic. "After observing the field and talking to several publishing-related people, I felt that a change was needed in order to reach out to a new audience and try to appeal to the mainstream, as well as to the core followers of the genres."

He also wanted to get into the CD cover market, which necessitated developing a new approach. "I've been honing and pushing the new contemporary style in lots of directions. I didn't show anyone my new work for a while, as I felt people knew me for my SF and Fantasy, and I obviously didn't want to turn my back on my traditional style as I have a great love for what I've been doing in the field, and that will continue for as long as I'm in the business. But for a long time I wanted to do something surreal and the strange, which is a great passion of mine - I guess it's leaning towards fine art, in a way. Fortunately my current style fits well with everything from mainstream, to Fantasy, SF, and horror book covers. I'm concentrating on ideas that I wanted to develop, but which my traditional style wouldn't lend itself to very well. Anyway, after coming to a point where I felt the time was right to show my new stuff, I couldn't believe the positive response from publishers. Things have really snowballed recently."

He is currently working on covers for HarperCollins, Macmillan/Tor Books, Orbit Books, Baen Books, as well as Analog and Asimov's SF magazines, and more cover designs for CD companies. "My other projects include 3D sculpture, plaster & latex work, casting heads and textured objects which I then photograph, scan in and use it to help further develop my 2D illustration. One example is when I was designing a CD package for a US rock band, State of Aggression: I cast my brother's head in alginate and plaster bandage, took a positive mould in fine plaster, then cleaned and prepared it and photographed it with some effective lighting. I then scanned the photo and worked it in with the picture. It was an exciting project which enabled me to try a different approach to creating an image. I've also used cold cure foam and liquid latex to create interesting sculpted heads and moulds to incorporate into my illustrations. I picked up techniques when I was into special effects at college some years back. I admired the FX artists that were in the field such as Rick Baker and Rob Bottin. It’s a nice way to see my 3D work appear in 2D form. The way I work now makes it so much easier for crossovers.

"Music is important to me. When I work, I generally listen to film scores; for example Thomas Newman, Christopher Young, Basil Poledouris, and Jerry Goldsmith. I sometimes buy a soundtrack without having watched the film, as I find the music often interesting in its own right. I do tend to have music in the background when I'm trying to get into the right mind-set for a hard day's work: it's easier with a beautiful music score playing."

We then get down to the reason for my visit: to discuss the graphic novel project I'm working on with Dominic and the scriptwriter Josh Lacey. VR, which is its working title, is the story of one woman's bizarre entanglement with the futuristic technology of virtual reality. The idea began as the film outline. Last year Josh and I worked on the project with a director and producer, but it soon became apparent that the very thing that would make it work as a film, the visual disparity between a run-down future Britain and a glitzy anything-goes VR setting, was what also made it difficult to film within the production company's limited budget. The project, like so many I've worked on in the industry, fell by the wayside.

Then Josh suggested we try it as a graphic novel, and I said I knew just the artist to bring it to life.
"What I like about the graphic novel project," Harman says, "is that it gives me the opportunity to try something new and to consider the story through panels rather than as one shot deals. There’s obviously a new set of challenges in doing so; it’s a very exciting venture. The visuals for the story are rich and the possibilities for representing the virtual world are endless. The stark contrast between realities will lend itself very well to both my styles."

Before we leave his studio to refresh ourselves at his local, Dominic shows me several of the pieces of artwork he's currently working on. I espy a scene that seems familiar, and then realise: it's from my novella, "Approaching Omega." It comes to me that the life of a writer, unlike those of many other entertainers, is often lacking in feedback - we might get the odd letter from a reader, but not the immediate response of a live audience. As I admire the illustration, I get the subtle feeling of having reached out and implanted something in another's mind, which after all is what writing is all about.

I mention this to Dominic, and he responds. "The same is true of being a visual artist. I create from something within me. I might be illustrating the visions of others, but to make the artwork I'm working on worthwhile and valid, it's vital to put something of myself into the work."

Related websites:
www.ericbrown.co.uk
www.joshlacey.com