Artist in Residence

Creative clutter This veteran comic illustrator is proud to display his sources of inspiration and fresh ideas

This veteran comic illustrator is proud to keep on display his many sources of inspiration and fresh ideas.

I’ve set up my studio in the smallest room in the house. It’s my favourite place in the world, but the workspace needs to be controlled. My ‘rabbit hole’ is truly a place where you can find yourself lost in, if you’re not careful…

Ever since I was a young boy I’ve had a drawing corner filled with things of interest to me, and my studio is no different. I love the controlled clutter, and the business of it all, but put a piece of paper in front of me and I’m still able to quieten my mind. I live just a minute away from the beach in Whitley Bay, north-east England, so my day starts with my girlfriend and I walking our cockapoo, Dolly. But by 10 in the morning I’m sat in the studio, under starter’s orders.

Typically I hit the ground running if I’m faced with a deadline. Drawing a comic book for Marvel requires a certain amount of work produced every day, so there’s not much time to let the mind wander.

Blue is the colour

As well as working on commissioned assignments, I’m developing my own comic book property: Blue Vortex. This dual approach gives me more

An artist’s studio should be a place that’s both inside and outside of your head

control over my time. Creating a book – or more accurately a universe – from the ground up is a daunting endeavour, but I’ve set up my studio so that all my inspirations and influences are on show to aid me in my task.

This book is years in the making, but in many ways it started during my early attempts at creating inspiration corners. An artist’s studio should be exactly this: a place that’s both inside and outside of your head; somewhere that feels familiar enough to have a creative conversation. Like one big experiment, a lifetime of collecting objects that have inspired me will come to fruition with this creatorowned comic book. Blue Vortex is a direct result of this studio that I sit in.

‘Solve et Coagula’ is Latin for separating something into its constituent parts before synthesising certain elements into a new thing, and this is how I see my studio. I sit among all of its curiosities and inspirations – the books, drawings, models and so on – and spend my days making something of my own in a new way.

I surround myself with this collection every day, and I love it. My studio offers up new genre examples and exciting ideas. Someone once said that the secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. For some reason I didn’t get the memo.

After a decade spent working as a concept artist in the video games industry, Paul returned to his first love, comic books, and now produces sequential art for Marvel and 2000 AD. You can see more of his work at www.pauldavidsonart.com.

Steampunk and sci-fi are my favourite genres, while the animation cels of Orko, from the classic 80s He-Man cartoon series, all serve to inspire.

Here’s my second workstation. I like to keep two projects on the go at the same time: Marvel on one, Blue Vortex on the other.

Alex Toth’s designs are truly inspirational. I try not to look at other artists’ work too much, because it can influence your own voice.

Interior page from my sci-fi comic Blue Vortex, all coloured by hand. I'm hoping for a 2019 release date.