Lucas Peverill created the art for the first installment of Strikeforce Dracula, a sci-fi comic written by Charley Macorn, which appeared in Oneshi Press Quarterly Anthology #05. We chatted with Lucas about the importance of art and his cinematic obsessions.
Tell us a bit about yourself, Lucas! What’s your background, and how did you get into comics?
For me, my passion has always been in comics and films from a young age. It wasn’t until I left university 2014 that I wanted to be more independent, do it my way full time. Comics [and] illustration was my gateway to being a independent maker by making comics [and] illustrations for myself and collaborating with writers [and] art directors from all over the world.
It is still early days comic [and] illustration career, but it has allowed me to have a some sort of my own visual voice, whereas I didn’t beforehand.
Who are your art heroes? Who inspires you?
I find my inspiration from many things, cinema being my constant source of inspiration. As many others [have], I have found myself looking at Roger Deakins’s cinematography work on Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and Sicario (2015) to name a few, as a sources of inspiration at the moment.
What comic book character do you identify most with, and why?
A comic book character I feel most connected to is Mike Mignola’s Hellboy: for all of his human qualities, [he] is a demon. Humanity doesn’t accept demons or monsters, and they don’t accept Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro’s (2004) live action adaptation of Hellboy, for me only emphasizes this.
What does the world need that comics, or art more generally, can provide?
For me comics, film, and art more generally can allow people to take on everyday problems creatively, to plan for a future that is not totally determined by the limits of today. Comics that raise pressing social issues can give readers the space to engage critically, as well as to dream differently. When we cannot solve our problems with the same old strategies, the situation calls for more imagination.
What are you currently reading, listening to, and watching?
I try to soak up as much stuff as I can [and] I try to keep up to date with the latest comic [and] manga releases, but I love digging for back issues. I’m kinda addicted to the sci-fi of works of Masamune Shirow at the moment, such as Ghost in the Shell (1996) to Appleseed (1985) to name a few.
Film plays a massive part of my creative thinking; every month I disappear to my local movie theatre to catch the latest big-budget or low-budget movie. I like to watch a lot of films new and old, especially science fiction. This allows me to lose myself for the 2 hours or so given to be inside someone’s filtered vision. In my practice, this experience is translated into paper and digital-based work (Comics, Drawings. Illustrations, and Concept Art, etc..,)
How do you make your work immersive and progressive (the Oneshi Press themes)?
Within my work, I try to create something that has some sort of cinematic feel. I have a special interest in certain fields, like the use of light and color in art forms like film and theatre. I guess you could say set design and scenography. I’m interested in how these things can create an atmosphere and have an impact on what goes on in the image.
I actually quite often like to think of my images as [if] they take place as a part of a film or something like that. This helps me to create my own rules; it doesn’t necessarily have to be correct or naturalistic looking, as long as it has the feel I want. That doesn’t need to have anything to do with logic—it’s my imagination and language.
How did you come to create the art for Strikeforce Dracula?
My approach to a project varies. It all depends on the main theme of [the] project. In the case of Strikeforce Dracula, for example, when I was asked by Charley to design the character Grips, I was constantly looking at films from F. W. Murnau’s infamous silent film Nosferatu (1922) to David Slade’s (2007) adaptation of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night. The feral look of Nosferatu [and] the animalistic nature of the vampires in 30 Days of Night was my main influences when it come to designing the character Grips.
I continued to design the rest of the characters the Strikeforce Dracula squad with this method of referencing films in mind.
Have you made any other comics, aside from Strikeforce Dracula?
Yes, this year I have been lucky enough to be able to collaborate with some talented writers, to produce comics for anthologies and creator-owned properties, to name a few (including Charley!!). I recently worked with writer Dave Conway to create a short horror comic for Future Quake Press, which will [be] released late this year. Also, I have been collaborating with writer Mark Bertolini to develop a pitch comic that that I am pretty excited about.
What are some other projects you’re working on now?
Yes, actually there is some loose ideas in development for my own creator-owned projects (working title New L4nds), but it’s in collaboration form as well. [I] can’t say much about it at this early stage.
Where can our readers find you online?
You can currently view my full Portfolio through the following links:
https://cargocollective.com/lucaspeverill
https://twitter.com/lucas_peverill
https://lucaspeverill.tumblr.com/
Get your own print or digital copy of Oneshi Press Anthology #05, featuring Strikeforce Dracula, installment #01, by Charley Macorn and Lucas Peverill!
Check out the rest of our other Creator Interviews!
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