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Saturday, October 5, 2013

"Danger:Diabolik!" by professional artist James Gilleard


James Gilleard is a 31 year old professional illustrator and animator living and working in London (UK). He has been always interested in art and drawing since he can remember. "The first image" James says "that I ever did that I can remember getting a good grade for was an image from the US television series "Knight Rider". 

Marisa Mell Blog (MMB): James, thanks for granting this interview! Can you tell us about your method of working in creating your wonderful art pieces?

James Gilleard (JG): Thank you for having me on the Marisa Mell Blog! My method of working starts with a sketchbook where I sketch characters and tumbnails for layout... This is usually very rough! I then scan the images and draw them with Illustrator - creating a line version of the image before moving to colours. I usually make colour keys for my images depending on the time.

MMB: When you look at you art a lot of pieces are from the 50's, 60's and 70's, often called the "golden era" of modern film making, a time now long gone by in the movies! Why do you like that era so much?

JG: I love the aesthetic of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. This applies to most things like fashion, design, art, architecture, advertising... I focus most of my work within these times. I really like modernism which is in use widely during these periods.

MMB: How did you get to know the movie "Danger: Diabolik!"?

JG: I noticed the existence of the movie for the first time online while researching retro futurism, I think. I came across the poster and photos from the film. I loved the poster of the movie. Marisa Mell looked amazing in her red one piece. She has a very 60's look to her, and her hair looks great too. These were the main reasons I wanted to create the poster that you see above at the beginning of this entry on the MMB.  I used the MMB a lot for reference about the movie and the life and work of Marisa Mell. Then I was invited to take part in the "Red Show" with Planet Pulp. Sadly the poster did not sell that well and the reason I was being told was that it is too obscure.

MMB: Had you ever heard of the name "Marisa Mell" or knew the existence of an actress called "Marisa Mell" for the start of your project?

JG: I had never heard of her before this project or seen any pictures with her as an actress. I made a big list of the movies I like to see with her in it! 

MMB: What is that you like about her?

JG: Like I said before, I like her hair, wardrobe, make up very much from that era! She is quite a symbol of that era.

MMB: Where can readers of the MMB buy your stunning art pieces?

JG: My art is available through my art agent and also at certain galleries across America like:

Bottleneck Art Gallery: http://www.bottleneckgallery.com/
Hero Complex Gallery: http://www.herocomplexgallery.com/
Spoke Art Gallery: http://spoke-art.com/

MMB: Thanks again, James, for this interview, it is highly appreciated and good luck with your creative career.

James Gilleard has a wonderful blog of his own showing all his phantastic art pieces and creations:

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