Adrian Salmon Interview

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I have known Adrian Salmon for a few years now, he and I are members on various film groups at Yahoo! I first met Ade in 2007 at the Bray Studios event. Ade is a very talented artist in his own right. I asked Ade early on this year if he would provide some artwork for this site, as I needed some artwork for a Homepage, as I wasn't over keen with my own attempts. Ade came up trumps with a beautifully composed peice of superb artwork that now adorns that particular page. Once the artwork was done I then badgered the poor guy into giving me an interview, here are the results of that interview.

Above: Ade's finished masterpeice.

Above: More of Adrian's roughs, notice how the finished product is taking shape.

Q: Hi Ade, can you tell us how you became involved with doing the homepage art, also what method did you use to visualise the finished product?

AS: I'd been looking for an opportunity to illustrate a Quatermass picture for years and your offer was too good to refuse! Initially I watched both versions of Quatermass 2 - film and television series - noting imagery that I felt was representative of the story. After doing numerous sketches it was obvious that Bernard Quatermass had to centrally dominate the picture - by using a low angle shot , he gains both stature and authority. The dome was positioned as a horizontal plane to contrast with the vertical of Quatermass. The rocket and soldiers filling up the boring side bits.

I pencilled the image at A3 size ( the bigger you draw the more dramatic I find the lines are). Once inked it was scanned into Photoshop and coloured. I was tempted to use a sepia palette to invoke a timeless 1950's feel - but eventually opted for a simple colour scheme of blues, greens and yellows which compliment each other and suggested a creepiness that satisfied me.

Q: Your a huge fan of of British SF films of the 50s and 60s, as well as Hammer films and 60s Telefantasy TV. I notice that a lot of those influences appear in terrific book 'Faceless', but has there ever been any film TV show that you would love to do an adaptation of?

AS: John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos would be fun! The film version VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED is fantastic - subtle and sinister. I'm not sure how applicable it would be to comics though - no overt monsters as such - the Day of the Triffids would arguably work better. That said there is something that draws me to VILLAGE - it's very British flavour appeals. Midwich Studios ( where Terry Sharp works) in THE FACELESS was an intentional nod.

Q: You are a fan of the 1970s mag 'House of Hammer', are there any particular film adaptations or artists that you particulalrly found as an influence to you?

AS: John Bolton's DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS strip is my favourite and in some ways it outclasses the film . I think the grace of Bolton's drawings informs my own - the balletic quality of his characters. He similarily impressed me with his work on The Bionic Woman for LOOK-IN magazine . Whilst I don't draw in a particularly naturalistic way - I am very conscious of balance and poise which I think stems from his influence.

My other favourite artist in House of Hammer was Brian Lewis. His work on THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT and THE REPTILE are quite astonishing. I can't say there is any direct influence except on a subconscious level - Lewis' style is individual - something I believe is paramount to any successful artist. House of Hammer was influential in keying me into British horror before I'd really seen any of the films - the strips were so adult in approach , full of dignity for the subject and fun! I love how the VAMPIRE CIRCUS adaption gives us an alternate ending - based on the first draft script - giving the fan something extra.

O/T Q: 'Doctor Who' is one of your biggest loves, is there any particular Doctor that sticks in your mind as the best, my era is Pertwee and your is?

AS: I started watching Dr Who with Jon Pertwee - so I'm very sentimental about his interpretation and viewing the latest dvds like THE SILURIANS and THE SEA DEVILS , it's obvious these still stand up well 40 years on. There is a lot of panache and grace to his seasons - mostly down to his suave persona. As much as I love Pertwee - my favourite has to be Tom Baker. Larger than life , exciting and individual - his seasons really concreted my love for the show. Plenty of Hammer horror influences too like THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS and TALONS OF WENG CHIANG. What's not to like really?

Dr Who has been very influential on my career in general too. I've produced art for Dr Who Magazine since around '92 on strips and illustrations. I work on the popular Time Team feature in which four fans are watching the series from the beginning and commenting. I've been supplying the artwork that accompanies the feature each month - drawing my way through Hartnell to Colin Baker so far and watching 90% of the stories along the way! I've noticed that the most interesting visual work is earlier on - particularly the Troughton era - but then I'm hugely influenced by retro design - which neatly brings us back to Quatermass!

Q: Ade, thanks for taking the time to answer these few questions as you are a very busy man, anything you would like to add?

AS: Just my thanks Steve for the opportunity to contribute to your excellent site.

I'm blushing.......you are welcome mate!

Artwork: Adrian Salmon. 2008. Stephen Reed. 2008.