To Walk in the Way of Lions by H. Leighton Dickson

I also watch a whole lot of National Geographic and Animal Planet. For Carnal I have been researching Lions Hyenas rhinos and Cape buffalo along with Massai tribes and other African tribes and cultures. What prepared you for the civilizations of the differing species in “Carnal?” I kept building off that original imagery of the rhino and broadened it and over the years and the world of Carnal revealed it’s self to me.įor me, my work on “To Journey in the Year of the Tiger” and “To Walk in the Way of Lions” draws from my experience with predators as a zoologist. When I woke I thought what a cool painting that would make. The rhino had black war paint striped across his body and he was throwing hyenas into the air.

The Hyenas were clawing at the rhinos back. It actually started 10 years ago from a nightmare I had of a Humanistic Rhino fighting off a clan of Humanistic Hyenas. You have a Graphic novel series on Amazon called “Carnal.” What inspired you to create the anthropomorphic culture that you have going on in that series? I try not to use filters or blurs in Photoshop and I try to have brush strokes visible in the design. I build up the design with layers like I would with layers of paint on canvas. Well at first I was dead set against working digitally because when I started my illustration career digital wasn’t around but now I approach all of my digital work as if I was doing a painting on an easel. Can you share a little bit about how a piece comes together? Your work seems to be a combination of digital and traditional techniques. I am very fortunate to have steady work as a professional working illustrator for over 20 years now. I attended Art Institute of Boston and studied to be a fine artist.

My parents encouraged me to pursue art education after high school. I liked to draw and sketch when I was a kid. Were you an artist growing up? Did you go to school to develop your talent or are you self-taught? And have you always been an illustrator by profession or is this something that has developed over time?

To Walk in the Way of Lions by H. Leighton Dickson