RECENT Q and A for wizard magazine's October issue (Note that October is sort of “my month” - I have a new trade, NOCTURNALS: UNHALLOWED EVE, coming in September. And there's usually something coming out in the fall from me from year to year.):

1. What makes for a good, moody illustration?

lighting is key- not light itself, but the lack thereof. its the form emerging from shadow, particularly in the use of "grotesque" or unnatural lighting from below, that taps into the subconscious. its why sitting around a campfire at night, walking in moonlight or reading by flash light under the covers intensifies any experience. The absence of light is the birthplace of fear.

2. What goes throuigh your head when drawing that stuff?

You dont want to know! Actually, I try to place myself inside the environment im painting-Im there in the scene, and it sort of happens naturally. there's always a personal involvment in the scene Im illustrating.

3. What's the scariest, moodiest piece you felt you've ever done?

some of the most disturbing images come from from NOCTURNALS: BLACK PLANET- girlfriends becoming hideous she-beasts, a man with a scarf that covers the tentacles growing from what should be the lower half of his face, stuff like that. one scene that comes to mind involves the main characters battling creeping horrors infesting bodies in a cemetary. The light comes only from a lantern and the full moon, which intensifies the naked terror of the scene.

dan brereton
www.nocturnals.com

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