Metal Hammer Extravaganza!

This month you can get your hands on two new posters in two different metal hammers! With the UK Metal Hammer July Issue you can get this Bring Me The Horizon poster that is taken from the revamped Dino design i did for the band, its A1 in size and looks pretty awesome!

Alongside this the German Metal Hammer July Issue has another poster taken from my Nuclear Summer series, as well as a 2 page interview i recently conducted with them, the English translation transcript is below. Big thanks to both metal hammers!

MH: Can you recall the moment when you figured out that you want to do painting/design or let’s say art as such as a profession?

DM: Well, I always drew and painted when I was younger, but I only realised it was what I enjoyed the most when I was at school around 16, It became my favourite subject and I excelled the most at art throughout school, I didn’t necessarily know if I could make it my profession though, but I had always hoped to in some capacity be working with art.

MH: Was there some sort of premonition or even a feeling of predestination with regard to being creative and let things be perpetuated on canvas?

DM: I wouldn’t say there was any predestination! But I think most people thought it was what I would end up doing, like I said, it was the only thing I really enjoyed at school.

MH: For example: Did you have art as a major field of study in your A-Levels?

DM: Yes, I got an A-level in art to start out.

MH: Did you even study Art or any design craftmenship later on at University or any similar school/academy/college? Or have you taught everything yourself by “learning by doing”?

DM: Yeah after A-levels I went to do a foundation at Camberwell in London, and then I went to Brighton where I did a degree in Illustration for three years. It was a great place to hone what I was doing and learn what I enjoyed drawing.

MH: Concerning your art: How do you approach a „project“ (i.e. a drawing or an illustration)? Is there some sort of headline which serves as a source of creativity and ideas in general?

DM: Generally I approach each project as a clean slate, try and clear my head and look elsewhere for inspiration than I might have in the past, there is no main source of inspiration.

MH: Are there other artists who have influenced you a lot or who you appreciate/cherish very much?

DM: Always Alfons Mucha, his work is just amazing and seems timeless to me, apart from that I try not to get too much influence from other artists.

MH: If you have no particular artist as a source of influence or inspiration, then: what drives you and fuels the fire?

DM: When I was younger it was a lot of comic books, films, scifi, videogames, the whole horror/scfi genre in any medium has always been a huge influence for me, its more the encompassing genre than any one person or thing in particular.

MH: Isn’t art – be it music, painting or whatever – always some sort of means to let things out? Some sort of catharsis, when we want to get philosophical…

DM: It can be, for some people more than others im sure. For me, not so much, but that is simply because of the subject matter, drawing a skull and snakes for example wont hold much meaning for me. It depends how layered you want to get with the work. I do intend to work on some pieces that could be considered cathartic at some point.

MH: What do you use as technical support for creating your art? I.e. certain graphic aids and appliances? On your website there is something written in the FAQ-Section, but this is rather vague, right? Can you be a little bit more specific, please?

DM: I work mainly on an intuos 4 wacom tablet in photoshop and illustrator nowadays, I do enjoy working by hand with pen and pencil, but time limits how often I can do that, but mainly its all computer based work these days.

MH: I can imagine that a piece of work takes a different amount of time. However, what’s the average duration for a Dan Mumford Original?

DM:Yeah It can be massively different, I would say one piece will range between 1-3 days, normally its 2 days in total, one for drawing and one for colouring! A lot of the pieces I have been working on recently though have been in the 3 day region though, the more detail the longer it takes!

MH: Maybe – as an example – how long did this very popular design take you?

DM: I would not be able to answer that, haha, I did that about 3 years ago now, I couldn’t tell you how long it took. I would imagine a day or two though!

MH: Do you have some helpful advice and suggestions for beginners as well as for advanced learners? What essentials, “must haves” and “must dos/donts” do you postulate as indispensable when focussing on art as a hobby as well as a possible profession later on?

DM: Its all about practice really, theres no real over arching advice I can give, but you just have to be true to yourself and not try and copy anyone. Theres a lot of trouble with younger kids looking up to artists and just copying the way they work, or even just copying the work flatout and then selling it on, and that’s not a good way to start out, So just do your own work and do what you enjoy!

MH: You art is mainly used in Modern Metal, Metalcore, Hardcore, Deathcore etc. I reckon you are a metal head yourself? How did you get into contact with the scene/the bands?

DM: Yeah I enjoy a lot of metal and hardcore music, it was what I grew up with, I played in a few bands when I was younger in the local scene etc, so it was a natural evolution to work in the industry creating artwork for my friends in bands or bands I knew from playing with etc.

MH: Would you agree, if I said that Dan Mumford is the first well-known artist in “metal” who brought an extremely colourful and comic-like style to merchandise and artwork?

DM: Haha im definitely not the first, but I am probably well known for creating colourful work for merchandise and artwork!

MH: If I should be mistaken – who was there first then? I can’t think of anyone, to be honest.

DM: You know what, I couldn’t tell you who was first, but theres been a lot of amazing illustrators like Pushead, Frank Kozik, Derek Hess, Paul Romano etc working for a lot longer than me, merchandising wasn’t quite as huge as it is now back in the day, bands wouldn’t be rolling around with 10 different tee-shirts at every show, and the colours probably weren’t quite as neon or vibrant, but I think that’s more to do with the changing of times.

MH: Do you have a special connection to all your designs/illustrations? I.e. “that one was my first BIG ONE!” or “that one took me forever, but it turned out so fuckin’ great!” or “I’ll never forget that one, because it started ‘like this’ and I finished it totally different compared to what I started from.” → a small story linked to a few for you outstanding designs/pieces of art!

DM: Yeah, I think theres a few that stand out for me. They all happened at the same time too. I was doing my final term of university and was in the process of finishing my final pieces for examination and also getting my final show ready, at the same time I was working on the Gallows album re-release artwork and the artwork for the first two singles from that album, so all at the same time I was working on these intense pieces and finishing university. It was a manic and busy period of my life, but I ended up creating some pieces that I am incredibly proud of, alongside the Gallows artwork I created the Francesca piece. Those pieces all solididfied where I wanted to go with my work, it was a very pivotal moment for me.

MH: On your website there is a small interview in which you say that what you do not like about arts is when bad art becomes a trend. Can you specify that?

DM: Hahah, well I think that’s me taking a stab at crudely done hand drawn artwork. Its not quite as prevalent as it was a few years ago, but there was a lot of just plain bad drawing getting attention, and it really annoyed me, there just wasn’t a lot of time and effort invested in it. And im not saying good art has to take you ages to complete, I just didn’t see the appeal of a 5 minute doodle. Personal preference more than anything.

MH: However, to me it seems as if your art has become a trend too in the last 2 years or so. Stating this I do not at all intend to badmouth your craft or your art in general, but it is obvious that more and more bands have your designs/your art printed on their merch. What do you comment on this?

DM: Yes I have worked with a lot of bands now, and my work definitely has a look to it that is prevalent amongst the metal community, but that’s more the genre of music than the artwork I think.

MH: What would comment when I say that your art has even changed the way heavy metal (when using the general term I of course mainly hint at the extreme metal-scene) is perceived by the younger audience/juvenile fans today? I give you an Example: The Black Dahlia Murder is an extreme Death Metal-Band from the US. They have colourful merchandise designs and attract a lot of young people. Those same people, however, are often not very much into Suffocation for example – though Suffocation are the originators. Of course such a discrepancy is rooted in many things. However, one factor is for sure the way the kids relate to the image of a band. What do you say?

DM: Yeah I think that’s a really good point. My tee designs probably do appeal to people who might not be invested in the music as much, which is really interesting, if any of my artwork has to some extent changed the way some people perceive metal then thats great, Its not quite as demonised as it was a few decades ago, but I like to bring a bit of vibrancy to metal artwork!

MH: Last but not least I would like to have you commenting on your personal TOP5 artwork (art that was created by you!)

DM:

1.Francesca-my favourite piece all round, im forever trying to create something I like more.

2. Gallows-Abandon Ship/In The Belly of A Shark- these two are intrinsically linked as they were done back to back, I just loved the freedom I was given to create these insane looking 7”s, it was a great project to work on.

3. TBDM- Typhon. Its really hard to choose a favourite from all the tees I did with TBDM, but I was really happy with the colours in this one, so I will go with this.

4. Evil 9 Zombie Landscape.- This took me a good two weeks to create, it was an epic undertaking, but in the end I was happy with end results.

5. Nuclear Sunset 2.- A really old piece, but an idea that I really want to return to at some point, I think it’s the idea more than the artwork itself, but its definitely an idea I want to rework.

Also, Mumford advert in Juxtapoz and revolver this month, thanks IndieMerch!