Liam Sharp is a British artist, writer and publisher. He made his debut in the late 1980s drawing Judge Dredd for 2000ad.  He later moved to Marvel UK, where he drew the best-selling Marvel UK title ever, Death's Head II. Thereafter he began working mainly in the United States on books as diverse as the X-Men, the Hulk, Spider-Man, Venom, Man-Thing (for Marvel Comics), Superman, Batman, and The Possessed (for DC Comics and Wildstorm), Spawn: The Dark Ages (for Todd McFarlane and Image) and Red Sonja for Dynamite comics.

FF: How would you describe your artistic style?

Liam: I honestly have no idea! 
What I might be associated with - detailed, gritty realism, or over-blown testosterone-fuelled mayhem - isn't really indicative of who I am. My book 'Dead Apes in the Snow' (you can still download a free digital copy of it from here) probably demonstrates that best! There's all sorts of stuff in there that hasn't been seen, and probably represents me better. I'm a sucker for the progressive work that came out of Europe and the underground comics in America in the 1970s, and the genius work done in the more mainstream companies in the eighties - artists like Moebius, Druillet, Corben, Liberatore, BWS, Wrightson, Sienkiewicz... the giants of the industry to me - that's what I aspire to. I'm a big old broth of all of those guys!

FF: What are your favorite hobbies and how do you like to spend your free time?

Liam: I generally try to find a way to bring the things that I love doing for fun into a practical place - mainly because that way I can justify doing it! I have a family, three kids, and I'm the co-founder [of Moving Brands] (with CEO Ben Wolstenholme) and CCO of a new company in Berkeley, Madefire, so my time is very limited and precious! It always is, though, when you're a freelancer, which I have been for 25 years. I used to write a lot for pleasure, but in the end it got very serious and resulted in a novel. I have another coming out early next year too, and a load of short stories published in various places - many online. Writing is a huge passion. I also make a lot of music - either singing in bands, playing my guitar (badly) or composing on Garageband or Logic. Music, I would say, is my biggest obsessive hobby - though it's been a good six months since I last did anything substantial.

FF: With such a successful career so far, what wisdom can you share with upcoming illustrators who would like to try and follow in your footsteps?

Liam: Tenacity! That, and keeping your mind and eyes wide open. Know your limitations, and realise that the more you learn the less you know. it never gets easier so be prepared for a long slog mostly doing work that other people want you to do. Also - and key - make time to find space for the things you love to do, and keep creating for it's own sake.

FF: Which comic book series did you have the most fun working on and why?

Laim: Different books for different reasons. Death's Head because of the people I met at that time - including my wife - and because I fell in love with the characters in the book. Manthing because J.M.DeMatteis was a JOY to work with and we pushed the envelope, creating something truly original I think. Event Horizon because it was a kind of rebirth, and put me the other side of the desk for a change - a valuable lesson! Gears of War because it's my most consistent work to date. Aliens: Fast Track to Heaven because I got to do everything on that one, the writing, pencils, inks and colours. And my current work for Madefire, Captain Stone is Missing... because I co-created it with my wife and I think it may well be the work of my career, combining all the things I've learnt along the way.

FF: Can you tell us a little bit about switching from illustrating to writing (challenges and rewards)?

Liam: I don't really think about it as switching because I always did it, it was always a part of my life and something I made time for. But there comes a point when you have to ask yourself how serious you are. I asked myself and found that I was very serious about it. In many ways I think I may be a better writer than I am an artist - certainly it represents 'me' rather better than my art - which tends to be a bit macho - though not through any design on my part. I just tended to get the jobs Simon Bisley passed on! That said, my novel God Killers is pretty full of 'doom' as one reviewer put it! 

The next book is entirely different. Very personal, and nothing remotely like anything I've ever had published before. It's the bravest thing I've created I think - though it's also very odd. It's called Paradise Rex Press, inc. and China Miéville has written an amazing introduction to it. Very humbling as he's one of my all time favourite authors.

Writing is far more freeing than art in that you can, if you wish, cover more ground. You can depict scenes in a matter of sentences that would take months to render in paint. You can be more abstract, and you invite more participation from the reader - they see it with their own mind's eye, and as we're all subjective that's likely an extremely varied set of perceptions. I love that aspect. And I love being able to confound expectations.

I also love the chance elements, where a character seems to rise, unbidden, from some dark corner of your imagination - a newly liminal force, that sits at the centre of what your doing and usually makes it's purpose clear when you hit a snag in the plot and realise that if you hadn't created this unexpected, unplanned character you'd be completely stuffed!

FF: Do you have a routine or a system that helps your creative flow. How do you find inspiration and get yourself in the creative zone?

Liam: If I'm struggling with a page of art I find that composing something on my keyboard helps. I'll alternate, even down to fifteen minute bites, one to the other. When drawing gets that tough it's not a good place to be, but I find that if I keep going, no matter how difficult I'm finding it, then I get much further by the end of the day than I expected I would. I've even done some pages that turned out amongst my best, though I didn't enjoy a moment of the act of making them. The music-making creates a sense of satisfaction in an otherwise stultified and frustrating day, and that makes for a better mood in general! Sometimes I find writing has the same effect - though I'll usually take a couple or three hours out to do that. There are weeks, though, when all I really want to do is write, and often my biggest frustration is not being able to do that.

FF: Which medium do you prefer to work in Digital or Traditional and why?

Liam: I really don't have a favourite medium - they all produce such a variety of results! I do love the speed and freedom of digital art, but there's nothing like chasing oil paint around a canvas...

FF: What are your favorite software programs when working in Digital Format and what do you like about them?

Liam: I'm very much a Photoshop guy. It's just so deep and versatile. I could use it every day for the rest of my life and still never use all it's features. Everybody I know uses it differently. It's an amazing bit of software. 

FF: What motivated you to pursue your career in Concept Art?

Liam: Again, it found me - as comics did. I thought I'd be an illustrator or book cover artist, not a comic artist. Nothing in my career has been planned, I've just pivoted my way through life, and changed direction when an opportunity presented itself. But just because nothing was planned doesn't mean I didn't pursue the things I love to do - such as my writing. And though I didn't expect to draw comics I very much loved them. Again, though, I thought the place I'd end up doing comics (once I'd started in 2000ad) was in Europe, and as it turned out it's mostly been America! I never saw that coming at all.

FF: Thanks.

Liam: You're very welcome.

Some links to Liam's work:
Filter Foundry Pad: /LiamSharp
Official Website: http://www.liam-sharp.com/
Wiki Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Sharp