Bill Nichols’ Prescription:
Comics 10ccs of the Process with
Peter Clinton

Peter is one of the many talented creators working on Roland Mann’s relaunched comics line Silverline Comics. He is the penciller on Silverline Team-Up: The Champion and Ms Fury

-Bill

 

What inspires you to create and keeps you going?

This probably just boils down to telling great stories and trying to draw the coolest stuff I can. I’m always trying to one up myself!

Do you have a set routine? 

I did! It consisted of wake up, walk the dog, hit the drawing board until the dog needed his next walk. But my wife and I had our first child 4 months ago and any hope of a routine has since been blown out of the water. Right now my free time has reduced so I draw sporadically, whenever I can, usually sitting on the sofa on the iPad whilst the baby sleeps.

What kind of output do you try to achieve? 

Pre baby, 4-5 pages a week. Post baby, I’m at about 2 to 3 on a good week at the moment.

What inspires you WHEN you create? Music? Noise? Silence? 

It completely depends on what stage of the process I’m in. Up until the pencil stage I tend to need silence. The layout and roughs are where I do most of the ‘heavy lifting’ and I find it requires a lot of concentration. Once that’s all done I’m very partial to a Big Finish Audio. I’m a huge Dr Who fan and their stuff is incredible. If you don’t know them, check them out.

Who was the first comic book creator that influenced you to pursue this? 

There are so many but as a 90’s child I think the first artist I saw and thought ‘damn!’ was Adam Kubert. No surprise I later attended the Joe Kubert School in New Jersey! 

When did you realize you could follow this path yourself? 

Sadly not until I was older. The possibilities to create comics now is huge and for me, based in the UK, I can now reach so many more people than I could ever have when I was younger.

What do you find to be a challenge in creating? 

Ha! It’s all hard. And it never seems to get easier. That and horses! I’ve yet to be asked to draw a horse for Silverline Comics but if you know Roland Mann it’s only a matter of time!

What else do you have to learn? 

Everything! I’m one of those guys, like most artists I think, that are always looking at what other people are doing and asking ‘how do they do that and how do I do that!?

What keeps you motivated to get better? 

I think just for each page to be better than the last. It’s never ending.

Can you turn your brain (creativity) off (and on)? 

Sure. It’s not easy but stepping away from the page is healthy. I don’t do it nearly enough but I always come back more productive after a day or two rest.

Booster Shots

What advice do you have for aspiring creators? 

One piece of advice for anyone that wants to work in comics; Make Comics! You don’t need a publisher to hire you, or a writer to track you down. Do it yourself, show people what you can do. Just make comics.

Do you ever worry about running out of ideas? 

I’ll tell you if I ever do it no, I don’t worry.

How do you handle the slow times? General blind panic!? 

Fortunately, I haven’t had many slow times the last few years but ideally, that’s when I get to work on my own books and replenish the convention portfolio.

How do you feel about the industry? 

Whatever you think about the health of the ‘big 2’ the comic industry is in great health. New Indy publishers are springing up all the time and with the advent of Kickstarter and others finding comics you like has never been easier!

 

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed by the above creator are theirs. This interview may not 

be reprinted or reposted without permission.