My name is Jamie Coe and I'm an Illustrator, comic artist/writer and storyboard artist based in London. Right now I'm working on a few illustration projects and a new comic, so look out for that one in the future. You can check out some of my work at www.jamiecoe.com.
Where does your passion for illustration and comics come from?
My dad bought me an issue of Silver Surfer when I was a little kid and after that I knew that comics and illustration was something I wanted to peruse when I was older. I was always drawing and making stuff whilst growing up, so it's always been something I've aspired to do.
What were your favorite comic books in childhood? What classic books would you recommend for children today?
I read quite a mix when I was growing up, from books like Ghost World by Daniel Clowes to Ultimate Spider-man by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. I also loved Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo and Blankets by Craig Thompson. Not all of them were for young readers, but that's partly because most bookshops would always have a small graphic novel section that just bunged all adult and kids books together.
There are so many awesome comics for Children/teens now, like the Hilda series by Luke Pearson, Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson and Brooke A. Allen, Moonhead and the Music Machine by Andrew Rae, Giant Days by John Allsion and Lissa Treiman (more for young adult probably) and Space Dumplins by Craig Thompson. There are loads more I'm missing but those are a good place to start if your lost.
Tell about your experience at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Did you meet lots of interesting creative people there?
Yeah uni was great, and I miss it all the time. Having such an intensely focused period of time to develop as an illustrator and learn from tutors and other students was fantastic for me personally.
How did you find characters for your debut graphic novel ‘Art Schooled’? Are they prototypes from the real life?
I tried to make characters that felt like you could find them at art school, but nobody was directly based on real life. I think it's such a fascinating setting and it's definitely a great place to look for interesting characters.
