Introduction

Time to talk a little bit about my work I think.

My favourite things to draw have always been people - apart from a couple of years when I was about 5 or 6 and it was dogs wearing hats. I love fairy tales, stories and general folklore. My most recent comic, The Flying Ship,  is based on an old Russian Fairy tale of the same name.
My favourite artists include Edmund Dulac, Aubrey Beardsley,  Norman Rockwell, Lotte Reiniger and of course, Alphonse Mucha. 

Apparantly I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil. I used to sit in front of the TV with a big stack of A4 paper, fill each page (both sides) with pictures in whatever pen or pencil was to hand, and then put the stack in a drawer, only to get another stack. I did this till I was ten. Somewhere in Brazil there's a huge, smoking wasteland where big chunk of Rainforest must have been - I feel entirely responsible.

My Godfather says that there's really no such thing as talent, only the result of years and years of practice. The thing about practice is that you do an awful lot of it when the activity in question is an absolute obsession. When I was 15 I developed a repetitive strain injury from too much drawing and had to stop using my wrist completely for about 6 months. I learnt to paint with my left hand - something I've completely forgotten how to do. (I later learnt that the injury was partly caused by the fact that I held a pencil with the wrong fingers - idiot.)

I love drawing flowers and other decorative flora and fauna, usually around semi nude women with ample bosoms and slightly mischievous expressions. I have a weakness for old fashioned, muted tones. In this 100 themes project, I have decided to push myself to improve my composition and detail, creating works of art I'll be proud of. And this is the first:

1. Introduction

"Introduction" by Jess Milton

I wanted to incorporate a type-face reminiscent of the 'Once Upon a Time' beginnings in old fairy tale books - The Frog Prince idea sort of came about on its own. The crown the Princess is wearing is based on a pair of Antlers. I think the biggest influences for this piece are Aubrey Beardsley and Lotte Reiniger.