EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 8 © 2014 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

90 The Studio: Zelda Devon illustrators was lucky enough to grab a few minutes out of Brooklyn based illustrator Zelda Devon’s busy schedule to ask her some questions about her darkly wry and enigmatic art, and where it all came from. PR: Where did you train? ZD: I went to a big deal art school in the south where the trees were covered with Spanish Moss and the streets were cobbled, but didn’t really learn much there. Later on, I attended a small technical school hidden down an alleyway in Atlanta, GA, called Portfolio Center. It was a graphic design boot camp and was taught by veterans in the industry. You would most definitely cry during a critique. I left that place with a fat professional portfolio and headed to New York City. I really didn’t know how to draw until I was almost thirty. I found an Atelier in Brooklyn, NY. One of the best teachers I’ve ever had, Andy Reiss, taught classical drawing in his small studio. I’ve been going there weekly about seven years and this atelier has been fundamental in my training. He’s like Yoda, only taller. PR: What were your early influences? ZD: Franklin Booth, J.C. Leyendecker, N.C. Wyeth, Dave McKean, Leon Bakst, Mike Mignola are found on the easy to reach shelf. Cracks in old walls, costume design, architectural ornament, elaborate European fountains, and deep-sea giant isopods are alsomuses. I love dark, strange, twisted sad things. My influence casserole has many layers. I steal a little bit from TOP: One of Zelda’s speed paintings which she creates in response to her fans briefs. This digital painting took 45 minutes to complete. ABOVE: Zelda Devon’s studio space in the heart of Brooklyn. FACING PAGE: A cover for T.L. Morganfield’s ‘Bone Flower Throne’, published by Panverse Publishing 2013.