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

2 Les Edwards Johnny Mains enters the world of the UK’s premier dark fantasy artist. ABOVE LEFT: ‘Cyborg Moon’, a private client commission. ABOVE RIGHT: Cover art for ‘Pelican Clay’. FACING PAGE: ‘Triple Zombie’. Frontispiece for PS Publishing’s ‘Chamber of Chills’ collection. A pastiche of Norman Rockwell’s self-portrait. Note the snapshot of Pete Crowther, author and founder of PS. JM: How did you first get started in the industry; what led you to this point and what was your first real break/published work? LE: I was studying graphic design at Hornsey College of Art and a chap called John Spencer came to our end of year exhibition. He was looking for artists to join his agency, Young Artists, and he came and found some of us in the pub. He offered to represent me and two other guys. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do after college so it seemed like a good idea to give it a go. I didn’t expect it to develop into a career and it was actually quite a while before I started to get work. My work wasn’t really of sufficient quality to begin with but once work started to come in it didn’t stop. I don’t think I could have managed without one (an agent). It took me all my time to actually do the work, so if I’d had to chase around with my portfolio