Odds are if you’re wearing a t-shirt with an image created by Drew Millward you’re going to turn some heads. Same goes if you happen to have one of those images on your wall in the form of a print. Drew draws some of the most original and unique images in the poster and design realm, and will only continue to gain more fans and accolades in the future.
What inspired you to first start drawing? Did you struggle in your formative years or did it come easy to you?
Hmmm, I guess I drew quite a lot when I was young, so I suppose there was some sort of natural aptitude for it, but realistically I didn’t draw anything particularly seriously until I started doing posters for shows we used to put on in Leeds. That was around 2004 or so. We needed to advertise the gigs we were booking, so we made posters. After that I just started drawing, which created more work for me….
What was your first professional work and maybe a quick story behind it?
I honestly can’t remember. I think it was for a poster for a show in London. Probably something Miles of Smiles were putting on. I think they had seen some of my work and just got in touch. I think I got paid about £20 or something, but it did give me a bit of encouragement to try and take it a little more seriously.
Were you self-taught or formally educated? (or mixture of both, mentors etc…)
I did have formal training in art. I studied art at GCSE, A-Level and Degree level, but I didn’t really draw at any point. In fact I recall being told that I couldn’t draw when I went for my interview at Leeds Met. In fairness I think they had a point. It was only after degree that I actually started drawing.
Taking a quick glance over at your pens, brushes etc…what tools have you mainly been using over the last few years?
Rotring Isograph Pens
Rotring Technical Pencil
Pentel Pocket Brush
Photoshop
… That is about it. Obviously I occasionally use paints and such, but on a day to day basis that is pretty much my arsenal of weaponry.
How has your toolbox evolved compared to when you first started out?
Quite a lot. I’m still very much drawn towards traditional methods of drawing, so I still use ink and pencils, but simply testing out different pens and finding instruments that make the marks I want has led me to working with the stuff I use now. I think for quite some time I worked on cartridge paper with a whole bunch of fine liners. After a while I realized that I could get a much more solid line and a purer black by using ink on velum, so that is pretty much now how I work. It allows me to separate images for screen printing in a much more organic way, and gives me the quality of line that I want.
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