Tiernen Trevallion has been producing great artwork since the mid 1980’s. His work on 2000AD cover and story work put his work in demand. But he really made his name working with Gordon Rennie on his Absolom Series and again with Rennie on Robbie Burns – Witch Hunter. Recently he was pegged by Hellboy Creator Mike Mignola to do the artwork for his recent Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. Her Final Hour. I for one thought he killed it. So with that in mind, We are proud to talk to Artist Teirnen Trevallion for Geek Vibes Interview.
GVN: Thank you so much for giving us a bit of valuable time, Tiernen. Just a quick touch of your beginnings, what first made you take an interest in art and who were your inspirations? Whose work did young Tiernen Trevallion admire?
TT: My earliest memory of becoming aware of art, or at least sci-fi/horror/fantasy, was before I could read. My brother would go to school and I’d sit looking through my ma’s collection of “Science Fiction Monthly.” These were collected in a big purple folder. There were all sorts of images in there, many of which were probably not appropriate for small children. My ma also collected film stills. A lot of these were from horror films, in particular Hammer Horror. I had no idea what any of this stuff was, as I had no frame of reference, but I found it all totally fascinating. As for specific artists, these have always been too numerous to mention. I do remember having a great fondness for the illustrators of the turn of the previous century: Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Kay Neilson and so on.
GVN: You have been doing great illustrations for 2000 AD, Judge Dredd, and Harry Absolom. Who gave you your first professional job and how did that come about?
TT: I’m not entirely sure. I was working as an illustrator for some time before I started with comics. The first comic strip I did was for Games Workshop’s publishing company: the Black Library; Inferno magazine; ‘Tales of the Ten-Tailed Cat.’ I had decided I wanted to pursue working in comics, and I sent a portfolio around.
GVN: Well after admiring your past work, I can certainly see why Mike Mignola would want to work with you for Hell Boy and the B.P.R.D: Her Fatal Hour. How did that collaboration come about and did Mike pursue you or was it the other way around?
TT: A bit of both, perhaps? I’m pretty sure Mike wasn’t aware of my work until I contacted him on Facebook.
GVN: Well once you got Mike’s attention, as far as working with Mike, how did that collaboration work? Did he give a complete script, an outline? What style works best for you?
TT: Yes, very simple. Mike sent the finished script, without final dialogue. As far as what works best for me, I prefer a script that doesn’t have overly complex panel descriptions. Mike’s script was great to work from. I’ve been lucky with pretty much all of my collaborations as far as scripts go.
GVN: I know in past projects you have done pretty much everything from the pencils, inking and colouring. In the case of Hellboy, you are working with the talented colorist Dave Stewart. Have you worked with Dave before and if not, how was that process?
TT: I was terrified! I should explain, it was not because I’m precious about my work, but because Dave’s a genius, and I was worried that my line work might not be up to the task. I had no contact with Dave, as Mike has a pretty good idea about what he’d like to see, so they work that out together. (Also terrifying!)
GVN: We thank you once again for sharing your time with us. Finally I have a hypothetical question for you. Everyone else I talk to has to suffer like this, so now it’s your turn. Because of the brilliance of your work, you have been chosen to do a one off for a story using one of the famed Univeral Monsters as the main character. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf-man, The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc. Knowing your own strengths, which one would you prefer to do?
TT: A great, and difficult, question. After due consideration, I’m going to go for “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Has there ever been a back story? I’m seeing something sad.
GVN: Thanks again, Tiernen and we look forward to the release of Hell Boy and the B.P.R.D: Her Fatal Hour, coming December 2nd.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
