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THEISPOT INTERVIEWS WALTER NEWTON

August 28, 2023

Walter Newton lives and works on the windswept west coast of Scotland, drawing pictures and animating for anyone that will let him near them, including Dollar Shave Club, Airbnb, Eurostar, Giphy and Disney.

How would you describe your art style?

Everything I do is on a spectrum of chunky colourful pixels to monochrome pen-and-ink - the by-product of a misspent youth with a Super Nintendo and a big pile of comics.

Share a favorite project and tell us about it.

I did a project a few years ago (and a few more since) with Disney/Pixar, making a series of illustrations of Pixar protagonists/antagonists facing off against each other in the style of old ‘90s one-on-one beat-em-up games. All the feedback was so beautifully drawn, with so many tweaks and changes that seemed so minor but ended up making a real difference to the character of the pieces - I was very aware that I was working with people who knew their stuff and it was amazingly inspiring.

Which artists inspire you and why?

I seem to have inherited a fairly absurdist sense of humour, especially if it involves grounding it in a relatively mundane setting, so I enjoy the likes of David Shrigley, Vic Reeves’ sketches, along with anyone who drew in the Beano in the 1980s, plus David Law who was more 1960s-70s. Most of them have a very loose, scrappy style which funnily enough completely contradicts my usual way of drawing, especially digitally, but I love the sense of fun an humour and the amount of detail and information they are able to fit into such a small space.

Name a bucket list item.

I’d love to see some proper vivid-to-the-naked-eye northern lights. I’ve seen them before from my house, but they were pretty muted and only really came to life through long-exposure photos. I found that exciting enough, but to be able to see them properly would be incredible.

Other than illustration, what job would you like to do for one day?

I’d be reasonably happy in any job where I was making/building things I think, but the ultimate job would to be one of the people that designs Lego sets - that surely has to be up there for everyone, right?

Tags: Walter Newton, Editorial, Game Illustration, Illustration, Interview, Retro, Theispot Interview

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