On Monday 7 October, we were delighted to welcome Mr Andrew Wildman to the College for the second Scholars’ Masterclass of the academic year. For the first Masterclass, we heard all about the submarine service – a fascinating topic – and scholars, pupils, and staff were treated once again on this occasion.
Andrew is a concept artist whose line of work has seen him work for Marvel, Pinewood Studios, the BBC, and more. Perhaps best known for his work in comics, Andrew has worked on numerous Marvel UK and Marvel USA titles in the 1980s and 1990s.
Andrew has always been interested and passionate about drawing and in his childhood, also loved comics and cartoons. At school, perhaps like many students, he was unsure about his next steps and eventually studied graphic design at college and university. Following his graduation, Andrew worked in a design studio and while there, built up a portfolio of comic art. After being put in touch with a friend working at Marvel UK, Andrew was asked to do a sample page on ThunderCats and subsequently given a position. During his time at Marvel UK, Andrew worked on Transformers and Ghostbusters comics before he was invited to work for Marvel USA.
In his 10 years working for Marvel USA, Andrew worked on comics for GI Joe, X-Men, and Spiderman – the last one being the hardest to draw due to the many webs and intricate patterns! In his talk, Andrew spoke of the other different challenges each story and character brought and with Transformers, the difficulty was trying to convey emotions.
In the 90s, comic sales dipped, and Andrew eventually started working for Rebellion – a video games developer company. In his work there, Andrew worked on character design, environments, artwork, and cut scenes. From there, he went to work on character design for an animation company before working as a Concept Artist for Pinewood Studios. In what was one of his highlights, Andrew was the Storyboard Artist for the Clangers’ 50th Year Anniversary episode.
Andrew’s later work has seen him work as a Storyboard Artist for the BBC where he worked on The Fades and Doctor Who. Through that, he has had the opportunity to work with many directors and actors, each with their own styles and ideas. Episodes and films are huge undertakings, and Andrew showed an example of what a storyboard would look like, using a scene from Luther as an example.
Andrew’s Masterclass showed how a career could develop and progress from a passion. Each step and each position led on from the previous and Andrew emphasised the importance of always being the person what other people will want to work with.
Thank you, Andrew, for taking the time to visit the College and talk to our pupils about the wonderful world of storyboard art and design.