Bill Greenhead is a multi-talented illustrator, cartoonist
and animator for books, magazines, the web and TV. When I first was introduced to Bill’s work it was through a comic called “World of Cow”. This was my first impression of his work and I thought he had some really fun comics, and I was intrigued. But the more I kept digging the more I discovered. Bill has a variety of different outlets for his work and creativity, he is truly gifted and a very prolific artist. Here is just the tip of the iceberg into the world of Bill Greenhead.
David: Hey Bill, it’s so good to be featuring you on “Don’t Pick the Flowers” blog. How did you get started drawing cartoons and comics, how did it all begin?
Bill: Thanks for having me. I first started out copying my favourite artists in British comics like the Beano and Monster Fun. Then I discovered Spiderman and the Hulk. I was bought lots of Mad books with Wallace Wood and Bill Elder which blew my brain to bits. That with influences like Tex Avery and Chuck Jones thrown in the mix, I tried to copy them all. Then when I was 18 I got a job in an animation studio in London. I met some really interesting people. One of which was a woman cartoonist. I saw her work and thought I could do that sort of thing. So I took my portfolio around all the magazines and newspapers that would see me and got 2 commissions. I jacked in my job at 21 years old and never looked back.
David: You have a variety of different illustrations and comics and have worked for advertising agencies, magazines and newspapers (to name a few). What is your favorite to work and concentrate on?
Bill: I’m currently working on a TV campaign for Latvian TV called “bite”www.youtube.com/user/BiteLV?blend=3&ob=5#p/u/0/OJOyiCAMoNE Where I have to draw onto a whiteboard whilst they film me. I have input into the images that I draw, as I storyboard and come up with lots of the concepts. It’s a challenge in so many different respects. I’m also working with Toxic comic on a number of different projects, writing and illustrating which gives me a lot of pleasure.
David: “World of Cow” is probably your pride and joy, can you give some detail about that and how you began doing those?
Bill: World of Cow started as a pitch to a cheese product called
DairyLea. I was asked to come up with a cow design to relaunch the product in the late 90’s. It was between me and this other chap. I provided them with about 100 jokes to go with my design. Unfortunately they didn’t go for it…So I had these cows and these gags. I sat on them for about 8 years or so then thought I’d start a blog. I set myself a challenge to produce one Cow joke per day for a year. When the year was up, I rested a while, then I thought I’d just carry on and see how far I could go. So far I’m on my 1200th. I’m going to see if I can make it to 2000.
David: What are some of your favorite comics and inspirations?
Bill: I mentioned a few before. I Loved Larsen of course, 2000ad, the Beano, Mad Magazine, Punch and Marvel comics in general. Tex Avery is a HUGE inspiration to me.
David: What do you see next for your work and “World of Cow”?
Bill: More bite commercials. I’m working on some really interesting stuff in Toxic magazine. I did some illustrations for the next Peter Kay book coming out in September and I have childrens books coming out for US publisher Benchmark. With World of Cow I keep trying to keep it fresh and fun for everyone. It’s certainly evolved since I started doing it properly in 2006. I hope my work has also. Thank you for having me again. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, David.
David: A definite pleasure for me Bill, you have a great portfolio of work. And I can’t wait to see more “World of Cow”.
And I encourage everyone to check out the links below to discover more “World of Cow” and art by Bill Greenhead.
illustrationweb.lanticmedia.com/artists/BillGreenhead
