“From the moment I could put a crayon into my chubby baby fingers I have always drawn, starting on walls and furniture, before graduating to reams of wallpaper and massive sketchbooks” reminisces artist and illustrator Ash Loydon. What began as a series of illustrations for the now deceased FrightFest e-Magazine, led to portrait pieces for the Soska sisters and Katharine Isabelle on the AMERICAN MARY tour. “From then on there’s been no stopping me” he says. “The guests get a piece whether they like it or not!”

For Glasgow 2018 Loydon has designed mini-posters for each of the films, all of which have been featured across FrightFest social media channels. “The idea of producing poster art for each of the films came about originally because sometimes it’s really difficult to get reference photos of the guests, last years BLOODLANDS being the perfect example, and I’d hate one person to be left out! Plus it’s a really good exercise to see if I can manage to capture the tone of a movie from only the synopsis and publicity stills available. It’s sad, but true that I get really excited on announcement day, not just because I’m looking forward to finding out what I’m going to see, but also what I’m going to draw.”

“The line up this year was great from an illustration point of view, as it was such an eclectic mix of themes and genres. I got to draw everything from 50s B-movie pastiche for ATTACK OF THE BAT MONSTERS (even photo referencing Kathleen Hughes from IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE and adding flying saucers – I jokingly said I hoped that the director would add some for me), to a stark 70s ‘serious’ horror style for GHOST STORIES, via a musty MR James vibe for THE LODGERS.” Asking any artist to show a favouritism towards their work is inherently cruel, yet equally compelling for us on the other side. “If I had to pick a favourite, or two, it would be COLD SKIN and SECRET SANTA.” He adds: “With COLD SKIN it was because after spending a few days drawing the main creature with the idea of her looming menacingly through the fog, I suddenly realised (well my wife did – she often gets the final say on my work) that it wasn’t needed, and just made the whole thing look cluttered. SECRET SANTA was a case of an idea, in this instance I wanted an 80s slasher vibe, and as soon as I posted it everyone seemed to love it. I got some lovely feedback, not just from FrightFest attendees, but from the cast and crew which was really lovely.”

Combining genre cinema and art is a fitting tribute to his creative influences that have complimented a natural instinct to draw. “At primary school my satchel always held a huge pile of paper, various half-chewed pencils and biros, and a copy of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND (much to my teachers disgust). It was an obsession that just grew from there, fuelled in part by late night BBC showings of the Universal monster classics and action films, then later 2000AD and a second hand shop haul of 1960’s DC comics.” One film however united his inner artist with the film fan: “What cemented my love of both art and films was a cinema showing of BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES that coincided with my purchasing the Marvel Comics adaptation. From then on I was hooked in a way only a six year old could be, and I have been working in the arts field in a variety of weird and wonderful guises ever since.”

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