We’re coming up to week 4 of our artist spotlights celebrating 3 years of Knock Knock zines! We’ve previously spoken to some of our regular contributors to Knock Knock including Kevin T. Rogers, Michela Cicconi and Erika Price, this week we’re turning our spotlight onto macabre comic maker Allan MacRitchie. Allan has been contributing to Knock Knock since issue 4, and has experimented with comics, strips and even a fake film review. Read forth to catch a glimpse of Allan’s creative process and influences!
What got you into creating art?
My parents are both creative and they encouraged me to start drawing. I also loved telling stories so comics became the perfect way for me to combine words and pictures. It’s only been in the last five years that I started making comics seriously and I’ve been self-publishing and tabling at conventions since 2016.
Are there any creators who influence your work and how?
Mike Mignola and Charles Burns use a lot of black ink and I do too- mainly to hide all the mistakes in my drawing. Also you can’t make horror comics without admiring/fearing Junji Ito.
Do you have a favourite piece of horror media?
Too many to list but off the top of my head: The League of Gentlemen, And Then Emily Was Gone by John Lees and Iain Laurie and Ari Aster’s Hereditary.
Do you have any projects coming up?
I’m three pages into the second volume of Grave Wax– a supernatural mystery written by Heather Palmer and drawn by myself. Volume 1 was set in an isolated Highland town surrounded by creatures from the darkest corners of Scottish folklore. Now we’re moving the action to Glasgow where there’ll be murder, conspiracy and cults. If you’re a fan of Hellblazer check it out!
Your work has a very distinctive style, is there anything in particular which inspires your creative process?
I like to adapt how I draw to fit the tone of each story. Every time I make something I usually learn something from it that I can use for the next project. And the more I make the more I’m inspired to create new stuff.
Your stories tend to be very influenced by folklore, what is it that draws you to these types of tales?
I love monsters and mythology is full of them. Nothing fires up my brain more than great creature design.
What scares you the most?
Opening up to people and exposing the horrible, blackened being that lives inside me. And yet here I am doing this interview.
What’s your favourite piece that you’ve submitted to Knock Knock?
The Adventures of Billy from the Nightmare Issue– I was trying to emulate the style of Winsor McCay’s Dream of the Rarebit Fiend and it’s possibly the darkest thing I’ve written so far. Also Family Dinner, from the Gourmet Edition, which Heather wrote about an aristocratic cannibal family. It’s gross. So much so that I look at the art and think, “I can’t believe we did that.”
You can follow more of Allan’s twisted works and artistic process through Twitter and Instagram.
You can also grab issues of Grave Wax (and we highly recommend you do) on Etsy
