“Nothing helps a film more than being banned” | the legendary Graham Humphreys

For die-hard fans of horror, Graham Humphreys’ art is instantly recognisable. His striking use of colour and texture has created countless iconic posters, album and book covers, and a wide range of related pieces.

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Graham recently visited Hell Tor at the Exeter Phoenix where he delivered a talk about all things creative, and I had the opportunity to interview Graham 1-2-1; where he provided insightful information on his creative process, and gave some hints towards exciting upcoming projects.

Graham Humphreys (left) at Hell Tor with filmmaker Bex Phillips (right)

Ashley Thorpe (right) talks to Graham Humphreys at Hello Tor at the Exeter Phoenix

Starting with his earlier work, Graham shared how his initial interests in skeletons, religious iconography, and Doctor Who shaped his style. Building on these interests, he was exposed to similar styles of art through a local library, claiming to have no single influence but rather a development of skill and style, eventually landing him in the area of work he loves – the horror genre. Graham said that “addressing fears and confronting nightmares” is an element of his passion for this genre.

The feel of punk

One of Graham’s most recognisable pieces is the poster for the movie The Evil Dead, but this wasn’t where his story started. He revealed how he secured this job due to previous pieces based on songs by The Cramps and the B-52s, going on to explain how he gained numerous jobs as a result of his 1981 Monster Club poster. No matter the film, book, or company behind Graham’s work, his style is always prominent. He described how he continuously incorporates aspects of counter-culture and tries to capture the feel of punk music within his art, likely being the hidden element that allows Graham’s work to catch the eye.

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With a large volume of work and various deadlines to meet, I asked Graham if he struggles with perfectionism in his work and when does he know when a piece is ready. He confidently replied: “It’s literally, if it’s working, you stop. Simple as that. I resist temptation to keep going back in to detail in areas.” … “Also, I think the image has to be an immediate thing, so you have an instant response to it and actually that doesn’t involve looking in patches and individual bits.”

By hand

Over the course of his career, Graham has made use of digital tools such as Photoshop to aid in the editing and composition phase during the final stages of a piece being completed. Despite the growing use of digital art, he remains dedicated to his usual medium of Gouache and oil pastels, also using coloured pencil sketches during the planning stages. Unexpectedly, Graham explained how he had to use his own hands as a reference in the A Nightmare on Elm Street poster, this sparked an interest in his creative process which I went on to discuss with him.

Identify the strong moments

“If we imagine a typical job being a Blu-Ray cover for instance, or maybe an alternative film poster, I’ll usually watch the film three times. First time is to get the narrative right, to understand what the structure of the film is. Second time is to identify the strong moments; the moments I want to use in the poster. And the third time is to go through it with a camera because usually it’s Blu-Ray so no way of capturing that directly from the computer. I literally have to take photographs of the TV screen.”

Once he’s whittled those images down to the most useful, he works out the composition of the piece, adds extra elements if needed (often from his own library of images of bats, graveyards, and tombstones), decides what to leave out, and then begins the piece.

“Often I’ll give options, three or four sketches, maybe just three, sometimes I only need the one because I think it says everything to convince them that this is the right way to go.” Moving onto making the final decision about which piece to use, Graham explained: “I usually know which artwork is the one I prefer anyway. You have to try and compromise, you know, to make something which they’re happy to work with – part of my job is to guide [the client] through the process.”

Talented track record

To end our conversation, I attempted to gain some insight into Graham’s upcoming projects, and whilst I’m sworn to secrecy on the specifics, I’m pleased to confirm there is a range of work relating to books, films, and music that will continue Graham’s talented track record of art within horror.

Explore the work that addresses fears and confronts nightmares on Graham’s website