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Batman by Matthew Griffin

Batman by Matthew Griffin

Design Ideas
October 24, 2015
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There is an incredibly talented global collective of poster artists known as the Poster Posse, headed up by a guy called Don Thompson, who do a lot of licensed tributes to the best movies of all time. Occasionally they invite guests to join them, and Illustrator Matthew Griffin has been lucky enough to have been on board twice - the first time for an Aliens 30th Anniversary tribute, and now this - their celebration of the recent DC Comics Batman Day.

I had a ton of ideas, and if I had the time I would have loved to make them all. Unfortunately, the weeks leading up to the tribute were particularly busy so I didn’t get a chance to carry out my grand ambitions (one was the opening pages to my own Batman comic.. Something I would still love to do). I ended up doing two - one was a kind of noir-inspired take on the character from a sketch in my notebook, and the other (the one most people, including me, favour) was the result of a few hours of tinkering - just a blank file, let’s see what happens…
-Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin

The one remit I gave to myself was - Batman became Batman to scare the s**t out of criminals! So I wanted my version to be frightening. He had to look like something you would not want to come across on a dark night (excuse the pun) in Gotham, particulary if you were up to no good...
-Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin

I would say, looking at my current portfolio, my work is pretty dark. That’s not on purpose - it just comes out like that! It was said to me before that if I was to make a picture book about bunny rabbits and unicorns, they would be the most frightening bunnies and unicorns of all time. Even if I try to make them nice! I would hope that it is atmospheric. I may not go into extreme detail in the traditional sense, but I put a lot of work into the feeling of the work if not the miniature details. I think that may be why I do a lot in movies and books. For the DVD covers, for example, I watch the films over and over before coming up with the final composition. It’s important to me to capture the feeling of the subject, as well as the information. I hope that doesn’t sound to uppity!
-Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin

As for inspirations, I take them from all kinds of things. I obsess over films, animation, music, books, nature, space... Also the illustration/design/animation world at the moment is so inspiring you don’t have to look hard to find incredible work everywhere. But if I have to name names, let’s say Harry Clarke, Tim Burton, Jack Kirby, Moebius, Tolkien, Dahl and Guillermo Del Toro.
-Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin

Work you butt off. Never stop learning. Never stop changing. Work your butt off.
-Matthew Griffin

You also might want to check out these other Batman artworks by Dean Falsify Cook and Alvin Groen.

About Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin is an Irish illustrator based in Co.Clare in the West of the country. He's also an author (though it still feels strange to say it), as my debut novel - a children’s fantasy called A Cage of Roots - which came out in March 2015. Matthew works a lot in publishing (book covers and interiors), movies (sleeves & posters) and do some editorial work from time to time which he really enjoys. He has an alternative portfolio also, under the pseudonym ‘Ignatius Fitzpatrick’ which shows more playful works! His regular work tends to err a little on the dark side… Away from work he has a beautiful wife and two gorgeous daughters (2 & 4) who keep him busy out of the studio! See more of his works on Behance or his website.

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