E7: The art style

Confession time: I’m slightly (okay, massively) obsessed with all things cyber, futuristic, and sci-fi. It’s the neon lights, the shiny designs, and the general vibe of ‘the future is now’ that gets my creativity flowing. So if you’ve ever caught yourself wondering, "Where does Jaime get all his wild inspiration from?" the answer is simple: Pinterest. Lost in futuristic cyberpunk neon content. Oh, and comics—lots and lots of comics. They’ve got cool mood-setting palettes, but I take it up a notch with colours so bright that NASA wonders how you can see the comics from space.

Now, if you’ve read my comic Cora, published back in February 2024, you’re probably thinking, ‘Wait a minute, didn’t this person just ramble on about bright colours? This comic is the complete opposite!’ And you’d be right, Cora is a pretty dark comic about a mother who’s kidnapped and forced into a life of an assassin. (Yep, it's as intense as it sounds!) Not exactly sunshine and rainbows, I know. But here’s the twist: even in the depressing story, I sneak in my signature style of brightness. For example, in the hotel you’ll find wild abstract paintings on the walls, and little bursts of neon that refuse to let the darkness win. 

Moving on to Frods! In the first season, you might notice that there aren’t any backgrounds until the final episode. But don’t let that fool you; the characters’ powers are as vivid as a disco ball at a sci-fi rave. In season 2, I made up for the lack of backgrounds with vibrant scenery. Being a science fiction comic, I was able to express my style as much as I wanted without limits. Frods was a great character because of his powers. He had access to fire, water, earth and air, which meant I had a wide palette of colours to play with. With so many characters’ powers going head-to-head, I made them clash and form a new colour in the middle.

Cambio! The perfect comic for anyone who’s craving a Frods alternative. Think of it as Frods but with a fresh coat of paint and a splash of neatness. I think my art style changed a lot when making Cambio. I used a very similar style to Frods, but this time the vibrant colours were in the perfect places. Because Cambio is a shapeshifter, it allowed me to play around with all sorts of styles, from animals to people. Fun fact: My favourite drawing in the entire comic is the window sill in episode 8. It might sound dull, but I got to experiment with a glitch effect inspired by my favourite film, Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse. Who knew a window sill could have such a glamorous secret? It’s like it went from ‘meh’ to ‘front page for a sci-fi magazine’.

Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse has played a very important part in my art style evolution. Thanks to that film, I started experimenting with glitch effects and gave my characters a bit more definition. I’m such a fan that I even own the Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse art book. The film’s unique animation style has inspired me more than I ever imagined. Every single person involved in that movie is ridiculously talented. I'd love to talk more about it, but this is a Jaime Heathcote Blog, not a spider-man one—though I might sneak in a few more references when no one’s looking!

Now, let’s talk book covers! I like to keep things as plain as possible, but with a special twist to make them stand out. For example, the Time Traitor cover features a straightforward clock with an abstract effect of blue shades. It’s kind of like my way of saying, ‘Look, it’s a clock, but with a funky twist!’ I decided that having those type of book covers got a bit boring and I wanted to create something more impressive, so I came up with United Decay's zombie cover. Because nothing grabs attention quite like a cover that screams ‘Zombies!’—it’s the equivalent of a written flash mob, but with more brain-eating!

If you’re struggling to find your style, don’t stress. Style isn’t something you find; it’s something that finds you. My art is an evolving journey and it's only getting better, so stay tuned!