What do you call the man who created the gods themselves? Well, we call him Toby Anderton, and he’s here to let you know how he created our epic mythology cover…
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m a professional illustrator, designer and composer of music, and my clients range from education to commercial industries, private clients to registered charities.
What was the inspiration behind the cover?
The mythologies of Thor, Bragi, Hercules and, of course, the Aztec goddess Mayahuel and her 400 rabbits, drove the concept from sketching stage through to completion.
How does it compare with some other projects you’ve worked on?
Cover illustrations differ from my other illustration work as there are much fewer words. The words - well, title - are nevertheless important and in this instance gave me a clue of what to do with Hercules and his apt lion headdress.
What was the biggest challenge that you faced in creating the piece?
Whether to add a border or not to the final piece, as I had originally planned. In the end, as it is quite visually busy, I opted not to. But part of me still wants to add the one planned. I already know if I do that, I won't be able to make up my mind!
Tell us about some projects you’ve worked on in the past…
I started as an illustrator in the early nineties. Since then my work has taken me into animation, composing soundtracks, interactive media, teaching, live performance work and the odd mural here and there. In between jobs, I'm working on a 20ft x 8ft mural on an allotment which I got involved with during lockdown.
What have you got planned for the future?
To finish the allotment mural. I would like to illustrate some more of my own sequential stories that I wrote scripts for a while ago and complete some more music work that had to be put on the back burner due to lockdown.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell the LeftLion readers?
You can check out my most recent professional illustration work on my Instagram page.
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