Artist Catch-up: Zombie Makeout Club

We caught up with the hauntingly talented artist behind Zombie Makeout Club, Peter Richardson ahead of our collaboration. Let's hop into our exclusive interview!

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview with us! First off, could you tell us a little more about your background?

Zombie Makeout Club started off as a way for me to vent frustration from my day job, working at a mobile video game company. I had to make a straightforward, appeal-to-everybody, type of art, that was controlled by people with business degrees. I'd go home after work, take a nap, and then stay up all night drawing horror and manga inspired art. I stuck those designs on t-shirts, at first mostly just for myself, but then it kinda just caught on and there were tons of people wanting to buy the shirts. Really thankful to all those people who helped me get out of that day job haha.

 

When did you start drawing and why?

I started drawing as a kid because I wasn’t allowed to have comics or video games. I would draw all the comics and video game characters I would see out in the world, and I guess that was my way of getting to enjoy the things that I couldn’t. 

 

Tell us a little bit more about the Zombie Makeout Club and its universe.

I’m hugely influenced by Japanese film. Japanese punk films of the 80s and 90s, I find to have an amazing kinetic and tangible energy. Whenever I see those films, it makes me want to try and capture that energy with my art. The universe of ZMC is a direct result of wanting to capture an energy in a still image. ZMC is, in essence, me trying to convey themes like horror, punk, rebellion, angst, etc. in art. 

 

What’s your creative process when it comes to creating your immensely popular webtoon series?

Focus is actually the most important part of my process and the hardest to harness. I find myself constantly falling in love with different concepts and visuals, and find it incredibly difficult to not let these influences constantly change my art. I’m always thinking “Oh, That’s such a cool concept! What if I tried mixing it in like this...” I enjoy that part of myself and it constantly keeps me excited about art, but I also have to not let it get too out of hand, or I’d never be able to finish a project. Hence, everything in my workspace is primarily aimed at keeping me focused. I also find that I work best when I spend a week or two laying out tons of different pieces/pages of the comic and then continuously draw for weeks, instead of going back and forth between concepting out and full drawing piece by piece.

 

We are very excited about our first collaboration with you! How do you feel about making a collectible toy?

I am beyond excited. I’m surrounded by collectable toys and figures when I work. Nirasawa is one of my biggest influences in general and I’ve always been in awe of his masterful collectibles. It’s pretty surreal to think about my art becoming real in a 3D space.

 

Could you tell us a little more about Death Stare: Masked Girl? What inspired you to create this original piece of artwork?

It started when I saw a trailer for the Suicide Squad movie, where the Joker had a smile tattoo on his hand. In the trailer he held his hand to his face and the tattoo created a smile. I remember thinking “that’s genius!” and sure enough, people had done a similar thing with skull tattoos. From there, I remember just really wanting the girl to have an intimidating aura. Hopefully, all of that came through in the finished piece!

 

How does it feel knowing that so many people resonate with your work? Has this changed the way you approach your art?

It always has been and will always be a balance. I am incredibly honored and grateful that so many people love my work. It definitely creates a desire to want to make them happy and live up to their expectations. At the same time, I love creating because it comes from my unique vision and I create things that excite me. Often, that can mean being very experimental or polarizing. I try to do my best to keep all of these elements in mind when I am creating something new.

 

Finally, if you were to give budding artists out there a single piece of advice, what would it be?

Stay inspired. Anytime I’m feeling down on my art or confused about where to go next, I go on a search for something that really inspires me to get back into it and take it to the next level. This inspiration can come from so many places, comics, movies, games, fashion, street art, music. It’s okay to put your art down for a bit and just go take things in until you feel that inspiration to go back.

Be sure to set your reminders for the Death Stare by Zombie Makeout Club, launching on 13 April 2024, 9AM ET / 9PM SGT.

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