In the digital era of Wacoms and Photoshop, it is refreshing to see an artist who works nearly exclusively with the unforgiving medium of ink on paper. Coming out of Madrid, Spain, Mörtuus’ creative and original drawings have graced the covers of various zines, websites, and bands all across the globe. Speaking with Daily Dead, Mörtuus gives us a quick look into the macabre mind of the man behind some of the most horrific atmospheric artworks that have ever been put to page.
“I regard myself as a self-taught drawer. I probably learnt more from drawing comics when I was a teen than receiving artistic classes,” Mörtuus reflects. In terms of his artistic influences, he notes “[I was inspired by] the almighty ink masters like Frazetta, Corben, Mignola, Graham Ingels, Michael Whelan, and the MONSTER Bernie Wrightson, too many to mention, really! [I was also influenced by] the horror gothic novels from Lovecraft (GOD), Poe, Le Fanu, Mark Riddick, Matt "Putrid" Carr, Petagno, and for sure heavy death black thrash metal music!
There’s a psychotic gleefulness throughout all of Mörtuus work. His drawings have almost a stream of consciousness quality, with creatures and features blending and morphing into each other to help form the larger, horrific pieces. Commenting on his creative process, Mörtuus explains simply, “I take a blank sheet and just let flow the darkest side of me. I use really common markers, pens, and paper—nothing really special to be mentioned.”
With the preferred medium of black ink on white paper, it comes as no surprise that Mörtuus is also greatly influenced by classic black and white horror movies. “I really dig the silent films like Nosferatu, Mabuse, Häxan, The Golem, Metropolis, and all that stuff. For sure the Universal and Hammer classic films were a great source of inspiration. All those ’80s flicks from Fulci, Argento, Ossorio, Romero, Naschy, Raimi, Clive Barker, etc., with tons of blood and gore also helped form my style”.
Keeping the age old art of ink illustration alive, Mörtuus is an artist that horror hounds will no doubt see more of in the near future. Check out his Facebook page for more deliciously dark pieces and give him a like to keep in touch with his ongoing pain-filled portfolio.
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