EXTRACTS: Illustrators Issue 5 © 2013 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

18 MB. Yes, I’ve never done any of that. Certainly not since I’ve been freelance, I’d been completely without an agent only since 1993, I’m now currently repped by C.I.A. (Central Illustration Agency). PR. Do you feel that you could have done the work without the agent? MB. Yuh I do, totally yeah. Absolutely, but as I say, I felt everybody else had an agent, so I should have one too. When I didn’t have an agent I was even prouder of the fact I was doing so well. Without one it was brilliant. PR. Some illustrators do feel much more secure with an agent, not just because they’re going to generate more work, but because they’re going to negotiate better fees. MB. I don’t believe in any of that. It was only until a few years ago when I could see that things were certainly getting more difficult that I felt it might be useful to have one. But I’m very happy to do all the stuff that agents do. My wife looks after a lot of that, but I like all that, dealing with clients direct, asking for ridiculous fees. That’s the side of things that I like—I’m a very commercial animal. PR. Would you say that fees have kept in line with inflation? MB. All those things, they haven’t kept in line with inflation, in most cases ABOVE TOP: ’Homer’; 2D TV icon is given added depth in one of Brownfield’s personal paintings. ABOVE: ‘Ray Gun’, another self-initiated painting pays homage to animator Tex Avery and Maurice Noble, whose background paintings added extra lustre to many a Disney and Warner Bros cartoon. ABOVE RIGHT: A cover for The Guardian Christmas book review, tips a hat in the direction of another legendary Disney animation background artist—Claude Coats. FACING PAGE: Illustration of an alien cinema cashier for The Sunday Times culture section. Text continued from page 14