Ross Murray
“Cover and contents” Annual 3
I’m an illustrator, based in Mount Maunganui. My work is influenced by comic books and vintage advertising, and my clients include Lonely Planet, NASA, Disney, Apple, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Washington Post, Garage Project, and The Spinoff. I also makes picture books for kids and comics for grown-ups. I spend most of my spare time trying to remember to breathe!
I’ve been obsessed with drawing from a young age. Comics held great appeal to me as a kid. I absolutely loved Asterix, and our weekly library session at school was always a race to get to the Asterix books first. My favourites were Asterix in Switzerland, The Mansions of the Gods, and Asterix in Corsica. Footrot Flats by Murray Ball was another comic I loved, not least because I grew up on a farm.
Novels I remember enjoying when I was eleven were The O Trilogy by Maurice Gee. I also liked The Hardy Boys and the Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston (mostly, I think, because they had cool covers).
Music was another constant in my life. Prince’s soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Batman was a favourite, as were the Use Your Illusion albums by Guns ’n Roses. I also loved Roxette, MC Hammer, and pretty much everything on the TV show RTR Countdown.