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INTERVIEW: Mike Hill
Posted by: Jett Monday, March 3, 2008
EDITOR'S NOTE: I recently had the honor of interviewing Mr. Mike Hill. I stumbled upon a bust online that Mr. Hill sculpted of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT and thought his work was fabulous! So I emailed him and requested and interview.
FYI: The bust that Mike sculped of Heath as The Joker is nothing more than FAN ART, albeit professional fan art. Mike is not working for Warner Bros. and the bust is not for sale. It was done only for his personal use and to honor Heath Ledger as The Joker. Here's Mike's bio:
Mike Hill is a professional artist specializing in sculpture in a wide variety of mediums and genres.
Throughout his career he has worked for a diverse range of clients including Tussauds Waxworks, Franklin Mint, Dynamic Forces, DC COMICS, Sideshow Toy, Bowen Designs, and Alex Ross.
Having become one of the worlds leading figure sculptors and a master of capturing the human likeness, his career to date has included figure kit sculpting, wax figures, creature designing, prosthetic make-up, and creating hyper-real character statues. Mike has added film-making to his list of projects, and recently sold his first script and is set to direct early this year.
Visit his official website MIKEHILLART.COM.
BOF: Tell us a bit about yourself.
MH: “I’m from Warrington, a town in the North West of England. Most of my professional career has been in the art of likeness sculpting. I’ve worked for DC, Marvel, Alex Ross, Madame Tussaud’s, etc.
BOF: That Heath Ledger Joker bust is simply fabulous! Tell us about the process of putting it together and what inspired you to do it. MH: “Thank you very much. I was inspired to sculpt him after seeing the trailer for THE DARK KNIGHT. I was a little taken back at first by the ‘changes,’ or should I say ‘re-imagining,’ of the character, I was genuinely excited to see the movie. The process is an arduous one! Firstly I gathered reference of Mr. Ledger sans Joker makeup from various internet searches, after choosing an expression I set about sculpting his portrait in clay. Some people are really hard to capture but Mr. Ledger was fairly straightforward." "This took approximately 5 days. Once I was happy I added the scar/smile after carefully studying what little reference we have yet. Then I molded him with silicone rubber, from this mold I created a silicone rubber version of my sculpture. Then I created a set of acrylics eyes, which by itself is no small feat to get right. Once these were inserted, I cleaned him up and painted his base human flesh. Over this I added the clown white makeup, etc. After this I began punching his hair, one strand at a time! Fortunately for the back of the head I used a wig which I had to cut and style to match the movie. Finally I tinted the hair green and added eyelashes -- there’s a lot more to it but that’s the bare basics." BOF: I believe you did some Alex Ross Batman stuff. Correct?
BOF: What current projects are you working on or will be working on in the near future? MH: “Actually I have just formed my own production company to produce my own movies but I still sculpt and make hyper realistic heads for clients.” BOF: Favorite live-action BATMAN movie? MH: “Hmmm….I gotta go with BATMAN ‘89 -- Loved Keaton, loved the suit. BOF: Are you looking forward to THE DARK KNIGHT? MH: “Yes I am -- mainly to see Heath’s performance. Not sure about that Bat-suit. Obviously being an artist who has studied,drawn and rendered these characters for over three decades I have my own ideas on how I think they would look in real life. A while ago I started production on a Superman short film THE SECTRET TRUTH which took him back to his roots in the 40's. My concept was to portray how these larger than life heroes help people,even without having to resort to super-heroics. So I came up with my interpretation of Supermans costume, still classic in design but with a futuristic/Kryptonian grandeour. It's Superman,even his costume has to look SUPER and out of this world. I don't buy that Ma Kent made it.“
"Superman" as envisioned by Mike Hill BOF: Comic book reader? If so, what are you reading, fave graphic novels, etc.” MH: “I read a lot of comics. I’m a big Spidey fan -- hope that’s not offending the DC guys! My fave Batman stories are the classic ‘THE KILLING JOKE’ and ‘YEAR ONE.’” Thanks Mike for the interview! For a look at more of Mike's work, visit his official website at MIKEHILLART.COM.
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MH: “Yes I created a full-size Batman and Superman for Alex's collection, you can see them on my site, 