Hi, my name is Dirk Erik Schulz. I’m 23 years old and live in Berlin, Germany. I’m student in art, design and visual communication and work as an independent comic artist and illustrator. I’m not married.

My first experience with comics was in the first class of elementary school. One day we had an art lesson and we got the job from our teacher to do a little story in form of a picture or a comic. I did a comic and created my first character "Superpipeline and Hat", a Centipede with arms and legs and a talking hat. The name came from a C64 game with the name "Superpipeline". I didn’t know that it was a English word, I thought it was a weird sounding name.

I fell in love with the comic medium and with my character and drew him every day and everywhere. I tried new expressions and created new characters with different appearances. It developed to my hobby. Some kids played football... I drew. I must also thank my brother who did comics in our kindergarten. His characters were numbers and I was always happy when he did one for me.

Later, I read my first real comic. It was Clever & Smart from F.Ibanez. A clumsy spy duo who always fail in their missions. He really inspired me and maybe someone can see some connections in my works. Inspired by his style, I created a complete new set of characters. The SWEFS. They grew with my style and me and I still draw them. I sometimes add new characters to my space universe and I should show some of them on my dA page.

My grandpa showed me the beauty of nature. We had long trips into the woods and Ii watched animal documentaries on TV and collected animal books and tried to draw them. I specially loved the variety of insects and spiders. Their forms and colors was a pleasure for my young eyes. It’s the reason why my first character was a centipede and why many of my Themrock characters are nature inspired. Sometimes I switched to sci-fi channels. Ulysses 31, Galaxy Rangers, Bravestarr and other 80s sci-fi cartoons inspired me to do my SWEFS characters.

I read Francisco Ibanez comics and he was my main inspiration source. Douglas TenNapel was and still is one of my fav inkers and character designers.
Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Schwitters showed me the love to dreamscapes and structure work.
And I must also thank Hayao Miyazaki, not because of his style, but because of his storytelling.

I always work with ink. And I think I will not change that. I doodle with normal pencils. Use quills, brushes and nib pens for the ink. I don't have a favourite color medium. I work with gouache, oil and watercolors. But colors were never important for me.

I study art and design at the BTK (Berliner Technischen Kunsthochschule).
But I didn’t learn how I must draw there. Everything I do is self-taught.

Don’t force yourself to draw. Let it flow. Don’t try to copy a style, find your own. Don't try to be a different person. Be what you are and do the stories you like. That is all I can say. The rest is luck, talent or ass kissing.

Making progress in my art. A successful Graphic Novel (Themrock) and maybe a TV show.

To see that I still improve and develop in my art.

A girlfriend.

I think Íll give the typical answer now... I wanted to talk with international artists, who have the same interests as I do. To hear constructive critics. Learn and see different drawing methods, styles, etc. And to show my own art.

I met and talked with awesome artists. Some became close friends and inspiration sources. I got fans and my first fanart pics came from dA artists, that motivates me. Thank you all for your support!
But I also met arrogant artists who think nobody’s style is as good as their own. It’s sad when people do that. And it’s funny when they just copy a famous style and didn’t create one of their own.

I like everything. Photos, paintings, comics... the pic must show love to the medium and then I’ll like it too. Some people put too much senseless effects into their pics, just to make it look more awesome and that makes the pic less interesting for me.

I accept comissions. I can also do character designs. Just send me a note.

Schmorgurken taste delicious, you should try them.