It's been a while since we've featured much illustration, but when we saw Tim Lane's grotesque pieces we knew it was time to set that record straight. Clearly a product of the blossoming Falmouth College of Arts Drawing department, Mr Lane creates spooky, often anthropomorphic images that express something not so far from a disturbed version of Quentin Blake's weirder works.

What inspired you to become an artist professionally?

I have always enjoyed drawing and painting from a very young age and grew up interested in the arts, my mum owned a gallery and my dad is a classical composer so I was always encouraged to pursue an artistic life.

What is your first memory of this desire to create?

I don't really remember, I've just always wanted to create. It's in you or it isn't.

Do you try to convey a linear theme in your work, throughout all images, or is each piece different?

I definitely have certain preoccupations that provide an over-arching theme to my work. For example, Death as a subject provides endless creative possibilities for me. Not in a morbid way, but because it is something that we will never be able to fully understand, but it happens to all of us, and there is a human need to think up alternative afterlives, beliefs, explanations in order to deal with it. I like having this in the background as it gives work emotional value, even if the work isn't directly about death.

Who do you draw inspiration from, both professionally and personally?

Walton Ford, Mattius Grunewald, Simon Bisley, Francis Bacon, Gustav Klimt, James Jean, Francisco Goya, Paula Rego, Arthur Rackham, Michelangelo, Albrecht Durer, Bosch, Brueghel, Caravaggio, Bernini, H.R. Giger, David Lynch, David Bryne, Tom Waits and Nick Cave.

Who is your all-time favourite artist?

That's really difficult... Caravaggio.

Your artwork seems rather dark, but yet playful, do you think this is fair to say?

Definitely, yeah, I like that.

When creating pieces, what is the lifecycle? How do you turn an idea into a formalised piece?

I usually start by reading, i get most of my inspiration from literary sources, also from listening to music, I go out drinking (excessively) and dancing (ridiculously), then out of these altered states my subconscious goes to work. Then either when asleep or awake a germ of an idea begins and I sit at my black desk in front of a blank piece of paper and start drawing until something happens! Gradually after many abortive attempts and ages of staring from a distance at what I've done (either in horror or pleasure) the drawings get better until it clicks and the final piece is done...

What is your favourite artwork that you have created to date?

Maybe The Grand Inquisitor because it's the most epic in terms of subject and scale that I've ever done and I really enjoyed doing it.

How do you view the artist collective, and their input into society? Do you think a creative circle differs from that of another personal/professional form?

I think that artist collectives are a good way of giving creative people a support network for what is essentially a very solitary pursuit. For example Antlers Gallery which I'm involved with and represented by is a good example of a group of people coming together naturally, who are friends, and who in very different ways express a cohesive artistic message, which is obviously more compelling than the individual...

To see more of Tim Lane's work, visit www.timlane.co.uk