Hi! I'm Sam Gilbey, and I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, and illustrating professionally since 2004. My distinctive painterly illustrations have been featured in books, magazines, comics and exhibitions worldwide, and also on television.
Click the image below to visit/sign up to my Domestika course on painting digital pop culture portraits in Photoshop.
Click the image above to check out/sign up to my Domestika course on painting digital portraits in Photoshop.
Over the years I've created artwork for a wide range of clients either directly or indirectly including Adidas, Activision, Apple, Audi, BBC, British Airways, CollegeHumor, Disney, Edgar Wright, Empire Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, GQ, Gymshark, Hasbro, HBO, The Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, Lucasfilm, Manga UK, Marvel Studios, Paramount Pictures, Picturehouse Cinemas, Playstation, Rian Johnson, 20th Century Fox, SciFiNow, Sony Pictures, Spotify, Steven Soderbergh, STUDIOCANAL, Total Film, Twitter, Virgin Atlantic, Walt Disney Studios, Wired and Working Title.
I've produced officially licensed pop culture artwork for properties including Alien, The Avengers, Batman, Bob's Burgers, Bojack Horseman, David Bowie, Call of Duty, Captain Marvel, Die Hard, Flash Gordon, Ghostbusters, Masters of the Universe, Monty Python, Rocky, The Muppets, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Godfather, The Karate Kid, Trainspotting, Transformers, Scarface, Spider-Man, Universal Studios (Back to the Future, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Hellboy, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's 'Blood and Ice Cream' trilogy), WALL-E and The Warriors.
I've also contributed to more than 60 pop culture group exhibitions in the UK and US, and have been invited to talk about my work at various events and venues, including the MCM London Comic Con and both the Regent Street and Covent Garden Apple Stores in London.
It was amazing to be able to present Edgar Wright with my officially licensed 'Cornetto trilogy' prints (produced in collaboration with Iron Gut Publishing), and for Edgar to post a photo of Simon Pegg with them on social media.
"#SensationalSam" Mark Hamill
"Bravo." Pedro Pascal
"Dude this is fantastic! Perfect. So good!!" Rian Johnson
"That is so awesome."
Edgar Wright
"This is effing awesome!"
Simon Pegg
"Beautiful work." Jonathan Ross
"Sam just has a knack for finding the emotional core of every subject in his portraiture." Adam Martin, owner, Hero Complex Gallery, Los Angeles
"Few people do a better job of capturing not just an actor, but the essence of a performance than British illustrator Sam Gilbey." Cineplex Magazine
Hosting a talk and live art workshop at the Covent Garden Apple Store, May 2019.
Hosting a talk and live art workshop at the Regent Street Apple Store, January 2018.
Speaking about my work at the Covent Garden Apple Store, March 2016.
My full BLAB talk, Band on the Wall, Manchester, February 2014.
I've spoken at Apple, Behance and Blab events, and taken part in several live drawing events and panel discussions. Please get in touch if you'd like to book me for an event.
AMPjam Online Poster Convention, live demonstration, September 2020
Portrait Painting, Adobe Live, August 2020
Lunch and Learn, online workshop, Perspective Pictures, May 2020
Thought Bubble, Harrogate Comic Art Festival, September 2019
MCM London Comic Con, October 2019
Official Stranger Things art book signing, Forbidden Planet London Megastore, October 2019
MCM Manchester Comic Con, July 2019
MCM London Comic Con, May 2019
Apple Covent Garden talk and workshop, May 2019
Guest artist at Nottingham Comic Con, May 2019
MCM London Comic Con, October 2018
Thought Bubble, Leeds Comic Art Festival, September 2018
MCM London Comic Con, May 2018
Two panels on movie poster creation with The Poster Posse, MCM Birmingham Comic Con, March 2018
Regent Street Apple Store talk and workshop, January 2018
Wacom-sponsored panel on poster creation with Poster Spy, MCM London Comic Con, October 2017
Brighton Illustration Fair, October 2017
Thought Bubble, Leeds Comic Art Festival, September 2017
Behance 'creative portfolio powerup' event (talk and discussion leader), Google Campus London, May 2016
Covent Garden Apple Store talk, March 2016
Hastings Illustration Festival (HiFest), December 2015
Brighton Illustration Fair, May 2015
Hastings Illustration Festival (HiFest) – including participation in panel discussion, December 2014
BLAB speaker, Band on the Wall, Manchester, February 2014. Video above
Official Movember Gala Party artist, The Roundhouse, London, November 2013
Adidas Yamamoto F50 boot launch, October 2013
Ninja Scroll poster signing, The Hackney Picturehouse, London, November 2012
Glug 'Beautiful Summer' live artist, Cargo, London, May 2012
EXHIBITIONS
At the opening of Hero Complex Gallery's official Marvel Avengers: Age of Ultron exhibition, May 2015.
I've contributed to over 60 group pop culture exhibitions, including official Marvel, Bad Robot, Bob's Burgers, Edgar Wright and Joss Whedon shows. Directors and actors including Wes Anderson, Joe Cornish, Nick Frost, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Gareth Jones, Ralph Macchio, Simon Pegg, Quentin Tarantino, Colin Trevorrow, Edgar Wright and William Zabka own my work.