What apps do you use and have you tried using a stylus and if so what did you make of that? Or are you persevering with finger painting?
PJ: On the iPad, I think I’ve tried them all, but have settled on Procreate, it’s the first app that’s felt like its been designed with an artist in mind and that it was designed for use with the iPad. So many other apps feel like the developers are trying to replicate a desktop app on the iPad.

One good example of a feature which, inexplicably, is unique in Procreate is the simple fact that you can rotate the canvass – pinch and zoom will work as it does in every single other drawing app but procreate is the only one that I’ve found that let’s you rotate the canvas at the same time.

Procreate is also blisteringly fast and capable of doing print ready sized artwork.

I mostly use either my finger or a cheap stylus. Pressure sensitivity would be nice, but I’d rather have precision and since precision is only really possible on the iPad if you zoom in, regardless of whether you’re using your finger or a stylus it doesn’t seem worth dropping £70 on a pressure sensitive stylus. (That said, if anyone fancies sending me one of those Bluetooth Jot pressure sensitive styluses, I’ll happily review my opinion on the matter)

One of the ways I work though is to pen and ink a sketch then take a photo and use procreate to colour it. In that instance pressure sensitivity isn’t that important to me, as the photographed line art does the leg work of keeping the image looking sharp leaving me to rough it up with colours and textures.

On the desktop I’ve been a strong advocate of Manga Studio, and the new version 5 is a quantum leap ahead for colouring. So much so, I’ve abandoned Photoshop in favour of MS5 for all colour and post processing of art. (And given Manga Studio is a fraction of the cost of Photoshop, that’s gonna be good news for artists and terrible news for Adobe).

2000ad recently launched their digital edition on Apple’s Newsstand, have you been able to check it out and if so, what did you make of it?
PJ: I have and I love it. (Granted, as one of 2000ad’s art droids, I would be expected to say that, on pain of mek-quake style BIG JOBS!)

The little notification that says “a new issue is available” and that it’s typically downloaded for me already is always a tiny buzz of thrill power.

Though I still prefer, when I can, to read comics on paper, the space saving alone make it a no-brainer.

Have you had a chance to check out the new IDW Judge Dredd series and if so what did you make of it so far? Do you think anyone will ever be able to crack the US with a Dredd comic or is it too much of a quintessentially British book?
PJ: I love that there’s a new US book and I hope it does well (and you know, as a Dredd artist, i wouldn’t mind a gig on it 🙂 but I love the UK Dredd and remain baffled as to why the US mainstream audience doesn’t always get it. Maybe there’s something fundamentally different between the US psyche and the UK psyche that makes the UK Dredd impenetrable to the US, which means a proper US version of Dredd will no more work for a UK audience than a UK version of Dredd will work for the US Audience.

(I actually do think there’s a large difference between the US and the UK – lets face it, the US is largely made up of generations of people who said “our current situation is untenable we should head off and find somewhere new and awesome” and the UK/Ireland is made up of generations who went “oh god, I hope those eejits piss off to America and leave us alone to be miserable in the crappy weather”-which separates the optimistic trailblazers from the pessimistic stuck in the muds. Maybe Dredd at his best works best for the pessimists world view…)

It feels like it’s been a really strong year for 2000ad in 2012, what have been your highlights and do you still enjoy the book as a reader and fan?
PJ: Personally, getting another stab at Dredd last year was a lot of fun, I think i got closest to my own personal vision of Dredd last year. Which has been great to do, because it has been a strong year for 2000ad – though, I’ve said often, we don’t quiet appreciate how much of a golden age it’s been for 2000ad over the past decade. It’s just a shame the readers aren’t still 12 years old to properly appreciate how awesome it is.

How do you think the growth of digital comics is affecting smaller publishing companies and do you think it levels the playing field for UK comic company’s when it comes to keeping up with the Americans?
PJ: The explosion in digital is one of the most exciting developments in comics in … I dunno… 20 years? The potential for a small publisher to just out shine the large US publishers are astonishing. I don’t think we’ll really understand how it’s going to effect the medium and industry for some years. There’s almost a parallel comic industry that sells to the market that the traditional superhero market has been ignoring for years. They’ve always been there but have never really had anything offered to buy, and with digital they’re starting to get something. The fact that some of the top selling comics have been tie ins to iPad games has been interesting. Publishers who don’t publish comics, suddenly coming in and offering something new is great to see.

I’ve no idea how it’ll impact the UK industry and whether the distinction between US/UK will really matter much- digital makes the playing field level between more than just those two countries, and some countries may turn out to be monsters compared to the US market.

What are you working on currently and what can we see your work in next?
PJ: Dept of Monsterology for Renegade Arts and a couple of secret things I can’t talk about! Sorry!

You can find out more about PJ’s work via his website or by following him on Twitter @pauljholden. All images are supplied courtesy of PJ Holden.