Rock illustrator Mark Wilkinson first worked with Iron Maiden in 1992, when he designed a winged Eddie fortheir Donington poster. He also made the artwork for The Wicker Man in 2000, and a Maiden anniversary metal box package in 2002. Now creator of The Book Of Souls Eddie, he tells us everything you need to know about the new tribal mascot...

IT'S THE FIRST COMPLETE EDDIE MARK'S WORKED ON

"This was the first time I'd had a chance to work with a full- figure Eddie, as the previous versions I illustrated were not humanoid. I wanted to try a different approach to the way he looked... dark, skeletal, flesh literally flayed off or hanging loose, with every crevice looking as convincing as possible."

EDDIE'S APPEARANCE COMBINES ANCIENT CULTURES

"For the skin, I looked at old medical books, and at the old torture method of flaying that was used thousands of years ago in the Middle East, Africa and America. I looked at Mayan ritualistic dress and body markings, but leaned more to the voodoo look — it looked more malevolent."

ANYTHING TOO PLACE-SPECIFIC WAS DITCHED

"Some ideas got scrapped - mainly markings or tattoos which were too specific to one period or tribe. The intention was to make Eddie look terrifying but not to be slavishly accurate to any one culture, so the tribal markings are generic, made-up... they are neither Baron Samedi or Mayan priest, but a mash-up of both."

EDDIE'S SKIN WAS THE MOST TIME CONSUMING ASPECT

"I worked on the skin of the face for a long time, with the undead-lines of previous Eddies now looking like body scarification. I wanted the body paint to look like it had seeped into the cracks, rather than sit on the top."

FOR MORE ON MARK, SEE WWW.THE-MASQUE.COM

Author: Dayal Patterson
Source: Metal Hammer (September 2015)