pencilmonkeymagic

Random Mega City silliness

2011-12-07T02:02:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you get too far into silly season armed only with a pencil and a mince pie...

Thought Bubble, News and Thank You's...

2011-11-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Thought Bubble!

We spent this weekend in the company of a sea of creative types at Thought Bubble Comic Con in Leeds. Lots of folks have already blogged and tweeted in greater detail (and with a greater grasp of the English language), about the whole event. So here's my own take.

Comic Conventions can be an odd experience for some and downright terrifying to the uninitiated. I know. I've been that frightened soul frozen to the threshold thinking "Taxi!" Happily, I can honestly say this was one of the best we've been to.

I could be biased as I personally had two books launching at the event - Dark Judgement 2 and Operation Solomon; a story from the Unseen Shadows universe, but having been caught up in all the razzmatazz (do people still use that word?) at the entrance to Savilles Hall, I genuinely forgot they'd be on sale.

This is perhaps an oversight on my part. Perhaps I was distracted by a troop of rollerblading welcome staff, or a horde of Mega City judges and stormtroopers loitering, or people painting 2000ad characters on outsized boards so big you couldn't miss them. The point being that this was just the foyer.

I like big entrances. Make an impression. Think big. This kinda summed up the whole Thought Bubble experience. The staff were friendly, helpful and many in number. When you're in a place large enough to land a plane you're occasionally going to get lost. The staff were always on hand and a large 'thank you' must go to them for making the whole event run as smoothly as possible.

What really grabbed me was the amount of talks and panels available about the personal aspect of comic publishing as an artist - how to tell a story on a page, how to light it, how to make the panels and layout interesting, how to bring life to your characters and play with elements on a page, and then basically how to set yourself up, handle promotion of your products and put yourself out in the public domain, and how to avoid the pitfalls. This is the stuff I need to know. And if I think I already know everything, well, firstly, I'd be wrong - I don't , and secondly there's always something you can learn from others. The talks and panels I attended were goldmines in terms of tips, information or simple inspiration. Worth the ticket price on their own.

My work got a generally good response overall. There were some clangers I hadn't spotted and some things that can be fixed. Most comments were positive. Lots of new avenues have opened up as a result. I came away from Thought Bubble feeling inspired. You can't put a price on that.

News!

I can also officially say I've been given the green light on my first graphic novel (Hooray, shouts my Mum. Hi Mum! Hooray shouts my Bank Manager. Hi Bank Manager!) More details as I'm officially allowed to tell them, but I can say it'll be released through Markosia. It's been a bit of a trek to this point. Long hours, not much sleep in places and a lot of graft up to now but in a good way. Hopefully a thousand times the amount in future.

Many moons ago, I promised myself when I got my first gig I'd do a big thank you to all who helped me get there. Looking at it now, of course, I know the fun is only just beginning. Now the real hard work starts. Laurel-resting is not in the plan. However the fact remains that without a certain number of people I simply would not be sitting here writing this and wondering if it's all going a bit too gushy. But it's my blog and I'll gush if I want to. I might not thank you again. Enjoy it :D

Thanks to the following people for either kicking my arse to this point, pointing out where I'm going wrong, or inspiring me to improve; Barry Nugent, Chris Askham, Chris Kelly, Chris Reid, Cy Dethan, Dave Evans, Dom Reardon, Eddie Deighton & Jon Sloan, Emperor, Harry Markos, Ian Sharman, Jim Campbell, John Freeman, JP Bove, Jon-Davis Hunt, Leigh Gallagher, Matt Smith, Matt Soffe, Matt Timson, Nic Wilkinson, Owen Watts, Pat Mills, Rich McAuliffe, Richmond Clements, Rob Davis, Rob Williams, Stacey Whittle, Stephen Downey and Vicky Stonebridge. And to Liz, for never complaining when I keep telling her it's all going in the bin and I've got to work all night again.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do :)

October already?

2011-10-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hello you lovely bunch.

So yeah... there's been a rather large gap in proceedings, hasn't there? Safe to say I've been slaving away on some bits and pieces. Excerpts below, as usual.

So two main bits of news then. First off, Dark Judgement 2 will be available for you to get your paws on at Thoughtbubble in Leeds next month (Next month?! Where's this year gone?!) along with a reprint of the first issue, if you were one of a surprisingly large number of folk who didn't get a chance to grab one the first time out. More info available here. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did drawing it. There'll be a couple of podcasts reviewing it shortly, so I'll re-post links here when they're up.

Second thing is a 23 page tale called Tales Of The Fallen: Operation Solomon, written by Richmond Clements. This will be a part of a 120 page monster download, also initially available at Thoughtbubble. For the uninitiated, Tales Of The Fallen is a series of spin-off stories from Fallen Heroes, the bestselling Amazon book by Barry Nugent, which has subsequently been adapted into comic book format. More info available here.

Quick peek:

At the minute I'm working on three potentially big projects and I'll let you know all about them when the time comes :)

Character sketch and a panel from two of these...

...And that's about where I'm up to! As usual, feel free to comment, rant, produce sarcasm, etc etc... Hope you're all well.

Beer-swilling masses telling athletes how it's done...

2011-08-12T06:24:00.001-07:00

To celebrate the annual descent into madness that is the NFL season, I thought I'd post ink-in-progress this up as a teaser for another thing I'm working on at the minute. Technically this is an aeroball stadium, but it's close enough. Still buried under a pile of stuff but at least the sun's out and there's coffee on the go. Hope you're all well.

Big bag of cash...

2011-07-21T06:06:00.000-07:00

So the entry for Strip Magazine is away, and it's on with the next thing. It's fun at the minute as each project I'm working on bears no relation to the last in either central theme or setting. Which is nice.

I'm in here somewhere...

2011-07-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since my last post. I know, you've missed me. I've missed you too.

I would describe my current workload as 'being buried' but in the grand scheme of things, it's not a bad position to be in. Lots of projects being juggled, and all err... jugging along. Here's some random backgrounds to keep you entertained. More astounding insights should follow in the next few weeks. Hope you're all well.

tease!

2011-05-23T12:29:00.001-07:00

get back to work!

2011-05-03T01:41:00.000-07:00

The trouble with finishing things is that other things then jump into their place and demand to be next in line. The little tinkers. Hoping to make some headway on two major projects before decamping to Bristol Comic Con. Where's this year disappearing to??

..............Aaargh!

2011-04-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Stuff! Things!

It's all go here. Many projects being juggled. All very exciting!

Today I took half an hour out and did this for the Weekly Themed Art Blog. Some very talented folks on there, and no mistake. Do pop in, peruse and say hello.

I'm off back to my grindstone to prepare stuff for Bristol, Thought Bubble and pretty much all points in between.

Till next time...

EDIT: Did this after posting. Thought I'd put it here rather than starting another post. Not that much has happened in the last hour...

Kapow!... ahem....

2011-04-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

...and another Con is chalked off...

...well, okay, that's not exactly the whole story, but you get the idea. Lots of other folk have posted their thoughts and experiences on Mr Millar's first Convention - and have put it far more eloquently than I ever could.

If you're after an all-encompassing version of the Con, then I would simply suggest you keep an eye on the Geek Syndicate twitter feed as rarely does something happen without their knowledge. They'll no doubt have the full breakdown in the next day or so. I know I'll be reading as I missed most of the important things...

I had a good day all told. Admittedly I missed the 2000AD panel (got there a touch too late) but got the highlights from Kev Levell shortly afterwards. My annoyance at missing the panel was more than offset by kind words on my artwork from pro artists and pro editors alike. Some very kind words have now been filed under "Did that just happen?" but I digress.

Days like this are great as markers to tell me where I need to be improving and if you're an aspiring artist, umming and aahing about taking your work to a convention, well.... Go! Don't sit there thinking "I'm not good enough/What if people laugh at me/I'm not quite ready" because quite frankly, you're never ready, there's always something that could be improved and aged 87, Michelangelo is quoted as saying "Ancora Imparo" (I am still learning)

Anyway, in celebration, I treated myself to a Dredd badge from the one man factory of awesome that is Termight Replicas. In the words of Special Agent Cooper; "I'm going to let you in on a little secret: every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it; don't wait for it; just let it happen. It could be a new shirt in a men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black, coffee"

After wandering the hall for a few more hours, it was great to catch up with some friendly (and some friendly and new) faces afterwards at the inaugural *ahem* Pub Con, which was also a success. Sketches and banter abound. The magician that is Pete Wells was on hand to give me some great art pointers, and we also saw some absolutely stunning clips of the upcoming Judge Minty film. I implore you, if you don't know what it's about, check out the link. This is what can happen when people care about the films they make. Anyone involved in film, at whatever level, take note.

Anyway, upwards and onwards and next up is Bristol, in about a month. And if all goes to plan, I should have something rather Dark to show you before then.

off to see the world...

2011-04-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well, not really, just what's moving and a shaking in the comics world. Kapow! this weekend in London and a chance to meet up with some all round good eggs. This time with added 'Marvel' as the chaps from across the pond come along for the ride.

Anyway, I'll be carrying a small bag of doodles around the editors/movers/shakers to get their tuppence-worth. All good fun.

'tis the season to be busy...

2011-03-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that I've posted next to nowt on the blog recently. Well, that's because I've been doing stuff. Stuff involving cowardly robots and ghostly sail ships and giant flat-worms and nasty bargain-altering fish people. Well someone has to draw them, otherwise they just get upset and live in your head. It can get crowded. So here's some fish people who don't look very happy.

This is an almost-finished-ink panel for a 2000AD submission script and will be joined by all the other panels from the script shortly...

I'll also be posting up a rather exciting news-type picture that handily doubles as a cover for the exciting thing that I'll tell you about when I post it. I can tell you're impressed from here.

Soon it'll be time for Kapow and The Bristol Comic Con, by which time I'll have more exciting things to tell. Keep smiling.

one more down...

2011-02-09T07:21:00.001-08:00

So the Doctor WTF?! 5 pager is now done (barring a few FX lettering bits - thankfully the writer has saved me the job of trying to spell out the noise a Tardis makes) and next up will be a 4 pager for FutureQuake.

Alas with all these things I can't post anything of them until they're physically on sale. So here's a warm up sketch I did yesterday, just to keep things ticking over.

new year, new projects

2011-02-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Sorry for neglecting the blog. I've been busy as a bee, working on various small press projects that'll be winging their way to you over the next few months. Stay tuned for updates and all that business.

The tail-end of 2010 saw some really nice feedback from some rather senior types in the comics business, to which I am eternally grateful.

2011, then, is here to be built upon.

With that, here's a preview panel for a story in a brand new venture called "Doctor WTF?!" - a Small Press gem born from the mad, mad mind of Owen Watts and due on sale at this year's Bristol Comic Con. This tale - called Berlin - is written by J M Whiteley and is a particularly damn fine read, even if I do say so myself.

This has been a nice change of pace recently after drawing pages of robot bedlam. It'll be followed by some spiritual shenanigans, which in turn will precede some supernatural intrigue. Around which point there'll be a change of pace whilst I get to draw a lot of Victorian ships, and then something altogether Darker, nastier and more twisted than, ooh, something else...

Yeah, it is as fun as it sounds.

Onwards and upwards, Rodney.

not very festive at all...

2010-12-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

An exercise (read: messing about) with new toys and old ideas.

Defoe - Advent Calendar artwork.

2010-12-15T07:52:00.001-08:00

Finished pages for a Defoe-themed 2000AD Advent Calendar entry. The lettered pages are up at writer Matthew McLaughlin's blog. For those not aware, Defoe is a 17th Century zombie hunter. What's not to like?

Guard!

2010-12-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

zombies in the snow

2010-12-08T04:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Christmas innit, guv?

Dirty Frank Advent Calendar

2010-12-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

..and a happy December to you all. This is the larger version of the Advent Calendar piece I did for the 2000AD forum. For some reason it's not resizing properly but if you click on it, it should sort itself out. Alas, as well as being technologically behind the times, I can't lay claim to writing the script either...

I got completely carried away with the details and as a result most of them are obscured on the forum post. So here's the full size. Enjoy.

Windle...

2010-10-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

This is the first page of a new 6 pager called Windle. It's not a happy story. To be honest it kinda scares me. If the gods are kind, it will be available for all to view in a week's time...

Time for BICS...

2010-10-14T04:51:00.000-07:00

Off to sunny Brum for the British International Comics Show this weekend. Will be pimping the Dark Judgement Special to anyone within earshot.... You can get your mitts on a copy from the FutureQuakePress stand at BICS - only £1.50 for 28 glorious pages!

Then off to see the powers that be for more of the all-important feedback and pointers. It's all a big learning curve but I love every second of it. Wish me luck!

This is the final cover art, with text by the ever helpful Bolt-o1.

(See - At the bottom! My name in print! Hurrah!)

short story tangents

2010-09-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

Following the Dark Judges work, I decided to do something a bit different. Inking and brushes never really allow for softer edges and tones and things, (or at least, not in my hands), so I've devised a new hair-brained scheme to go with the next set of scripts I've been entrusted with.

This is a work in progress and I'll post up some more as I go. It will either work or crash and burn quite spectacularly. But comfort zones are not places in which to stay too long. I think.

'Dark Judgement 'Cover

2010-09-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

The cover for the upcoming Zarjaz special.

I was wrestling with a couple of ideas for the cover when I went into the back garden and saw the skeleton of a bird lying on the ground. Inspiration can strike in the most interesting places sometimes.

Dredd Head (Cheeky sneak no.3)

2010-09-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

Pencils and inks for another panel from the Zarjaz Dark Judges special. I don't think this gives any plot away. It could be from a scene from anything in the last 30 years really, couldn't it? Anyway, I'm nearly three quarters of the way through the art for the special, so I'm beginning to look forward to BICS now.

Oh and there is a cover design ready to go. Question is... do you guys want a peak?

Let me know.

cheeky sneak no. 2

2010-08-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

A Judge Mortis preview, culled from a wider panel, just so you know I'm not sitting here eating crisps. Actually, I don't have any crisps. Damn. Shop time...

Fire! Fire!

2010-08-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

This October the lovely folk at FutureQuake Press will be publishing a Dark Judges special, written by Richard McAuliffe and art by yours truly. The idea is that this will be a return for the four Dark Judges to the days of their first appearances in 2000AD, when they were just plain nasty, as opposed to the slightly camp pantomime status they achieved in later years.

I'll post up details of how one gets ones mitts on such a prized possession closer to the time.

This panel is an ink-in-progress for the upcoming Judge Fire story. Here we see the Dark Judge invited in for a nice cup of tea and a friendly chat. Wait, maybe I should go and read the script again...

smile

2010-08-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Two upstanding members of society...

mind your head

2010-08-10T15:20:00.001-07:00

A quick peek at page 34 of Fractal Friction...

I was quite pleased with the way this turned out. But full credit must go to Kev Levell for the original design of a real nasty beast.

Now back to all things Dark...

Counting down already...

2010-08-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

So the next big thing on the distant horizon is the Birmingham Comic Con in October. "But that's ages away!" I hear you cry. And it is, in theory. But I have discovered that objects far away have a nasty habit of getting bigger the closer they get. So here's an ink-in-progress to get the ball rolling.

tales of the underground

2010-07-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

This is a character sketch for a story from the many spooky goings on on the London Underground - and by that, I mean more spooky than trains actually turning up when they say they will on the information ticker... I digress.

There are a few stories I've collected and collaborated on over the years so it's a nice little side project to dabble with for now.

The only difference is this guy is based on a character from a true story...

Oh do come in...

2010-07-14T12:16:00.001-07:00

A sneaky preview panel for a 4 page strip I'm doing - for FutureQuake! At last, I'm going to be published, Ma!

Art Swap!

2010-07-13T04:43:00.000-07:00

A rather cool idea suggested by my Fractal Friction cohort Matt Soffe involves swapping original art with your peers. Here are the ones I came up with...

A creepy Victorian Gentleman for Matt himself.

And a Hellraiser for Chris Askham. It turns out, trying to draw this guy is a sure-fire way of making your eyes hurt...

And a Grimly Feendish for James Corcoran

And a Halo Jones for Kevin Levell. Doing this I've found a new respect for Ms Jones' original artist Ian Gibson. What he can do with a few lines took me about a thousand.

"Hiss"

2010-06-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

A two pager written by the legendary Mark Howard.

dark judges warm up sketch

2010-06-16T09:22:00.001-07:00

Back down to earth...

2010-06-13T05:48:00.001-07:00

So I've been kinda busy recently (getting married gets in the way of drawing, it turns out), but slowly returning to reality now. Here's a wee taster of a 4 page strip I've just finished, written by Dirk Van Dom. Zombie outbreak and an ice cream van. What's not to like?

Sorrowhill pages

2010-05-20T02:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the other pages from the Sorrowhill script I've been working on, with Page 3 in there for context. Enjoy! (Oh and leave feedback!)

1

2

3

4

5

Sorrowhill page 3 inked

2010-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

This is page 3 of a 5 pager I'm taking to the Bristol Comic Convention next weekend. Pencils on two previous posts below. There's a version included for the 2000AD Art Comp, that has the text boxes included, here.

This 5-pager, together with another 2000AD 5-pager and some Fractal Friction pages will hopefully get some constructive feedback/slagging about what I need to improve. Looking forward to hearing opinions really. I've been cooped up in here too long, you know...

Oh, and feel free to offer constructive feedback here. Or slag it to the heavens. I need feedback! And possibly a decent night's sleep...

...part two

2010-04-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

The bottom half of the panels for the same page

more scary pencils

2010-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Pencils for a portfolio strip...

house on the hill

2010-04-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

Widow Grundy (lettered)

2010-04-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

widow grundy (continued)

2010-04-16T03:41:00.001-07:00

One of six panels inked with a shiny new brush. Even though I've done the lettering, I'll be tinkering with shadows and textures for a while - oh the luxury of having time on a deadline!

girl eating from bowl

2010-04-15T13:53:00.001-07:00

Sketch for another story to add to the pipeline. I've been inking with brushes a lot recently so this is a departure for me but good fun to be moving out of a comfort zone, all the same.

Widow Grundy

2010-04-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Another pencils layout for the 2000AD Art Comp, on the theme of "The Horror!" Based on a page by Kevin O'Neill from Prog 226.

This page was in the first 2000ad I ever read, bought for me by my Mum. If she knew what was on those pages, I probably would've been given the Beano or something. This page (and the Dark Judges about five pages and a different story later) scared the living bejesus out of me. And so my twisted imagination is not my fault. Honest.

If anyone can suggest a useful way of inking this after I've over-egged the shading, I'd be most grateful!

Fractal Friction Page 14 coloured

2010-03-25T09:51:00.001-07:00

Here be dragons... (Pencils and inks for this page are further down if you missed them).

Johnny Alpha

2010-03-25T03:57:00.000-07:00

For some reason I never got round to doing any Strontium Dog stuff (other than Durham Red and a tongue in-cheek crow-bar version), so this is a world first exclusive! You lucky people (?)

Fractal Friction page 14 pencils & inks

2010-03-22T03:37:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of artists putting up the various stages of a piece so you can see how it develops. As I have a short attention span, I rarely get to do this with my own stuff. It helped that I did this all in a day yesterday, whilst watching things like Sherlock Holmes on tv for company. Colours to follow this week, before it hits the main page on Friday.

ABCs

2010-03-15T09:36:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd go back to black and white basics for a bit.

Glimmer pencils

2010-03-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

This is a basic sketch for the 2000AD Art Comp, which is worryingly close to deadline. The plan is a quick and dirty ink-over and then oodles of colour. It's my take on Glimmer Rats, and if I can approximate something close to Mark Harrison's colour palette, I'll be a very happy man. If I can't, then I'll no doubt end up shouting at some nearby, inanimate objects.

thumbs

2010-03-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

Thumbnails for a new story I'm working on with Liz Warren. This is just out of the concept stage but already suitably macabre to warrant going in the pile of 'stuff to take to the Bristol Convention'

The thing with thumbnail sketching is I always get carried away in the details - thus missing the point of thumbnails altogether - but I find it's worth labouring sometimes as I often get new ideas for characters and lighting for scenes.

skyline

2010-02-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

Page 2, panel 1 pencils. An exercise in depth of field, to figure out shading

mega city carnage, page 1

2010-02-22T09:50:00.000-08:00

Four out of five panels, page one of a four page short, mainly setting up interior location. Obviously it's shaping up to be another quiet day in town... with the incinerator that consumes dead bodies suddenly running backwards. Rather more worryingly, my scanner is starting to wobble (see bottom of panel two here) which isn't what I need with the workload ahead. Anyhoo, tuppence-worths welcome at the usual address.

dead last...

2010-02-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

So this is the final zombie themed movie in 6 panels (pre-lettering). Scripted by Matthew McLaughlin, it covers the 6 principle films by George A Romero.

portrait on a continuing theme

2010-02-16T02:39:00.001-08:00

Morning warm-up sketch. ...I think I need to find a new theme after this :)

yet more...

2010-02-15T08:27:00.001-08:00

Over deadline but still worth finishing, I thought...

even more movie moments

2010-02-15T03:08:00.001-08:00

The finished Escape From New York artwork from Friday.

more movie moments

2010-02-11T08:51:00.000-08:00

A panel from another 6 panel movie submission, this time with another writer. 5 out of 6 done on this one, so will post the final page tomorrow.

creepy movies

2010-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

Artwork for a competition submission, (pre-lettering). Describe your favourite film in 6 panels. I did this because Jacob's Ladder was too much to condense! Happily the rules state black and white only. Which is nice, because I can still see big brightly-coloured elephants in my sleep...

Fractal Friction Page 9

2010-02-04T00:34:00.000-08:00

The madness continues... (Preview page before lettering)

Lettered page now up here

Fractal Friction Page 9 (Panel 1)

2010-02-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

Preview panel give a glimpse of what lies ahead...

Whaddaya mean you've never read it?! No excuses

sleep well...

2010-01-25T17:42:00.001-08:00

I was about to turn in tonight when the re-make of Day Of The Dead started. Ah well, hadn't seen it, and I thought it could be a good excuse to have a bit of fun drawing zombies during the ad breaks. Not a completely disastrous film either.

Playtime (bleached version)

2010-01-20T02:34:00.000-08:00

Finished colours of a piece inspired by Damaged Goods by Richard McAuliffe and Mark Chilcott.

Sailing into a new city

2010-01-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

This is a work-in-progress thing to balance up the amount of pencils I've been posting recently. I thought this would benefit from some tweaking and additional bits. That and I was quite happy with the concept, so it would've been a shame to waste. Aiming to finish this one next week (I can hear you laughing from here, you know)

Hiss

2010-01-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

A revised pencilled page from a short story written by Mark J Howard. I really should post more coloured work here, I know! Couple of things have not panned out the way I had hoped but some others have taken their places, so swings and round-abouts, I guess.

Terry the Conspiracy Theorist

2010-01-08T09:25:00.000-08:00

This is Terry, a character in a plot I'm working on with another writer. Rough inks over pencils in a sketch pad so apologies for the quality. The plan is to tighten the whole sequence up and re-ink. Hopefully, you should be able to guess Terry's story without the lettering...

bugs bugs bugs

2010-01-07T08:20:00.001-08:00

Today's umm... thing. I have no idea what this is. It just sort of appeared. I'm guessing if you tried to swat it with a newspaper it would kill your grandchildren.

Run away! Run away!

2010-01-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today's offering is somewhat clearer than yesterday's. At least you've half an idea of what to expect with a dimension jumping psychopath. Getting the pose right was a touch more difficult than I'd pictured in my head. Still, the finished version should be a lot less work now I've cracked it. Ha! What a stupid thing to say...

And yes, I've missed a bit. It was deliberate....

Playtime

2010-01-05T08:31:00.001-08:00

And a Happy New Year to you. This is part of a bundle of ideas I've been conjuring up over the festivities, which I hope to be hoisting on you over the next few months. Hope you're all well rested and looking forward to what 2010 may bring.

Image is based on the story Damaged Goods by Richard McAuliffe and Mark Chilcott

Fractal Friction!

2009-12-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

Just in case you think I've been sat doing nowt well have a look here.

http://fractalfriction.blogspot.com/

And you'll see Page 4 of a frankly bonkers tale is done by yours truly. Bookmark the blog - it's going to be a strange old ride!

2009-12-11T02:34:00.001-08:00

That was close. I should really pay attention to which blog I'm posting on. Apologies, I've been away. Normal service to resume shortly. Anyway, back at my normal desk and pencilling away.

prologue page 2 pencils

2009-11-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

So the publishers of a graphic novel I'm drawing for liked the initial sketches for characters and want to see a few finished pages. So I thought I'd post the initial pencils for one up here. Criticism and pickiness welcome! This''ll probably take me the rest of the week to finish. Except I have two days before a long weekend away. Ah well, best dust off that bottle of midnight oil! As usual, click on the image for a bigger version.

People Are Strange....

2009-11-23T03:39:00.000-08:00

So I'm posting this for folk who don't frequent the 2000ad boards, and want to see it. and for those who do and wanted a larger version. Fnar fnar. Part of my twisted brain says I'll come back and ink this at some point. But then most of my dafter ideas materialise on a Monday morning...

And thanks again!

Death vs Superman

2009-11-17T06:54:00.000-08:00

A 'versus' idea on the 2000ad boards prompted me to do a four panel thing, of which this would be the last. I will add it to the pile of 'stuff pending' to finish later while I try and get a graphic novel gig submission thing out of the way. Will let you know what the publishers say.

Dodgy police...

2009-11-11T03:09:00.000-08:00

Warm-ups technically can't be done whilst watching the late film but a tale of dodgy police in the early settler period of Australia (The Proposition, good film if you're browsing the shelves), prompted me to reach for the pad and do this

Johnny Alpha as Jim Morrison...

2009-10-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd chuck this in as a stop gap. It's part of a bigger picture for later that's still in progress. I'm developing a seperate style thingy for certain projects that uses more light and shade than is strictly neccessary but I like the results.

Plague doctor and patient

2009-10-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

These rather creepy looking fellows went about examining the sick and dying but did precious little in the way of healing. Well, you're not going to be struck with confidence if your GP is dressed like this, are you?

Dissolution sketches Pt 2

2009-10-13T12:26:00.001-07:00

Trying to get a few projects out the door this month, which is good in a way. The kind folks at the publishers want to see more of my work, so there'll be more of this....

and less of this...

But at least it's all new work . The second image is from the script I've illustrated but can't tell you much about, as noted on the last post, but I think one panel won't hurt.

...and hopefully (before Christmas?!) there should be some GN stuff here too.

...A slight interlude...

2009-09-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

...It's suddenly occured to me that I can't show you the page I was about to post. It's for a comic that'll be printed soon and I'm merely the pencil monkey for someone else's script. So that was close. It looks good though!

In the meantime, here's a still from a storyboard I've done for a short film called Butterfly. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Corruption, Part 3

2009-09-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Corruption, Part 2

2009-09-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

2009-09-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Page on the theme of "Corruption"

Here's what you could've won...

2009-09-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

This was going going be my entry for this month's 2000ad art comp till I got carried away with the one on the previous post. I may colour this one at a later date, but Corruption is the theme for my output till the end of September...

Dissolution sketches

2009-09-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Pencils for illustration work for publishing house.

2009-09-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

Now with aded colours... woohoo!

Dredd vs Alien Queen sneer-off

2009-09-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

Inks for the 2000ad art comp

Reminds me of that Aphex Twin video now it's on here...

pencils

2009-09-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Early pencils for an opening exchange between minor (?) characters. I'll be improving this tomorrow.

Wartomaton

2009-09-10T03:41:00.000-07:00

The last page of a damn fine short written by Mark J Howard. This was going to be black and white but I'm temted to colour it now it's nearing completion. But that's always the way, isn't it?

A larger version can be seen here. Feel free to add comments!

And we're off!

2009-09-09T05:42:00.001-07:00

This seems as suitable a time as any to begin the blog.

Hope fully I'll be keeping up to date with a few posts a week, just so you can see how things are progressing. Expect pencils and inks and finished artwork aplenty. Just not neccessarily in that order, as the old gag goes.