Scotch Corner

Lil Rollers sketches.

2012-02-02T19:42:00.005Z

The Lil Rollers are a project that my wife and I are working on. The five Grrrls shown here our the first incarnation and were given to the talented Abby Ryder to magically breath life into. Below is one of her finished designs. She has a real gift and we love how she has turned these characters ideas into the Lil Rollers. More of her lovely images can be seen at our rollergrrrls.com hub and on Tumblr.

Abby's personal site is here.

Lamia of Transylvania

2012-02-01T10:15:00.003Z

A sort of serpentine vampire girl from The Coldest War, an expansion set for Nightfall CCG. Some 3d play in this again, if you think you can see a slight change, that is probably why.

I seem to have done a lot of standing figures against backdrops recently - must find a scene to post soon. ©Alderac 2012

Rorschach

2012-01-31T16:13:00.001Z

Jonday - Moonlanding

2012-01-30T16:49:00.000Z

Houston we have a problem

Wonder Woman

2012-01-28T01:00:00.000Z

Of all the DC 52 titles that I've read ( not too many of them I'll admit ) the one I most wanted to be good was Wonder Woman. I am a big fan of the George Perez reboot in 1987 and even the TV show which I watched when I was a kid ( which my Dad was a big fan of too...hmmm...) Of all the bigtime Superheroes she seems to be the most complex and potentially interesting. Though the comics often were not. So I'm REALLY happy about what Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang have done, at a stroke giving the character some serious gravitas and giving the book a real sense of clarity and purpose.
This is total fan art.

Back Cover

2012-01-27T23:26:00.002Z

This is the back cover (sans text , barcodes etc.) for the sequel to the book from last week (Triple Ignition). A full colour version of this exists, which i probably slightly prefer, but the colour was removed from the Houses of Parliament area in this version in order to sync more with the front cover treatment.

Another Roller Grrrl sketch.

2012-01-26T18:29:00.006Z

I love roller derby. Simple.

This sketch of Sarah is one of many characters we are including in the Roller Grrrls project. It was done with brushpen at A5 on 90gms tracing paper. You can check out more images by clicking on our hub at rollergrrrls.com

Cuirassier

2012-01-25T11:36:00.002Z

A mostly finished piece of personal work which has been on my desk for waaay too long. Love my Napoleonics, so I do. French Cuirassier (the heavy cavalry of the day) from around 1810.

Boba Fett

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000Z

Jonday a bit late today

2012-01-23T19:17:00.000Z

Just imagine I'm an American. It's hardly lunchtime there. Busy ole time just now.

Anyway here's a piece I was working on a few months ago when I had free time and stuff like that:

Guest Post - Simon Jacob!

2012-01-22T08:40:00.000Z

1) What was your first published work?
A story in Mighty World of Marvel (#9 if memory serves, which it does increasingly unreliably these days) - an anthology reprint published by Marvel UK. It did however have some original material, the first of the Alan Moore/Davis Captain Britain revivals I think, as well as a ‘Talent Showcase’ (or cheap filler, if you prefer) which featured my first ever attempt at a full strip, called ‘Disenchantment’, fondly remembered, if only by me. It ran for three episodes (one, maybe two, in a Savage Sword of Conan reprint, again by Marvel UK, a spin-off/cash-in on the Arnie film version of everyone’s favourite Cimmerian).

2) Who or what inspires you?
Almost everything. Artistically I’ve always been drawn to book illustrators of the Golden Age, like Arthur Rackham, William Heath Robinson and recently the shimmering, luminous work of Edmund Dulac who deserves to be a great deal more lauded than he is. The late, great Ronald Searle is always an enduring influence. Early comic book heroes were Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Walt Simonson (particularly Manhunter – a pretty obscure back up feature from DC, I think). I discovered 2000AD just in time for Bolland’s Dark Judges and the Mike McMahon Slaine which for my money has the best artwork of anything, anywhere, ever. Brilliant.

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
Anything vaguely medieval and fantastical. If it involves drawing armour, I’m at the front of the queue. Like many, I got into Conan early, through the lure of the Frazetta covers for Ballantyne books and would love to have a go, just once, at the darker more medieval version of Conan that lurks behind my eyeballs.

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?
The Barbarian King – who am I kidding – it’s Conan, done to exorcise the glimpse I caught of the recent movie trailer. Wrong, for me at least, on every count and very disappointing, especially as it has probably scuppered any chance of there being a decent version made in my life time. Woe. I drew this just to make myself feel a little better.

The Wizard of Wychmaze – because I’ve just finished it. It’s a character that I’ve been batting around for years and may see life somewhere, sometime. Or possibly not. There’s a great Frank Kelly Freas book cover (Martians Go Home, I think) and this is my homage/rip off.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?
To be confirmed but strips for sure and a great deal more writing (for comics) hopefully. I’m getting back into drawing after only recently re-uniting with my mojo. We had become separated and it was left wandering aimlessly in the Desert of Distraction for years. Until a few weeks ago, the last strip I had drawn was fifteen years ago, at which time I was still communicating with the writer by letter. By letter! With stamps and everything! It’s unbelievable how things have changed in that time but I’m really enjoying what I’m seeing out there and the possibilities of what I can do. I have a new house, a half built studio and plans to be prolific over the next few years!

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?
I sort of did end up doing it. I’ve spent the last few years working for Fender, the US based guitar manufacturer. Music and guitars were my other great passion and I’ve been lucky enough to be involved right in the thick of the business.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?
There’s a bit of recent stuff here; http://shiantu.deviantart.com/

Red Lilly

2012-01-21T00:30:00.000Z

Another drawing from my convention. It looks a bit like a cross between Lilly Mackenzie & Red Sonja.

Triple Ignition book cover

2012-01-20T23:18:00.003Z

This is the cover for a new book which has just been released on Kindle (the paperback editions will be available very soon). You can pick up a Kindle copy from Amazon here. Not really an illustration job as such for this one as we ended up going for a more graphic approach. The initial flag elements were created in illustrator and then everything else was done in Photoshop. This is the first in a proposed series of four books - i've also done the cover for the second book so it will also probably appear here soon.

Daredevil. Sketch.

2012-01-19T15:19:00.002Z

A quick sketch at an event. Never drawn the character before but pleased enough with the end result. Would like to play more with the acrobatic nature of Daredevil (skewing angles and playing off the vertical) All good.

Freedom Fighter

2012-01-18T01:00:00.000Z

In the nightmare infested Russian Federation of Nightfall's "The Coldest War", a freedom fighter hides from the shambling horrors which stalk the night. ©AEG 2012

Trundling over Westminster

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000Z

When it comes to drawing Daleks I like to play around with them a little bit, one way is by changing around the colour schemes but its also fun to place them out of continuity. For this sketch I've placed an updated 2005 design Dalek into the classic 1964 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' scene of Westminster Bridge, nothing drastic but a nod to the past.

I still haven't attempted to draw the updated 'Paradigm' Daleks. I've slowly accepted their design but I have to question the reasons for their change other than a marketing ploy. If the producers of Doctor Who really wanted to re-boot the Daleks and make them feared again why on earth did they decide that each time you've got to see one after 'Victory of the Daleks' it was in a defeated, battle damaged or immobile state? Essentially undermining any 'fear factor' from their last full appearance?

Jonday it's a freak

2012-01-16T15:26:00.000Z

He's got a big mouth and he stinks.

Dante

2012-01-14T14:57:00.000Z

I was at a convention last weekend, sitting drawing in between chatting to people ( and sometimes during )

I'll miss the buggar when he's gone.

Prince Namor (reimagined)

2012-01-13T23:39:00.005Z

Another doodle done for the Whitechapel 'reimagined' slot - the current one is for Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. The instruction for this one was pretty much to ignore the existing version and just use "The child of a human sea captain and of a princess of the mythical undersea kingdom of Atlantis” as the brief. Makes sense as the proper character hasn't really got anything fishy about him - no idea where the winged ankles and spock ears come from bu not really what you would relate with underwater creatures. Dabbled with making it a full on monster but decided to keep it as a 'human' character that could actually still be used in a similar way as the existing version within the marvel universe. Wanted to make this one seem a bit happier with his lot in life though, rather than the grumpy Namor that is the default. Only decided to do this at the last minute tonight hence the last minute post.

Vampirella. Sketch.

2012-01-12T10:59:00.000Z

Vampirella. Sketch.

Coldest War

2012-01-11T11:23:00.003Z

Art from the last set of Nightfall CCG which I worked on at the end of summer, being used on the box as well as the card it seems.

Straighten up and fly right!

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000Z

This chap is from the 2009 Doctor Who Special 'Planet of the Dead' and he's a Tritovore, or as we know them a guy in a boiler suit with a fly head. I actually like these aliens as they remind me very much of earlier 'classic' Who style villains or monsters and the limitations faced by designers to come up with something convincing. They are obviously very well done and have a classic horror feel and look to them, well until they are revealed as being on the 'good guy' side of the story and then they just sort of hop about watching the Doctor for a bit. Still they looked good for a man in a boiler suit.

Jonday freak No.987

2012-01-09T12:45:00.000Z

Happy New Year

Magic User

2012-01-07T04:00:00.000Z

A drawing I did while on vacation, sitting in a ski chalet NOT skiing because it's raining.

Judge Dredd - rough head sketches

2012-01-06T23:13:00.004Z

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Just breaking in some new brushes and thought i would do some rough Dredd head doodles- of course i have just now seen Gary's post from yesterday - DROK! No Scotch Corner resolutions this year - only just managed to stay sane posting something new every week last year (the month or so of brilliant guest posts helped acheive that though). I imagine this year i will be posting some older stuff, some sketchier stuff (like this) and probably some completely random stuff too - who knows. Finally got around to installing Artrage3, Manga Studio and loading up a Bamboo Pen & Touch - all of which were purchased well over a year ago and i've never had the chance to use yet so will probably have some learning scribbles from that stuff along the way too.

Dredd panel. Pencils.

2012-01-05T14:24:00.003Z

A Dredd panel from a forth-coming episode for the Megazine. It has been twenty years since my only ever Dredd story (Twin Blocks, written by Garth Ennis, a Twin Peaks spoof/homage) This particular two-parter will appear later in the year and was written by Robbie Morrison. A delightfully wicked script from the fellow Scot and a joy to work on. Thanks to Matt Smith for making another dream come true. Batman or Daredevil next?

Would love to do a Magnum Force inspired episode of Dredd and raise my personal bar artistically. Possibly Dredd cleaning up a district wide, multi-level riot block war with skyscraper sized robots and include a scene where the use of a nuclear warhead is used as crowd control. Dredd... turned up to eleven. Any writers out there got a hook?

More of the ole' mono

2012-01-04T16:31:00.002Z

More from my back catalogue again today - NDAs coming oot my behind, as always. Nature of the beast.

TIE with your boots on!

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000Z

Happy New Year! A new year and a new Vader sketch, everybody loves Vader. Drawn him countless times now and never drawn Luke, nobody ever says 'Draw Luke Skywalker' (awaiting that written in the comments now). Did you know that Vader's tie fighter is called a 'TIE advanced x1', bit of a crap name really.

The Incomers

2011-12-30T11:33:00.005Z

The Incomers by Moira McPartlin is one of a few book jackets that i've done over the last few months and this is the first one that i am allowed to show as it is now available on Amazon for pre-order. The author and publishing house wanted it to look different from everything else on the shelves in that genre and so we ended up going down the route of more is less and using bold flat colours and ink outlines. I think it does the job. You can find out more about the book and pre-oder it on Amazon here

Happy New Year to all!

Montage!

2011-12-28T17:21:00.002Z

A little montage of some older, previous works, including pics from Cubicle 7, AEG, White Wolf, and Spiral Direct.

Christmas Angel

2011-12-27T08:00:00.000Z

Merry Christmas everyone, see you in the new year if Mean Machine doesn't get you first!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T22:47:00.003Z

I'm a bit late today but hey, It's Christmas.

Clearing the attic

2011-12-24T10:09:00.001Z

I've started clearing my old stuff out of my parents house. Most of my old work is going in the bin , bit occasionally I find something I quite like. This is a portrait I did of my friend ( writer, filmmaker) Colin McLaren. It was part of the design process for a Theatre poster I designed for his production of Hamlet ( he starred in it) . I went a different way with the final poster, more austere and symbolic.

Judge Dredd (reimagined)

2011-12-23T11:35:00.003Z

I've come across a few sites recently that 'recreate' existing characters just for fun (Project Rooftop etc.) and thought i would participate in some work along those lines. The Whitechapel site were doing a Judge Dredd one last week so this is my redesign from that.

I reckoned that i probably had three options:
1) Tweak and revise the existing design (seemed a bit pointless)
2) Take a more conceptual approach (i did doodle some blind justice style ideas where his eyes/head were masked with cloth - like the statues of a woman holding justice scales but just thought ideas like that would be too impractical for Dredd's environment)
3) Take a more practical 'realistic' approach

I went with option 3 and decided to start from scratch basing the design on a hi-tech evolution of a riot cop (i guess an obvious route to take but it made the most sense to me). The helmet now includes various technical capabilities such as gas mask/filtration system, comms system and night vision/infra red etc. The body suit is armoured and padded for day to day violence and the truncheon is barbed, spiked and electrified. Debated on keeping it mostly black and navy etc. but thought i would transfer over some of the colour from the real Dredd costume.

Quite fun to do, so i may do some more of these next year.

Roller Grrrls! Eerie Erin sketch.

2011-12-22T15:29:00.004Z

Recently (when I have free time) I have been working on a roller derby comic (writing and drawing mostly) with my wife Mhairi and storyboarding colleague Anna Malady. We are also aided by the brilliant Yel Zamor on colour and the talented Abby Ryder on Lil Rollers. You can see more images and covers when you visit the Roller Grrrls hub at rollergrrrls.com.

This image here works well as a 'time out' piece from the main story. Erin waits her turn to enter the play. It captures the downtime perfectly and is so much more satisfying an image to work on than spandex heroes destroying giant robots and buildings. Very pleased with this image.

Visit the hub and LIKE the Facebook page. Comments welcome and we love feedback!

H is for Hussar!

2011-12-21T08:22:00.002Z

An officer of the 7th Hussars, (although I think a liberty or two was taken with the uniform - with the dimensions of the fur cap especially) for a comic I hoped to do years ago - sadly I found it impossible to eat into the 100+ pages I unwisely set myself...

H is for Hulk (again)

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000Z

I've already drawn the Hulk and posted it as part of the Marvel A-Z but hey I've done it again. Lots of colour Copic Markers and hardly any black ink, good fun to draw.

Jonday freak No.567

2011-12-19T09:31:00.000Z

If you were Santa, would you risk it?

2011-12-18T08:21:00.000Z

Doctor Who buddies

2011-12-16T12:37:00.002Z

Some more emoticons, this time with Doctor Who characters. No time for chat just now as off for Christmas 'lunch' so best to post this before i go as i may not be in a fit state later.

Claire Bennet, Heroes. Sketch.

2011-12-15T21:47:00.003Z

A more whimsical sketch from Paris Manga. This was for a father's daughter who loved Claire Bennet, the cheerleader from Heroes. I asked her (in French) whether she wanted to see the gunshot and she nodded. She was about thirteen years old. Cool kid.

Cyberpunk Dude

2011-12-14T14:27:00.002Z

A dude from an old Cyberpunk comic I was fiddling with a while back.

Starblazer 'Rocket Age Adventures'

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000Z

I like writing these kind of posts, I wrote one last year with my first work for 2000AD under my belt, it's a 'dream fulfilled' or 'mark it off the wish list' post.

Back on January 25th 2010 I wrote a piece about a painting I had produced in homage to 'Starblazer' the digest sized sci-fi comic published by DC Thomson Ltd in Dundee. The post and painting received a fair amount comment and coverage from around 'the net' and I was lucky enough to see the image 'Stone of R'lyeh' published in the book 'Sci-fi Art Now' from Ilex Press.

As I stated in the post Starblazer ceased publication back in 1991 and DC Thomson has no plans to resurrect the title but if you read through the comments left you'll see a conversation about the roleplaying game 'Starblazer Adventures' from Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. The writer of the game, Chris Birch, talked about why licensing Starblazer from DC Thomson worked for them and how, like myself, he had very fond memories of the comic. I've had the pleasure of producing a few pieces for Cubicle 7 in the last year (fate is a strange chap as fellow Scotch Corner contributor Jon Hodgson is now the Art Director of the company) and when I was asked if I was interested in producing the cover for a new Starblazer supplement I couldn't turn it down.

The supplement is called 'Rocket Age Adventures' and it allows the gamer to use the Starblazer rules as a more retro sci-fi, pulp style rocket ships and rayguns game. The brief called for "a nice dynamic piece with a load of rockets and rayguns and mysterious bulbous craft all coming bursting out at us framing a male and female character in nice rocketeer, bubble helmet style."

Sometimes I know exactly what I'm going to draw and the trick for me is to try and live up to my own vision of how an image should look. Artists and other creative people have been known to be notoriously critical of their own work and its understandable that if what's on paper doesn't match your own vision of how it should look that you will be negative about your achievements. I knew pretty much from the outset how I was going to be approaching this and my initial sketch was approved with one change… to add in another rocket.

Onto the pencils and as I have tendency to produce very tight pencil work it was a good indication for the client to see how the finished illustration was going to look. I then inked and set to colouring the piece. I wanted to have a marked difference between the man and woman and the elements that surrounded them so I kept the characters and the rocky planet surface in their original solid inked style but the rockets, robot and saucers I decided to paint and drop the inked line to give them a different kind of look. I had a lot of fun adding in little touches to this cover and by the time I'd finished I had decided that for me it's the best illustration I've produced this year, I think I nailed it on the head for this one and I'm very happy with it and thankfully so was the client who gave me special permission to show it off.

So in a very rare event I have a cover I'm very happy with, that the client loves and, although the comic disappeared 20 years ago, I think this could be about as close as you can now get to saying you've drawn a cover for Starblazer. Not bad I reckon.

©2011 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

Jonday: WWC

2011-12-12T11:58:00.000Z

A piece of video I made for Cubicle 7, to promote an upcoming game, for which I also made the cover. The cover is not yet cleared for display, but you'll get the gist of it from the vid:

Dredd Head

2011-12-11T08:57:00.000Z

A head and shoulders shot from back in the day.

Beautiful Dreamer

2011-12-10T19:40:00.001Z

Throg - Frog of Thunder

2011-12-09T21:46:00.003Z

No idea why i decided to doodle this - just one of those random things that came into my head. Way back when Walt Simonson was doing his legendary Thor run he decided to have some villian mystically turn Thor into a frog for an issue or so - i pretty much thought that was an end to it but when double checking the costume i found out that Marvel now have a permanent character like this.

Catwoman_sketch.

2011-12-08T10:38:00.004Z

I normally don't like showing the 'process' as some of the early sketches always look so very rough and, well... bad. These failed attempts at something better always get hidden in a drawer or trashed. The reason? Well, I constantly change poses, elements and rendering while I draw and these initial ideas never show the full potential. More so when shown out of context of the finished image.

This sketch of Catwoman (part of two ideas I worked up for Paris Manga) has a Parisian flavour about it and still pleases, even at this raw stage. There is a suggestion of a short story too which also helps. Compositionally though it is nearly there. Some nice angles and shapes created by her legs, back and the buildings!

I normally start with a little thumbnail (seen bottom right) and use that as reference for larger sketch. Ideas are added, changed and occasionally overdrawn. There was a proper inked pass done of this pose at an event but I forgot to take a picture of it, sadly. The legs were slightly different and she was more recessed into the window frame (allowing for some rather complimentary underlighting of her quite lovely bottom) The pose was also more arched and curvier all round.

The second idea from this series was of Catwoman at the Folies Bergere and was rather saucy. Possibly working that up into to a print for next year's Paris Manga show. A sketch might be posted before then.

Stop badgering me!

2011-12-07T10:10:00.002Z

Another illo from my C+S days. I'm not quite sure at the time that I understood what a Japanese badger-man would look like, and now I would do this pic very very differently. But hey. Live and learn! And use the internet for research...

Wheee-Doggie!

2011-12-06T10:52:00.001Z

Ya dirty stinkin' judge hat! Nobody stares down Mean Machine Angel!

Jonday - Prawn

2011-12-05T11:01:00.000Z

I drew another random bug creature:

Bondage

2011-12-04T10:46:00.000Z

This promo image from earlier this year took it's inspiration from the Bond movie credits and the colour washes used in the title sequences of the Good The Bad and the Ugly.

Florida Loser Noir

2011-12-03T13:58:00.000Z

A quick character sketch. I've been reading some Elmore Leonard lately.

The Joker - well, kind of

2011-12-02T21:02:00.007Z

I stumbled over a website recently that was running a comic art competition which basically involved creating a female version of a male character. They supplied a fair selection of images to choose from to use as reference material - i think to draw from rather than manipulate as i have done - but as i had missed the deadline anyway when i found the site i thought i would just have a play with some photo manipulation. I decided not to go too OTT with this one and tried to keep the changes reasonably subtle so that it still looked like it could have been done as a make-up photoshoot - the original image is posted here too so that you can see any edits i made to the model (eyebrowes, mouth etc.). Might add a few more of these to my to do list to keep brushing up on my photoshop skills.

The Thing! Sketch. Paris 2011.

2011-12-02T09:18:00.004Z

Ben Grimm. The Thing. This is the last of four sketches for Dominique Brucato at Paris Manga. He has been patiently waiting six months between characters and each has proven a challenge. Starting with the Invisible Girl, I painted her in reverse (with light) as white paint on black paper. Johnny Storm was inked purely in flame, with no outline. It proved a favourite and was very kinetic and full of energy. Mr. Fantastic was a more playful image done in the style of Bryan Hitch. Maybe I'll post that one another time?

Samurai

2011-11-30T11:16:00.002Z

But an older one done with pen and ink, again for Brittania Game Designs for Chivalry and Sorcery game line around 2000/2001 this one. ©Andy Hepworth

Falling in with Bad Company!

2011-11-29T09:57:00.001Z

I love drawing this big monster, one of my favourite series from 2000AD. About time they convinced Brett Ewins to draw a one off special and y'know if he can't do it…

jonday helmet sketch

2011-11-28T13:30:00.002Z

Mostly for making a note to use this style of helmet crest in something at a later date...

The Big Rotting Apple

2011-11-27T10:07:00.001Z

This is the back cover to last summer's Zarjaz Dredd special. New York concreted over has become a dark, cold hellhole. I took inspiration from many of the early 80's post apocalyptic movies like Escape from New York, The Bronx Warriors and the poster art for The Warriors.

Monster Truck

2011-11-27T04:51:00.001Z

I don't know what the hell this is. I blame Doug, my studio mate. Yea, it's Doug's fault! Doug Olsen! Him over there!!!!

Dept. of Monsterology - Slutherneerg

2011-11-25T23:14:00.003Z

Reports on the Slutherneerg, the last of the four new species discovered below the Guatemala sinkholes, are now in. The Slutherneerg serve in many capacities but primarily they act as a mode of transport for the other denizens, providing travel between the interconnected caves deep under the surface. It has been suggested that it is the movement of the Slutherneerg, rather than environmental reasons, that may actually be the cause of the sinkholes in this region.

A fully grown Slutherneerg will be almost 3/4 of a mile long and weigh several tons. The creature burrows through the earths core creating the vast tunnel network and can easily carry in the region of 500 passengers on it's back from tunnel to tunnel. The Slutherneerg can hook itself into cavern walls to rest in place and can also use these hooks to allow it traverse above any abyss it may come across and to climb vertical walls.

As violent and ruthless as the Rikitiktik are, they revere the Slutherneerg almost as a deity and protect the species at all costs. The carcasses of deceased Slutherneerg are considered sacred ground and are hollowed out to be used as both shrines and safe-haven hospices for the elderly and poorly of the Rikitiktiks.

Conan!

2011-11-24T23:59:00.000Z

Conan. Lille. 2011.

Older Pen work

2011-11-23T11:31:00.002Z

Pen artwork originally for Britannia Games' Land of The Rising Sun book, though unpublished as far as I recall. Dip pen and ink this one, a nib I found on a trip to Japan (they have awesome art shops there - we get the usual crappy UK service over here) which I used for a few years. Then I didn't, for no good reason at all. Must find the time for some dip-pennery soon!

Hey you guys!

2011-11-22T14:57:00.001Z

The Goonies

Jonday - dood

2011-11-21T11:50:00.002Z

Lickle dood:

High moon in Berlin

2011-11-20T09:40:00.000Z

She's got to ask herself a question, did she fire six shots or only five?

Some new art for next year's Vampire Vixens One Shot

Dept. of Monsterology - Fido

2011-11-18T23:09:00.005Z

Reports on the "Fido", one of the four new species discovered below the Guatemala sinkholes, are now in. The Fido act as obedient pets to the Rikitiktik and like the Joes they are very loyal and show very little sign of independant thought.

The Fido stands at about 2 feet tall. The Fido slides rather than walks and although very slow moving they are exceptionally lethal once they have latched onto their prey. The fido wraps it's wing like appendages around an area of it's victim and embeds it's barbed claws to keep the hold. This allows the Fido to bite into the victim with the eight hooked teeth on it's stomach, as well as helping to hold the fido in place, these teeth contain a venomous toxin which induces paralysis to the victim within a minute. The toxin then starts to reduce the victim's body to a soft pulp like mush. As the body disintegrates and becomes more fluid-like in nature, the Fido drinks the body through it's real mouth which resides on it's stomach between the eight teeth. What looks like it's mouth at the head area is only actually used to fight back against victims in their initial struggles before paralysis sets in. The team have observed a Fido devour a Joe within four minutes. The victim remains alive through most of this period and it is thought that they retain full awareness and sensory function throughout the fatal ordeal. The Fido nick name came from one of the team that observed this act - the suction from the Fido's feeding method looks like a frantic rubbing movement against the victim and was said to have reminded him of his pet dog at home.

The final outstanding report on the Slutherneerg will follow shortly.

Marshall Law. Sketch. London MCM.

2011-11-17T22:54:00.001Z

Chow time!

2011-11-16T10:08:00.004Z

Now that is one tasteeeee small intestine. Ummmmm Hmmmmmm. I seem to have been Mr Nightfall for a while now, so next week I promise I'll post something which I didn't do for either Nightfall, odr the company who produce it, Alderac Entertainment Group.

© AEG 2011

Vworpobix!

2011-11-15T14:37:00.001Z

To call 'Vworp Vworp' a fan magazine would be technically right but possibly give you a false sense of its brilliance. Now onto its second issue the 104 page perfect bound tome of love for Panini Magazines 'Doctor Who Magazine' is so packed full of brilliant articles, art, interviews and all things Doctor Who that I knew I had to contribute to its pages.

With this issue you'll find 'Vworpobix', a board game which lovingly updates the Doctor Who game featured on the back of the cardboard packaging boxes of Weetabix during the 1970s. Featuring the art of Jon Pinto, Leighton Noyes, Paul Grist, James Offredi, Simon Gurr, Adrian Salmon and myself. I was asked to update the 'Race Through Space' section of the game with elements from the 'new' series of Doctor Who so I managed to cram in loads of moments from the last six years not least of all Supermarine Spitfires attacking Daleks in space!

Editors Gareth Kavanagh and Colin Brockhurst have poured all their love and energy into this magazine and it shows, here's a short list of some of the features:

The first half of our exhaustive Abslom Daak tribute, including interviews with writer Steve Moore, and artists Steve Dillon and David Lloyd. Also a Daak comic strip, written for DWM by Steve Moore in 1980 but withdrawn after a disagreement with the editor, now finally brought to the page byDWM artists Martin Geraghty, Adrian Salmon and Roger Langridge.
We’re kicking off our series of DWM editor interviews with a fascinating chat between Dez Skinn and Tom Spilsbury. We also chat to Paul Neary, Alan McKenzie, Cefn Ridout and the elusive Sheila Cranna.
Ex-Doctors Tom Baker and Colin Baker talk about their comic strip selves.
Dave Gibbons, Steve Parkhouse and Mick McMahon discuss The Tides of Time and Junkyard Demon, and we take in The Lodger with Gareth Roberts and Mike Collins.
We’ve got, The Housekeeper, a comic strip written by Paul Magrs and drawn by Bret M Herholz starring Mrs Wibbesey and the Fourth Doctor.
And we’ve got an fantastic free gift in the form of a ‘Vworpabix’ board game. Based on the 1970s Weetabix game, ours has 16 character cards by Adrian Salmon and boards by Paul Grist, Jon Pinto, Leighton Noyes and Graeme Neil Reid.
Two covers: a wraparound Abslom Daak cover by Mike Collins, and an early Doctor Who Monthly pastiche featuring Junkyard Demon (with Jason Fletcher and Ben Willsher’s take on Daak on the back cover).
… and much more!

Head over to www.vworpvworp.co.uk to order your copy and also pick up the first excellent issue too!

Jonday from teh vaults

2011-11-14T15:10:00.000Z

Here's a model I made a long time ago in good ole sketchup. This location has been used from various angles since it's construction.

Hong Kong Phooey

2011-11-13T10:51:00.000Z

Did this drawing during a bored lunchbreak at work to see how close I could capture the look of the art

in Photoshop.

Athenians

2011-11-12T07:10:00.001Z

A drawing done to test a new pen nib, the fabled Somerville Spear, reputedly the finest drawing nib ever created. I found 2 in a stall in Paris. They were indeed fabulous, almost as flexible as a brush, but springy and fabulously lively. You get the impression from the line-quality on the drawing. Unfortunately my first one was toast by the end of this drawing. I'm saving the last one for when I REALLY need cheering up.

StarShipSofa volume 3 - The Occurrence at Slocombe Priory

2011-11-11T13:20:00.004Z

Following on from Graeme's post earlier this week, here is more art from StarShipSofa Volume 3 out today - you can order your copy in various formats from here . My illustrations accompany Paul Cornell's 'The Occurrence at Slocombe Priory' - not at all what i expected to illustrate from a Paul Cornell story - i had assumed it would be a superhero/sci-fi strip but instead it's a great fun pastiche of a certain bunch of cartoon detectives, just shows that great writers can turn their hand to any genre.

A wee competition too

A bit of self pimping this week - in an effort to try and separate my online personal and work 'identities' i have set up a new twitter account @TMCillustration and a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TMC.Illustration - will still be a fair bit of crossover but in an effort to get some followers on board the new twitter and FB accounts i am also running a competition to win a set of 5 A4 prints from my earlier Marvel A-Z set. The rules are simple, anybody following the accounts before the 1st December will be entered into a lucky dip draw. If you follow on both FB and twitter you will be entered twice - if you tweet a follow/mention you will be entered again and the same goes for sharing on Facebook - so potentially you could be entered into the draw four times.

3 winners will be drawn and announced on December the 1st.

Red Sonja. London MCM.

2011-11-10T10:13:00.003Z

Never drawn Red Sonja before but wanted to create a picture with a story (or at least a little more than just a traditional 'girl with a sword image') Delighted with this first attempt (drawn under the pressure of an MCM table) and would definitely work this up for a proper cover.

If this week's post were for a caption competition entry I would imagine having Red Sonja saying 'Who's next?'

Take out the trailer-trash

2011-11-09T11:41:00.003Z

StarShipSofa Stories - In Pacmandu

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000Z

Released this Friday is StarShipSofa Stories: Volume 3 from the Hugo Award winning science fiction podcast team. Featuring a long list of sci-fi tales with accompanying illustrations the book will be available in a range of options from downloadable eBook to paperback and hardback through Lulu publishing. As you can see I drew a little 'Pong' inspired piece to go with Lavie Tidhar's story 'In Pacmandu'. Go visit their website on the 11th to order your copy.

Contributors include stories by: Matthew Sanborn Smith, Gregory Frost, Joe Haldeman, Dennis M. Lane, Mercurio D. Rivera, Nicola Griffith, Peter Watts, James Patrick Kelly, Saladin Ahmed, Catherynne M. Valente, Paul Cornell, Gareth L. Powell, James Morrow, Amy H. Sturgis, Kevin J. Anderson, Michael Swanwick, Lawrence Santoro, Lavie Tidhar, Frederic Himebaugh, Aliette de Bodard, Allen Steele, Tad Williams, Jack McDevitt, Karen Joy Fowler, Will McIntosh, Morgan Sterling Saletta, David Brin and Adam Troy Castro. And art by: Skeet Scienski, Daniel Tozer, Simon Watkins, Jack Calverley, Timothy Booth, Jerel Dye, Evan Forsch, Patrick McEvoy, Ben Greene, Mike Dubisch, Thomas Crielly, Bradley W. Schenck, Brian Thomas Woods, Richard Case, Peter Snejbjerg, Daniele Serra, Graeme Neil Reid, Mark Zug, Brent Holmes, Ben Wootten, Dave Krummenacher, Jouni Koponen, Len O’Grady, Steven Thomas, Mud!, David Boyle, David Malki, Carly Monardo, Anton Emdin and Greg Broadmore.

Jonday bug not feature

2011-11-07T08:33:00.002Z

Another one for The Corner. No one puts baby in the corner.

Anji

2011-11-06T08:06:00.000Z

This is from my early days at DA Group which involved a lot of commercial illustration for agencies and web sites. This stylised female above was a design for a pop up personal shopper who would provide up to date details on bargains direct to you hand held device. She went on to be created in 3D and the faces are at the bottom are tests of the facial expressions. Can't remember who did the model so apologies for the lack of a name check.

Dept. of Monsterology - Joe

2011-11-04T22:12:00.002Z

Reports on the "Joe", one of the four new species discovered below the Guatemala sinkholes, are now in. The Joe act as servants to the Rikitiktik, they are very loyal (to the point of death in the organised bloodsports) but are very dim-witted and show no signs of independant thought.

The Joe stands about 7 feet tall and is deceptively powerful. They share almost identical DNA with the Rikitiktik and our scientist are still investigating the possibility of an evolutionary split from one original species. The vestigal like wings on their shoulders can actually carry them across short crevices in a hovering manner, their hollow bone structure aids in this feat. They have 'teeth' which seem to be made of some kind of granite compound which they use to pulp food rather than rip at it. They have excellent 'night' vision and are commonly used as guides through the dark caverns - our entomolgists are currently studying a sample of antenna and eye to better understand the mechanisms behind this.

The outstanding reports on the Fidos and Slutherneerg will follow shortly.

n.b. I thought i would use the Dept. of Monsterolgy slot to get myself a few weeks ahead with Scotch Corner as i had time to knock up a few and thought i would post them individually, but Simon has now made me feel guilty by posting all of his together (not guilty enough to change my plan mind you). Doesn't help that his creatures were all awesome - damn the man :)

Cyclops. Convention sketch. London MCM.

2011-11-03T12:34:00.003Z

Cyclops. One of three drawn on the day.

More photography

2011-11-02T08:39:00.002Z

Another photo from Japan - this one taken in Wakayama Prefecture, though it could be a waterfall anywhere, eh? I took dozens of shots here, and as usual only a handful are of any use whatever. Oh well.

Weeping Angel

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000Z

About a year ago I was approached for a private commission which will feature the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who quite prominently and due to one thing and another it's not even began so I've used this pretty much as a bit of a warm up. More experiments with Copic markers, this time its all Cool Grey markers and a little bit of pencil. I really like the effect you can get from the markers, almost like watercolours in some places but annoyingly my scanner refuses to pick out some of the lighter shades. I have the Copic Ciao range and it has a very nice brush nib which is fun to use. I'm thinking I'd like to try out the larger, more expensive, original Copic Markers but for the time being these will do.

Jonday Ghost

2011-10-31T08:54:00.005Z

Hey! Found the time to make a few sketchy pieces specifically for Scotch Corner, so you won't see these fine pieces of nonsense anywhere else. About time, eh?

Some sort of ghost dude in Artrage:

Dept of Monsterology - as reported to Si.

2011-10-29T22:43:00.004+01:00

I had a long journey recently so I did a lot of sketchbook doodling.

I'm posting late and Alex is posting early. So yayy for me!

A Pollocluth , seen around Maine and the North East up until the advent of the Industrial Revolution whereupon the population went into steep decline.

An ancient document recovered from the Abby of Wambach after it was demolished by the Nazis in 1942

This is the interpretation of a heavily decomposed biological sample found in a jar of yellowing formaldehyde in the ruins of the St. Xaviers Hospital in Wights Bay , Maine.

Halloween Vixens

2011-10-29T20:46:00.000+01:00

Nudging my Sunday post in a wee bit early due to the fact i'm not going to be around tomorrow.
A promo image for Vampire Vixens in a very Grindhouse styling. Hope you like it and Happy Halloween.

Dept. of Monsterology - Rikitikik

2011-10-28T13:07:00.004+01:00

Reports are now back on the four new species discovered below the Guatemala sinkholes. The team managed to successfully access previous unknown regions beneath the city by entering the sinkhole and digging through the side walls where they found a warren of interconnected caves deep under the surface. The Rikitiktik seems to be the most intelligent and the ruling species - the Joes act as servants to them, the Fidos as pets and the Slutherneerg as modes of transport (it has been suggested that it is the movement of the Slutherneerg, rather than environmental reasons, that may actually be the cause of the sinkholes in this region)

The Rikitiktik (as illustrated below) stands about 9 feet tall when on two legs, but spends most of it's time in a crawling position as it skitters up and down walls. They have razor sharp teeth and barbed quills on their forearms and elbows, incredibly powerful legs and are extremely agile (the team have witnessed leaps over crevices at least 150 metres wide). They are incredibly ferocious and battle violently amongst themselves, killing members of their own species at a moments notice. They also seem to enjoy organised bloodsports pitting Joes and Fidos against each other in bloody, brutal death matches.

Reports on the Joes, Fidos and Slutherneerg will follow shortly.

Black Bag Jobs

2011-10-26T09:21:00.003+01:00

Continuing the monster theme, something tentacled and Cthonic? Cthulic? rampages. Unstoppable. Insatiable. Improbable.

© Cubicle 7 2011

Dept. of Monsterology - Sawney's Pet

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000+01:00

Fearful inhabitants of Ballantrae insist they've spotted the return of the cannibal Alexander "Sawney" Bean in the nearby coastal caves. People are going missing and it's not the first time these rocks have heard the crack of human bones…

This was a great excuse to buy and test out ArtRage the illustrating application beloved of Jon. It was a steep and quick learning curve but I very much enjoyed using it and hopefully I'll continue to find time and projects for it. Recommended, easy to use, fun and extremely cheap for its abilities.

Don't forget to check out the Dept Of Monsterology Facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/DeptOfMonsterology

Guest Post - PJ Holden - Dept. of Monsterology!

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

1) What was your first published work?
I've a bunch of works I consider 'firsts', but, my first work by a publisher people will have heard of was Holy Cross #3, written by Malachy Coney and published by Fantagraphics in, iirc, 1994. Set in Holy Cross in Northern Ireland and was a sad little tale of two kids who grew up around the troubles.

2) Who or what inspires you?

There's a lot of artists that, when I'm feeling creatively 'tapped out' I'll look at, just to feel like I can find a way back to the drawing board - though I don't think I can really get anywhere near these guys in terms of quality. At the moment it's people like Sean Murphy, Eric Canete & Duncan Fegredo and many, many more.

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?

Oh, always be careful of the 'dream job'. Sometimes they can be nightmares. I do like a change, so if I've been drawing something serious my dream job will be something stupid and vice versa. For right now, Dept Of Monsterology is a dream gig. It has things in it Gordon and I have been trying to get into comics for 10 years.

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration you've sent?

It's a double page spread and part of the 'pitch' document that Gordon and I did to try and find a publisher for Dept Of Monsterology. I think it worked.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?

I think Strip Magazine should be out now (gypsey curses not with standing) and you should see me there. Robocop/Terminator final issue should be out and, I'm pretty sure that'll be collected in the New Year and Fearless, the book I did for Image comics with Mark Sable and Dave Roth is due out in November. That should keep me on shelves until Monsterology hits.

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?

Oh pretty easy: I'd be working in computers. That's what I was doing as my day job up until 3 years ago.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?

My blog http://www.pauljholden.com/blog and twitter http://www.twitter.com/pauljholden

Don't forget to check out the Dept Of Monsterology Facebook page too! http://www.facebook.com/DeptOfMonsterology

We don't need their scum!

2011-10-23T09:44:00.000+01:00

Old pencil sketch

Dante commission

2011-10-22T02:00:00.000+01:00

So I was at the New York Comic Con a few days ago. I did this commission for a charming Hungarian gentleman from Budapest, who was a big fan of Dante. This makes me very happy, Budapest is the most swashbuckling city that I know of. The brief was "Lulu kicking Nikolai Dante's ass"
The quality is not great as I took the pic with my phone.

Hallo(ween), buddy

2011-10-21T22:33:00.004+01:00

A sequel of sorts to the random Marvel characters i posted up about a year ago here. As Halloween is just around the corner i thought i would do some horror characters in the style of the wee yellow emoticon buddy this time around, i did a few of these at the same time as the Marvel ones but thought it was about time i finished the set. Feel free to use as avatars on messenger, social media sites and anywhere else that need a profile head-shot i guess.

Darth Vader - Star Wars commission.

2011-10-20T20:31:00.006+01:00

The third (and fourth) Star Wars commission from Paris Manga is the Dark Lord of the Sith himself: Darth Vader. The light sabre image was a particular favourite with the fans and I loved putting the reflection of Obi Wan Kenobi in the glass eyes of his mask. Probably did about four of these over a weekend. This is the only copy to hand but the reflection is present.

The hand gesture Vader is a classic pose and I was very pleased with the finished result!

Gates to hell!

2011-10-19T08:54:00.004+01:00

Damn, I wish I could remember the name of the place in the hills of Kyoto where this was (Nishikori? maybe?) but the mesmerising effect of gate upon gate upon gate was quite unsettling to me in a hellish kind of way. Probably that was the point of the set-up. I'm sure my guides (Taka, Noriko and Aa-chan) told me why, but I was too busy taking the hundred photos so I could find one which was half decent.

EDIT: it was Fushimi-Inari. Not even close, huh? ;)

EDIT 2: Nishikori is a park close to my old apartment

Win a Dr Who sketch!

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000+01:00

Over on my own blog I'm running a competition to win one of these three sketches, very easy to enter not even a question to answer or anything.

Jonday - Spiders of Mirkwood

2011-10-17T17:47:00.002+01:00

More for The One Ring:

Small Press 90's style

2011-10-16T08:15:00.000+01:00

Raiding the archives again since there isn't too much of this year's work I can show as yet. This was the cover for my first small press comic. There's a bit more about it here.
http://alexronald68.blogspot.com/2010/01/small-press-rules-ok.html
http://alexronald68.blogspot.com/2010/01/red-sands-is-back.html
http://alexronald68.blogspot.com/2010/05/red-sands-2-is-out.html

2000ad boarders Matthew Mclauglin and Bruce McLaren took the strip forward to a second issue with their own bloody take on it. Both issues are available on my ebook if anyone wants a peek.

Gent

2011-10-15T03:42:00.000+01:00

Drawn from a photograph on the subway platform. Drawing it killed the time.

Cartoon Capers week 5: Batfink and Karate

2011-10-14T13:09:00.004+01:00

Batfink and Karate this week. As ever click the image to view a larger version. I decided to loosely base this one on Jack Burnley's classic cover to Batman no. 9 as it seemed to suit the characters and obviously Batfink was ripped from Batman - although Karate is more along the lines of Kato from Green Hornet rather than Robin. I'm just going to use artistic license to ignore the fact that Karate would probably be getting splatted by the hail of bullets.