Samurai

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!

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

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

The Big Rotting Apple

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

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

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!

Conan. Lille. 2011.

Older Pen work

Pen artwork originally for Britannia Games' Land of The Rising Sun book, though unpublished as far as I recall.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!

The Goonies

Jonday - dood

Lickle dood:

High moon in Berlin

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

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.

Chow time!

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!

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

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

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

in Photoshop.

Athenians

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

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.

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

With sharp pointy teeth...

More work from Nightfall card game, © AEG 2011

StarShipSofa Stories - In Pacmandu

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

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

Anji

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

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.

Cyclops. One of three drawn on the day.

More photography

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

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.