Guest Post - Dan Berry!

1) What was your first published work?
My first work that was properly published was a few pages in Blank Slate's Nelson book. Before that I'd self-published for a while and had a few strips in anthologies and the such.

2) Who or what inspires you?
Oof, that's a difficult question to answer. Who? I've just re-read Brian Eno's 'A Year With Swollen Appendices' which is a kind of diary he kept for a year. I'm always busy but that book makes me feel sluggish and unmotivated. He really packed those days full of lots of really interesting stuff. Ask me again tomorrow and I'd probably give you a different answer!

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
I don't know. I only really work on things I really want to work on, so I guess they are all dream jobs maybe?

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?
First is the cover to my new book, The Suitcase, out soon from Blank Slate Books. I'm really proud of it. It's a darkly comic series of connected stories set in the suburbs. It's about a dead dog.

Next is a page from a strip I did for the latest issue of OffLife. It's about how I sometimes have the urge to throw my keys and wallet away and how I'd end up going feral. It was a lot of fun to draw.

Lastly this one is from an animated music video I made for Jim Guthrie's new album. I only had a couple of weeks to pull this all together and I'm really pleased with how it came out. It's a great song too.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?
I've got some more shorter strips in the works and I've just started working on a longer project that I can't say too much about yet. It's a lot of fun though, and I'm getting to draw some really cool stuff.

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?
I really don't know. I'd probably still be working in a petrol station.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?
You can see more of my work at thingsbydan.co.uk and you can have a look at the podcast I run at makeitthentelleverybody.com in which I talk to other artists about how they do what they do.

Jonday - rocks

Wow! Rocks!

Also: Interviewed: http://obskures.de/2013/the-one-ring-dust-devils-an-interview-with-cubicle-7-art-director-and-artist-jon-hodgson/

'Waldo' box art.

Illustration for a new Industria Mechanika model kit release. Details here

Watchout Boy She'll Chew You UUUP

On old Dante page today 'cos I've spent the last 2 weeks working on stuff that I can't post. But hey, Lulu Romanoff ladies and gents, lest ye forget!

Abe Sapian (of Hellboy fame) sketch

Monster designs.

Victoriana 2

Another illustration for the up and coming RPG, 3rd editionVictoriana.  This shows a dwarf engineer lady and a Fox-man magician.  The game is a fantasy shift on our own world, with Victorian society also inhabited by fantasy creatures, magic and some clockwork/steam-power technology.  © Cubicle 7

Guest Post - Paul Moore!

1) What was your first published work?
I did some strips for some small press comics based in Glasgow in the mid ninties, I can't quite remember which one was the first I think it might have been a comic called 'So what?' I drew a cautionary drugs tale and another tale with a supernatural detective called Frank N Stein, I got a review at the time comparing my work to Steve Dillon's, I was quite chuffed with that, but I didn't follow it up, I went to Uni and got a 'proper' job soon after.

2) Who or what inspires you?

I remember being inspired to draw comics when reading the Marvel UK Hulk weekly and seeing British artists like Gibbons, Bolton, Lloyd, Dillon and US artists John Buscema (who has to be my most fondly remembered artist), Kirby and Kane. Then there was the classic 2000ad artists McMahon, Bolland, Colin Wilson and Cam Kennedy's Rogue Trooper was a particular favourite of mine, later Yowell, Bisley, Fabry and Hickleton. I remember being inspired by Mazzuchelli and his amazing Born Again and Batman work. Masamune Shirow, Katsushira Otomo along with John Romita jr and Al Williamson's Daredevil run (so stylish). Somewhere along the way I discovered Frank Bellamy, John M Burns, Alex Toth and Moebius. Recently I've found the names of some of the Spanish artists who were never credited on old British strips Palacios, Breccia and De La Fuente, currently I love the work of Alfonso Font and Goran Parlov, oh and John Paul Leon.
In fine art I love the figure artists in the Impressionists Degas and Manet, the Expressionists Klimt and particularly Schiele and I love the sculpture of Rodan.

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
First off I'd be happy if someone simply offered to pay me! But seriously if I was offered my dream job drawing comics, I would obviously love to draw the industry big hitters Batman, Spiderman, Daredevil and the others. Ive always loved the SCI-FI genre, so any of the 2000ad classic characters would be a dream, particularly Rogue Trooper, Dredd or Johnny Alpha. There was a series called Warheads from Marvel UK drawn by Gary Erskine that I thought had an unrealised potential I thought it was a great concept - a team using worm holes to steal technology for a corrupt/occult Conglomerate… fantastic, I'd love to do something like that. I do love the iconography of the old west, so a Western like the Blueberry series, would definitely be a dream project or maybe a Firefly style combination of SCI-FI and Western genres, actually one project Im currently working on may turnout quite close to his Concept, 
I would also love to work in concept art for games, movies and TV, I love creating worlds and characters but I don't really have enough knowledge of what the work involves to be too picky.

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?
1&2- I've mostly been working digitally in Black and white, Ive been drawing a Star wars themed series based on the Planet Tatooine, here we have big bad Boba Fett (and Sarlaac) and Han Solo
3- Satana, an example of digital pencils.
4- Seline from the Underworld series, I had alot of fun drawing this lovely lady in black leather.
5- Aeon Flux, a favourite animated character (black leather again)
6- I drew Judge Dredd just to see if I could, I was pleasantly surprised I didn't mess it up.
7- Matty Roth from a series I liked DMZ.
8- With Moon Knight, I was trying for a classic hero on on gargoyle look.
9- My favourite recent comic series Scalped and an attempt to include a background, something I don't do enough of.
10- Green Arrow, coloured by my web pal Biram Ba.
11- Banshee a favourite drawing of mine.
12- Madelyne Pryor, sexy woman in a basque and a cape do I need another reason?
13- Strontium Dog another of my favourite 2000ad characters in real pencils this time.
14- Jonah Hex I told you, I love Westerns, this is a tonal study to be finished sometime later.
15- An inked up comic page for Surprising comics.
16- A superhero strip for Red Leaf comics.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?
I've done a few strips for Red Leaf comics they are offering me another strip for a character called Avalon across between Captain Britain and Iron Man which should be published later this Year. I've been working with Brad McLoughlin on a Horror based in the Old West and most recently I've been working with Corey Fryia and Doug Garbark on a SCI-FI Concept, it's at very early stage but it should be good…

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing? 
I'd probably continue to do what I do now, working in IT, currently for the NHS in Glasgow, that may end up happening lol.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)? 
I regularly update my Deviantart page, all my stuff goes on there eventually http://paul-moore.deviantart.com  I think Deviant Art is a great site, all artists should sign up there.
You can get me on twitter as @pmoore121
I have a blog site http://paulmooregallery.blogspot.co.uk
And I regularly post on the Outcasts Forum http://outcaststudios.com/forums they have a great daily sketch challenge that can provide a nice inspiration for warm up sketches and a nice community too.

Jonday - Victoriana 3rd Edition

Something from a forthcoming book I'm ADing.  Victoriana from Cubicle 7. Illustration by me, graphics by Paul Bourne:

Skiff Sketch.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Sometimes you have to draw Napoleon in a hurry at 3am to hit a deadline . It's never dull.

Robin sketch card

Pantone sketch card of the original Robin.

The Devil Doll_Sneak peek!

 The Devil Doll. First draft concept design work of the character for the Grindhouse series written by Alex De Campi [for Dark Horse Comics] Having a lot of fun with this book already. The head twists {exorcist style] to reveal the teeth and mouth of the Devil Doll. A truly twisted (sic) creation by Alex and I love her for it.

An Old-school approach to the character was decided upon as the Devil Doll's mouth had to look proportionate to the girl's head [hidden under the hair] None of that liberal Get Out Of Jail For Free CGI nonsense where anything goes [an easier chosen route as there are no boundaries to restrict design, size or shape] We had to consider a make-up and prosthetic aesthetic [with accompanying limitations] similar to Rob Bottin's wonderful work on The Thing and it seems scarier that way somehow.

Painting in a painting

Bit of a weird one this week.  One of the last jobs I had to do on The 39 Steps was filling the many paintings which adorn the walls of the scenes - those scenes painted primarily by Paul Scott Canavan.  this is one of my favourites, a tiny little canvas/sketch which will never be seen bigger than a few CM on-screen.

Guest Post - Patrick Goddard!

1) What was your first published work?
I got very lucky and got into 2000AD with my first submission (I'd already sent a few samples to the big 2 - but by post it took ages for a reply and didn't really get anywhere). I never grew up reading 2000AD so only knew a few of the main characters but I remember I wasn't much of a fan of the 90's era of it - most strips seemed painted and that was definitely not me!! But I think I saw some Frank Quitely stuff and more traditionally drawn strips so thought I'd give it a go, David Bishop liked my stuff enough to give me a shot and I did a one off Sinister Dexter strip amptly named 'Lucky'! This was around 13 years ago and I've done stuff for them on and off ever since.

2) Who or what inspires you?
My main comic influences from my early years were mostly from American comics, I'd started off reading the old UK weekly Star Wars and Battle Action Force comics but moved onto monthly superhero stuff quite early and are probably my biggest influences through my formative years. I think the main ones were Perez, Byrne, Buscema, Simonson and most definitely Alan Davis whose stuff I drooled over for years! I've always enjoyed good storytellers (that is our job after all) and never really got interested in the 'Image' boom of the 90's when pages had 2-3 panels per page and you couldn't tell what was going on, or cared. I enjoy a lot of artists' work nowadays, and generally only pick comics on the art as I haven't a clue about the big 2 but I'm not really their demographic, too old! :-)
Artists I pick up now when I can are JP Leon (The Winter Men was AMAZING), Olivier Coipel, Steve Epting, Michael Lark, Stuart Immonen, Alex Ross, Bryan Hitch, Lee Weeks, Chris Sprouse etc pretty mainstream guys. I picked up some of the Al Williamson X-9 Secret Agent Corrigan books to help me with drawing Savage in B/W, but they just depressed me!! Plus I enjoy the talented buggers I work alongside in 2000AD, there's something for everyone in that comic, genius! There are so many more that I can't remember off the top of my head!

3) What would be your dream job to illustrate?
The fact that somebody pays me to draw comics is fantastic as it is, but I think I'd like to draw some superhero stuff one day, just to get it out of my system, and to draw Star Wars just as it was such a big deal for me growing up. But I like the variety you get with 2000AD. You can be drawing some real life stories, Science fiction and Supernatural ones within months which keeps you on your toes. I enjoy the story telling process the most, I think I'm not really an artist with a 'hot' art style but has a rather  less offensive and traditional style which I hope readers can enjoy, and writers are happy that I tell their story first and foremost. You can never stop learning though, I'm generally only happy with my most up to date work, but then that disappears quickly once you've looked at it after a day or so! Hopefully I'll be almost completely happy with my work… one day.

4) Tell us a bit about the illustration(s) you've sent?
a. This was my first strip from back in the day, a Sinister Dexter one off (inked by Lee Townsend)
b. Some Dredd pages next. Dredd is great to draw, you can never get tired of him!!
c. I've been working on Savage with Pat Mills for the last 4-5 years which has been a lot of fun, and a real learning curve regarding my work.
d. A piece from my upcoming Aquila work.

5) What can we expect to see from you next (what are you working on)?
I'm currently filling in for Leigh Gallagher drawing Aquila at the moment, which I have his blessing thank God! After drawing B/W strips for so long, it's been weird to draw a strip that's to be coloured again, I have to resist over rendering everything!! It's great that you're able to change genres so easily in 2000AD, there's always something new to draw.

6) If you hadn't become an artist what do you think you'd have ended up doing?
I took a few years out in 2004-2007 and got into secondary teaching, a more stable job my wife told me which was… alright. I got lucky once again when my contract expired, I was offered Savage to draw after Charlie Adlard left and haven't looked back since. I doubt I could've lasted as a teacher, I enjoyed aspects of it, but the ridiculess paperwork and politics can drive you nuts! I remember if I didn't get into art college in the 90s, I would've liked to have joined the Fire Service, failing that, a Postman. But something active and that gave me time to draw for fun.

7) Where can we see more of your work (web links)?
I'm useless with technology I'm afraid, I don't have a website. I should update a blog I belong to, but I have 2 small children who take up a lot of my time so I'm lucky if I get any drawing done, let alone doing anything else. But I'm feeling inspired after this, so might start again… if I can.

JonDay - Cthulhu Britannica London

©2013 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

'Heavy Lifter'

Work in progress.

Spanish Fly

For an, as yet, unannounced project.

B is for Beast

Another pantone sketch card of the Beast - this one in his original X-Men incarnation.

Peter Pienaar, 39 Steps

Another character from the 39 Steps again today.  The hero, Hannay, works in Africa as a miner before the book, but he tells several tales of an old guide and ranger he knew while on the continent.  Peter does not make a physical appearance in the book, but is mentioned enough to warrant his own illustration.  © The Story Mechanics 2013