Xena, Warrior Princess.

Another cheesecake piece.

I loved the original Xena series (before the later epsiodes got silly) Lucy Lawless was an astounding presence on screen and the costume looked practical (if a little skimpy at times! ;) I worked up three different poses of the character and decided to colour this one for my blog. Great to see Lucy return to our screens in the new Battlestar Galactica and this series may well spur me to do Starbuck for next week.

Vote now!

Tank Grrrl!

Tank Grrrl (sic) has always been a favourite character right from the early days of Deadline magazine and following series. Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett's spunky heroine and her boyfriend Booga hit a note of anarchy on release that few other characters have touched since. Over the top and downright rude and offensive and entertaining. How could it fail to amuse this adolescent mind? That glorious work continues with the added visual flair from Rufus Dayglo and should be actively tracked down!

This early morning sketch is proving popular with fans on the convention circuit too and I added an Antipodean flavour to the helmet for this image but with a Tank Grrrl twist. No they're not shells. Work it out for yourself.

Joker. 'Why so serious?'

This week's post is the Joker. Been a very popular sketch this one (especially after I changed the composition from a side profile) Many requests for this at Lille and previous festivals. More so than Batman! I have included the original layout below for reference. I don't generally use a pencil but instead sketch out the design in marker pen and then tighten up with layout or 80g photocopier paper. My 'tracing' approach is always scunnered though when fans provide their own 260g sketch books for me to work on and I have to resort to 'aquiring' fellow artists and colleagues pencils to draw with. I still have a pen from Cameron Stewart after our Lille trip and more than a case worth of Chris Weston's markers from Bristol!



Anyways. The Joker. I like this pose a lot and the addition of the playing card helps the composition. The actual card changes from sketch to sketch depending on what mood I am in but mostly remains the Joker of the pack. The Joker's eyes are my favourite and I was especially pleased with the bleached-out effect in the original layout. Kinda lost it when inking the sketch but will get it right next time. Biggest influence for this sketch? Brian Bolland's Killing Joke. A difficult character to do well... too many artists turn him into a distorted paody of the original villian and he ends up looking like a melted Spitting Image puppet. The performance by Heath Ledger is possibly the closest to the best Joker in years and another influence on this sketch.

Death.

Another sketch from Lille. Death is becoming my second favourite sketch after Oola, the Twi' lek. More cheesecake but prettier than Dredd. I added a flock wallpaper background to the sketch for texture (and in keeping with the character) Finishes off the picture nicely. Chris Bachalo was the artist who most inspired this piece. He really captured that young Gothic emo-chic look beautifully in the Gaiman series. Fragile and delicate. Like a young Siouxsie Sioux?

Would probably continue to work on some more images of Death. Maybe for a future post?

Oola, a sexy Twi' lek - Sketch.

A proper sketch this week. This was a spare piece from my trip to Lille Comic Festival. As much as I would hope to be constantly busy from ten till seven at these events, there is always a little down time between fans and I keep myself amused by continuing to sketch. Usually Dare, Batman or Terminator portraits but occasionally I try my hand to some cheesecake. Always a bit partial with my sweet tooth and the practice is good.

This character piece is of a sexy Oola (the dancing Twi' lek from Return of the Jedi) A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the actress Femi Taylor who played the part of Oola at a Sci-Fi convention in Loughborough University. Myself, Colin MacNeil and Wil Simpson were asked to sketch Femi over the course of an afternoon. Too say I was star struck would be an understatement. She was positively delightful (mischieviously a little flirty too) My sketch then really didn't do her justice and I spent the rest of the convention working a better piece before she left. The Fallen Angel post (previously shown here) helps give you an idea of the pose I eventually used for her in her character Oola.

Anyways. About time I actually included a proper sketch here for the blog. Next week... Death.

Silencers.

Here is a piece from the vaults.

City of Silence was originally created for Epic Comics back in 1992. Written by Warren Ellis the cyberpunk story was a near showcase for me (thank you, Warren) and still remains my personal favourite work. Unfortunately Marvel decided not to release the book and the rights reverted back to Warren and myself. The series eventually saw print at Image in 1998 and I decided to re-ink and re-size the artwork for the new edition. D'Israeli coloured the series.

This week I have decided to showcase the cover. My first 3D created image. This was done on computer as it was the only way I could 'paint' in colour at the time. I still use 3D models in my work but more for reference now and perspectives for cityscapes than for finished work. It can be a great time-saving option choosing a digital path.

Perspective. Before all the computer nerds start ripping the pages apart please bear in mind that the artwork was created on a P200 processor (work that out yourself!) with 128MB RAM and a 2GB hard drive nearly ten years ago. You can barely send an email with that limited spec nowadays. I was self taught on 3D Studio Max for a few weeks and all facial details were painted in by hand in Photoshop (as I hadn't learnt texture mapping at that point) With that caveat I think this cover has some value. There are a couple of places where my lack of knowledge and ability let me down but Gitane's face (with the scar) still pleases me. The intense expression on her face is a favourite.

Post Apocalyptic Comfort.

When I have free time from the paying work in comics and storyboarding, I push forward with some ideas for covers or stories just to keep fresh. Last week I ran up some post-apocalyptic sketches in an AKIRA mode (issue 17 onwards) AKIRA was and still is a major influence on my work today and I tried to capture that sense of distressed buildings and city that Otomo does so well. There is also a distinct nod to the Southern Comfort movie poster (filmed by Walter Hill) from the eighties. A very creative time for film makers and a rewarding one for the fans. So many iconic images came out of that time. It kinda puts a lot of the newer promotional material to shame (where they focus too much on the star and not the movie or story itself) I like the suggestion in this particular sketch of the axe as an acquired weapon as much as the m16. Hopefully this sketch (when finished) will help sell the story to a publisher?



Plan to work the rest of the images up in colour as storyboards for a future project. At the moment they are very generic future war ideas but looking forward to showcasing more soon.

Trip-Tick.

A few years ago my friend and colleague, Liam Sharp was putting together a new anthology called Event Horizon and asked me to contribute. There were three pages in all (including another single image and a character sheet) My favourite piece is included here.

I was only able to supply the lineart for the release and Liam was kind enough to colour the image for me. The original colours were more influenced by Moebius (with yellows and greens) and had a very alien feel to the scene. Recently I decided coloured it myself and chose a more different palette. A simple enough composition.

You can see more of Liam Sharp's work at his Mamtor Publishing site and there shold still be copies of Event Horizon available. A terrific compilation, this Eagle nominated edition showcases the talents of long time established pros, such as Ash Wood, Steve Niles, Chris Weston and Brian Holguin - and also new talent, like Emma Simcock-Tooth, Kev Crossley, Dave Kendall and Lee Carter. It was a treat to be included in this book.

Lords of Misrule - Redux and competition.

Back in 1992 I was fortunate enough to continue working with my Knights of Pendragon colleagues on a couple more projects at Kevin Eastman's new company Tundra. The first, Hypersonic, would eventually come out some seven years later through Dark Horse Comics but Lords of Misrule (written by Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson) managed a limited run at Tundra and remains a favourite work of mine still. There was some regret at the time of publishing that the original colour did not capture the dark brooding menace of this urban horror story. I resigned myself to including the black and white artwork in my portfolio and touring with the cherry pages at conventions.



Seventeen years later, Dave Elliot (now with Radical Comics) brought together the later Dark Horse series by Peter Snejbjerg and my original graphic novel for the first time. Dave allowed me to resize and open up the artwork for the release in a kinda redux fashion. Black borders were also added and the new painted colour by French artist Jean is particularly appropriate for this urban horror tale.



I have included some pages here. This also helps provide my prize for next month's Scotch Corner competition. A signed copy of the new hardcover will be given to the winner. A hefty volume with additional extras not found in the original series. A sketch will also be included of the Jack Goodfellow character as an inlay to the edition. A genuine one-off. Click here to enter.

Samurai and Geisha.

Something more restrained this week. A magazine illustration of a Samurai and Geisha done earlier this year. Was nice to work with the textures and designs on the kimono and the print behind the figures. There are several colour versions of this piece on my Facebook site but I thought the turquoise worked best (and brought out the gold of the dragon more)

Next time I would like to tackle the samurai armour (very much in the style of Kurosawa) and should hopefully be able to include it here in the very near future.

Flea - A Red Hot Chili Pepper.

Sometimes I paint. But not that often.

This effort from 1992 is a portrait of Flea inspired by the SPIN magazine photo set. I saw the cover and had to paint it. This is the first version. The second features on the back of my leather biker jacket and includes the rest of the band. Music always inspires me and keeps me company while working. Even when I took a forced sabbatical from comics tenyears ago I was fortunate enough to work in Broders Music epartment and had a quarter of a million accessible cds to listen too. That is certainly quite a playlist!

For this picture I used acrylics with coloured pencil for details. I would love to get back to painting again soon.

Retro post - Warheads character sketches.

After last week's Knights of Pendragon post I though I would return to the second series I worked on back in 1992. Warheads was part of the Mystech line of books brought out by Marvel UK in the early 90s and featured some sterling work from fresh talents like Dougie Braithwaite, Dermot Power, Liam Sharp and Gary Frank amongst others. It was an incredibly enjoyable time creatively and we were given pretty much free reign to 'go for it' as far as the art was concerned.

Paul Neary (the senior editor at the time) saw my convention sketches and had asked me if they could form part of the new Marvel UK series of books planned. Warheads was written by Nick Vince (the Hellraiser and Nightbreed actor) My original designs and sketches were tweaked to fit in with the story and vision of the book and work began in early 1992. Unfortunately a series of family events meant that I had to leave the series (my biggest regret) and although the book continued it eventually got cancelled further down the line. I only ever drew 30 pages of this series but it remains a very personal favourite work.

I have included the original convention sketch (completed the day before the 1991 UKCAC) and character sketches (Leona, Misha and Dean, their original names) As much as I like clean and unfussy artists' work such as Hugo Pratt, Mazzuchelli and Craig Thompson... there is an 'everything and the kitchen sink' aproach that I can't resist from my love of Geof Darrow, Otomo and Moebius. Most of the artists who dismiss this bludgeoning approach appear more concerned with the hard work and effort (and lost page rate) in producing a page like this than for any artistic or stylistic reason. It is what it is.

I always like the line from Se7en (later in the film when they are driving to the desert) when John Doe tells Detectives Mills and Somerset that 'Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention.' I like that line and have it as a mantra (whenever possible) for my approach with my art. Not known for a quiet whisper, it has been a while since I last roared. Here's something to remind you...

Hypersonic.

Hypersonic was a book I worked on in 1992 for Tundra Publishing and was written by Dan Abnett and Steve White. It certainly played to my creative strengths (hardware and sci-fi crap) and was great fun to work on.

The story centered around the pilot Wesley Anger and was set in a near future war scenario. Our hero is captured by a covert military team and introduced to captured alien technology that allows pilots to be 'jacked in' to the craft forming a symbiotic link with the 'living' plane providing full 360 degrees vision. The hardwiring was similar to HDMI links and USB links we have now but we only could use audio and video cables of the day (primarily SCART and coaxial although the future intentions were there)

Really enjoyed this series. Dark Horse Comics eventually picked it up and we were given a sterling colour job by the talented Dave Nestelle. The environment he created for the characters and story was astounding and the seven year delay proved beneficial for the belated release. No collections as yet but I may pester Dark Horse with some new artwork to encourage them (after the success of the Lords of Misrule release last month!)

Knights of Pendragon.

Currently in Spain surrounded by the most amazing Gaudi architecture. Very inspiring.

This week I thought I would post up my new cover for the Knights of the Pendragon cover and give a little information about the process involved. Knights was the first book I worked on (some twenty years ago) and still remains a favourite with fans. Panini are now intending to publish the first nine issues in one single volume later this year with the remaining volume to follow next year.

I have also included some of the original sketches for the cover with this post. I found it difficult to return to the characters after so long away and the final design was limited by how much of the first half of the story we could reveal. The Red Lord and the Bain were later on in the series and could not appear on this first cover. The final climactic battle with the Green Knight (as great a cover image as that would have been) was also out of the question. The 'Ultimates' inspired group shot (although interesting) failed to excite and a late sketch proposal of a wrap round cover proved difficult for the production as the back cover design had already been approved. So many things to take into consideration.

With so many options in mind I took the decison to draw our heroes (and villian) individually to allow for re-sizing and positioning. This proved very helpful in choosing each character's prominence relative to Captain Britain who was always front and centre. Brady Webb at Panini and myself went through many ideas before settling on the final design shown here... our heroes charging defiantly towards the reader. A fairly simple idea (you may think) but a cover is the singular most important selling point of any medium (be it a cd, magazine or comic book cover) The cover has to be attention grabbing and instantly promote interest in the product and a desire to see more. You can see this logic on any newstand or comic shop shelf.



Very pleased with the final choice of design and thanks again to Brady Webb for his guidance and input and to James Offredi for his colour work.

Turning Point - Fall of Liberty trailer.

Drawing comics is not all I do nowadays. Occasionally there are opportunities to work with animation companies on storyboards or concept design. Recently I have been fortunate enough to work with the guys (and girls) at Axis Animation on trailers for console games. One of my favourites was the Turning Point - Fall of Liberty game trailer.

My comic book storytelling skills were definitely put to the test as there were constant revisions to the drawings from the original script. Working alongside Wiek Luijken$(the director and also an accomplished aviation artist) and Jonathan Kray (Lead Animator) made it easy for quick edits and approaches (especially as clients were always requesting changes on a daily basis) My 'on site' status also helped with some subtle 'blocking' for the fight scene. Watch the taxi driver beat up the Nazi paratrooper and you can hopefully guess which part I played. Wiek certainly didn't hold back with the punches or the kick to the stomach! All in a day's work for a freelancer! ;)

The six week turnaround flew by (my own part being the first week) and Axis showed me the finished job a couple of months later. The end result was stunning. Almost filmic. It is astounding for me to see my very quick short sketches turned into a full motion CGI mini-movie but with such talented animators and director and the award wining studio behind the project it couldn't fail. Always felt very welcome at the studio and look forward to working on new projects with them soon. See more of their work including the stunning Killzone trailers here.

You can see the HD version here (after a very short 10 second advert) Play it loud!

Dan Dare - Opening sequence.

Occasionally I use photo reference for my work (mostly for tricky fight choreograghy or character designs) and it proved especially helpful for Dan Dare. Garth Ennis had written a very subtle opening sequence and since this was the first look at Dan Dare for near fifteen years or so there was a certain worry about getting it right for the fans (old and new)

My partner Mhairi took the photos of me in similar poses to my initial sketches. It's always important to sketch the layouts first but sometimes you surprise yourself with a different angle and better storytelling. Best to go with it if that happens. Various pieces of reference (dogs, small village and cricket match) were found on the internet (a valuable and quick resource for any artist and script!) A few changes were made to the sequence in the final edit and inks but the end result is one I am very pleased with.



Here's the process for Dare... After the photo reference pictures are comped together I can start the pencilling process. This is generally done with pen as it gives me a first draft at the inks and I can sort out any problems there and then.



Once I am finished with the pencils then onto inks. Lots more detail and texture is added to the final picture. You will notice the birds in the background (a late addition to the script)



Once the inks are done then the final image is sent off to the colourist and returned as shown below. Absolutely gorgeous painted work by Parasuraman.



For Dare, the photo reference was also an essential part of the process to kick start me back into drawing for the already forward schedule. I was brought into the project later in the day and had to make up the time for an already agreed publishing date with Virgin. Hadn't drawn my own artwork for a couple of years so was a tad rusty and concerned that I had to catch up again on such an important book and character (the Dare Legacy carries a lot of weight) Impressing Garth Ennis was also not an easy task and we worked hard on this book.

I eventually got into my stride and the later issues were all drawn by hand (although there were still a couple of small sequences that required photo referencing) Very pleased with the end result and the Dynamite collection has more sketches and designs if you're interested in seeing another small part of the whole process of creating comics.

Demonic Angel.

Something from the vaults this week.

Here is a sketch I did way back in '95 or '96 at Gencon in Loughborough, England. I was invited down that year because of my work on Star Wars and Terminator which appealed to the sci-fi part of the convention. Unlike Jon Hogdson, I had little or no experience of fantasy work (or vampires) and most of the audience that week were looking for dragons or nymphs or Lestat. Boy, was I out my depth. No X-Wing requests or a metal-faced Arnie? What's a second rate Marvel artist to do?

Thankfully the crowd were very friendly (especially the toothy vampire set) and they helped me with some of the sketches. This photocopy is all that remains of one of my favourite sketches from the event. Can't remember exactly what kind of creature she was meant to be (definitely not a Harpie) but she did start out as the very different Star Wars related character Oola (coincidentally, the actress Femi Taylor was also attending the convention alongside the usual fan favourites)

Gencon was a tremendously enjoyable experience and I would look forward to attending more of these fantasy based events in the future. The crowd were incredibly enthusiastic and friendly.

Mystique?

Not really. But I couldn't resist adding this obligatory cheesecake image for my post. Still colouring here and there whenever the opportunity arises and decided to go for a simple girly pose.

Fairly simple process of drawing the lineart and scanning in to Photoshop. The line art is then saved as a floating layer and the colour is applied underneath. Very similar process to the old school approach of using an acetate sheet with the painted artwork below. I still use a mouse to colour (not easy) although I am considering learning to use the pen and digital pad that has been lying around new for the last couple of months in the studio. Yes, it has been a very busy month. Worked up some Grrrl textures for the top and gave her a blue tinged skin for effect.

Very pleased with the end result as this sort of pin-up style is not the sort of thing I get much of a chance to do.

Alien.

Always loved the original HR Giger design and was fortunate enough to see the Giger film exhibition in Frankfurt earlier this year. Some absolutely gorgeous designs on display, original art which was breathtaking and video features and sketchbooks from the man himself. A truly frighteningly creative man (and a bit scary too) They even had the actual Alien costume (possibly the stunt version?) suspended behind glass. The suit was a little worse for wear with some minor tears here and there but in not too bad condition considering it's age. Even behind glass it was an incredibly potent and startling design and the tail is a lot longer than you think it is. Mhairi certainly couldn't look at it long enough before moving on and that was in a stark white-walled gallery as opposed to a dark strobing corridor with sirens blaring! A missed opportunity for the gallery owners there?

This is my first (and at present, only) illustration of the Giger Alien. As much as I like the rest of the movies (yes, even the third and fourth for different reasons) the purity of the original design is something to behold (and draw) Especially the sleek long head that seemed to disappear to a more skeletal design in later incarnations. The Dog Alien in Fincher's part of the quadrilogy however was particularly interesting. Maybe a colour piece to follow?

This image is mostly drawing. Some quick Photoshop for background sky and form but no digital pad. Just pen and ink. Would love to do some more work on the character and property as it is a genre I am very much like and look forward to the Blu-Ray release of the Ridley Scott version later this year. A near perfect genre movie.

Samurai Jane preview.

In between the sixteen hour day shifts I get to work up some personal projects for my portflio. Usually high concept stuff. Tall girls with swords. And guns. And attitude.

Hardly anything new but the longer I take working up these ideas (in the background), the more similar ideas get out there before me. Regular Facebook Fan Page members will see a lot of my sketches online and I thought Thursday would be an opportunity to showcase this particular character.



Samurai Jane is a mixed media picture. My friend Claire modelled for me for a variety of poses and the final chosen photograph was comped together with a background image sourced from a book. Getting the right picture to work with and not against the main foreground character proved more difficult than expected and there was a lot of necessary processing and desaturating of the image before it was flattened. The layers were then filtered and digitally painted and decorative details were added to enhance the dress and sword. Really love putting all the elements together and hope to display the rest of the pictures from this set at a later date.

The character herself has a back story and there are tentative layouts for pace and story purposes. Finding the time to work on these personal projects is always frustrating as scheduled books have to take priority. Such is the freelancers life. I would hope to have Samurai Jane in a near completed form by the end of the year and wil no doubt feature more images in later posts.

Oh, and she kills zombies.

Earthfall 2009.

Earthfall was a series commisioned by Dark Horse Comics as part of their Zombieworld line back in 1998. Gordon Rennie and myself were lined up for this three part story and then the plug was pulled and the series was cancelled. Pity. It would have been really good. Great script from Gordon.

This is a new colour version of the proposed cover for the Dark Horse series. Who would have thought that in 1998 zombie comics would not sell? Resident Evil 2 was selling millions of copies on release but this comic series died. Permanently. It can be a very strange world sometimes. The writer Gordon Rennie went on to continue writing for comics and computer games. Still hopeful we can resurrect this project. The time is definitely right now.



The black and white lineart was done back in 98 and was the only work seen. I decided recently to colour up this image myself and rework some of the ideas slightly. The punctured suit and skewered arm still remain but the zombie face is replaced by a reflection on the helmet visor of the Las Vegas lights. The idea is to subvert the classic iconic Apollo and Neil Armstrong image, confusing the viewer with the neon sign reflection. Yes, this is on Earth!

I am still trying to find a balance between keeping the lineart clean and visible and having the overall feel and colour kept dark and ominous. Fairly pleased with the final result though.

Batman.

After the positive response to the Dredd piece I thought that Batman would be an appropriate follow up. The caped crusader profile was done on the same day as the Dredd colour test and was a direct response to the convention sketch version I have been doing for the last few shows. Again, for speed and reference, a couple of photos were taken and used as the base colour layer for this image. I worked up the texture of the leather cowl (still not quite right) and chiselled the chin into a suitablely heroic profile. Digital painting finished the piece off and overall I am very happy with the final composition. Not bad for a three hour turnaround.

Would a background help? Almost certainly, but too many choices confuse me and I would eventually spend longer deciding on a background than on completing the actual painting. Sometimes the simplest choice is the best. Having said that, next Thursday's post may well feature the Batman with a cityscape behind (same with Dredd!) Stay tuned...

The Tempest.

The Tempest is released by Classical Comics and was written by William Shakespeare. This graphic novel was scripted by John McDonald and pencilled by my colleague and friend Jon Haward. I provided inks on this book and after the award-winning success of the Macbeth release we are hopeful for similar interest in this edition. Nigel Dobbyn is the colourist and does some sterling work on the story.

As before with the Classical Comics releases there are three editions (for each reading level) PDFs are available on the site and will explain the available formats much better than I can do here. More books are planned and the future brings other classic authors to the graphic novel treatment soon.

You can see more of Jon Haward's art on his site here and includes a lot of his Panini Marvel Comics work too.

Scotch Corner - New Post!

Just a reminder to the thousands of regular followers of my blog (okay, maybe not that many) The Scottish artist blog Scotch Corner has a new post up from me. Demonic Angel is sketch I did at a previous Gencon. I was invited to the event because of my sci-fi work on Star Wars and Terminator but found myself completely out of my depth with the whole fantasy and vampire set attending.

That said, they were a friendly crowd and gave me some pretty decent advice on how to draw dragons, nymphs and other fantasy related characters. This particular sketch only survives with me as a photocopy now. Probably done later in the day and near the end of the event (when I started to find my feet a bit) this is still a favourite piece.

Click now and head on over to Scotch Corner to see the image and all the other lovely work by the Scottish collective.

Edinburgh Book Festival appearance Monday August 2009.

I will be attending the Edinburgh Book Festival again on Monday 24th August 2009 at 5.30pm for a How to Draw Comics class. It would appear that for the second time in a row the event has sold out! (yes, both tickets! ;) Sorry there wasn't more notice but you may well be able to follow up with organisers to see if they will acquire a different and larger venue for demand.

Looking forward to the Festival. Always fun and looking forward to Mark Millar's talk on the Tuesday. He wil definitely be sold out and will have sold a lot more than two tickets too!

Scotch Corner Blog competition.

The Scotch Corner blog (a bunch of Jocks who draw and collectively blog and post their wares online, myself included) are running a competition ever month to win a signed print, sketch or other for the winning comment. Pop by the site and have a look. Be kind. You are hardly likely to win if you slag us off, are you? A few kind words and a piece of artwork is yours.

Postage will be covered by ourselves (Scots are notoriously tight and stingy with money so we really are going some here!) Jon Hodgson's piece is the first up for grabs this month. Lovely signed Dragon Reign print.

Signing - Kingdom of Adventure Saturday 08th August 2009

This weekend I will be signing at the Kingdom of Adventure shop in Kirkcaldy. Pop along for sketches, some witty banter and a smile around lunchtime. Drop me a line before Friday if you are interested in buying artwork as I can only bring along a small selection of pages and cannot guess what may be of interest to fans. Prints are also available.

Looking forward to the event. Contact David at the shop for further details.

Edinburgh Book Festival appearance Monday August 2009.

I will be attending the Edinburgh Book Festival again on Monday 24th August 2009 at 5.30pm for a How to Draw Comics class. It would appear that for the second time in a row the event has sold out! (yes, both tickets! ;) Sorry there wasn't more notice but you may well be able to follow up with organisers to see if they will acquire a different and larger venue for demand.

Looking forward to the Festival. Always fun and looking forward to Mark Millar's talk on the Tuesday. He wil definitely be sold out and will have sold a lot more than two tickets too!

Dredd, Mega City vista.

Digital sketch for Mega City One referencing some familiar buildings and trying to capture the sheer scale of the city. The Sergio Leone close up of Dredd is a deliberate attempt to force a contrast of scale to image and there is more than a passing nod to Blade Runner, Fifth Element and AKIRA too. A bit of work trying to pull in all the seperate elements and lots of colour correcting but done for the day. Pleased with final version and not bad considering it was completed over a Saturday afternoon and early evening.

Scotch Corner - First blog.

Scotch Corner is a new blog featuring a collection of Scottish professional artists. They include Thomas Crielly, Andy Hepworth, Jon Hodgson, Graeme Neil Reid and myself. Every day there will be a new piece of art posted with each artist posting on a certain day. If the idea sounds familiar then we can reveal that the blog is shamelessly inspired and ripped off from the Eclectic Micks. Feel free to head on over and have a look. There will be surprises soon.

My first post is a personal image of Dredd done as a colour test. I have included it here and you can read all about it on the Scotch Corner blog. Thursday is my update day so bookmark me now!

Lords of Misrule: Redux.

Radical Comics have brought together the Dark Horse series by Peter Snejbjerg and the original graphic novel for the first time. Written by Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson this book was originally published by Tundra in 1992 and is a favourite early work of mine.

Dave Elliot at Radical has allowed me to resize and open up the artwork for this release in a kinda redux fashion. Black borders have also been added and the new painted colour by French artist Jean is particularly appropriate for this urban horror tale.

Lords of Misrule will be available in July.

V Festival Internacional de BD de Beja, Portugal.

On the 29th of May I will be attending the Fifth International Comics Festival of Beja in Portugal. Mhairi and I will be there for the whole weekend and look forward to meeting new fans and friends. This is our first trip to Portugal so we will be staying in Lisbon for a short holiday before the event. Really excited about the convention and gearing up for more foreign conventions this year.

London MCM Expo.

On the 23-24th May 2009 I will be heading to London for the MCM Expo at the ExCel venue. This is my first visit to this convention and am looking forward to a return to London events for years. Bring along your comics for signing and ideas for sketches. I will be at a desk for the whole weekend so it should be easy to track me down.

And no, I won't be in costume. Sorry.

Bristol Comic Expo signing.

I will be attending the Bristol Comic Expo on the 9-10th May at the Ramada Hotel. A smaller and more intimate venue than previous years but looking forward to meeting up with friends and colleagues and fans alike. Bring along any comics you wish to get signed and start thinking about your requests for sketches (hint, Batman is a favourite)

See you there!

New York Comic Con signing.

Next week I will be attending the New York Comic Con on the 6th -8th of February and will be signing at the DC Vertigo table with David Tischman (writer of Greatest Hits) at the following times.

FRIDAY 5-6pm: SIGNING - DC/Vertigo booth

SATURDAY 11am-12pm: SIGNING - DC/Vertigo booth

Come along and ask for a sketch or chat or make fun of my various protective hand measures. This is my first trip to New York and I am pretty excited about it. Look forward to seeing you there.