Cyclops. Convention sketch. London MCM.

Cyclops. One of three drawn on the day.

Darth Vader - Star Wars commission.

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!

Boba Fett - Star Wars commission.

Another Star Wars commission from Paris Manga. This one was for BobaDave of the 59th Legion Star Wars re-enactment group. A great bunch of guys (and the girl who plays Leia) I was joined by current Star Wars inker Julien Hugonnard-Bert. We were both suitably kilted for the event! See more of the group here.

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Han Solo and Chewbacca - Star Wars commission.

What it says on the tin.

Thanos.

Another quick sketch from Aviles. Thanos is a character I have been asked to draw before. Always tricky when you have never worked on the book or series. Thankfully most of the fans now bring comics or phones with reference along to the event. Makes life a lot easier that way!

The Bride of Frankenstein - Aviles, Spain.

Recently returned from the Aviles Comic Festival in Spain. A lovely event and this was our third year attending. Most of the day is spent drawing for the fans outside at the local bar. The rest of the time is filled with long lunches and late dinners with the rest of the guests. There is a very relaxed atmosphere and this year I got the opportunity to catch up with the Starman himself, Tony Harris. We haven't met before after near constant phone calls over fifteen years ago during the Starman era. Really good to see him.

Other guests include the ever delightful Renee Witterstaetter, Brandon Peterson, Ric Meyers, Jason Aaron and partner Kelly, Steve Englehart and wife Terry and RM Guerra and family. Many thanks to Jorge, German, Rocio and the rest of the Aviles crew who helped make for a wonderful event. See you next year!

Here is my favourite sketch of the event. The Bride of Frankenstein. Thanks to Emilio Lobato for the scan.

Vampyre.

This was a quick sketch for Claire, a friend from the third floor of Hope Street Studio who was leaving for Canada to further her work in animation. We decided to get a small book together and fill it with memories or sketches for her journey. Since I can't draw a moose the next best choice seemed to be a vanpyre. Logical, no?



My initial sketch was a thumbnail barely an inch square. The biro pen sketch was at actual page size (approximately 16x16cm) I inked with a brushpen on 60g tracing paper and mounted it into the book. Very pleased with this image. Quick turnaround too (roughly fifteen minutes) I should do more work like this. The spontaneity still lives in the sketch!

Blackheart - Marvel Figurines

This week's offering is my recent Blackheart cover for the Marvel Figurines series by Eaglemoss. My friend and writing colleague, John Tomlinson is editing the series and asked me to provide a cover featuring Blackheart. I must admit to not being overly familiar with the character but John supplied plenty of reference. Seeing the figurine realised in three dimensions was also helpful and we managed to find a sympathetic solution to the different styles and designs of the character. We mostly deferred to the actual model to be supplied to the public but added a few extra horns to the crown for a more interesting visual look.



My reference pencils are always done with a brushpen as it provides me the opportunity to do a first pass of the inks (sorting out textures and problems) I also work in reverse as it corrects a skew in my work. Hold any piece of artwork up to a mirror and you will see that it is a more common occurence for artists than you think. Always best to do this trick with your own work too!



After final approval from Marvel (a few subtle changes were requested regarding the 'mouth and nose' of Blackheart to be more clearly defined) the pencils were inked and then passed to Chris Blythe for his lovely colour work to finish off the image.

Very pleased with this first cover for Eaglemoss' Marvel Figurine range and I am pleased to reveal that I am currently working on a second cover featuring...

Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? Maybe in a future post?

Blackheart is TM & © 2011 Marvel & Subs.

Moon Landing.

This week's offering is an audition image done for a client and obviously concerning the moon landing. You will notice some subtle corrects from the lineart to the final colour image. These editorial decisons are fairly common and reference too is very important. The stars were removed per client's request. Loved working on this but found it very hard resisting the temptation to add the zombie from my previous moon landing image Earthfall.



The talented Yel Zamor did a lovely job rendering this classic scene without over-powering the final colour image.

Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions game.

Occasionally I get the opportunity to work on storyboards for AXIS Animation for game trailers and cut scenes within games. This is certainly a fun departure from the normal day to day comic work and teaching. Most of the time we work under Non Disclosure Agreements while the project is scheduled. This proves quiet frsutrating at times when all you want to do is scream and shout at the wonderful work that the studio is doing.

For my part, I am brought in at the start of the project to work up the boards with the director from the client's script, sorting through story-telling problems or technical restrictions ('no rain!') and generally refining it to a point where the animation team (with riggers and modellers) can get underway. Occasionally there will be a call back for last minute changes but that is very rare as most of the potential problems are dealt with at the initial session.

The released end product provides a strange sense of deja-vu for me. Yes, the scenes and compositions are mostly what I decided on and supplied to the director but the polish, texture and movement work by AXIS Animation studio really brings life to the scene and a finish I could only have dreamed of!

For last year's Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions game I was aksed to work on the opening scene and following in -game cut scenes. The game was released to critical success and a sequel is underway. See if you can spot the Glasgow Kelvingrove referenced museum interiors with Mysterio.

Here is the trailer for the Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions game. Take time to explore the rest of the AXIS Animation studio work. Some talented directors, producers, modellers and animators there!

Update - Glasgow University science banners get Sith endorsement.

A follow up on the recent Glasgow University science project for the Wellcome Trust for Molecular Parasitology. We displayed the educational banners at the Leeds Thought Bubble Festival last weekend and were pleasantly surprised to get some Imperial backing towards them. The Dark Lord of the Sith himself endorsed our work. More information on the project and other work done by the Wellcome Trust foundation can be found here.

If you wish to find out more about the project or study parasitology then you can download the PDF here.

Guardian interview.

My Guardian interview is now online here. I talk a little bit about my career and give some insight into how I work on a project and general studio life. No industry gossip unfortunately as I can't afford any legal fees or writs. Instead I just ramble on a lot about how long the working days are and other interesting miscellaneous details.

Please leave a comment. Kerry was a real help in guiding me while writing this piece and your feedback would be appreciated for her hard work. Thanks!

WWE cover. Evolution of a cover.

Another Evolution of a cover post. This features my alternate cover for Titan Books WWE series. The original brief was for Big Show to be surrounded and attacked from gun-wielding, black-clad bad guys. A familiar Frazetta Conan image was used as the initial inspiration and a pyramidal design was chosen with our lead wrestler atop. The sketch below was the first draft.



Editorial approval decided on a different viewpoint (action seen from above) and an old Michael Golden Micronauts cover proved inspiring (a second Wolverine issue was also shown) Big Show was still to be surrounded by many more bad guys all with the same intent. Below is the next sketch design.



After further approval, we moved on to inking (and the addition of more bad guys was suggested) This was kinda easy as we just Photoshop'd and flipped some of the foreground figures at the top of the page (to be hidden by the WWE logo anyways!) This helped make for a pretty intense and crowded action-packed cover! As before (with the Elephantmen cover) most of the elements were on seperate files to allow for re-compositing and positioning. This was especially welcome because of the initial change of viewpoint and the number of figures to be included.

You may notice in the inked version below that the guns were also changed from MP25s to a rail gun devices.



Next up, colour. I submitted a rough colour sketch with a primary downlight source from above. This key light helped focus (and highlight) the figure of Big Show and allowed for a darker surround of figures (merging into the inky blackness)



The final colours were put down and a 'grease' layer was applied to give a dirty feel to the environment (an sewer or old warehouse?) I kinda liked that Matrix green look of the overall piece. The key light also helped pick out Big Show a treat!



Unfortunately the colour was not approved (too dark and gritty) and Jamie Grant was brought in to rework the cover. I was delighted with the end result. The characters pop more.

Transmetropolitan - Beja Festival, Portugal.

This week's post is actually a painting by another artist.

Mhairi and I were invited to the Beja Festival event last year and had an amazing time. I got to meet some brilliant and talented artists and writers from Europe including the amazing Mattotti. There was a gallery for each of us. My own gallery featured Lords of Misrule artwork, Hypersonic pages and my Transmetropolitan spread for I Hate It Here. It was the main element of this piece that was beautifully re-created as the introduction to the collection.

This gorgeous image was hand-painted by a friend of the event organiser. We were genuinely stunned and impressed with the detail. Lovely work. All the invited guests had illustrations provided by local artists. Unfortunately I forgot the name of the woman responsible (much to my shame) but I did provide her lovely daughter with a lovely Hello Kitty.

It was this community spirit to help the event that really impressed me. A complete love of the comics medium and a willingness to be part of the whole exhibition. More photos are on my Facebook page here.

Thanks to everyone who made Mhairi and myself feel very much at home at our first European event.

Hellblazer.

This week I have included an image I did for the first Hellblazer Special. Stuart Moore commissioned me to add a piece to the gallery along with several other artists. Very pleased with this. The actual church is in Derby and was the inspiration for the scene in the Lords of Misrule graphic novel.

Production artwork.

Occasionally I get asked to work up some production artwork for games or movies. This is usually done on a fast turnaround and the results can be both pleasing and frustrating (depending on client) I have included some images for this post from projects I worked on last year. Fairly happy with the final work done. Would probably work better as a graphic novel?



Sometimes I paint digitally but for speed I usually find photo referenced comped images are the best approach (for an hourly deadline and fast schedule!) or resort to some costume work at home with props and other sundries.

Green Arrow. Sketch. London MCM.

The Green Arrow. A sketch from last weekend's London MCM. First time I have drawn the character. This particular sketch was done for Graeme Beadle of The Grinning Demon comic shop in Maidstone. He was kind enough to send me a copy of the pin-up to me as I forgot to bring my own camera. Follow his own blog here.

Penguin. Sketch.

Penguin sketch this week. Yak Yak.

Always an interesting character to draw. Lots of lovely little details and shapes to get lost in. Sometimes more fun to draw than the Joker.

Doctor Doom. Sketch.

Another sketch found on my camera SD card from the recent Paris Manga trip. This one was for Francesco and he was suitably delighted. Would again like to work this up into a cover or pin-up of sorts. Moody lighting and all that nonsense. Stay tuned!

Elephantmen - Evolution of a page.

This week we have another Evolution of a Cover piece. Actually more of a page but...



Richard Starkings of Elephantmen fame and founder of Comicraft approached me (pop-up chat on Facebook) last month and asked me if I would like to provide a page for issue 25 of Elephantmen. As a former Marvel UK artist I couldn't refuse and Elephantmen is one of the few books I read and love (mainly for the genre) What an opportunity!

The story for this particular issue was all flashbacks to key moments in the Elephantmen timeline. My page focused on Hip and Sahara's near capture by UN troops in his restoration tank of the recovery bay. An exciting stand-off image was called for.



I decided to draw each element seperately to allow for Richard to do some editorial tweaking on figure sizes and proportions and general composition. Hip was obviously in the background with Sahara middle gorund and the guns (of the UN soldiers) immediate foreground. A fairly familiar scene, I'm sure. Was fortunate enough to have Dougie Braithwaite provide the reverse POV of the UN soldiers on the previous page (introducing their guns especially well) and that allowed me to crop tight on the barrels for my piece and still be able to tell the story. Might seem a little odd out of context but works well enough in the actual issue. There was some photo reference used on Sahara to get the 16mm lens effect I wanted (not quite fish-eye lens but still rather forced view) Delighted with the final pose..



The final angled skew on the overall image was to inject a little more of a dynamic quality to a rather static scene (hinting at the characters unbalance) Kind of Dutch (Deutsch) angle effect. The wonderful colours were added by Gregory Wright who worked up some magic on this page.

With a movie deal already in discussion, we hope to see more of Elephantmen in the future and I would certainly love to do more on the series. Really helps promote the cyberpunk hardware approach to my art. Pick up a copy if you haven't already experienced the series. You won't be disappointed!

Wonder Woman. Sketch.

A Wonder Woman sketch this week. Always loved the character. Need to work up a full figure action shot some time.

Wonder Woman. Sketch.

A Wonder Woman sketch this week. Always loved the character. Need to work up a full figure action shot some time.

45.

My page for the Com-X book '45' written by Andi Ewington. Thanks to Andi for the photography and for making this piece stand out from the normal mock-up magazine covers usually seen. Delighted with this.

For more details check out the link below.

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gi

d=44939182256

Miscellaneous future-war chick.

Miscellaneous future-war chick. Needs a little more work and TLC. Just playin' around with some props. There's a Mad Max thing going on with the older pistols and probably worth a re-visit soon.

Silencers. Miscellaneous sketch.

A sketch for a miscellaneous Silencers character. Was trying out some colouring techniques for the costume. A reasonable success.

Neneh Cherry. Sketch. 1988.

This sketch was done in 1988 when I was first starting out and building a small portfolio (while still working in Forbidden Planet Glasgow) Using a brush for th elineart and zipatone (old Letraset) for the texture. Kinda old school manga approach, all done by hand. None of your digital nonsense here. Quite pleased with the end result and occasionally enjoy using the brush now and then (mainly for the keylines)

Captain America. Paris Manga. 2010.

This week I have included a Captain America sketch from the Paris Manga event last February. Always a popular character. The recent Italian trip proved how well loved Captain America is all over Europe. The enthusiasm continued last week in Inverness at the Hi-Ex weekend.

Sometimes I put the shield in for completeness but this still works well. At least I remembered the wings on his head this time! Drew the whole of America the Beautiful without them a couple of years ago. Doh! Thankfully the art department put them in before printing.

Hawkgirl. Paris Manga. 2010

Another sketch from the Paris Manga event. Hawkgirl was a surprising favourite among the fans. I must have drawn about five or six of her. At least two versions were side on portraits but this proved to be the best angle.

Thanks to Cyrille for the scan.

Catwoman. Terni, Italy. 2010.

Another convention sketch. This time from the Fumetterni event in Terni, Italy. Had a wonderful time there sketching mainly Captain America, Judge Dredd and Hal Jordan (the original Green Lantern) but occasionally there were some feminine distractions. Wonder Woman is a popular request but this Catwoman was my favourite from the whole weekend.

Stacy - UKCAC sketch. 1989.

First convention sketch for UKCAK, London 1989.