Yellow & Black

Kellerman Zissou

2012-01-09T08:33:00.003Z

Put together for the Sub-Mariner Remake /Remodel thread over at Warren Ellis's Whitechapel.

Samurai Joe

2011-12-17T13:35:00.006Z

Put together for the Judge Dredd Remake /Remodel thread over at Warren Ellis's Whitechapel.

Marlon & The Phantom

2011-10-10T00:01:00.012+01:00

Inspired by Un-American Graffiti, after
Mick McMahon and Ron Smith.

Hunter Gatherer proposal

2011-08-30T15:37:00.000+01:00

Urban Eagle

2011-07-20T01:33:00.000+01:00

Best guess at Karl Urban's Dredd.

From TPB to PPB

2011-01-16T11:26:00.014Z

Responses to Penguin paperback covers web meme - chosen from recent 2000ad trade paperback reads:

Found inspiration and Romek Marber's grid here, here and here.

Instrumental

2010-08-18T13:41:00.009+01:00

What's on my table top right now.

Going from left to right -

I used to map out my sketches and any underdrawing in water soluble pencil however after watching Sean Phillips rough out a convention sketch in blue ink I eventually followed suit and now tend to use more brush pens and fibre tips. The Crayolas are a real pleasure to draw with, hardy tips and good coverage - not just pour les enfants. The Tombow and Copic Ciao also hold their point well and will tend to dry out before they split.

Moving onto ink -

The Faber Castell PITT has a reversible double ended tip - handy to know when it begins to fray.

The Pentel Brush Pen. Comes highly recommended by D'Israeli. At around 12 it may seem costly, but that said I've used mine regularly for nearly five years now and it's never let me down. Ever.

The POSCA brushes have been around for about 18 months or so. They travel well but tend to gum up quickly in the heat if you don't regularly refresh the tip using the pump action button on top. Given the right care and attention the water based acrylic will flow evenly over paper, board, canvas, existing paint, India ink - the lot.

The Pentel Aquash refillables. Weapon of choice right now. Can't help but feel Pentel have misrepresented this product, billed as a convenient shortcut to watercolouring for beginners and the terminally time-poor, you can actually fill these bad boys with most anything as long as it's let down with a little water first. I've been using the broad tipped for a little over a year and can go super fat to ultra fine in one stroke. I lent the one with yellow tape on the barrel to Jesús Redondo as he sketched out Capitán Trueno for us during Mike's Megazine interview. Verdict: the bomb.

Next, not to be confused with the Marvel universe story - the Edding Secret Wars special. As part of the Best Joined Up collective and sponsored by Edding I get a regular supply of these monsters. I'm told the ink has been specially formulated to flow smoothly over emulsion primed surfaces, wood, plaster, MDF - I've also found it sits up nicely on bristol board too - excellent for solid blks.

Ruling pen from antique stall in Oporto, Portugal and vintage speedballs - in my possession for at least twenty years.

Broad and fine Rotring Artpens. Dependable, durable, German. Don't always travel well though - they do have a tendency to cough and splutter some if they've been banged about in a rucksack for a while.

Finally -

White POSCA brush pen. Perhaps not as opaque as I'd like - can produce some satisfactory highlight effects but needs a few passes when correcting any line art - still undecided about this one.

Statutory Muji correction pen.

Uni-ball Signo. From Rotring drawing ink to photocopier toner there is nothing this gel pen won't roll over. Formidable. Now they just need to design one with a broader tip.

Lenny & Amiee pt2

2010-06-21T05:13:00.004+01:00

MM Samples

2010-03-02T21:01:00.006Z

Re-sized sample images for millarworld.tv thread.

Iberian Moleskine

2010-01-30T16:59:00.013Z

Assorted sketchbook pages from October to November 2009.

The last double page is a map of central Valladolid in northwest
Spain drawn by Jesus Redondo. Believe me, it made sense at
the time.

Lids

2010-01-30T14:54:00.017Z

Assorted Dredd heads. Mixed media. Counting down from 33 to 14 minutes duration.

MC1

2010-01-08T21:10:00.007Z

Acrylic paint and ink on board. 420 × 594mm.

Vintage Ink

2009-06-28T23:57:00.044+01:00

In the last couple of years Higgins has
for me become a byword for quality ink.

I wanted to reacquaint myself with more traditional image making processes and decided to source materials that would be in keeping with the intended style and content for a recent cover illustration (see Future Retro) soon after I found a Chicago antique dealer listing this boxed set on eBay.

It’s difficult to work out the age of the ink as there are no production dates anywhere on the packaging. I can only guess going by the bottle silhouettes and graphic design that manufacture took place some time between the mid forties and late sixties.

For some of the ink the years haven't been kind. A few of the secondary colours (Leaf Green and Violet) have
separated with the main pigments settling and solidifying at the base of the bottles. However most of the primary
colours are in good workable condition and the India ink flows smoothly and covers surprisingly well.

Future Retro

2009-06-03T09:59:00.026+01:00

Completed OVS 5 wrap around cover illustration. Mixed media,
India ink, acrylic, gouache, colour pencil and Creative Suite.

Influenced in no small way by Bob Peak and Jack Potter's graphic art from the late fifties and the traditional and digital approaches employed by amongst others contemporary illustrators J.P. Leon and Tommy Lee Edwards. Their work continues to inspire and sustain.

Gina

2009-06-01T12:57:00.003+01:00

Blue pencil, India ink on Bristol board from photo ref.

Gig Poster

2009-05-26T22:16:00.010+01:00

Hand generated image and type in graphite and India ink. Colours and
zipper tone in Photoshop.

Pop Gun Law

2009-03-31T14:50:00.023+01:00

Promotional material for Bristol Expo 2009.

Simone

2009-03-29T15:57:00.000+01:00

India ink, acrylic ink and gouache after Robert McGuinnis

Passengers

2009-02-27T20:26:00.000Z

Line art for OVS 5 wrap around cover.

We Three Kings

2008-12-21T13:43:00.009Z

Seasonal greetings culled from this year's sketchbooks.

Rullbandy

2008-11-23T15:07:00.007Z

Tee Finals

2008-09-09T17:14:00.000+01:00

Road Pub Stadium

2008-09-07T23:55:00.011+01:00

Line art for new Herald Lifestyle Clique tee designs.

Set The Controls

2008-08-30T17:08:00.006+01:00

Quisling

2008-08-18T23:28:00.012+01:00

Sample pages from ongoing British indie press strip Quisling.

Haunted Liverpool

2008-08-10T16:05:00.012+01:00

Illustrations for John Reppion's 800 Years Of Haunted Liverpool.
Seen here are the Liver Building and Grey Lady of Speke Hall.

Graphite, acrylic paint and India ink on board. Finished in
Photoshop.

Lenny & Amiee

2008-04-13T21:05:00.015+01:00

Blue pencil and India ink on board. Coloured in Creative Suite.

"Sometimes it takes a special kind of Judge to work the mean streets of Mega-City One. Meet Lenny Zero and Aimee Nixon, two undercover Judges who work the lowest levels of the Big Meg, mixing with mob bosses and murderers alike."

Originally serialised in Britain's Judge Dredd Megazine Mega-City Undercover collects together the work of writers Andy Diggle and Rob Williams and illustrators Jock, Simon Coleby and Henry Flint.

The storytelling is by turns clever, gritty, spare and darkly humorous with a diverse body of black and white artwork I never get tired of returning to.

What are the chances of a third instalment of Lenny Zero or perhaps a crossover with the Low Life?

Some Big Robots

2008-02-02T13:34:00.001Z

The Truth Is Out There

2008-01-03T20:20:00.000Z

I'd like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the work of writer and artist Ben Clark. In particular Mothman About The House the point at which television genres paranormal science fiction and situation comedy collide.

The on-going antics of Mothman, his companions and Ben's other creations can be found here on the Magic Beans Comics weblog. Enjoy.

El Alamein Anderson

2007-12-09T14:27:00.003Z

Promo artwork for the first Hi-Ex! Highland International Comic Expo.
El Alamein Anderson was originally created by Gordon Rennie and
Oliver Redding.

The Torso From Newcastle

2007-12-06T15:19:00.005Z

George Moore, commonly known as The Torso from Newcastle is a supporting character from the long running 2000AD & Starlord strip, Strontium Dog.

What started out as a thumbnail sketch to show just exactly how the Torso acquired sustenance (look closely and you can see a mouth below his sternum) ultimately became a 19th century style bill poster hinting at a former life as a truly terrifying prize fighter from the North East.

Thanks to Messrs. Molcher and Brown for supplying some alliteration and sincere apologies to the character's creators John Wagner and Carlos Esquerra.

Birthday Greetings

2007-11-15T18:54:00.001Z

Undercity Rough Stuff

2007-11-07T01:14:00.020Z

Some of the character sketches I drew for Al Ewing during early development of a script that went on to become his first multi part strip Tempest for the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Page Thumbs

2007-11-03T00:48:00.001Z