Squid Bits!

My Desk: Projects A-Go-Go!

2012-02-14T09:59:00.002Z

Things have been crazy since 2012 started and I'm working on possibly more than my brain can handle at the moment and I haven't even started my new part-time job yet. Here's the current state of my desk at the moment:

Bucket of coffee - inevitable toilet going will follow but the caffeine is needed.

Character designs for 4 upcoming kid's books.

Waiting for ink to dry on bits for 2 separate kid's books.

Brief (with pages ticked off) for awesome doodle book.

Out-dated To-Do List.

Awesome artwork by other people and a Poop sign.

My Kindle close at hand for break time.

Only time will tell if I can keep up with all this but I'll try my darnedest!

Tea Bear 3D!

2012-02-05T16:40:00.002Z

One of the reasons I love doing comic cons is because I meet some really awesome people. At last October's MCM I met the lovely KaniKaniza who I recently did a commission for. She asked if she could do a crocheted version of one of my pictures and I could not wait to see how it would turn out - take a look at this!

This is quite possibly one of the best things I've ever seen! Look at his face! XD Thanks so much, KK! This made my week :P

At The Fun Fair!

2012-01-31T14:50:00.002Z

I got asked to do an illustration sample page for a publisher last week and while I unfortunately didn't get the job, I really enjoyed drawing this spread. One particular animal keeps popping up in this picture; what is it? :P

Cryptids: Globster!

2012-01-30T10:08:00.002Z

Ninja Skills: Posing!

2012-01-30T10:06:00.001Z

Cryptids: Mongolian Death Worm!

2012-01-27T09:29:00.001Z

Ninja Skills: Duplication!

2012-01-27T09:23:00.002Z

Cryptids: Jackalope!

2012-01-26T09:00:00.002Z

Ninja Skills: Romancing

2012-01-26T08:52:00.001Z

Ninja Skills: Puzzle Solving

2012-01-25T11:01:00.001Z

Draw Draw Draw

2012-01-25T09:59:00.001Z

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior!

2012-01-22T14:20:00.005Z

For the awesome Jurassic Dorks show that we held in December, one of my pieces was based on Mad Max 2 - a great post-apocalyptic film! I had such a good time drawing these and I really like how the characters came out on the photographic backgrounds. I'm now itching to do the same for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome!

All-New Brains Etc!

2012-01-20T09:20:00.005Z

I received a box of the new version of Brains Etc. from the lovely folks at Zeta Comics yesterday, and I have to say, they look awesome! This version has a lovely full-colour card cover and recycled paper pages. This version also has new pages and activities!

How do I look drawn?

2012-01-19T09:54:00.004Z

Whenever I'm asked to do a self-portrait or provide a picture of myself for a website, I immediately go for a drawn picture. I don't photograph well and can do myself a little bit of justice (however inaccurate it is) with a cartoon version of myself. This is how I usually draw myself - not too insulting but not too flattering either.

How I usually draw me

I have recently started giving drawing lessons to under 11 year olds and had a brilliant time with 8 year old Lolita drawing faces and portraits. We started off drawing each other on a template and this is her wonderful effort:

How an 8 year old draws me

I love this drawing! She really captured my cheesy grin and I love the curly bits of hair at the top. I since discovered that we both share a love of drawing animals so next week's lesson will not involve any people drawing! I also recently dug out some of my old school books from the early '80s and found this rather disturbing self-portrait from 1986. I love that my 6 year old self thought I had a flat head, a brown neck and arm and blue fingernails. Go me! Needless to say, I find this rather amusing!

How my 6 year old self drew me

Interview and more books!

2012-01-16T17:48:00.003Z

January is turning out to be a busy month, just when I was expecting not much to happen. I was interviewed by the awesome site, Fuel Your Illustration which is great, full of cool artists and other illustration goodness. I've also landed another kid's book through a publishers I've been wanting to work with for a while and I cannot wait to get started on the project! Hopefully it will lead to other bits through them and I really hope so because I love their stuff. I'm also working on another book about trains so the next few weeks are looking to be a bit busy. I'd rather it were busy than slow! :P

Something Weird Is Going On: Bad Grammar

2012-01-11T16:54:00.003Z

This annoys the HELL out of me. If I ever do it myself by accident I spend the rest of the day ashamed and sulking.

A Cool Blog and an Odd Discovery!

2012-01-07T13:27:00.003Z

I recently found a really cool blog called Strange Kids Club which appeals to me on every level! An awesome mixture of featured artists, films reviews and general geeky oddness found on the web, I thought I'd drop them a line.

To my delight, the lovely chap who runs the site liked my work enough to feature me on their Fan Art Friday with some of my Lovecraft work! I'll be keeping an eye on this site as I can see a lot of cool bits and pieces being featured on there. Also the main site banner is pretty much my childhood in a nutshell...

And now on to the odd discovery! As ashamed as I am to admit it, I occasionally Google my own name to see if my work pops up on blogs and sites (mainly because you just can't keep track of where you might have been featured on the web. My excuse, anyway...) and found this rather amusing article. Well, what can I say to that? Hopefully, I made my case in the comments! :P

Activity Books Out In May!

2012-01-06T13:08:00.002Z

The four activity books I drew all the single-colour artwork for are listed on Amazon - yay! They're due for release in May (I want them NOW!) and available for pre-order. The Baby Animals book cover is the only indication so far that my artwork is in them (all of the books have a different colour artist) but it's pretty obvious which element in the picture is mine! XD

Brains Etc. now available for the Kindle!

2011-12-31T11:51:00.003Z

I'm very happy to announce that Brains Etc. is now available for the Kindle through Amazon! The lovely folks at Zeta Comics are also working on a Brains Etc. colouring app too so I'll keep you all up to date. This is a rather exciting start to the New Year and I can't wait to get started on my new comics for them. I've got two more activity books lined up with them and I'm literally bursting with ideas and can't wait to get started. Brains Etc. will also be available in print later in January. If you've already bought a copy from me at a con this year, the edition through Zeta Comics has more pages drawn especially for this version so you wouldn't be wasting your money! :P

Spider-Man's Demise!

2011-12-18T13:19:00.003Z

My chap once said that the best way to kill Spider-Man would be to trap him under a giant glass and leave him there. I think it's a sound theory.

Check Out My Stack!

2011-12-18T10:08:00.002Z

This is what the last three and a bit months of my life look like in paper:

I can't quite bring myself to throw it away so this stack of paper that equates to four kid's books will be going up in the loft!

The Colour Out Of Space colouring page!

2011-12-15T19:06:00.002Z

One of new comics/activity books that will be out for next year's cons is a as-of-yet-untitled book based on H.P Lovecraft and his works. Above is the kind of thing you can expect to see in the book! I'll post a few more pages as and when they're done; keep an eye out in 2012 for the finished article! :P

Huzzah!

2011-12-15T18:40:00.003Z

The four kid's books I've been working on since September are now over - hooray! I can't wait for them to come out; my work will be alongside a different colour artist for each book so it will be interesting to see how they all go together! Hopefully I will be doing another book in the series in the New Year too; just waiting on more info from the editor!

I can now spend some time playing on my DS, reading my Kindle and working on some new comics for next year's cons!

Jurassic Dorks: The Book!

2011-12-14T10:58:00.005Z

I'm pleased to say that the Jurassic Dorks' first exhibition was a big success! We all had a great time and got a great response from the people who came to have a gander. For those of you who couldn't make the show, we're selling copies of the show book. It's an epic 32 page, A4, full colour tome signed by all the artists. If you'd like one, they're £12 each and that includes postage and packaging in the UK. For overseas peeps, the price is £16 postage and packing included. Please Paypal myself at venkman(dot)project(at)googlemail(dot)com.

Diggers and Dinosaurs Sneak Peeks!

2011-12-08T10:04:00.002Z

Here are a couple of bits from the Diggers activity book and the Dinosaur activity book I'm currently working on. Saying that, the Diggers book is finished and the dino book is very nearly finished! I'm really enjoying the dino book; it's scary that I can draw most dinosaurs from memory with pretty accurate proportions but I'm still terrible at drawing people. If you ever need a rather dynamic looking Pterodactyl though, I'm your girl! :P

Portfolio Pictures #1

2011-12-03T19:03:00.002Z

I'm in the process of adding some new bits to my portfolio at the moment. I'm finally at a stage where I'm in some way proud of my body of work and thought I'd colour up some of the black and white pieces I've done for the children's activity books I'm drawing at the moment. My favourite book to have drawn so far has been the Baby Animals book, for obvious reasons! I really enjoyed doing this page; in the book, this illustration has some objects on it that don't belong in a vet's office and readers have to circle what they are. I changed it slightly to be a straight forward page to add to my portfolio. The space at the top could do with something though!

The A-Z of The 80s! PREVIEWS!

2011-11-28T07:44:00.003Z

With less than a week to go before the Jurassic Dorks show, let's have a look at some of the awesome artwork you can expect to see!

Please spread the work and come along if you're able - it should be pretty darn cool!

Something Weird Is Going On: Overestimating

2011-11-26T16:29:00.002Z

Cons, Kid's books and Coconuts (may not actually contain coconuts).

2011-11-22T09:14:00.003Z

The last couple of weeks have been a maelstrom of work, work and more work. Thought Bubble was a very pleasant con; great to catch up with lots of peeps and spent a wee bit too much on small press books! XD I'm also on the home stretch for the kid's books - the diggers book is next on the list to complete and then it's just the dinos. I've been having a great time drawing the dinosaur book!

In crapper news, I've been made redundant at my part-time job which sucks, but hopefully will lead to something else. I have until February as I got a decent redundancy package so at least I'm not stranded for xmas!

I've been sending off work to more publishers (sample from my portfolio above) and have had some positive responses, so hopefully 2012 will bring some more exciting book work!

Something Weird Is Going On: Typical.

2011-11-17T20:14:00.002Z

Puppy Time!

2011-11-16T08:04:00.002Z

My parents moved from Swindon to North Devon recently after years of umming and ahhing. I'm glad they finally did because the new place is lovely and it's right near the sea. Another reason for their move was to get another dog; we lost our Jack Russell, Robbie, a couple of years ago and it's been tough to get over but they knew they wanted another dog to enjoy the new house with and the lovely walks that surround the area. Finally we now have a new addition to the family - little Freddy! I met him last weekend and he's adorable; full of mischief but so funny and blummin cute to boot! He's a Cairn Terrier but looks more like a cross between a Hyena and an African Wild Dog!

Something Weird Is Going On: Innappropriate Sport

2011-11-14T16:27:00.001Z

The absurdity of a giraffe stuck in a hole never fails to amuse me.

Something Weird Is Going On: Drunk Ghost

2011-11-14T15:07:00.000Z

Something Weird Is Going On: Bleak Future

2011-11-14T08:13:00.002Z

Something Weird Is Going On: Deep Thinker

2011-11-10T16:27:00.002Z

WarGames Sneak Peek!

2011-11-10T13:01:00.003Z

Grumpy Guinea Pigs!

2011-11-09T15:05:00.003Z

Emirates fun!

2011-11-06T13:10:00.003Z

Here are a couple of the pictures I drew for the last issue of the Emirates magazine for kids. The top image was an odd-one-out mummies and babies game and the bottom one a spread to number the balloons in size order then design your own pattern. As always, I can't wait for the next issue!

Ulysses 31 sneaky peek!

2011-11-04T19:41:00.003Z

Ulysses 31 still remains one of my favourite 80s shows; the idea of setting The Odyssey in space is still genius and I think the cartoon still holds up, concept-wise, if not animation-wise! No-one can deny that the theme tune isn't awesome either...

Here's a small peek at my Ulysses 31 piece for the upcoming Jurassic Dorks exhibition.

Bad Doggy

2011-11-03T14:38:00.001Z

King Coo: King of the Pigeons!

2011-11-01T08:04:00.002Z

MCM just gets better!

2011-10-31T11:05:00.003Z

The MCM Expo was absolutely manic this year; I've never seen it so busy! I had a great time and met so many awesome people, new and con regulars. MCM definitely has the best atmosphere of most cons I attend through the year; thanks to all who made it amazing! Now follow some badly taken pictures:

SWAG!

1. Legend of Zelda Ocarina!

2. Tanpopo by Camilla D'errico

3. Red Plant Ride 1 & 2 by Jim Round

4. Jellyfish Prince by Naniiebim

6. Awesome cute prints by Hoshii Channel

7. At The Planetarium by Lizz Lizz

Just hanging with The King of All Cosmos.

Tingle!!

Deakin Brook as Waluigi!

The awesome and lovely Lucy Saxon as Link!

James gets his Eternia on!

Some guy let out of the Old Folk's home for a day out.

Zelda Symphony!

2011-10-27T08:13:00.004+01:00

This week, I saw the jaw-dropping Zelda Symphony in London. It was absolutely incredible; the orchestra was outstanding and it was a great evening. There's just something about listening to video game music fully orchestrated that makes me very happy! I had to draw a little picture in honour of the event!

Comic Con Frenzy #4: My Talented Fiends!

2011-10-24T10:39:00.004+01:00

At the Expo this weekend I have a table next to my awesome betrothed-type-guy John-Paul Bove and our spiffing mate James Stayte (hey, that rhymed!). James and JP will be offering to draw sketches and colour them at the con, or you could just have a sketch or you could have a sketch you already have coloured. I think the first combination is the best. Not convinced? Look at these bad boys!

Awesome Spidey!

Awesome Optimus!

Even more awesome Link!

JP and James are discussing their prices, but for a fantastic piece of original art AND the chance to have it coloured and printed out then and there as a high quality print is too good to miss. They're lovely guys to boot and will no doubt keep you entertained during your stay. Do come have a look!

X-Men Memories!

2011-10-23T14:34:00.002+01:00

I used to love the X-Men cartoon from the early 90s; even though Jubilee was one of my least favourite characters, she's fun to draw!

Comic Con Frenzy #3: Tea Time!

2011-10-20T16:35:00.004+01:00

At the MCM Expo in May, I really underestimated just how much most people like tea and think it's a spiffing beverage. My tea prints flew off the table and I had to watch people's faces drop as they gleefully oggled the (very tatty) display copy and then told them there were none left. This year I'm prepared: I have small prints, large prints, badges and key rings. Hopefully that should be enough! I am thinking of doing some stickers too maybe...

Comic Con Frenzy #2: Monster Gubbins!

2011-10-20T13:58:00.003+01:00

I've been working on a new comic for the aforementioned cons, Monster Gubbins! MG is a small activity/comic book and no less than 10 minutes ago, a box of them turned up from the awesome folk at Inky Little Fingers. The books look great (better than my terrible photos) and I would highly recommended ILF for getting books made; a lot of other small pressers have told me how good they are and I wasn't disappointed!

I'll be selling MG next week at MCM and each copy wil come with 4 prints and a sticker. Come get some!

Comic Con Frenzy #1: Legend of Zelda Sticker Set!

2011-10-20T13:21:00.005+01:00

Between kid's book work, I'm furiously getting work done for the MCM Expo and Thought Bubble which are drawing ever closer. Here's a cute sticker set I've made for both cons; have Link throw a Cucco at Tingle!

My Brain Go Splaboom

2011-10-19T08:05:00.004+01:00

I'm a tad bogged under with work at the moment; I'm enjoying myself a lot but I'm also very very tired! Above are a few of the things I've got going on at the moment; the good news is 2 of the 4 kid's books I'm drawing are very nearly complete (so much so I invoiced for one of them this week) and I've started finals on the third book. I had a lovely email from the publishers yesterday about my work and attitude which was brilliant to hear and hopefully I'll get some more work with them after these books are done. The artwork on the Jurassic Dorks show is slow but steady on my end and the work the other guys have done is fantastic - getting very excited now!

I've booked a week off my part-time job in November just to try and blitz a lot of artwork and get organised so I'm looking forward to that. For now, it's getting up at the crack of dawn and working before work, then working some more when I get in from work! :P

To-Do List!

2011-10-16T16:04:00.003+01:00

Whenever I have a huge list of things to do, I always get a crappy scrap of paper and make a to-do list to follow, but as I was doing my list the other day, I thought I'd design a nicer looking one (and added that to the current list) to use as it would look better stuck up on my studio wall than the back of a bank statement envelope! Here's a version you can save and print to use too!

Goody Bags!

2011-10-13T18:25:00.003+01:00

The MCM Expo is but a few short weeks away and I have 25 free goody bags to give away! All you have to do is print out the above voucher, present it to me with a florish at the con and I will hand over a goody bag. They all contain the same amount of goods but with slight variations so what you could get is anyones guess! I have no idea how well they'll do but be sure to find me as soon as you can at the show with your voucher to get one!

Sneaky Peeks #3!

2011-10-12T07:52:00.003+01:00

I'm racing to get a small monster-based activity book finished for the MCM Expo at the end of the month. Just need to finish the cover and it can go off to the printers!

Sneaky Peeks #2!

2011-10-10T08:11:00.004+01:00

A couple of bits from two of the children's books I'm illustrating...

Sneaky Peeks #1!

2011-10-09T13:41:00.005+01:00

I've got a stupid amount of work on at the moment and thought I'd do a few sneaky peek updates to show you what I'm working on! I have two projects going that involve designing mobile phone cases (mainly iPhones but hopefully different formats too in the future). It's pretty fun and we'll see where it leads!

The Elusive Sasquatch!

2011-10-05T07:31:00.002+01:00

Whilst out on a walk, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the world-famous Sasquatch (Bigfoot is his stage name). We had a chat, drank some tea and he kindly posed for an out-of-focus photo for me. He's a lovely guy. Very down to earth.

Anti-Vertigo Monster

2011-10-03T07:34:00.002+01:00

Some monsters suffer from Anti-Vertigo and need to constantly leap from tall building to tall building. These monsters rarely touch the ground during their lifetime and tend to stick to well-known monuments for the attention.

Food Monster

2011-09-26T08:17:00.002+01:00

Waiter, there's a...thing...in my dinner...

Flying Monster

2011-09-23T15:45:00.002+01:00

The north coast of Devon in England is frequented by flying monsters of questionable etiquette.

Peek Monsters

2011-09-21T08:25:00.001+01:00

These monsters like to pop up from behind mountains and hills just long enough for the observer to question what they may or may not have seen.

Territorial Monster

2011-09-20T08:22:00.002+01:00

Las Vegas also attracts a lot of very territorial monsters. The more novelty the hotel, the greater the prize.

Water Monster

2011-09-19T18:02:00.002+01:00

This monster is often seen lurking in the waters around New York, letting off windies that cause mild to moderate rocking of passing vessels (for his own amusement).

Glomp Monster

2011-09-19T07:39:00.002+01:00

Morning Monster!

2011-09-16T08:19:00.002+01:00

Afternoon Monster

2011-09-15T16:39:00.002+01:00

Hazy Watercolour Memories

2011-09-14T07:55:00.002+01:00

For those either not from the UK or not old enough to know what it was, Hartbeat was a brilliant children's art show that inspired me and countless others as kids!

Jurassic Dorks Presents: The A-Z Of The 80s!

2011-09-11T14:31:00.005+01:00

It's official! The Jurassic Dorks have an exhibition coming up! Tell your friends, invite your family whether they want to come or not, prepare to have your nostalgia buds wangled and buy awesome prints and stuff. Your dreams will LITERALLY come true if you attend this show.* But seriously, we're all pretty excited; expect the following weeks to be full of giddiness as we all prepare for our first, and hopefully not last, show at Centrespace in Bristol!

*Your dreams may not literally come true if you attend this show.

Jurassic Dorks!

2011-09-08T14:34:00.003+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that I'm now part of an awesome illustrative collective called Jurassic Dorks! The collective is made up of myself, John-paul Bove, James Stayte, Mark Pearce and Dylan Cook. We have our first exhibition in December, more of which I'll post very soon. Hopefully this will the first of many projects by Jurassic Dorks!

Dumpy Dinosaur!

2011-09-05T17:37:00.000+01:00

Research is Fun

2011-09-05T07:33:00.002+01:00

If anyone knows whether Skynet has created time travel yet, please let me know - I'd love to be able to fiddle around and get some extra working hours in! It's been a hectic couple of weeks and it's only going to get busier over the next few months. I'm in the middle of the kid's books at the moment; 3 are roughed, 1 approved and most of the work done, 2 waiting to hear back on and currently waiting for details of the fourth book. It's a lot of fun so far and I hope the publishers are pleased with what I've done.

Hopefully in the next week I can finally reveal the awesome exhibition the collective I'm now part of are putting together for December. We're just working out some information details and then we can reveal all! Just to tease, I've been playing this game as research...

I've got 2 big cons coming up too which I hope to get some new work made for, it's just a matter of getting the time to do it all! :P

My Desk: A Productive Day

2011-08-25T16:18:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I did a My Desk update so I thought I'd do one now, on a day where I'm full of caffeine and glucose and being productive! So what have I been doing today?

Making Roughs: Three (well, two and a half) of the roughs for the kid's books I'm doing. I'll probably be starting on the final artwork this weekend for the first book. Whoop!

Zombie Stuffs: Extra pages for the soon-to-be-published-again Brains Etc. with all new pages! Having fun coming up with extra goodies for the book and getting ready to scan and reformat everything. Hopefully it'll be worth it!

Visual Stimuli: Rather than listen to music today, I was in the mood for some horror films while I worked. Having already watched The Blair Witch Project while drawing cute animals, I'm ready to watch Ginger Snaps (a guilty pleasure film) and attempt to watch a recent purchase, Yo-Yo Girl Cop.

Energy Drink: I look forward to the coffee-followed-by-a-Lucozade-chaser comedown later in the day.

Making Key Rings: Work to be done for 2011 B.C on Saturday! An excessive amount of number 4 means shaking hands and scissor fun.

More Emirates work!

2011-08-20T09:53:00.005+01:00

I'm never disappointed with the briefs I get for the Air Emirates in-flight kid's magazine; here are a couple of the latest pics I got to do. I really like doing the big pictures with lots going on - especially when I'm told to draw lots of cute animals! :P

I really enjoy this job; I just wish it was a monthly gig instead of quarterly but it's always something I look forward to doing!

Tattoo Design!

2011-08-19T16:09:00.002+01:00

I got a very exciting commission a while back to design a cute, Japanese-themed tattoo for someone. I really enjoyed doing this and hope it turns out well! I'll be posting pictures when the lovely lady who commissioned me has it done :D

Awesome New Toy!

2011-08-16T20:12:00.008+01:00

I'm a huge book fan, but have more than my little house can hold. Most of my precious tomes are up in the loft and I will admit to hanging onto stuff I don't really need more often than not! I made the decision to buy a Kindle so I can continue to buy graphic novels, art books and kid's books but get novels electronically. I have to say, it's bloody brilliant; I've already got over 100 books on it and you get can tons of free books for it. There's a lot of stuff that's very cheap, mainly older sci-fi and fantasy but that suits me fine! Here's a look at my new toy:

Brains Etc. looks pretty good on the Kindle, which bodes well for the digital version being published soon! It's quite a flexible little gadget and I can't stop playing with it. Of course, it's easier to spend more money on books because they download straight away. But it's worth it! Here's a look at some of the books I'm reading at the moment:

I love the Conan film with Arnie and even though I'm not huge into fantasy, this is pretty good. I sometimes find fantasy a bit hard going but pulp master Robert E. Howard makes for an enjoyable sword and sorcery romp!

Another classic series by Robert E. Howard, Solomon Kane is a quieter hero than Conan but the adventures he get into are dark and creepy and I like the pacing. Good pulpy action and very atmospheric.

I've just discovered this guy and don't know how I didn't know about him, being a big Lovecraft fan. I'm already enjoying his work and I've only read two stories so far; one about a sorcerer who kills and dismembers his brother (who's also a wizard) only to have the limbs come back, re-form and kill him. This is looking good already!

I just read this for the first time and WOW. What an amazing book. Two men on holiday discover a strange pit and the remnants of a house in Ireland and soon find a journal that belonged to a recluse who used to live in the house. His story is disturbing and almost unbelievable - the house seems to sit on a gateway between dimensions and the man is soon driven mad by attacks from strange pig creatures, time and space start to meld together and no-one else seem to experience quite what he does. Brilliant sci-fi/horror that kept me reading because I NEEDED to know what was going to happen! There's an amazing few chapters where the man experiences time speeding up to where minutes become thousands of years and the universe ends that just left me in awe. Awesome work from William Hope Hodgeson and I can't wait to read more of his stories.

What I love about the Kindle is that all of the above were either available for free or entire collections of the authors work where under £3.00. Money well spent I think. Time to get my sci-fi on! :P

Rorys!

2011-08-16T08:17:00.003+01:00

I had a fun commission to draw Rory Williams from Dr Who over the weekend. Here he is in his normal and Centurion form!

Dog-Bot!

2011-08-05T08:26:00.000+01:00

HAL

2011-08-04T17:09:00.004+01:00

A while ago I was asked to do some robot designs for a website where computer programmers can test their skills on a variety of tasks/games. They wanted a robot character named HAL that would act as a kind of advancement marker for players as they used the site. HAL would start off as a crappy robot but as programmers progressed through various levels completing different tasks, you could get upgrades and new parts for HAL until you reached his ultimate form. I thought this was a neat idea and had some fun designing new heads for HAL that corresponded to different games. Actually, I don't need much persuasion or excuse to draw a robot so I was happy from the start! :P

Manly man illustration samples!

2011-08-02T18:10:00.002+01:00

I recently had the opportunity to do some samples for a possible illustration job with Harper Collins which was really cool. Unfortunately, I didn't get the gig but enjoyed doing something I wouldn't ordinarily have done. The work was for an up-coming humour book about men and their quirks. Luckily, I live with a man who isn't a total stereotype in this department so I didn't have to base any of this on real-life experience! I enjoyed drawing the BBQ guy in the top picture and the magazine with boobs on it in the bottom one :P

More Exciting Things In Art Town!

2011-08-02T07:50:00.008+01:00

Well, no-one can say that this last month hasn't been eventful! I've just found out that as of next week (hopefully) I'll be starting on a series of 4 children's activity books for Carlton Publishing, the lovely people I worked with for the NRM activity book I illustrated at the end of last year. The books are aimed at younger children and sound like a lot of fun. I'll be able to post more info when I hear from my awesome art director later in the week!

Another rather exciting piece of news is that I will be taking part in an exhibition in December, organised by myself and the uber-talented James Stayte and featuring four other amazing artists. We are just getting things sorted at the moment, including promotion, but the show will be held at the Centrespace gallery in Bristol. No doubt I will be pimping this like nobody's business as soon as we get started!

Exciting things in Art Town!

2011-07-21T13:41:00.007+01:00

This last week has been a bit crazy: I've been approached by a lot of people about a lot of work and can now confirm two very exciting projects that I will be involved in! The first is that my comic Brains Etc. will be published by an all-ages Canadian publisher very soon! It will be slightly different from my small press effort and will now be 32 pages (new material will be drawn) instead of 26 and will also be available as a digital comic for various platforms. I'm really happy that not much needs to be done on it and I get to tidy-up and add some new material. I'm just sorting out the final format guff with the publisher and then it'll be time to get stuck in!

The second project is something I'm super-excited about: I get to design a range of t-shirts under my own label! The range is being produced by a major tee distributor and will hopefully be 16 original designs. I have some themes to work to but get to put my own mark on everything. The line will hopefully go to a London fashion show in September for initial reactions and we'll see how it goes from there. I'm hoping this goes well as it's been one of my all-time dreams for a long time! I'm starting work on both of these projects amongst a billion other things so the next month or so is going to be a bit manic. Bring it on, I say! XD

MCM Expo and LFCC Zombies!

2011-07-17T12:04:00.010+01:00

Here are some more of the awesome peeps who took part in my Draw Yourself As A Zombie activity that I've been running at the cons I've attended this year. Thanks to all who have shared their undead artistic skills!

Sticker Attack!

2011-07-15T15:52:00.003+01:00

I now have lots of cool new vinyl stickers for sale in my shop! There are 6 packs to choose from. These stickers are one of the more popular items that sell well at comic cons. I have many more in the works!

Busy busy!

2011-07-15T09:20:00.005+01:00

What a busy couple of weeks! LFCC was a huge hit and a very enjoyable show - thanks to all who came along last weekend. I did really well and had a lot of fun - already looking forward to next year's show! As well as trying to recover from that, I've been making stuff to re-stock my shop with, doing t-shirt designs for a charity (the awesome VIVA!) and I also have a couple of other awesome projects lined up - more on those soon!

I'm also (when I can) working on my own children's book which I hope to pitch to publishers at some point. It's slow going but I want to get it right before I send anything off. When I'm happy/not terrified about what anyone will think, I'll post some pictures!

Updating Milk Town!

2011-07-03T15:16:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I did any new stuff for my Milk Town website so I thought I'd pay it a bit of long-overdue attention. Hopefully over the next month or two, the library will become a bit more active, the hotel will be open with rooms to view and the Milk Town Graveyard will be full of spooky goings-ons! Milk Town is mostly just for fun and a place that I can populate with weird characters. I do have plans for a series of proposed children's books featuring the characters of Milk Town but for now, that will have to remain as part of my very long list of things to do!

Dr Who and LFCC!

2011-06-28T10:20:00.003+01:00

The London Film and Comic Con is less than 2 weeks away and yet again, I'm frantically making and preparing goods to sell! I'll be there with my talented beau JP and our talented friend Ed for some talented fun! Here are a couple of new prints that will available; the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond!

USA Road Trip!

2011-06-21T09:30:00.008+01:00

I recently returned from a trip to California which was fantastic; very sad to be back! My awsome bf and I did a roadtrip of sorts from Pasadena to Las Vegas, Las Vegas to San Diego and then San Diego to Los Angeles. Here are just a few photos to give you an idea of the madness we encountered:

You can see these in Torquay, but it's not quite the same!

My bf John-Paul and our amazing friend Casey at Bot Con in Pasadena.

In Central Perk at the Warner Bros. Studio!

My favourite place name of the trip.Most patriotic birdhouse ever.I miss Las Vegas!I also miss the tasteful gifts availableJust some guy we met on the stripLuchadores! Me being embarrassing in Target!

I had such a great time; when I get around to it, I'll also scan and upload some pages from my travel journal!

Atom Cat!

2011-06-18T15:04:00.004+01:00

I'm back from California, very tired and groggy but sane enough at the moment to do a drawing to get back into the habit after only having kept a travel journal for the last 2 weeks! I'll be doing a big holiday based blog soon, but for now, enjoy Atom Cat!

Adventures over the Pond!

2011-05-31T16:12:00.001+01:00

I'm off to the U.S of America for 2 weeks to attend Bot Con and have other zany adventures! My online shop will be closed while I'm away but fear not; it will be open again when I get back and will be filled with lots more goodies! Toodles! :D

MCM Expo May 2011!

2011-05-31T07:23:00.015+01:00

This past weekend saw me selling my wares (ooh la la!) at the MCM Expo in London and it was amazing! The show was packed; we barely got a break all weekend and the table was almost always swamped. I had a great time and met some lovely people. My table got a fantastic reaction from people and all in all, it was one of the best cons I've ever done! I also got interviewed and babbled for several minutes for a couple of podcasts too, links when they're up!

My table, laden with goods!

The awesome Aaron AKA Gagaman and his lovely GF, Stacey. Our across-the-way neighbours for the weekend!

Spiffing Tea was by far my best-selling print of the weekend.

Zombie Moogs!

Zombie Marisa!

Zombie Deakin!

The fantastic Jenni Bryan of Creaturekebab!

The absolutely lovely Jamie Smart took time out from his Chaffy signing to say hi and draw a zombie!

My Draw Yourself As A Zombie activity was even more popular this time! I will be posting all of the zombies at some point, so check back if you drew one!

The Wall of Zom! There were too many to fit on the board!

I met the awesome Billy West and made a tit of myself. As you can see.

The awesome Phil of Genki Gear!

I can't wait for the October MCM now too. A huge thanks to anyone who bought stuff, had a chat, drew a zombie or gave us a laugh - it was a brilliant weekend!

ink+PAPER!

2011-05-26T07:46:00.003+01:00

I'm very happy to announce that I'll be part of an awesome comic magazine called ink+PAPER, due to be released at Thought Bubble this year. Aimed at all ages, it will be a mixture of comics and general interest but all written and drawn with a comic format in mind. I've gone for a series of one page travel comics about my time in Japan! The project is the brain-child of the fantastic and absolutely lovely David O'Connell and I'm very chuffed to have been invited to take part. The mag will also feature some of my favourite UK comikers such as Louise Ho, Lizz Lunney, Philippa Rice, Sammy Borras and lots more!

Draw Yourself As A Zombie!

2011-05-25T12:27:00.002+01:00

I'll be running this again at the MCM Expo this weekend but if you can't make it, give it a go by printing this image out!

More Emirates Work!

2011-05-19T14:38:00.003+01:00

Here are a few of the pictures I've been working on for the new Emirates 321 magazine brief.

Pixie/Fairy Party! I really enjoyed doing this picture! I'm particularly fond of the fireflies.

You know an illustration brief is good when it asks for a tiger playing a guitar...

Draw over the dots to make firework shapes!

Bristol Expo Aftermath!

2011-05-19T12:12:00.007+01:00

The Bristol Expo was a blast last weekend; I had a great time, made some money, met some new peeps and caught up with old ones! Weirdest news of the weekend was the news that my Rah tee by Genki Gear could end up in a film called Strippers vs Werewolves! XD I bought a lot of very good books and generally still feel rather knackered from the whole thing! I ran an activity over the weekend called Draw Yourself As A Zombie which was a bit hit. I had a lot of people taking part for fun, as well as a couple of big names! If you took part, see if you can spot yourself:

Lots of zombies!

James Stayte and Katie Green; my neighbours for the weekend!

James gets some Bowser lovin'...

The awesome Bertram Fiddle (left) and friends!

The rather lovely Attackosaur chaps. Check out their dino sketches from the con!

The awesome Abbey and Dave of Dumpy Little Robot!

Can't wait for next year now! :P

Bristol Expo Goodies!

2011-05-12T15:13:00.000+01:00

I've finished all of my goods for the Bristol Expo which is this weekend and no doubt most of this will turn up at the MCM Expo too! You can find me on table 67 in the main hall; please do pop by and say hi if you're about! Here are just a few of the bits I'll be selling.

My comic, Brains Etc. comes with a limited edition print, stickers and a zombie mini-comic, all for a measly £3.50!

Awesome Sticker packs, 6 stickers in each.

Character stickers - a favourite at cons!

Cute key rings...

...and more cute keyrings!

You be be prepared to be accosted at my table to Draw Yourself As A Zombie, as well as receiving a Biohazard Checklist. We can't have any outbreaks at this con!

I'm really happy with the new batch of cute badges I had made! There are 5 designs to choose from: My Liege, Snacksquatch, Toast Ghost, Little Samurai and Cowboy Koala. These are just a few of the bits I'm selling; there will be a lot more on my table too! :D

A sneak peek of goodies for the Bristol Expo...

2011-05-09T09:10:00.005+01:00

Just a few of several billion stickers I'll have at the Bristol Expo...

Not 100% sure you're human?

2011-05-02T19:26:00.002+01:00

Nature Is Gross: Jellyfish

2011-04-27T12:03:00.002+01:00

I wont post too many pictures from this comic lest I spoil it completely, but I thought everyone needed to know this fact. The comic itself will be in black and white with a colour cover :P

Bring me a horse!

2011-04-27T07:56:00.003+01:00

I went to see Thor at the weekend and I have to say, Marvel did a really good job! It could have been a bit of a mess given that it's a lot more fantasy based than the other Marvel films but it was really enjoyable. Chris Helmsworth was awesome as said God of Thunder and very funny. There was a trailer for Captain America too which is looking pretty good (fingers crossed) and makes me slightly less likely to pooh-pooh the upcoming Avengers film.

Nature Is Gross!

2011-04-26T09:59:00.003+01:00

I'm making a start on my next zine, Nature Is Gross! It'll be a zine packed with facts and drawings about all the more disgusting aspects of the natural world. I've already got a list of facts ready to be drawn and I'm looking forward to putting everything together!

Die Hard Play Set!

2011-04-22T10:58:00.003+01:00

Now you can act out your favourite moments from Die Hard in the comfort of your own home! Make John McClane scale an air vent! Have Hans Gruber threaten some hostages! Keep an eye on that down-turned photo! Coming Soon: Cut 'n' Play Nakatomi Plaza with Johnson and Johnson (no relation) helicopter!