More D2.

Couple more panels from Dirge 2. Really making an effort to finish up Dirge as early as I can in 2008. I’d like to think you speed up as you get closer to the end of a comic, but if anything you want to spend more time getting it right. Fingers crossed it should be done around spring…I can feel the jinx setting in as I type these words. More like Christmas 2010 if I’m honest.

The Wacky World Of Halftones.

Some images I forgot to post at the weekend.

Halftones are those little dots in the background if you were wondering. I may well do a whole post on Halftones one day down the line.

Angry Faces (Redux)

Been on the computer the last couple of days adding tone to some pages of Dirge and have the bloodshot eyes to prove it. Hoping to finish up by the weekend so I can get back to pencilling by at least early next week. Wasn’t really looking forward to doing tone and texture this time around and yet I’m really getting into it now. I’ll post some more in the coming days.

False Teeth From Beyond The Stars.

Taking a walk down memory lane last night (i.e. looking up old kids show’s on youtube) when I came across this. False teeth from beyond the stars was a short animation from a kids show in the late 80’s called Around the bend. Presented by a puppet crocodile from a sewer if I remember rightly. These animation were great but they used to freak me out a bit. Being eaten by your own false teeth, hell of a way to go. They had another one as well about a giant banana destroying a city called Attack of the atomic banana.



They’ve got more online plus some episodes of Round the bend.

Speaking of being freaked out, I’m glad by reading the comments on Youtube that I wasn’t the only kid who find the opening to Worzel Gummidge a bit freaky. Watch it again in the dark in the early hours and it still creep me out. This 33 seconds is scarier then most Hollywood movies nowadays.



Come on. That a bit freaky right?

Body Language.

I can’t remember were I read it as I must have been pretty young, but one of the first rules about comic book art work is you should be able to read the story or at least get what going on just from the art before it been lettered. This doesn’t always work out like if two characters are just talking or driving in a car having a chat. But even then you should be able to work out what kind of conversation they’re having through body language and so on. Even to this day I’ll still look at a page and see if it readable with out the text. I always enjoy body language in comics and seeing what artist do with it. Because they’re comics it mostly tends to be over blown stuff but sometimes it’s nice to have some more natural positions going on in your work as well.

This is a shot of The Inspector (still no name) hopefully looking like his saying something witty or making some kind of joke.

Who Knows?

Sometimes when your drawing in your sketchbook, you’re not really sure what you’re going to draw so you just start and see what happens. But saying that I have no idea why I ended up draw a buck tooth Butler. No idea at all.

You ever get those phantom hangovers sometimes? When you’re so tired you figure your just stay in for the night and watch TV instead of going out drinking and be in a better mood in the morning to work, but your body so used to that Sunday hangover you get a phantom hangover anyway. So you walk around with a slight hangover even if you took last night easy and didn't drink anything.

Nicole Was Overjoyed To Receive A Cosby Sweater.

Thought I’d post my first full page from Dirge 2 today. I usually stick to single panels but I thought I’d start with this splash page as a bit of a cheat and then post a page with panels around the end of the year-ish. Not going to give too much away about this shot, like who hand it is or what the hell it got to do with anything in the story but I do like this page.



Yikes, November the 9th already. This year has been going by super fast. I’ve already had to get my ‘Cosby sweaters’ out because it been so cold. Yikes again. I just checked my online urban dictionary to make sure ‘Cosby sweater’ was official and find out ‘Cosby sweater’ has two meanings, so I mean Cosby sweater as in High Fidelity Cosby sweater, as in:

(2) Cosby Sweater.

A: A oversized, hideous looking sweater with ugly patterns and colors, often worn by old men or hipsters with no taste.

B: A sweater a senile colorblind person would pick out.

NOT as in:

(1) Cosby Sweater.

The sexual act of eating Fruit Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Trix, and Boo Berry- or any other 'bright, colorful' breakfast cereals- and then vomitting the tacky, dazzling mixture onto your partners chest. The result should look similar to the incredible sweaters that Bill Cosby wore during his highly successful 1980's sitcom "The Cosby Show". Nicole was overjoyed to receive "a Cosby Sweater" for her birthday.

You learn something new everyday…. And then you spend the rest of the day trying to forget it.

So anyway... beware if anyone offers you a ‘Cosby Sweater’ this Christmas. I love Urban dictionary’s. I might get one for Christmas.

The Greatest Lord Of The Rings Monster That Never Was.

Rounding up my week of dressing up for Halloween are these picture for a last minute Lord of the rings party. I ran into town before the shop’s shut and bought some glue and then stick all the bits of fancy dress I had leftover to make this evil Ringo Starr looking mask. Those movie are so long I’m sure are some point there got to be something that looked something like this in there. To be fair I’ve only seen the first film and that was like five or six years ago at the cinema.



Didn’t get shown much love at the party for my efforts with this mask and I was getting outshined by people wear towels around they’re shoulders (next time I’ll just turn up as a Jedi) plus a nasty cold I’m suffering from at the moment made wearing it a bitch (in fact it made the whole night a bit of a bitch). But I’ve got a soft spot for this look. If they ever want an evil Ringo Starr for a Doctor Who monster I think I’m in with a chance. Anyway I think that pretty much the last of the dressing up for 2007. It two Friday nights in a row I’ve spent gluing stuff together for outfits. I’ll be honest the fact I’ve been getting a lot more hits over this Halloween season has freaked me out a bit. Put a stop to it now before I start dressing up as Liza Minnelli in Cabaret for attention.