Happy New Year 2020.

Farewell 2020, you will not be missed...

Although I'll always be grateful a plague year fell on an easy to remember numbered year. I get the feeling that will come in handy in the future when looking back.

As a kid, I was hoping the year 2020 would be like a cool Sci-Fi movie, but instead it's been more like a depressing Dystopian one. Who would have thought humans valued Toilet Paper so much in this particular Multiverse.

I thought I'd wrap up 2020 with some quick and very fond Corona related memories from this year:

*Like the time I went into W H Smiths and saw a man keep coughing into the open magazine he was reading before closing it and putting it back on the shelf for the next person. I already have a special hate for 'that guy' who just goes into W H Smiths and spends ages reading comics and magazines he's never gonna buy, and blocking people who might actually wanna get them. But this took my hate for 'that guy' to a whole new level.

*That period when people had to start queuing up outside to go into shops, and local town drunks would think it was funny to just start heckling the line. Getting too close and breathing on people knowing they couldn't escape.

*The time I notices the cashier was acting funny while getting shopping once. Only to find he had badly cut his finger on the plastic of my Microwave Spinach Cannelloni without telling me, so when I got home, I found all my shopping smeared in blood. He'd even manages to get it on the plastic bag and my hands, which I only saw after walking all the way home.

*Getting really sick a couple of weeks ago, and nervously waiting to see if any Corona symptoms appeared days before Christmas. My lungs didn't feel great, and there was even the odd cough, but thankfully I'm pretty sure it was just a really nasty Sinus Infection that was playing hell with my tired and stress out Immune System. It didn't help that this all happened just as it was revealed there was a new super infectious Corona variant discovered in my part of the country.

I'm sure most people have their own Corona nightmares from this year, and I'd love to hear them. So HAPPY NEW YEAR. I really hope 2021 is the year things start to turn around for the better, and that everyone is staying safe this Winter. 

I have to say, I honestly don't know what to expect from 2021 right now.

Merry Christmas From Lockdown.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone. Hope you're all staying as safe as you can this Yule Time.

Last Christmas was a bit of a nightmare for me at times. There's something about the Christmas period that seems to just magnify existing problems so much. I was kind of hoping by the time Christmas 2020 rolled around, life would be more back to normal and things would have settled down a bit... Instead I find myself spending this Christmas in lockdown. Living in a part of Britain that has gone from having one of the lowest infection rates in the country, to one of the highest. And where a new super infectious variant of Covid virus now rages. Differently not the Christmas I had been hoping for 12-months ago, that's for sure.

None the less, I hope folks are managing to have some fun this Christmas and are looking after themselves ok? Also a big thanks to those who have been in contact in 2020 checking in. It's always sweet when someone does. Nothing shows who your true friends are like a deadly world changing pandemic.

Just a reminder that new pages of Babayka Land have been uploaded recently over on Babayka-lives. There's now 90 installments of Babayka Land to be enjoyed for people looking for a bit of escapism this bleak Christmas.

I'm also determined in 2021 to try and get a new Model And Monster pin-up underway at some point very soon too. It's been a while since I've done one. I know all the covid chaos might make working with a model a nightmare at the moment, but I think it's more important than ever to keep fighting and creating art right now.

Last Of The Year.

Head over to Babayka-Lives to catch the final installment of 2020, as Yana and Elizabeth inspect their new home for the night.

It's been a rocky year to say the least, but I hope folks have enjoyed having some Babayka action to read during this rough period. I wasn't sure if it was gonna happen with all the technical and real-life problems going on right now. But with so many people in lockdown at the moment, and people needing some escapism, I thought I'd really try. 

Some Serrock.

If your Christmas wish this year is for some more Serrock this Yuletide season, then head over to Babayka-Lives to collect your present with a new installment uploaded last weekend.

Although I'm not sure how Christmas-y Russian Mercenaries hunting a monster is...

Mercenary Mind Games.

Back to Serrock and Co in this weekend's installment of Babayka Land, as the hunt for who laid the skeleton trap for the Mercenaries continues on Babayka-Lives.

Can the Soldiers find who's playing mind games with them before they strike again?

Washed Out.

I think I've washes my hands more in 2020 then I have every other year combined so far. Fighting Covid has aged my hands horribly in 2020 with all the washing and hand-gel.

I also do wonder how many new germophobe will be created by this crappy pandemic after the events of this year. It's hard to imagine this plague year won't change a few things in day-to-day life from now on.

Cabin Fever.

Katchalov and the girls find a place to hold up for the night in this week's installment of Babayka Land.

What nightmares will this abandoned cabin in Krayvangrad hold, though? 

Find out at Babayka-Lives.

Saturday The 14th.

You know things are bad when it's Friday The 13th and you don't even notices until the day after...

To be fair, every day has felt like Friday The 13th in 2020.

Deep In The Woods.

Just because it'll be the weekend in a few short hours, and to get people excited for tomorrow's installment of Babayka Land, I thought I'd give readers a quick sneak peak at what's coming their way this Saturday.

Katchaluv and co make a discovery deep in the woods that they decide to explore as they flee Krayvengrad.

Tune in to Babayka-Lives tomorrow to find out what.

Alone In The Woods.

For those that might have missed the news last weekend, what with all the chaos of Halloween going on and everything, it's worth repeating that Babayka-Lives has returned with a new installment being posted this weekend.

Tune in, as Yana and Elizabeth find themselves alone in the woods with Katchalov as he starts to show his true colours as he leads them out of Krayvengrad.

Planet Corona.

 I should also add, before Halloween fades from all our minds, that you can check out my Planet Corona pin-up in more detail over on Deviantart.

Black And White Copy HERE.

And Colour Copy HERE.

Hope people manages to have some Halloween fun this weekend just gone, even if it was a little overshadowed by recent events this year. And a big thank you to people who showed our Corona Halloween pin-ups some love this year. 

Hopefully next October, things will be more back to normal.

Happy Halloween 2020.

Halloween might be more virtual and probably happening at home under lockdown for most of us, but at least it's one thing this year that's not cancelled and can be enjoyed together, either with family or online with others.

And so with that in mind, we decided to make our horror topic this year the theme of Viruses (mainly the fight against Corona and fear of it spreading). The idea of infection and the battle against it and to contain it. Basically, artwork that deals with the paranoia of being under attack from a deadly outbreak.

So mask-up, wash your hands and come closer (but not too close, yeah) for our new Virus themed SLASH-UPS art:

A dual wielding Doctor makes his last stand on Plant Corona in Andrew's latest Sci-Fi themed pin-up offering.

While back on earth, fire is the only real cure when battling giant germs in James's Attack Of The Covid artwork.

We're sure there'll be a lot of Corona inspired art appearing in the coming year and years, as people try and visualise and make sense of what it was like living through this modern plague. It's sure to be a big subject most artists will have something to say about, that's for sure.

So a Happy Halloween to those celebrating it this weekend. We don't know if 2020 has really been spooky, but it's certainly been scary and very stressful for most. We hope everyone is staying safe this October, and please enjoy these two new pin-ups as a nice Halloween treat.

Also just a quick reminder that Babayka-Lives also starts again this weekend, just in time for Halloween. For readers wanting to read the next installment of Babayka Land as the hunt for the evil old man continues.

You Can't Keep A Good Babayka Down.

I'm very guilty of not giving enough Babayka related updates recently, it's true. With all the real life chaos and computer woes of 2020 going on, I wasn't even sure if there'd be any new Babayka-Lives action this Halloween...

Although things are still very much up in the air at the moment, I am still hoping to bring readers the next part of Babayka Land this coming Halloween weekend, if I can.

If nothing else, it would be nice to offer up some treats this October to take peoples minds off everything that's happening.

Getting Your Creep On.

As depressing as things might feel right now (I think nearly everyone is feeling the pinch of such a rough 2020), I do like how this time of year has so much new spooky stuff to offer. Even artists who don't usually do horror art will join in when October rolls around. It's like every time you sign in online or go in a shop, there's something new and creepy to enjoy. 

I have to confess I am finding it harder than normal this year to get into the Halloween frame of mind. Hopefully that'll change before next weekend. It is a real shame that Halloween is finally on a Saturday at a time when people can't really socialize or gather and celebrate together and make a night of it.

Although I'm glad there's still some horror stuff going on this Halloween (even if it is mostly all online), and Corona hasn't fully taken it away from us this year. Getting your creep on in October should be a human right.

Space Ball.

I'm not really sure if this is an Egg or just some kind of a Sci-Fi Pod, and I was the one who drew and coloured it.

Maybe more of a giant Gland or Cell or something.

I really tried to make this certain Space Ball look fleshy and organic by getting in there and adding veins and so on. Trying to make it look like it's gloopy to the touch.

Fiddled To Perfection.

Well... that's not really true. I'm still not really happy with the colour job on this pin-up. But I have used some of my Halloween prep time to rejig a couple of things and get it to a better place.

I've toned down the sky a bit and tried to make the Alien and invading Saucers 'pop' a bit more in this version. As well as tweaked the colour job on the Alien Ambassador.

I'm still very much finding my feet when it comes to digital painting and colouring, but hopefully my work is moving in the right direction.

SLASH-UPS: Halloween Challenge.

What with life feeling like a real-life horror movie this year, it would be interesting to know how many people are actually planning to celebrate Halloween this October, and how many are just gonna keep their heads down and give it a miss?

Since our yearly SLASH-UPS Halloween pin-up challenge is mostly done online, we've decided to try and keep it going, since it is virtual anyway. There'll be no artshow or anything like that, but we will still be doing something base on a pre-chosen horror theme this year (previous subjects being Vampires in 2018 and Muck-Monsters last year).

When it came time to pick a theme for Halloween 2020... the choice seemed pretty obvious.

Considering we've all been living with the threat of a Virus that has invaded our lives this year, it would be crazy to pick anything else. This year has probably made germaphobes out of most of us, and put the dread of infection in all our minds.

Obviously not everyone will be up for spooky Halloween fun this year. We're sure many might feel they've had enough horror in their life for one year. But for those that ain't gonna let Corona rob them of another event in 2020, we will be trying to do our part to keep the Halloween spirit alive on the 31st.

So please do feel free to drop in and join in this Halloween.

Or Die!

Just because any title that ends with "Or Die!" is cool in my books. The Exclamation Mark lets you know the title is serious.

Again, edited to avoid spoilers.

Pith... Pith... Hurray!

I thought I'd share this sneak peek at what I was working on today just because everybody loves a girl in a Pith Helmet. It makes her look so classy and adventurous (or maybe that's just the Englishman in me talking).

I had to edit this photo a little so as not to give away too many spoilers.

Revamped.

I know some people might notices this is actually my second go at toning and adding blood to this sexy Vampire Nurse sketch (she has her own special way of taking blood donations).

 
I accidentally deleted my first go and thought I could do better anyway, so here's my 'revamped vamp' for folks to enjoy.

I hope one day I will make a return to the world of Vampires. It's differently been a while, and I do have some Vampire related ideas I'd love to flesh out at some point.  But for now, this will have to do.

Only Russian Bots Love Me.

There are a few things that really annoy me about Deviantart these days, but the biggest lately is how the majority of all my favs are fake accounts now. Blank profiles with no art and usually a single link under their Bio they clearly want you to click. It's so maddening and just a waste of time.

I don't know if I'm on some kind of sinister list or if other people on there are having the same problem? I even have one particular pin-up where all my favs are from fake zombie accounts that have since been deleted.

I'm also kind of sad that all the 'Notes' I get these days are from scammers now, too. It's been nice to talk to other creative people over the years through messages on DA, but now when I see a 'Note' in my inbox, I know it's always just a scam.

I should say a big thank you to any and all real people who actually show my work some love over on Deviantart and actually do add my artwork to their favs sometimes. The internet isn't always the friendliest place to go for support or encouragement in regards to creating stuff or getting feedback. 

I don't really know how a Russian Bot works, but I'm guessing art might be lost on them, so it is nice to know when your work does get a positive reaction from someone, even if it is just them clicking a 'like' or 'fav' button.

One nice thing about the internet (bots aside) is that you can support the art you wanna see more of.

Back From The Dead.

 I haven't drawn or posted a Zombie on this blog for quite some time. So here's a quick one I doodled in my sketchbook during the week.

I was worried I might have loss my knack for drawing the undead, it having been so long since I drew one, but I think he might be one of my favourites I've ever drawn.  

Yana Fully Loaded.

 

A little bit more Yana holding a machine gun action to both end and start the week with today.

I think of Yana as being way more like a slasher villain than anything else, so it is weird seeing her with a firearm. I don't think the character herself would be that crazy over guns, but that doesn't mean she couldn't use one if need be.

Alien Ambassador.

 

First contact has never looked so ugly.

So this is of course my SLASH-UPS poster art from our exhibition back in 2017. The show was held at St Mary's In The Castle which has a somewhat famous Clock Tower, and I wanted to depict something gruesome happening to it in the poster art for the show, and very quickly decided it should be a very large blobby creature mounting and drooling on it.

You can find the original poster HERE.

I've always liked this poster and wanted to turn it into a pin-up in its own right for SLASH-UPS: Vol 2. I've also been getting back into Sci-Fi a bit lately, and was always pleased with how this alien turned out in this image, and wanted to colour him up someday, and try and make him look extra gross and slimy.

One problem I had with turning this into a standalone piece of art is the dead space I had left for the title and show's info at the top needed filling in. So I added some UFOs flying over head. It seemed to fit the theme pretty well.

This is only my second go at colouring a pin-up in Clip Studio, but I'm picking up a few tricks now and slowly figuring it out. While colouring this, I was going for a kind of purple liver covered in birthmarks kind of look. I also tried to make sure the Alien looked organic and blobby while the Clock Tower looked like hard stone. 

I like that the more you zoom in, the grosser the Alien gets. I wanted him\it to be so disgusting it almost looks like it's in pain, it's so messed up. It really helped when I figured out he should have bad bloodshot eyes going on.

Smells Of Summer.

 You know it's a hot day when while working at your computer you can smell the tarmac in the streets outside cooking. 

Today is officially too hot.

Halloween Minded.

As is the tradition now, it's mid-summer and yet I'm already planning and working on stuff for Halloween later in the year. Hopefully making sure there'll be new and spooky Babayka-Lives and SLASH-UPS related work to go out.

I'm a little worried people might not be in the mood so much this year for Halloween, what with everything that's happening, but I guess we'll find out in October.

A Bad Time To Be A Thief.

I'm pretty sure at one point today while out shopping I turned and caught a guy trying to open a pocket on my bag behind my back...

The problem is because of Corona and the fact that nobody is bothering to social distances anymore and are just coming right up to you now, I'm always very aware of anyone within a two metre radius. It's impossible to be casual or relaxed around strangers now.

Later as I was paying and leaving I heard the cashier debating whether they thought he stole something or not in the shop.

Bloodshot Eye.

I can very much relate to this image right now. My eyes feel like two dry burning balls of dust after so many hours on my computer colouring this image. I think I might have been projecting a little bit while doing these eyes.

Sky Disks.

I honestly can't remember if I've been called upon to draw a UFO before. If I have, then I don't think it's been for a while. They're a little bit trickier to depict than you'd think.

I went for a very generic looking kind of Flying Saucer (I've seen a couple of UFOs in my time and they never look like this). You can also see my attempt to do a night sky in the background of this screenshot.

It's been nice to draw some Sci-Fi for a change. No spoilers for the future, but you should be seeing a little bit more Sci-Fi out of me before the end of 2020.

The Dark Judge Rises: Redux.

Just to put this 'redux' into context... back when I first coloured this Judge Death pin-up at the start of the year (before everything got crazy), the computer I was using was in pretty bad shape. It was super old and worn-out, prone to over heating and would often corrupt and ruin any memory-stick you'd put in it (at one scary point it almost wiped all my Babayka digital files).

It was a really bad time for my trusty computer to be suddenly playing up, and colouring this first time around felt like getting into an important fist-fight with one hand tied behind my back.

With that said, at the time I was happy enough with the colour job I had got done in the end. While it had been a very stressful and slow process, I felt I had put down a solid enough effort. However, as the months have gone on, it bothered me more and more that I maybe didn't lean more into the horror aspects of the image itself with the colouring. The 'creep-factor' was maybe a bit too subtle.

So when I needed an image to practices working on while I figured out Clip, recolouring this Judge Death pin-up felt like a chance at a do-over and an excuse to inject more frights into it.

I do think this second try in Clip has a nice Cel painted look going on in places. It took me ages and many goes to get the right 'rusty burnt orange' vibe I was after. I also think I upped my slime game in this new Redux (and that's saying something, as I was pretty happy with the slime look first time around). I also tried to make Death himself\itself a bit more crusty and moldy looking.

If you would like to compare this new Redux to the original, you can find my first go at colouring this image HERE.

I would be very interested in hearing which version people prefer and why? To be fair to the first Photoshop colour job, I maybe had to hold back a bit because of the faulty computer. But to be fair to this new attempt, this is my first go at using Clip.

Lockdown Life Hacks.

Remember... if you have a friend who's having a birthday and you don't have any Wrapping Paper because of Lockdown for doing their present.

Take away Pizza Menu leaflets can be just as good for wrapping gifts.

Yum, yum.

Bring Back Skeleton Horror.

So I've recently uploaded some new Babayka pages over on Deviantart. The scene in question is my little nod to the very underrated 'Skeleton Horror Genre' (although my skeletons turn out not to be alive in the end).

While Skeletons have never really took off in movies and so on (probably because before CGI, it was too hard to do a decent onscreen Skeleton without using Stop Motion Animation), there was a time in the 1950's when they were some of the coolest monsters around.

I've got a lot of love for classic style evil skeletons. They're not mindless like Zombies and can often be incredibly ruthless and spiteful. Something about being dead and the wrong side of the grave has really brought out the masochist in them. I also like that they're team-players and would often go after lovers ('Couples Peril' being something else that was also big in the 50's but has gone out of fashion now.)

I will one day soon do a proper Skeleton Horror pin-up in the coming future. Hopefully as part of SLASH-UPS: Volume 2, if I can fit it in. I'm currently just trying to think up a good creepy skeleton themed idea to draw at the moment that will do them justices.

Anyway... I hope there's a few other Skeleton horror fans out there who might also like to see more of them about in horror. I really do think they're due a comeback.

P.S. I also think I deserve extra points for finding an old skeleton horror cover as an example where the skeleton is actually called Andrew. I wonder if Skeleton Andrew is in the public domain yet as I'd love to do a comic starring him.

Dracula Descending: Toned.

I should make it very clear this is NOT a new piece of artwork or anything. This Dracula pin-up dates back to around 2013, and so is pretty old (and shows it in some places). But I've recently just swapped over art programs, and so have really had access to adding decent tone to my art for the first time ever, and this image just seemed like a good candidate for updating.
   
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for this image (even though it never really found much of an audiences, truth be told). And I spent so many hours drawing in all those rocks. It's also still probably the closes I've ever got to doing a Hammer Horror style art project.

I really feel tone has given this pin-up much better depth now, and that the rocks and Dracula really feel like they've been pushed into the forefront of the image. Plus now the room the woman is bathing in is dark and shadowy it's a lot more foreboding.

I know non-threatening sexy Vampires are very much in at the moment, but this is how I like my Vamps. Predatory sub-humans with nothing on their minds but blood. Plus I think every horror artists should do their take on Dracula at least once.

If you would like to compare pin-ups you can find the 2013 original Dracula art HERE.

I wish I could post the higher Res copy, as I notices tone really suffers when you drop the resolution for posting on the internet.

Bloody Vampire Nurse.

I've been more playing with tones this weekend in Clip, rather than doing any actual colouring. It's been a lot of fun and something I've been wanting to do for years. My tone work was very basic in photoshop, and I never got to try using the sheets.

I will show more of my toned up work in a future post, but as a bit of a treat, and to get things started, here's a revamp of my recent Vampire Nurse sketch, now with added dots and bloody mouth.

I'd love to do a comic (or at least a short story or pin-up) about a sexy Vampire Nurse one day. There's something so sinister about a healer turning into a parasite that takes life slowly.

The Adventurer.

For anyone wondering how I was getting on with switching over to Clip, I thought I would just quickly share my first attempt at colouring using it.

I'm not brave enough or skilled enough just yet to tackle a whole pin-up, so I just coloured up this old sketch of Amy in her adventurer outfit. Using this new program is certainly not a million miles away from Photoshop, although I'm still trying to figure out all the new brushes and what they can do, and how blending them together is going to work. I'm also a little daunted by all the new options I have to learn to really get the most out of Clip Studio.

My plan for the summer is to try and translate my old colouring skills into this new program and hopefully push things to a new level, if I can.

Anyway, enjoy this little bit of bonus Pith Helmet action. Have we seen the last of Amy The Adventurer, some may wonder? When last we saw her, she was trying to escape a giant spiders' nest, after some arachnid bug collecting had gone terribly wrong. I guess only time will tell...

Colour Me Curious.

One of the things I'm trying to get done during lockdown is to upgrade my home tech and move things forward with my colouring in 2020. And so as part of this, I finally bite the bullet and decided to invest in new colouring software.

It's been a long time coming, and I know I've got a lot of hours of trying to figure out and master this new program ahead of me. Being a trained Graphic Designer, I was very comfortable using Photoshop for all these years, but it feels crazy not to at least try software made for comic book artists, and I feel a little annoyed you can't outright buy photoshop anymore and own it.

I hope to have results I can share with people at some point soon, once I can find the time to get on there and play around with it more, and figure it out better. I was a little disappointed with the fonts that came with it, though. Was expecting a big list of fancy new comic book style fonts, but the ones included are pretty vanilla.

I'm also currently trying to decide if it's worth investing in a Wacom Tablet? I've heard very mixed reviews from people I've asks in the past.

Do You Wanna Corona?

I can honestly say I don't...

Corona Vs Hay Fever.

My eyes are so red and sore from Hay Fever right now and I have a constant sniffle going on lately. I was hoping being stuck indoors might help reduce my Hay Fever this year, but that’s not really proving to be the case so far, sadly.

The only upside to this is, I’m hoping any corona germs trying to enter my body this Summer will be washes away in a stream of tears and snot, as my face turns into a human waterslide and repels them.

Dual Wielding Pistols.

Been really getting back into first-person shooter games in 2020. So much so, I think it’s starting to show in my artwork.

This current image is only in the lay-out stage so far, but hopefully you can tell it’s meant to be a really action packed scene.

If In Doubt, Ask The Internet.

I know it’s more a question that should wait until colder weather and darker nights. More a riddle for Halloween time, maybe. But I have to ask… does anyone know a good way of attaching Vampire Fangs?

I have prop fangs… I have real canine teeth… but I’m struggling to bring them together.

I stocked up on a few pair of Fangs last Halloween for any future Vampire project I might wanna do (although all attempts to do any new Vampire artwork has so far been pretty disastrous), but I notices none of the packaging tells you how to attach them or keep them in.

I had read online someone suggesting chewing gum as a good fang adhesive, but I can assure you, all it does is gunk up the inside of your fang, and doesn’t stay put.

So any safe and easy secret tips would be very welcome, if people know? If you’ve fanged up in the past, how did you keep your spiked chompers in?

Horrors Of Lockdown.

Living in lockdown these past couple of months has felt like living in a horror movie at times.

One thing that always unsettles me a little is when I’m working in my room with the window open, and all I can hear is the noise of people walking by outside violently coughing and hacking up. 

It’s not as bad as the sound of a group of Zombies clawing at your front door or something, but it still leaves me feeling uneasy at how many people are currently sick. And how many times the outside of my house is regularly dusted with potential Covid-19 germs.

As if to prove the point, even as I write this very blog post, I can hear the sound of someone outside coughing and spluttering.

Now With Added Danger.

I had to print out some artwork over the weekend for my portfolio and decided I couldn’t have my Judge Death pin-up without the Danger sign on the front of the tub. So I’ve rejigged it to (hopefully) work in black and white.

I wasn’t sure at first, but I think it actually looks ok in solid black. You can still make out the rust and peel effect on the letters.

Angry Katchalov.

Katchalov loses his cool, in this latest panel of Babayka Land, as things start to heat up in Krayvengrad.

It was nice to get to draw his wispy moustache and eye scar in more detail in this frame, as Katchalov starts showing his true colours in this scene.

Lockdown Reading.

If the boredom of Lockdown is really starting to bite by this point, folks. And the fact you can’t go out and buy new stuff to read is getting you down. Just a friendly reminder that you can still read my horror webcomic series at:

Babayka-Lives.com

There’s at least a couple of hours of reading content on there (if you don’t speed read it). Roughly about a Graphic-Novel and half of modern horror goodness for people to enjoy.

I really wish I had new Babayka artwork to post right now. But if you’ve never read my comic before, or fancy a reread, it is something free for people to check out and distract themselves from the crummy  situation we find ourselves in at the moment.

Also, I know during lockdown people are trying new things they’ve never done before in art now they‘ve got all this free time. So if anyone’s flirting with doing any Sequential artwork for the first time, and needs help or just someone to look over their work, I’d be happy to help people with that, if you’re thinking of doing your first comic, and don’t know where to start or need any guidance, please feel free to pick my brain.

And failing that, if people wanna do some art, but can’t decide what to draw, I’ve got a Babayka themed Fan-Art Folder that really needs some feeding. All art is welcome, from short stories, to 3D renders, and everything in between.

As for me during lockdown. I’m still churning out new Babayka-Lives pages for later in the year. As well as maybe hoping to collaborate with a model at some point on a new pin-up during lockdown, if I can make that happen.

Anyway… Hope everyone is keeping well and doing what they can to stave off cabin fever at the moment. I know it’s a very stressful time for a lot of people right now, and everyone is just trying to do what they can.

Corona Zombies.

Points that someone made a Corona Zombie movie so fast, but minus points that must of it just seems to be Zombie Creeping Flesh redubbed.



I’ve shown this trailer to a few people so far, and verdict has mainly been it’s in bad taste to make a Corona themed Zombie movie. I take their point, although to be fair, this last month is the closes I’ve ever felt to living in a real life Zombie movie.

I think someone was always gonna make this parody.

Yana And Gun.

Yana gets locked and loaded in this latest panel from Babayka Land.

Been watching a lot of Westerns and War movies during my lockdown, and I think they’ve rubbed off a bit on this panel.

The Burning.

Found out the hard way today that if you touch your sweaty face with hands you’ve recently just uses Hand-Sanitizer on, it burns like hell…

It was like my cheeks were on fire or something.

At least it’s a quick and affective way to test and make sure your Hand-Sanitizer contains Alcohol, though.

Remain Indoors.

I am not looking forward to the coming weeks as the ‘eye of the Corona Virus storm’ hits the UK.

For a start, I’ve got nothing to connect me to the outside world and the rest of the human-race in the foreseeable future but a really old and out-of-date laptop, and poor internet services that’s getting more unreliable with each passing day.

If things gets too bad, I’m considering drawing a face on a Volleyball for company like Tom Hanks in Cast Away.

On the upside, though, at least I’ve got no excuses for not staying in and drawing now.

I’m also wondering why I’m watching so many classic outbreak movies recently too. During the last couple of weeks, I’ve watched Rabid (1977), The Crazies (1973) and Impulse (1984). Is it weird to be watching virus movies during a virus?

Fear The Sun.

Just to follow up on something I posted on Babayka-Lives this weekend…

Babayka Land will be starting up again later in the year. And before then, I’ll be sure to keep posting preview art here on this very blog.

I know from experiences the sunnier it gets, the less people want to spend their time in doors reading a dark scary webcomic about a monstrous people eating old man creature, and his beautiful but deadly Brides.

Although Babayka is NOT a Vampire, the Sun does seem to be his nemesis.

Contagion Movies.

I have to wonder why, when it feels recently like I’m living in a real life outbreak movie (including a scary moment today where I was followed home by a helicopter for some reason), I’ve been watching contagion movies this week?

I watched Impulse earlier in the week, and then my copy of the Crazies last night.

I wonder if subconsciously it’s my mind trying to do some late night research for these troubled times.

The Curse Of Modern Gaming.

I kind of wish modern games wouldn’t tell you how much time you’ve been playing a game when you save these days.

A big part of me doesn’t wanna know I’ve played nearly seventeen hours of Doom 3 recently over the pass three or four weeks.

As someone who doesn’t always find it easy to relax, I do enjoy the ‘sit back and turn your brain off’ nature of videogames. But I always feel great guilt after spending too many hours playing one. I have friends and family who are hardcore gamers, but personally, I’ve always tried to curb my gaming in my adult years.

I’ve notices I have been getting back into First-Person-Shooters a lot this Winter, to escape the cold and crappiness of the last few months.

One thing I’ve discovered about myself recently is in times of stress, I’m the type of person to take it out on digital Imps and Zombies… one shotgun cartridge at a time…

Still Hip.

I don’t know if I’ve ever posted an update on a Leap Year before, so I think this is a first for my blog.

So here’s Katchalov in all his inky glory (minus his turtleneck). Still taking a swig off of his hipflask.

Hipflask Action.

It’s always difficult when showing current Babayka art, not to give away any spoilers. But I think this bit of Katchalov hipflask action should be ok to show.

It’s gonna be tricky posting new Babayka artwork in 2020, as I’m about to start drawing some very intense and spoiler heavy pages this coming year, but I’ll post what I can.

It might be over ten years old, but this blog is still the best place to look for the latest and exclusive Babayka news and artwork.

Vampire Nurse.

I’m ashamed to say I’m not a 100% sure I haven’t posted this before (it’s been a rocky pass few months, and I‘ve lost track of a lot of things), but hopefully this is the first time folks are seeing it.

So please enjoy this quick Vampire nurse doodle I did recently for fun.

I’ve got a strong urge to do something Vampire nurse related at some point. I just like the contrast of depicting a healing character like a nurse, portrayed and mixes with something really bad for your health like a Vampire. Nurses help you feel better and improve your health… Whereas Vampire slowly suck you dry like a sexy illness…

My two favourite things to draw are beautiful woman and grotesque monster. But I do sometimes like the idea of when the two meet, and the idea of the bewitching predator  (I think my Babayka work would fully back that up). When what chases you is something a part of you wouldn’t mind being caught by. It feels like a very sinister trick of nature.

As 2020 rolls on, I will try and find time to do some more female Vampire doodles in my sketchbook when I can, but no promises. 2020 is not making a very good impression on me so far.

I do have a very soft spot for Vampire Vixens (maybe it’s a British thing), and would like to do more in this subgenre at some point.

The Dark Judge Rises Coloured.

Street Judges find the recently escaped Judge Death just as he starts to rises from his toxic green tub of ‘Dead Fluids’.

And so here’s The Dark Judge Rises in colour.

Mega City Judges and Judge Death have a very particular look that’s been around for ages, which I very much had to keep in mind while colouring this pin-up. I knew I wanted to get the look and colours just right. I’ve always secretly loved that dirty lime green colour they sometimes use for the Judge’s boots and gloves. Or the fact a Judge’s visor is arched and red, so Judges always look angry. I do think both are a design classic.

Even though this is Judge Death emerging fresh and new in this image in a new dead body and custom, I still wanted his outfit to look a little tattered and washed out. I also loved colouring his pads and accessories in that horrible murky sand colour. You know a character is evil, when they wear double-ended witch fingers on their elbow.

The ‘DANGER’ font was actually taken from a real danger sign I found and photographed while out on a hike last summer. If you look carefully, you can see where the rust has started to eat into the letters (I love that kind of effect). I was saving it for a future pin-up, but it just seemed to go so well with this image.

I’ve had the urge to do a slime bases pin-up for a while now, so it was fun to finally get to play around with that, and draw dripping slime. Green slime always makes monsters scarier.

I also think there’s something a little creepy about people getting out of the bath (think Room 237 and the old lady in The Shining). I kind of think he also looks a bit like a vampire popping out his coffin at sunset.

The Dark Judge Rises.

You’ve seen bits and pieces of this pin-up posted on my blog over the last couple of months, but here’s the finishes thing in black and white.

Two street Judges on the look out for the recently escaped Judge Death find the missing Dark Judge moments too late, as he emerges from his tub of sinister chemicals (in Judge Dredd lore, Judge Death’s body must be treated with “Dead Fluids” before he can live again), ready to start judging the living once more.

I rarely get the chance to do fan-art, as I just don’t get the free time, but as a British horror comic book artists, I’ve always wanted to do my take on everyone’s favourite super fiend. I think Judge Death probably is the best British horror comic book character of all time (although I also have a soft spot for Captain Constanta and the Stix Brothers), and now I’ve finally got to do my take on him, in my style.

I wanted to try and make sure this pin-up focuses on Judge Death as much as possible. I also tried to stick to the classic Brian Bolland design as much as I could, as I don’t think you can beat those first two stories and original design.

It was also very cool to get to draw a couple of Mega City Judges in this pin-up too, although I did nearly go mad having to draw all those pockets and pads. I now have a new respect for artists who have to draw multiple Judges in one scene. Lawgivers are also nightmares to get just right.

It was also both fun and maddening to really get into the design of Judge Death’s custom. From the double-ended witch fingers on his elbows, to the weird turkey pterodactyl thing he wears on his right shoulder. His outfit has soooooo many bizarre elements to draw in. I’ve never spent as long drawing a character as these three.

A Call For Feedback.

Hope readers enjoyed the latest instalment of Babayka Land.

Please be sure to keep all Babayka related feedback coming in at the usual address. I would love to hear what people thought of the recent storyline.

It was both super annoying and a real treat to have to draw soooooooo many skeletons for that booby-trap scene.

Street Judge In Colour.

And here’s the same Judge, now scanned and coloured.

Don’t Judge Me.

Here’s something different to start off a new year and new decade…

I’m pretty sure this is my first attempt at drawing a 2000ad Mega City Judge (it’s just a Judge, not any particular Judge, BTW), so don’t be too judgemental. If you look really carefully, you can even see the ghostly outline of a soul-patch I drew on him, so people wouldn’t think he was Judge Dredd, before wisely deciding to rub it out.

I have to confess drawing the famous Judge uniform and Lawgiver was a real baptism of fire. I spent so long recently drawing pockets and pads and trying to get them just right.

Anyway, hope people feel I did the design justices, as it were. And this was a nice geeky treat to start the year on.