Going Up.

I have a pet hate of drawing stairs or people on the stairs. It always slows down the action for me in a story. I try and either avoid stair shots or keep them short. I’m ok with this shot (otherwise I wouldn’t be posting it) but as a rule, I dislike them.

I figure most if not all artists have a few pet hates when it comes to drawing. Like cars, animals, backgrounds, ect, ect. When I’m doing a comic, I try and write in at least a couple of scenes that I know will force me to draw something I’m not to happy doing. Forcing me outside of my comfort zone. Why? Because I secretly hate myself.

I always love to find out what other artists hate drawing. It not really something most artists will tell you about. Maybe they think people will suddenly think they’re bad artists, because they can’t draw guns or planes or sexy woman. I’ll share one more of mine, so maybe one day other artist will be a bit more forthcoming with theirs and spill the beans… ready? I hate drawing cats!!! I like the idea of drawing cats, but whenever I do they always look a bit retarded to me. I never drawn a shot of a cat I’m happy with. But at least at the moment, I’ve drawn a stairs shot I’m ok with.

The Kidnappers.

HA HA HA, I haven’t seen this sketch since it first went out on DR Who night ten years ago. I’d forgotten all about it until I saw it the other day online. It does slightly break my bitter, little heart that I don’t know a single other Dr Who fan personally. I had no one to email this to when I did rediscover it. I should really aim nerdier when it comes to friends.

Sticking with Dr Who I can’t wait until The Waters Of Mars this Sunday. Those Water, Zombie, thingies look like a decent Who, monster. Be good to see if it is as scary as some people are saying.

I also see today that as part of channel 4’s 3D season they’re showing Friday The 13th Part 3D and Flesh Of Frankenstein in 3D. How cool is that? I’ve always wanted to see Friday the 13th Part 3D in 3D. I’ve never seen a 3D movie before or at least a feature length one and certainly not a horror movie in 3D. Not really had the urge to see all these new 3D movies like Up that have been out lately (unless it was Russ Meyers 1976, Up. That's one film that should get the 3D treatment.)

The Ugly-Bugly Parade.

I have to say out of all the characters I’m drawing for project B.O.B. this character is the most fun so far. He goes by the name Raymond Moon. Mainly he’s so fun to draw because I tried to make him ugly looking. Unlike most times you drawing someone in a comic, you don’t have to worry about making these types of characters look cool or sexy. It more fun to see how ugly you can get someone looking while still making sure they look realistic.

If I had to sum Raymond Moon up in one word it would be unsavoury and I’m having fun trying to get that across in the comic.

Good Luck (Your Need It.)

Finally got my first wave of submissions posted out today. It took me a lot longer then I’d planned and way more effort and money then I would have liked. First finding hard-backed envelopes has become a big deal. There used to be a couple of places in town I could pick them up (like the post offices for one), now I have to make a big trip to a stationery shop tucked away in a part of town I don’t usually go to. I thought this time I’d try and be a bit clever and buy in bulk, so I bought ten of them. Problem was when you buy something in certain shops, they don’t give you a plastic bag, instead they give you these little arty, paper bags. They look nice with there funky pattern on them but if you get caught in the rain they offer as much protection as… well a paper bag. Needless to say on the way home I got caught in a storm that came out of nowhere and seemed to end the moment I got home. I managed to keep the pricey, envelopes pretty dry. Maybe one or two got a bit of water damages. So then after feeling in forms and printing off all my work over an afternoon, I finally had my submissions ready to go. Only problem is… postal strikes. I could still post them but I thought I’d wait until a day when the strike wasn’t on (the strike started the day I was ready to start posting.) so I held onto them until this week. I heard on the news, they were saying a lot of post was getting chucked, secretly to help with the backlog. I thought they stood a better chance if I waited and wouldn’t end up in a bin round the back of some sorting office somewhere. So yesterday I went down and tried to post them. You have to use these machines now and post them yourself. I didn’t really like the idea but I thought I’d have to learn sooner or later. Sadly it would be later as I fucked up the first three and had to return home defeated with a slightly lighter wallet. After spending twenty minutes last night redoing (and using more of my now precious, hard-back envelopes) I was ready to try again today. This time I got someone there to show me how to do it. Another annoying point is you have to fill in these tiny, little sticker documents for airmail, which I’m guessing, if anything going to go tits up this time it’ll be them. At the end, the guys nodding and going “see, it not that hard really. It just going to be a lot more useful.” And I’m politely nodding but in my head I’m thinking, “God, I miss the days when you could just buy hard-back envelopes without going on long adventures and when you could just hand your post to a bored looking woman behind a desk.” I guess it’ll all be worth it, if they turn up where I sent them… But with the luck I’ve had so far it’s a big IF.

“Snigger.”

Yeah it childish, but seeing the new OGC logo has cheered me up on this grey Monday. Am I the only one who thinks they should keep it?

Full story HERE.

Chummy.

Sadly didn’t have time this year to do a Halloween E-card. Really like the one I did last year and was hoping to turn it into a yearly thing, but I’ve had very little free time recently and to be honest I’ve been wracking my brains in the little free time I did have to think up a decent image and I just couldn’t top last years. Maybe with better planning I can do one for 2010 even if I have to draw it in the middle of the summer and then hang on to it for months.

Annoyingly project B.O.B. that’s been taking up all my time lately is a horror story but so far, I’m only just over a quarter of the way through the first issue and haven’t yet had to draw anything too spooky that I could have used for a Halloween E-card.

I can at least post this latest shot however. Enjoy and HAPPY HALLOWEEN for the weekend.

Standing Around.

I like this little panel. Maybe not the most exciting shot ever put down on Bristol board, but there’s something about it I like. It was a shame when I got round to lettering this panel, that most of it got covered up. So enjoy it here in all it glory.