Coming This Easter…

Nature is very much red in tooth and claw this Easter, as we happily announce that the next SLASH-UPS horror theme will be ‘Nature Runs Amok’, I.E. killer animals (think Jaws, Cujo, James Herbert’s Rats).

The Animal kingdom gets its revenge this Spring with two new pin-ups by myself and James base around the theme of nature running wild. No one is safe, as we celebrate all things beastly, creepy-crawly and squawky this coming Easter weekend, as nature bites back.

It was great ‘wetting our fangs’ on the Vampire genre last Halloween, and we hope folks will get a kick out of seeing us tackle killer critters next.

Above you’ll see I’ve made a new snake themed promo poster to mark this event. I tried very hard to think of the perfect image to show the struggle of ‘man vs. nature’ to get everyone in the right mood. This is my attempt.

So nail shut those Cat Flaps, grab your Bug Spray and give the Easter Bunny a wide berth this April. As anything with Fur, Scales or Feathers is probably out to get you.

I can reveal one fun fact to wet peoples’ appetites before the carnages begins next month. I got to tick something off my artistic bucket list with my forthcoming pin-up by actually getting to draw a Pith Helmet with my offering (I have a weird bucket list). No spoilers, but here’s a sketch I did while doing mine of my model wearing it I can share to tide people over until next month.

So to sum up, ‘Chicks In Piths’ vs. cold and cruel Mother Nature this coming Easter.

Now With Inks.

A photo for those that like to see both pencilled and inked artwork.

This photo is so high-quality, you can see the many, many patches of white-out from me trying to cover up all my many, many smudges.

The Zombie Dilemma.

Here’s a very small cluster of Zombie doodles I did recently while doing thumbnails.

I find myself in the dilemma that Zombies are very overused and out-of-fashion at the moment, after years of overexposure. Pop culture seems bored with the undead now and has move on to killer clowns and so forth. I can’t remember the last time I read a really good Zombie comic, or saw a really good Zombie movie in recent years.

And yet after about four years of not having drawn any, I have to confess I have really been fighting the urge to do a Zombie pin-up lately.

A Little Serrock.

This is new (only just been pencilled) artwork from later in Babayka Land. So new in fact, the page it’s from hasn’t even been finished yet. But I thought it would be fun to start the week with a little bit of unseen Serrock. Something for all those waiting for the return of Babayka-Lives later in the year.

Both Itsy And Bitsy.

Spiders on a Sunday seems to have started being a tradition on this blog lately. A very creepy-crawly way to end the week.

Arachnology has never been more dangerous.

Barley A Doodle.

This drawing was so quick, it’s barley a doodle. I probably drew it in the time it takes for you to read this current sentences. And although it’s gone now (rub out of existences by an eraser), I thought I’d take a photo of it and post it anyway, as I like it.

Plus it also hints at things to come and something I hope to be doing later in the year. Believe or not, this is actually a new (and very basic) design of an existing character of mine.

Horror Sub-Genre Suggestions.

Before we very shortly announce the theme of the next SLASH-UPS challenges in the coming weeks, and to get people in the mood, I thought I’d quickly put a shout out for anymore horror sub-genre suggestions readers might like to see?

Volume one had such themes as Killer Dolls (in our case a killer Sex Doll), Zombies (both regular and Pumpkin-Headed) and the slasher genre (where SLASH-UPS gets its name from). But is there any horror sub-genres people think we’re overlooking or missing? Anything people would like to see done in a future edition of SLASH-UPS? Maybe a certain monster or monsters you’d like to see included?

We kicked things off last Halloween by tackling the Vampire Genre, which was a lot of fun, and something I’d like to return to at some point. We’re be getting ‘back to nature’ with our next SLASH-UPS challenge soon. But where from there? Werewolves…? Mummies…? Killer Gnomes…?

Also is there any themes from Volume one people might wanna see again? Currently there’s no plans to bring back any characters from the first book. But we’re open to hearing if people would like to see more of something?

Any and all horror sub-genre ideas and monster requests are welcome, and feel free to get super obscure with your suggestions if you’re a horror nerd. Although I don’t know how we’d tackle something like ‘Mumblegore’ or ‘Cyber Horror’. 

If we see the same names coming up again and again, I might try and make an online poll so people can vote on the most popular ones later in the year.