DAVE TAYLOR

Happy Holidays!!

2011-12-23T17:52:00.001Z

Death by Design...Batcave

2011-11-30T14:16:00.003Z

Here's a little panel I like, thought I'd share it. I wish someone would write me a Batman story that solely takes place in the Batcave!!

It's out there!!

2011-10-19T15:53:00.002+01:00

Seeing as this image is appearing all over the net I thought it only fair I should pop it on here!

Batman: Death by Design

2011-10-18T12:37:00.003+01:00

People of the Earth, Moon and the other inhabited local worlds...it's the time you've all been waiting for, the time when I finally get to announce my Batman book, officially!!
We've all had fun playing guessing games as to who this "mysterious writer" really is, at one point it crossed my mind to run a competition to see who could get closest, but now it's time to end all this silliness and just get on with disclosure.

Batman: Death by Design, art by me and written by Chip Kidd. To be published spring 2012 in "deluxe" format.

So there we have it folks! Now you know. And for those of you unfamiliar with Mr Kidd (shame on you!) allow me to introduce New York's very own graphic "rock star", the man responsible for changing the face of book cover design in the late 20th century and early 21st. He's considered the leading light in graphic design, you've all seen his work and wondered at it's appeal. And he can write! Man, can he write! With all honesty and conviction I can say that this Batman: Death by Design is the best Batman story I've read in thirty years. Fact. Personally, it has many connections with my own life experience. It features the theme of architecture which is part of my family history, so you could say I'm biased...I'm not. How dare you!
I can't wait for this book to be published because I genuinely think it's my best work. Thanks to Chip, I had to become a better artist. I had to grow, to find a new way of telling a story and ultimately to be the artist of my design. Thanks Chip!

Here's a link to Chip's CBR interview about the book.

I'll continue adding sneaky peeks from time to time so don't be a stranger!

Batman news and Thought Bubble

2011-08-25T12:38:00.003+01:00

Things are moving! My "DELUXE" Batman book has moved into the cover design stage, which for me is extremely exiting, meaning that it can't be too long before this here thing becomes official, with an announcement imminent! (does this sound familiar?!) I even roughly know when the book will be on sale...but for now my lips are again sealed!

In other news...I'll be attending this years Thought Bubble comic con in Leeds this November. I'll be part of the mass signing of the Nelson graphic novel, to be launched during the show.

The image above is a tiny part of a much bigger page, here seen in blue line pencil. Again, just a peek...for now!

Nelson graphic novel

2011-07-20T13:39:00.002+01:00

Although it could be said that my life has been governed solely by a Mr. Batman of recent, the fact is that I've allowed other things to invade my otherwise Bat dominated world, however slight the invasion might be. One good example is the forthcoming Nelson graphic novel. Here's the hype...

"Over fifty of the UK’s most interesting comic creators have taken part in a unique collaboration to produce Nelson, a 260-page novel to be published by Blank Slate in November 2011. One continuous tale takes us from 1968 to the present with one chapter for every year, each of those chapters recording the events of one day in the life of one woman. A life told in snapshots. Nel Baker’s life.
Nelson embraces all aspects of comics storytelling across a wide spectrum of UK-based creators, uniting established talents from 2000AD, DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, The Beano and The Dandy with small press, Web comic and newspaper strip artists in one intriguing story. Nelson is an unprecedented anthology, a crazy experiment that is part exquisite corpse and part relay race, and best of all, an all–consuming novel like nothing you have seen before."

So...when the stunningly talented and jolly nice fellow Rob Davis asked me to be involved, and after he'd shown me some of the lush art already produced for the book I couldn't say "no". I could clearly see Rob and his fellow creator/editor Woodrow Phoenix (an equally stunningly talented and jolly nice fellow) were putting together something out of the ordinary, something exiting and fresh. Being asked to participate was a joy and an honour.

The images above show my proses for one of the panels of the four pages I've drawn for the book. The first is a blow-up of my first sketch, always done as wee as possible for clarity's sake. The second is the blue pencil drawing, done as "fast and loose" as I can! The third is the finished (pre lettering) image, coloured in Photoshop.

Despite my involvement, I strongly suggest you seek this out in November!

New Batman design

2011-06-22T11:23:00.004+01:00

No, it's not part of DC's new reboot, it's something even more exiting. I proudly present to you, the world, my three year old daughter's interpretation of The Batman, created as my father's day card! (with her consent I should add!)
Batman has been a part of her life for most of her life, with pages and sketches laying around our home for the past few years as I work on my book. I may have introduced them to each other, I take full responsibility, but she's grown fond of him in her own way and to show me how much she loves the caped crusader she insisted on drawing me this card. Obviously I was thrilled. It's a heck of a thing to get from your own child, especially being such a Batfreak myself!

Judge Anderson and Robot Archie commission

2011-06-21T16:51:00.002+01:00

Here's a little something I've had on my desk for a few months, finally got the thing finished in between Batman pages. And yes, I couldn't resist popping a Batman in there for good measure!

The Batman book is coming along nicely by all accounts. I've only got eight pages left to draw on the second of the two books so it's nice to think that all the hard work is done, all I have to do is the "inking" (graphite pencil) and the colouring and I'm home and dry. Hopefully there'll be some news soon regarding the secret writer and when this darn thing will be published!

Bristol Comic Con

2011-05-10T17:20:00.003+01:00

Once in a while, a comic book creator gets to leave his/her house/bunker and travel to things called Comic conventions. The true meaning of these events is unknown, some argue that they don't actually happen, that it's a form of mass hallucination. It is true that often one can't remember any details from such a weekend but this can't be sighted as hard evidence for or against the argument. I, myself suggest that if you're interested in phenomenon such as this, if you harbour a nagging suspicion that a "comic con" might be thrilling, then make your way to Bristol this coming weekend (13th-15th May) and see what transpires. It could change you life!

Batman. More peeking!

2011-03-18T13:49:00.003Z

Yes folks, it's that time again when I show a little bit more of my Batman project. Again, hopefully not giving too much away! I'm working now on the second of the two books and can say for certain that I'm positive, when it hits the shelves, that I'll have a best seller on my hands. No misplaced ego here, just facing the fact that this is something unique and much needed...all thanks to my mysterious writer, who has managed to write the kind of Batman story that's been sadly lacking from the industry for many years. You have no idea how frustrating it is that I still can't name him/her...you'll understand why when the time of revelation comes!!

Build a 'bot! (or how I stepped back in time)

2011-01-26T15:52:00.005Z

Hard at work on Batman as I am, delightful as that is, it was a great pleasure recently to be asked to produce the above for an up-coming event by the name of DAR 2011, an "SF modeling show" to be held at the Gateway Hotel, Nottingham, UK from Fri 30th of April to Sun 1st of May.

The image will be a full page ad inviting folk to take part in a "Build a 'bot" competition.

Now, Batman takes all my time. Seriously, it's the most demanding job I've ever had, but once in a while it's good for me to put my Bat-pencil down for a moment and look up to see what else is going on in the world. As a child I used to love building plastic model kits. This turned into what is now regarded as quite an artform, namely custom models. I used to get all the bits left over from the kits, often including spare wings, cock-pits, guns and such and make my own little space craft. (the bases of some of the British Airfix kits were ideal to use as fuselage for these imagined sky vehicles in most cases)

When Eric invited me to produce this ad for him I couldn't say no. I managed to fit it in to my Bat-schedule by mostly working on it at night, so my Bat-conscience is fairly unblemished!

So...what you're looking at above is my working process, from initial "pop" idea to the finished piece. Some of you keen eyed folk out there may spot, amongst the first batch of sketches, the pose/robot I should have gone for! Typically I'm an artist who is never satisfied with anything I do!

Back to the Batcave...!

Transmetropolitan art book (adult content warning!)

2011-01-07T12:10:00.003Z

What can I say about the comic book legend that is Transmetropolitan other than I too thought it was a stunning piece of work and was not alone in thinking sad thoughts when the series (by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson) was drawn to a close almost a decade ago.
I was recently invited to take part in a new Transmet project, something that I couldn't pass up, despite my tight Batman schedule. I've posted here an edited (by me) selection of "clips" from the full page image I came up with. If you're a fan of the series then I strongly advise you to keep an eye on this book, no true fan should be without it!

Oh, and Happy New Year!!

2010-12-21T14:40:00.004Z

Kings of Inertia

2010-12-03T13:02:00.005Z

Folks, I'd like you to meet my drums. Dear friends of mine. I play them when I can, usually at the end of my work day and always with joy. Not wanting to get too philosophical about it, these guys are part of me. Whatever I do in life I'll always be a drummer. I set out to be a guitarist, still in school and dreaming of performing twenty minute solos...the finger dislocation incident brought that dream to a close and with it an introduction to drumming. My most memorable performance, including all the touring I did of British working mens clubs and American Air Force bases (!!!), is easily the one at Glastonbury music festival. Not an organised, official gig I might add, but a mass drum jam in and around the stone circle. It started around mid-day and ended a day and a half later! I drummed all this time, held prisoner by the rhythms and the fact that I'd been passed the lead drum, the one that marks the tempo and underlays everything. I remember trying to pass the drum on a few times but was always persuaded to continue, presumably no one else wanted that responsibility. I wallowed in it!

So...what does this have to do with the here and now? Well, my old mate Gary Smith, who is in the process of starting to get his first album together, has invited me to be a part of his project.
Our method of recording his songs is going to be intriguing, neither of us having a lot of spare time, so we've come up with a dastardly plan, the first stage of which has been completed, namely a rough/guide drum track. This will help Gary to get the feel of the song as he records his guitar and vocal tracks, which will then be added to with a fresh drum track, guitar layers, bass and whatever else he chooses to complete the song. You can find samps of the drums for the first track to be worked on over on his site...allow me to introduce The Kings of Inertia!

Now...back to the Batcave!

Who's this Joker?!

2010-11-12T15:33:00.002Z

I've just finished this panel from my Batbook and thought "hey, that looks like the kind of thing I'd post on my blog!" So here it is. No beans being spilled. No revelation. Just, again, a wee peek.

More Batman sneaky peeky

2010-10-07T14:17:00.006+01:00

Hello again Batfans! I know it's been a while since I posted any of my Batman project, what can I say but sorry folks, I mean you no harm!

I'm so close now to finishing the first book (of two), can't believe it's taken me a year to get this far. But then, I hadn't expected to be co-employed with looking after a little daughter who is so full of energy she puts our very Sun to shame! So I've got two jobs, both of which I've been waiting for most of my life. It's been an incredible learning experience. On one hand, becoming a Dad after twenty years of wanting the job has opened my eyes to say the least and has made me the person I was cut out to be. On the other hand, the Batjob is seriously the best project I've ever worked on. That's not taking anything away from the work I've done in the past, it's simply that this is something quite different and something again that I've been waiting a long time to achieve.

So here's some edited images from my Batbook. And I promise to be a little more blog productive in future!

A 2000AD tattoo!

2010-09-09T14:03:00.004+01:00

A friend of mine, who's mind has clearly been badly affected by reading 2000AD as a child, commissioned me recently to design a new tattoo for him. Here it is.

As you'll see, if you have any understanding of tattoo creation and the golden rules applied, I've used "too many lines", something that one must never do when seeking the perfect, long lasting tat. Lucky for me, the guy physically engraving my friend knows how to fix this (basically ignoring all my wiring!) and assures us both that it will look ace on completion. Fingers crossed! It's not like I can fix it in photoshop!!

While I was working on this, I couldn't help remembering with a smile the second issue of 2000AD which came with a free gift, something not a million miles away from my design.

Here's the cover...I actually still have the free gift somewhere, but it would take too long to find it so this will have to do...AIEEEEEE!

Judge Dredd's new girlfriend?!

2010-06-10T17:47:00.003+01:00

Here's something for all you 2000AD and Judge Dredd fans out there, a sketch (for one of the guys at Rebellion) of Exorcist Judge Lamia. She came into being last year, written by Ian Edginton and designed by myself, in a story that I think is just the beginning of this young lady's career. (We do in fact have plans for a new series, but it'll have to wait for Mr Batman!)
Can you tell I had fun with the background?!!

Iron Man by design

2010-05-07T11:55:00.003+01:00

Here's my Iron Man variant cover for Punisher #16...out now!
As a variant it's not easy to find, especially in small British comic shops, so I thought it only fair that I should show the image here.
Having had only a few days in which to get this done I'm not overly pleased with the outcome, it's a little frustrating that I couldn't spend more time on it to tighten a few things, but it's been well received so I guess I should just shut up and be happy with it!

BATMAN!!

2010-04-28T22:48:00.003+01:00

It's almost, not quite, but almost time to reveal all there is to reveal about this Batman book I've been working on. So, for now, here's a few wee peeks at what I've been so cagey about all this time.

Sale now on!!

2010-03-13T11:19:00.004Z

I know there's an economic squeeze on, I know the world is struggling under the pressure, but when you find the chance to buy something you like that will keep it's value and brighten up your life you'd be mad not to at least have a look!
I've gathered together a collection of work, from my early Batman days up to the present day and have made them available to purchase.
Click here or the link to your right to open up a world of shopping never before seen or experienced!!

IronMan cover

2010-03-09T15:39:00.005Z

Don't panic!

Batman is still well under way...and no, I still can't show you anything from it...yet. But for now, here's a sneaky peeky at an IronMan cover I was recently asked to produce. Many thanks to my DC editor Mark Chiarello for allowing me to do this job, us both agreeing that it would do my profile in the States a favour, not having been around in the US market for quite some time.

The above image shows my idea for the cover, an imagined "what if" scenario depicting IM in some 50's inspired armour. Here I had him standing proudly outside a classic 50's style cinema...

...as you can see, I changed my mind, going here with a shot of a Vegas like street. More 50's to my mind. This is the blue line drawing colour test, giving my editor a good idea of how the thing will look when finished.

And here's a peek at the finished piece. My idea was to mimic the style of advertising from that period, before photography had really caught a hold and the great ad painters of the time were still being employed. Guys like Albert Dorne were a great influence for me on this job, an amazing artist, well worth a search.

Now...back to the Batcave!

HUZZAH!!2

2010-01-29T14:38:00.005Z

Yes folks, it's a new year and a new HUZZAH!! A new dawn of web comics begins with some new faces added to the list of contributors, some great talent to add to the existing line-up, and things are already cooking! Click the link to your right to enter a whole new universe!
The above image is my latest post to the site, something entirely done in photoshop. I only had a few hours in which to get this done, Batman breathing down my neck, so it's not how I'd like it but there's always the "happy accidents" that come along while working so fast that it makes for a very enjoyable experience...the whole point of my participation in HUZZAH!!

Batman's coming along very nicely. Still can't show anything substantial and STILL can't divulge who the writer is but I can now confirm that (with no attempt at self promotion or driven by ego) this book is going to be a great read! Now that I've amassed a fair amount of finished pages I can see and feel how the book will be when completed, and I really think this is the best work I've done. As usual I'm not happy with some of it, but I'm finding I'm liking more than normal, which makes me wonder if it's the writing or the method I'm using or a combination of both. Whatever, it's looking good and I'm having a ball. Working on Batman again feels right! (how could it not?!!)

...and a great New Year!

2009-12-23T19:01:00.002Z

Batman big in Lille (France)

2009-11-03T19:08:00.011Z

I know, I know. I don't look old enough to have a child of my own. Well folks, it's true, (as those of you familiar with this den of iniquity will well know) this is me and my daughter at the Lille comic festival in northern France. I'm not sure what was being said, but it sure made us both seem to question the very existence of the universe...or something. Actually, know I think about it, a gathering of stormtroopers may have been taking place as this was taken (by my fabulous assistant and mother of said adorable one). There was a little stage opposite my "signing point" where occasionally something happened...like stormtroopers gathering. (I should add here that both my daughter and I share a keen interest in stormtroopers, the Star Wars kind that is!).

Apart from the stormtroopers, the festival was a great pleasure to attend. The city itself was very intriguing, only having a few days there-I felt it would have been nice to have had an extra day or two to explore.

It's a unique treat for me to be invited as a guest to a French comic con, having been kick-started into wanting to produce comics as a living by a visit to Paris at the age of 18, where I discovered, to my delight, that there was a whole new world of comic books out there, bound in time resistant hard covers, with incredible and mind boggling art within...and so cheap!!

Finding myself sitting at a table with French folk (and many other nationalities) asking ME for a sketch (mostly of Batman!) and excitedly handing me my own comics to sign was a cosmically deep experience. Forgive me for seeming falsely modest, but things like this make me remember just how bloody lucky I am, doing what I enjoy and trying to turn that into a way of caring for my little family. Comics are ace!

Many thanks to Julien for inviting me, and to Jean-Lois for helping me recover my lost bag, and to all the staff, who were a pleasure to meet. The weekend was enhanced by some highly respected artists and all round jolly good people, namely Gary Erskine, Mark Texeira, Phil Winslade and the legend that is Michael Golden.

(those are prints and not original art I'm leaning on!)

Lille Comic Festival illustration

2009-10-12T21:05:00.003+01:00

Here's the poster I was asked to produce for the Lille Comic Festival (31Oct-1stNov). It's going to be on sale at the show to raise cash to pay for the guests, me included, and hopefully I'll be bringing some back to put on sale on this very blog...look out for my new For Sale page soon!

My Batman writer's name is...

Nope. Still no movement on the top secret aspect yet. Sorry!

Dredd cover prog 1653

2009-09-16T14:42:00.006+01:00

Prog 1653 is out, sporting my recent Dredd cover. Dredd's back in the old cursed earth and not happy. Poor old chap's suffering a loss of respect and dignity recently. There's new blood in power and Joe is taking it badly. I like how Wagner is lowering Dredd's status from unquestionable to down right out of the loop. Great stuff. There's also some lovely artwork by the Flint droid on Shakara so take a look.

And while I'm on about covers...have a look at Pete Wells' 2000AD cover blog. He's got lots of goodies over there and well worth a visit. (see my links)

As you can see from above I'll be doing a signing in Manchester on the 26th of this month with fellow "High Spirits" creator Ian Edginton. I'm hoping we'll get a chance to talk about our future plans for our character Exo Judge Lamia, who's gone down really well with the fans. And it's going to be jolly nice to meet Al Ewing, Leigh Gallagher and Steve Yeowell too. Show up if you can, should make for a good day.

And while I'm on the subject of signing...I've been invited to the next Lille Comics Festival at the end of October. It's been a very long time since I've done a show in France so I can't wait. My only concern is how I'm going to carry home all the books I'll inevitably buy while I'm there!

And finally...Batman. No, I still can't talk about it so stop asking!!!

Thanks to Gary Smith for reminding me I haven't posted anything for a while! Cheers m'old mate!

New Dredd cover

2009-07-28T17:30:00.013+01:00

The Cursed Earth is probably the most powerful memory I have of first reading 2000AD and Judge Dredd, so you can imagine how pleased I was when asked to do a cover for the galaxy's greatest! The images above are sections of the background, all painted in photoshop...have I mentioned how much I love photoshop?! Yes? Well I'll say no more other than life would be impossible without it!

I still can't talk too much about Batman at this stage, things are going great with my designs for characters and other secret things (for now) being gladly received by my secret (for now) writer, who I must say is a delight to work with. It's getting almost impossible now for me not to blurt it out there, shout it from the highest Gotham tower, but I know how much it means to DC to keep certain things close to their chests until deemed appropriate for the world to know so I'll shut up...for now!

Dredd...done and dusted

2009-06-23T11:37:00.003+01:00

Well folks, I made it. I sent my last page of Dredd off just in time to save my neck. I know I've saved my neck because I was promptly asked if I could do a cover for 2000AD...not sure if I can mention yet what it will feature but I can say it's going to be a corker!

Now I've finished on Dredd (for the time being) I'm getting my head around changing gears for my next project...Batman. I still can't talk about it too much, I'm itching to tell you who I'll be working with but I'll have to sit on that a little while longer. Sorry!
I've already started working on the initial design stages for the Bat book,I've found myself a Batman model, a guy who works with my partner and was gracious enough to offer his face. Not something I could do with Dredd, I just don't know that many stony faces, but for Batman I wanted to give the book an element of reality, and so, like I did with #100 of Legends of the Dark Night (recently republished as "Robin:The Teen Wonder") I'm using models for some of the major roles. It's a serious book as Batman stories go and so I want to use some real faces to help get the story across.

The image above is another example of my working process, from blue pencil to ink and finally colour. I've cropped this panel so as not to give anything away about the story.

Prog 1640 has landed...

2009-06-17T21:24:00.004+01:00

2000AD prog 1640 is out with the first part of the four part Dredd story I've just finished...actually I still have two pages to do so you can imagine the heat I'm feeling despite the cooling rain today. This image is from one of the later parts where I had the very welcome opportunity to do a (mostly) full Dredd with an MC1 background. Can you tell I had fun?!

(the image is a scan of the blue pencil stage, before I've inked and coloured)

But what of Batman?

2009-06-08T13:42:00.004+01:00

What of Batman indeed. Well, I'm still under orders to keep silent about most features regarding my prestigious Batman project, suffice to say that as you can see from the middle panel above I've started getting my head around jumping style ships and working solely in pencil again. Yes folks, it's that time I hinted at months ago, time for a book just in pencil.

When I've worked in pencil before, without adding ink, I've gone some way to make it look inked ish. The Batman and Robin origin story I did some years back (recently republished in "Robin:The Teen Wonder") was my first attempt at telling a story using only pencil, but in this case the pages were scanned in high contrast and then coloured by Digital Chameleon. This Batbook demands a slightly different approach. More on that later as I start to experiment over the coming weeks. I'll also be starting work on designing the main characters, obviously this includes The Batman himself. I'll be posting what I can as I do it, again with DC say so.

The images above are more peeks at my present Dredd, now only days away from completion. I'm going to miss drawing all the BigMeg madness!

The page below is from the Robin origin story, and is my scan of the original page.

My latest HUZZAH page

2009-04-27T19:16:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Tharg the Mighty extending my Judge Dredd deadline I managed to get this done for our web comic. Things are moving along wonderfully, with 38 pages now posted since we started in January. If you haven't already had a look please find a coffee break to read it...you'll be hooked!

2009-04-17T12:20:00.002+01:00

A little while back NoBrow, a fresh and exiting new publisher based in London, invited me to contribute to their first book "Gods and Monsters". Obviously I jumped at the chance, with a title like that what was I supposed to do?! The pitch was that each artist create an image with that title using only black and one colour, a colour specified by the guys at NoBrow, namely Pantone 312 U. The double page spread image would be "silent" so would have to do all the talking itself. (see image below...a sneaky peek at my contribution)

What follows is some blatant advertising!

To celebrate the release of this first publication ‘Gods and Monsters’ the NoBrow guys will be exhibiting all the work from the edition in large scale format at Bar and exhibition space;DreamBagsJaguarShoes. Private View: Thursday 14th May, 2009Exhibition: 15th May – 28th June 2009 DreamBagsJaguarShoes,32 Kingsland Road, E2.

Nobrow Issue 1: Gods & Monsters. Printed in two spot colours in a limited edition of 3000 numbered copies it gives a high quality platform to artists and illustrators both new and established. The diverse contributors were hand picked for their unique styles and all were invited to generate work based on the theme. Some are up and coming, others are plucked from unexpected places, all are talented.Contributors are: Dave Taylor, Alex Spiro, Sam Arthur, Jordan Crane, Emiliano Ponzi, A. Richard Allen, Jens Harder, Reuben Rude, Benjamin Guedel, Eda Akaltun, Matthieu Bessudo, Caspar Williamson, Toby Leigh, Alex Bland, Ben Newman, Nick White, Stuart Kolakovic, Sarah King, Leah Hayes, Paul Blow, Bjorn Rune Lie, Brett Ryder , Carl Johanson and Blexbolex.

Space Cats and Cosmic Chickens!

2009-04-14T22:53:00.003+01:00

No, it's not Dredd or Batman...it's actually the birthday card I drew for my partner. Believe me, at least she knows what it all means!

HUZZAH!! Page 29 and a great short film

2009-03-27T11:59:00.007Z

For those of you that haven't checked out HUZZAH yet may I suggest you do?! The on-line comic only kicked off this January but has already reached such a pace that we're now thinking of making it available in print soon as a "part one of who knows how many?!"

Above is my latest contribution, with the blue line sketch, the inked page and lastly the finished piece.
I had no intention of "HUZZAHing" this month, but my hand was forced by the turn of events within our story and I couldn't let my lead character down when she was left hanging above the stage in such a way! (see my post HUZZAH!!! My latest page )

While I'm on...I was very kindly sent a link to a wonderful short film made by some students at the University of Bergen, Norway. Leonard, one of the team told me "We found it a bit strange that there aren't more films out there about male friendship. There are many lonely people out there who could need a friend, but don't know how to find one. So maybe finding an archenemy is easier:)
Since we are students we didn't have much of a budget, so all the actors etc did it for free. None of them had much prior experience, but did a great job anyway. We are hoping to get it shown on some festivals and hopefully it will result in some job possibilities, since we graduate in June.
The film was shot in 1080i, edited in Final Cut and After Effects."

Do your self a favour and watch it here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMJq-aGg1bQ&fmt=22

And now for something compleately different...

2009-03-20T13:31:00.012Z

In 1992 Ian Carney and I teamed up to do some Mr.Murray strips, purely for fun. Ian is now a writer for children's cartoons and shows such as Sean the Sheep, but back then we were both struggling artisans trying to find our way in life, our love of comic books turned into this here strip. The last page was written by myself and features Randy the Skeleton, a wonderful creation of Aidan Potts, another fellow Brit cartoonist who's work was always an inspiration.
http://www.professorpotts.com/
I'm posting these today because I've just had them returned after a long absence.

Mr.Murray and Charlie Trousers copyright Dave Taylor and Ian Carney 1993

And for my next trick...Batman!

2009-03-18T15:42:00.003Z

I've finally been given the green light to announce my next big project, hinted at in my last post. So, starting in May this year I'll be working on a "high-end Batman project" for DC. I can't say at this time who'll be writing it suffice to say that I'm extremely exited to be working with him/her and can't wait to start.
My ambition at DC was always to work on something "special", not a monthly or small one shots but a book of significance, a book that might keep selling way after it's publication. Something I could sink my teeth into, something I could be proud of. This, my friends is that book. So give me a few weeks and I'll tell you all about it!

Drawing an icon

2009-03-14T10:19:00.002Z

Drawing an icon, in this case Judge Dredd, is an exhilarating experience...when you get it right that is. The understanding that you've captured a look that expresses that character well, to a very fussy public who have a clear image in their collective heads of what that character actually looks like, it's one of the perks of the job. When you get it right!
Dredd is a bloomin swine to draw! Or I should say he used to be. I could never agree with myself about certain aspects of his look, his chin mostly, but recently I realised I've finally learned how to draw him in a way that, to me, looks like my work but has a respectful nod to the gentlemen who are responsible for making him the icon he is today.
I've drawn a number of icons in my time, from Batman to Arzack (Jean 'Moebius' Giraud) but have never had so much trouble getting the character right than with Dredd. The helmet is the key. Or rather the proportions of the helmet in respect to his face, what you can see of it. Also, my decision to make him look as old as he is (not telling!) was my turning point. I'd love to draw Dredd as I remember him from when I used to read 2000AD back in the late 70's, young and dynamic, but he's moved on, like most of us, and so to draw him now means he HAS to look really old, craggy, faded and mysteriously still dynamic, despite his failing form. I'm sure my latest outing with JD will upset a few readers, those that think he should still look in his twenties, but you can't please all the people all the time...apparently.

In other news...not wanting to give too much away at this stage suffice to say that my DC contract arrived yesterday for a project that's been bubbling away for the past few months. I'm not at liberty right now to mention what the job is, I haven't as yet had clearance from my editor, but I can say that it's an amazing twist of fate. It's the very job I've been waiting for since 1998...hang on! That's over ten years! Ouch!
When I was working at DC all those years ago I kept pushing to do a certain kind of book with them. A book that I could be proud of. A book that I knew would sell well and that would help to firmly establish myself in the American comic book industry. This folks is that book! Watch this space for more soon...

HUZZAH!!! My latest page

2009-02-26T01:35:00.003Z

My latest contribution to the cosmically enhanced and speedily growing on-line comic.

I should add (for Tharg, my editor) that this took me four hours and didn't in any way inhibit my Dredd production!

Dredd 2009

2009-02-18T12:53:00.004Z

With all the talk recently about the announcement of a new Judge Dredd movie (film), it's impossible for me not to think about the prospects of working on it in some way. While I'm busily drawing a Dredd strip for 2000AD (see above image featuring Judge Lola designed by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli ) I'm trying not to let the thought of the film influence me in any way.
Truth be told? I'd bite through my own knee caps for a chance to design some (or all!) of the new film. I'm more than qualified, (not being an ego tripper, just a pertinent fact!) and it just happens to be the one science fiction film project that I've always longed to work on. Without making this an open letter to the powers that be I'll say no more for fear of antagonisingness!
Cast Clint!

MC1 IsoBlock design

2009-02-11T13:20:00.002Z

Another establishing shot from Dredd, a subject I've been waiting for a crack at for a long time!

Judge Dredd 09

2009-01-29T13:33:00.003Z

Here's a wee peek at my new Judge Dredd story, a four parter written by the brilliant Ian Edginton. Look out for more soon.

More HUZZAH!

2009-01-21T15:03:00.002Z

HUZZAH!! A happy new year treat!

2009-01-03T12:13:00.007Z

Ladies and Gentlemen, I draw your attention to HUZZAH!!, an on line comic following hot on the heals of Who Killed Round Robin http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/. A simple parlour game where creators take it in turns to tell a story, in HUZZAH's case it's theme is Space Opera.
Not all available artist slots have been filled as yet but so far we have a great line-up...Ian Culbard, Colin Fawcett, Faz Choudhury, D'Israeli, Rob Davis, Stetchybeast and little old me.

Ian made the first move on HUZZAH with his full page beauty, inspiring me to jump in with my effort. Talk about raising the bar Ian!
So here's my page of doodling for my "plate" (or tier) and the blue line drawing below.

And here's the final plate, scanned from the blue line above, lettered, photoshop "inked" and coloured.

See the epic evolve here...http://huzzah2009.blogspot.com/

Happy Christmas and a peaceful new year!

2008-12-23T20:00:00.002Z

Judge Dredd Megazine #279

2008-12-11T15:27:00.003Z

With the publication this week of The Judge Dredd Megazine #279 I've decided to post these two pages, the two pages I'm most happy with from the strip. I'm constantly experimenting with the colours I use and methods of getting them right, and in these two pages I've tried to get a little more realistic lighting in there. Unfortunately when printed I felt the strip looks a little washed out compared to how they look on screen, something I must get right on my next Dredd story which I've just received the first part to, written by someone I've wanted to work with for a good while now by the name of Ian Edginton. It's a much darker story than I've worked on before for 2000AD and so I'll be looking to use a lot more contrast, which should lend itself to print much more effectively than my work to date. Out with subtle in with bold! (that's not an advert for soap powder!)

2000AD cover sketches

2008-12-08T11:01:00.006Z

When Tharg the Mighty asked me recently to do a cover for 2000AD featuring a zombie character (not giving anything away!) I found myself doing something I hadn't done before, that being drawing one of the undead professionally. You'd think, after almost twenty years (on and off) in the comic book industry I'd have got around to drawing bloomin zombies by now! Well, no. This is a first for me.

I haven't had as much time on this as I'd like, due to my other commitments, but it was fun to play around with. I wanted to do a companion piece to my recent Dredd cover so lucky for me the colour sketch above was approved by the galactic green editor supreme, it being my first attempt at the design. It's nice when the first idea you have fits what your boss is thinking of.
The image below is a sneak peek composit of the finished cover.

Sketches

2008-11-28T18:06:00.004Z

Here's a thing. If you visit the wonderful site run by Andrew Glazebrook http://bsmbow.blogspot.com/ you can win this black and white sketch by simply entering his caption competition and being as funny as you can. Andrew's site is most entertaining and full of delightfully interesting things so why not pop over and see for yourself. ( I decided to colour this just for fun )

This image of the DC character Death was done (finally!) as a thank you to Pierre Guiol who very kindly gave me a page of colour rough art I was after. Thanks Pierre for the page and for waiting so patiently for this...I'll get it in the post as soon as I can!

Christmas Dredd

2008-11-17T12:53:00.003Z

News from my desk...

I've now finished the Xmas Judge Dredd story for the Judge Dredd Megazine (#279) and am busy clearing my desk of the commissions and promised sketches before I start on my next project...that at the moment has to remain a closely kept secret. (Yes I know, it's silly isn't it?!)

The image above is censored due to the delicate nature of what's transpiring through the grim Mega City One apartment window...truth is I wanted to show this panel but don't want to give anything away about the story, which is in true John Wagner Xmas spirit I might add, so I've popped a sneaky peek of Dredd from an other page in as a censor. Seems fitting!

It seems my days of not inking are over! I've really enjoyed inking this strip and have decided (for now) to continue to work in this way. I'm sure a job will come along at some point that I'll decide would look better just in pencil, but for now I'm sticking with my trusty Pilot Fineliner!

Xmas Dredd Blok

2008-10-28T12:04:00.002Z

More Dredd and Birmingham show report

2008-10-14T12:13:00.009+01:00

Here's an other look at my working method, this time from blue line pencil, though the inking stage to finished colour. Seeing it layed out like this reminds me of how an animated movie is built up, one stage at a time, layer on layer. It also reminds me that I made the right choice many years ago to work in comics as apposed to animation. The time it takes to make an animated film would have driven me quite mad!

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the fine folk who went to make my brief but enjoyable time at the Birmingham comic show well worth the effort of getting there, namely Jon Haward, Ian Culbard, Ian Edginton, Liam Sharp (cheers for the table mate! I owe you one!) and my old mate Colin Fawcett. I had a stinking cold so I hope I didn't appear too grotty! I really just felt like laying under my table and dieing!

The show was traditionally small but it seemed like everyone was having a decent time with plenty to see. Personally I had a great show thanks to an offer of some very interesting and exiting work for DC and it seems I may have a chance to do an equally interesting job for Marvel. Can't say more than that at this time...watch this space!

Birmingham Comic Show

2008-10-02T15:25:00.003+01:00

Comic book conventions are few and far between in this silly country, a sad reflection of the lack of interest in our industry, but you might be interested to know there is a show this weekend in the fair (what?!) city of Birmingham. I'll be sat at a table on Saturday signing and selling pages, so please come over and say hello.

Dredd...now in colour!

2008-09-17T12:02:00.002+01:00

It's not everyday you get a Christmas special to do. Because of this I'm lavishing the pages with Xmas love and attention! What you see here are some snap shots, close ups of parts of panels that show this attention to detail (D.Taylor...it was destined!).

An other reason I've picked these particular images is that some of them are likely to have text covering part or all of them.

More blue Dredd

2008-09-09T22:04:00.002+01:00

Posh Mega City One in blue line.

Dredd ink

2008-09-04T11:59:00.002+01:00

Yes folks, I'm inking again!

I used to love to ink with a dip pen (Hunt 101 and 107) but these days, with less time on my hands, I've shifted to using tech pens. It's pretty much the same effect and I don't have the constant fear of ink drips. I've found that I'm not even using my old method of faint blue line followed by tight graphite pencil and then ink. I'm inking over my slightly tighter than normal blue line on this one and it seems to be working pretty well. The background on this panel was drawn separately and photoshoped in, greyed here for added depth.

Xmas Dredd

2008-09-03T15:34:00.005+01:00

Here's a wee peek at my new Dredd strip, penned by the master of Dredd John Wagner.

John's written a great story full of Christmas cheer...no, sorry...wonderfully grim and gritty, and I'm very exited to have a chance to do a really true to 2000AD kind of story. It feels very classic and I hope to do it justice.

This scene is giving me an opportunity to draw something that I love...i.e futuristic technology.

The page you see here is the blue pencil part of my process. I'm inking this strip traditionally as I think it needs this approach, leaving behind for a while my recently adopted no inking method.

2000AD Prog 1599

2008-08-13T14:08:00.006+01:00

2000AD Prog 1599 is out now featuring my hot new cover!

As an art droid I'm not permitted to leave my drawing board but have received some copies in the post, sent presumably by Tharg himself!

I'm quite pleased with the result, seen here in it's entirety. Not a bad cover, but it doesn't "pop!" as I'd like it to in print. You can always download it at http://www.clickwheel.net/ for a nominal charge. That way the reader sees the work as it's seen by the artist. Amazing what they can do now a days!

Who Killed Round Robin inspires!

2008-08-07T11:53:00.004+01:00

What a wonderful thing it is to find that you've inspired someone.
Last week saw the start of a new web comic in Mexico inspired by our humble little net experiment. It turns out that a very fine artist by the name of Bachan http://produccionesbalazo.com/ , who has been following my career for some time, decided to start his own web comic based on ours. As you'll see if you visit http://cadaver.produccionesbalazo.com/?p=3 they have a great line-up of artists and it looks like it could be a very cool thing indeed. Thanks to Bachan for his kind words and I wish them all the very best.
Mexico has spawned some amazing talent over the past few years, notably my dear friend José Ladrönn, and what you find on Cadaver Exquisito is no exception. Good luck amigos!

The face of DREDD

2008-07-25T10:49:00.003+01:00

Finished. I've gone for a deliberately lose painted feel for this, all done in Photoshop. Out soon!

2000AD Dredd cover update

2008-07-16T12:11:00.002+01:00

Here's a close up of Dredd's charming face. This is all done in Photoshop, including the sketch seen in last post. This pic shows how I'm building up the detail over a faded out copy of the sketch. I'm using a new Wacom pen which is more sensitive than the one I broke recently, so here I'm seeing what it's capable of in terms of replacing pencil/ink and paper. So far I'm holding judgment off until I've done more. Can't see me doing a Brian Bolland and totally depending on the computer, but for some jobs I can see myself adopting this way of working. Maybe.

Assorted Revelations...part 2

2008-07-10T11:54:00.002+01:00

Further to my 'Assorted Revelations' post I should add that I am still happily working for Sony, for a few weeks at least, and have no gripe with them, just disappointment over the loss of work. This blog acts as a diary of my life as an artist. If there is news about my career then it gets posted here, unless it would be breaking some form of contract or agreement. Sony acted completely fairly and have been extremely supportive. So there!

Here's a very fast sketch (about half an hour) of the 2000AD Dredd cover I was nobly given to do by the Mighty Tharg, editor supreme. A heck of a chance to draw Dredd, full on mean, and with enough time to really have fun with it. You see? Losing some work isn't all that bad! (for once!)

Assorted Revelations

2008-07-08T11:38:00.003+01:00

Ok. So life has been ever more hectic and blogging has slipped to the side of things important. Also there really hasn't been anything I could post due to the top secrecy of the projects I've been working on. Things have changed, as you'll see...

Who Killed Round Robbin http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ is sailing along nicely so I thought I'd take some time out to introduce a character that has developed, over the past few months, into a mysterious and intriguing chap. Visualised by myself and created and developed by all involved with the BlogComic, The Parisian is proving to be the most interesting character to come out of our little adventure...as far as I'm concerned anyway. I have a whole book of ideas for this guy, so many that I've been thinking of taking him into his own side project, with the approval of my fellow creators.
The image above is from a very top secret document that has come into my position. Don't blame me if the CIA start phoning you in the middle of the night!

Right then...on to the news...and I should say that what you're about to read is from my understanding of what went on and may not be the full story.

Sony invited me to create some design and concept work for a computer game they had in development a few months back. I was delighted to be involved in such an interesting and challenging project and threw myself into it fully, putting all other work aside. It seemed there was at least a years work needed so I hesitantly closed down the comic book department of my studio to devote my time and energy to Heavenly Sword 2. It was going great guns. Then the bomb dropped. The project was cancelled and all freelance staff told "Sorry, but it's over." I have to admit to being very angry and frustrated at the time. The producer had put together a very fine proposal and gathered an excellent team of artists...we were all turning out great work and things were getting exiting, I for one was having a lot of fun and wallowing in the process...then BAM! No more work.

I know these things happen all the time in this industry, and having heard exactly why it was canned I understand that it had to be closed, but boy does it hurt! Not only was I producing work that I've been wanting to do for a good while, character design mostly, but also the comfort of knowing I have at least a years work to do at a good wage (for once!), something very nice to know as a freelance creator.

The three images here (copyright Sony) are a small sample of what I got up to. The one above and below was blue pencilled and then coloured in Photoshop. The last image was purely Photoshop.

The up-side of all this is that I've further developed my skills as a designer. And on hearing the news of the cancellation promptly contacted the editor of 2000AD and got a Dredd cover immediately! I'll be posting more on this later.

WhoKilledRoundRobbin and Bristol 08

2008-05-23T13:22:00.005+01:00

Here's a look at my contribution to the http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ strip so far, now in it's twenty first page and going strong since Tuesday, 1st of January 2008.
So we didn't win an Eagle Award, so what?! It's still the most fun I've had drawing strip comics. No, it really is!

(please note: these are not intended to be read in this order, without the other contributions to the story, but if you glean any sense out of doing so please consult a doctor!)

Bristol 08 was great fun by the way! Chaperoned by my partner and our baby daughter, I was delighted to get my hands on a copy of the Studio Space book, published by Image and created by a couple of charming and extremely nice chaps by the names of Joel Meadows http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com/ and Gary Marshall...cheers guys! The book, if you haven't seen it yet, is a must get for those discerning comic book followers. Apart from my little addition to the tome, the line-up of creators is excellent. A big chunk of the best in the biz today. I'm still overwhelmed about my inclusion and think it must be some kind of mistake, but never the less I'm in there and it can't be corrected now!
I can't thank everyone here for adding to the pleasurable weekend other than to say thanks to you all! May the British comic empire live on!

Dredd: Road Stop

2008-04-23T11:19:00.002+01:00

Only two days to go (colouring) and I'm finished on Dredd: Road Stop. It's been a great story to draw and I thank Mr.Gordon Rennie for supplying such a fun and very Dredd Dredd.

Here's part of a pencil (yes, pencil...no ink!) panel that I finished yesterday. I had to post this, not thinking it gives too much away, because it sums up for me how cool it is to finally be working for 2000AD (weekly). Judge Dredd and a nasty Cursed Earth monster...what more do I need?!

2000AD Prog 1582

2008-04-19T14:13:00.002+01:00

Starting in 2000AD prog 1582 you can witness my first Dredd for the weekly. It's part one of a five part story written by Gordon Rennie. I don't really need to remind you how thrilled I am to finally make it into the the galaxies greatest!
Now all I have to do is finish the last part before I get into trouble with Tharg the Mighty!

More Who Killed Round Robin?

2008-04-08T11:00:00.013+01:00

Here's two pages from the Eagle Award nominated (oh shush!) on line comic http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ .

Please note: The last panel has not yet been claimed and is not an example of extreme comic laziness!

This sequence is a perfect example to me of why I'm doing this here jam comic experiment. It's pure fun. No script. No editor (although generally they are all very fine and upstanding folk!). No printing or distribution problems. Simple fun!

Artist credit in order...

I. N. J. Culbard

Colin Fawcett

Me (being very greedy!)

I. N. J. Culbard (being equally greedy!)

...?...

2008-03-12T13:50:00.002Z

Well, it seems nobody was interested in my last post so here's some more from my present Dredd strip, maybe that'll help!

I'm getting close to the end of this job now so have been looking at what I'm doing next. There are a few irons in the fire, all of which I can't discuss here yet. One job I've actually just started is for a very very big computer game company as a free lance designer. It's great work to do, something I've been meaning to get into for quite a while now, just frustrating I can't post any of it here!

Who Killed Round Robin?

2008-02-29T14:37:00.002Z

Here are all my "plates" so far for the on line comic "Who Killed Round Robin?", nominated for an Eagle award (as you may have noticed!). http://www.eagleawards.co.uk/nominate.asp
Please don't try and glean any story from these! They are NOT sequential!
The wonderful thing about being involved in this little venture is that I'm forced to follow on from what the last contributor has done, often very diverse in style and content, so I have to adapt constantly to the changing mood and feel of what has come before. It allows me to "jam", something I love to do with music, resulting in a surprise for me every time. Where else would I have the opportunity to play around with my style and to experiment this way?

2008-02-20T12:43:00.002Z

What a day! Not only have I been nominated for The Eagle Awards best cover for my Megazine 261 (see post Thursday, July 26, 2007) but also my fellow creators and I have been nominated for best on line comic for our Who Killed Round Robin http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ .
The awards take place at the Bristol comic expo http://www.comicexpo.net/ and you can rest assured I'll be there! (actually I go every year, this year signing with fellow creators for the Studio Space book...see post Tuesday, December 04, 2007)

I can't see myself winning the cover award...some very stiff competition, but just being nominated is such an honour. Many thanks to those who voted!

2008-02-13T11:53:00.001Z

I don't think I'm giving too much away here!

2008-02-12T11:33:00.000Z

Just so you know I'm not dead, here's a Dredd panel from my strip for 2000AD. I'm often tempted to post more here but reason stops me! I'm well over half way through the job and am having a lot of fun with it. I'm prety sure I could never get bored drawing Dredd stories. There's so much room to be inventive.
In other news...the Who Killed Round Robin strip http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ is going from strength to strength with some great work being done by my fellow creators. Well worth a visit.

2008-01-19T15:24:00.000Z

If you haven't been already I strongly advise you to go see http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/ ...a comic building before your very eyes!

Who Killed Round Robin?

2008-01-06T12:20:00.000Z

Take a hand full of artists, give them the freedom of expression, add a sprinkling of order and hopefully what you'll get is a fun and experimental exchange of ideas made real in the form of a comic.
That's the plan.

"Round Robin" is a game where one person starts a story and then others continue it by adding a piece at a time until the tale is complete.
Our version involves seven British comics creators. Between us we will make a comic book, a panel at a time. Our page grid is divided into three tiers. Each person adds a tier to the ongoing story, which can be as many panels as they can fit into that tier. Nobody knows where the story will go but there is one element that remains fixed: it is a murder mystery. So whatever happens along the way, we know where it has to end. A solution must be found! Who killed Round Robin?

Go see the developing creation here...
http://whokilledroundrobin.blogspot.com/
You'll find a link in my links and kinks.

I hope you enjoy it!

2007-12-22T12:40:00.000Z

To all my fellow bloggers...all the very best.

2007-12-17T12:09:00.000Z

2007-12-08T12:44:00.000Z

More pencil, "ink" and colour stages from the Dredd job. Artistically speaking, the thing I love most about working in the Dredd universe is the opportunity to let my imagination take over. This is the kind of work I've always longed for, a chance to use all the crazy images that gather in my noodle and come to me in my sleep. I've been given the chance on this job to design a bunch of characters, twelve bad guys and about forty "cits" (citizens of Mega City One) and I'm making the most of it! The experience is an odd one. I never really know what's going to come out when I sit down and let my pencil do the talking. The little guy on the left is probably inspired by me going to see the latest edition of 'Blade Runner'. A film I've always loved. The "final cut" of the film is stunning and now perfect in my humble opinion. This little fellow is something I imagine the character Sebastian would make, maybe after a particularly disturbed dream...do androids dream of electric sheep?

I've been told that in my recent post regarding the 'Studio Space' book that I left out a certain Frank Miller from the line up. An oversight that I hope I'll be excused for! For more news on the book go see http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=13 and http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com/ Looks like I missed out Alex Ross too! Shame on me!

2007-12-04T15:52:00.000Z

Joel Meadows, journalist and fellow blogger http://joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com/ has informed me that his long anticipated book 'Studio Space' can now be revealed as a happening.
The book, coming out from Image next May, will be an insight into the work and processes of "the finest comic artists working today". If you've ever wanted to see the very core of some of the best comic book artists around, take a look at their studios and hear about how they got into comics in the first place then this is the book for you. It promises to be a must for fans and wannabe artists.
The list of artists included goes something like this...Brian Bolland, Tim Bradstreet, Dave Gibbons, Howard Chaykin, Gary Marshall, Bryan Talbot, Steve Dillon, Sean Phillips, Duncan Fegredo, Joe Kubert, Mike Mignola, Tim Sale, George Pratt, Tommy Lee Edwards, Adam Hughes, Sergio Toppi, Walter Simonson, Jim Lee...and little old me!
See http://www.newsarama.com/ for more details from the 5th of December.
I can't tell you how exited I am at being involved with such a great project.
Thanks so much Joel for asking me.

The image above is out of one of my sketch books that I've been rummaging through for images for the book.

2007-12-03T13:10:00.000Z

Here's something I've been meaning to post for ages now.
I did this while listening to an amazing album by the great Charles Mingus. It's an example of what jazz can do to an otherwise sane mind!

2007-11-28T19:05:00.000Z

At last, as promised, here's the Batman commission in full colour! (see post of 18th July)
I finished this today because...
1: I said I would ages ago.
and
2: Because I want to include it in a book coming out next May from Image called (I think) 'Studio Space' which will involve some great names in comics including Adam Hughes, Brian Bolland, Mike Mignola, Howard Chaykin, Duncan Fegredo...yes folks, and ME! I'll let you know more about the book later.

2007-11-24T18:26:00.000Z

What are you looking at?!

2007-11-19T17:26:00.000Z

Here's a step by step look at my method on this Dredd strip.

I first scan the pencil page with my trusty A3 scanner (not an A2 as I had said!) then in photoshop I magically turn the pencil into ink with the use of the image-adjustments-levels buttons. This takes a while to get right but not as long as actually inking, and you can't spill a bottle of ink over the page like I've often nearly done! I then turn this layer to a multiply (under layers) and start colouring on layers placed under the line layer. Simple!

I do feel a twinge of guilt about using this method after spending so many years learning how to ink and finding the tools to do it right, but times change and this way is so much faster, something that really suits me in my life right now since our little one was born. You can blame my daughter!

2007-11-07T15:09:00.000Z

To ink or not to ink, that my friends is the question.

Would you have said this was inked? Well I would. But I'd be wrong!

I love my scanner!

2007-10-30T11:46:00.000Z

...and here it is coloured.

I really had no idea where to start with the colour on this one so I just made it up as I went. Funny how a page can surprise you...I would never have used colours like this (the greens) if it had been planned but I really like the result.

If anyone knows anyone who can build cars please get in touch. I really want to take that buggy for a spin!!!

2007-10-28T13:12:00.000Z

2007-10-27T16:29:00.000+01:00

More insight into my working methods this time around. I say this time around because I tend to treat each job with a fresh approach, depending on the job and it's contents. I'm using the blue line method on this Dredd story because I want to keep the amount of detail I tend to like but want to make it organic and spontaneous. Inking, as I found on Big Robots, tends to take some of that away from the finished page. The pages I have finished so far, penciled over the blue line, are keeping that freshness in the line, which looks a little "brushy". Not having spent enough time learning to use a brush satisfactorily in my career it's nice to get that look with my pencil line.

And while I'm on...our little girl is getting more beautiful by the day! It's not easy working when all I really want to do is just look at her! Aaah!

2007-10-23T11:25:00.000+01:00

To be a Judge Dredd artist is the best "job" you could give me. What a thrill to be able to step into that world, let my imagination do it's thing, scribble those imagined images out onto a blank sheet of paper (med DC textured board to be precise) and then actually get paid for the privilege! Ha ha ha ha ha!! (slightly insane laughter)
I'd love to show the whole page one here but I think it best left partially secret...don't want to give too much away.
As you can see, I'm going for the blue line approach this time and I'm pondering the notion of not inking. We'll see.

Back in the real world!

2007-10-22T14:02:00.000+01:00

The last three weeks have dissolved away and now I hear my desk a'calling...so...
Have a guess what I'm working on.
Yes...Big Robots is finally all published (Judge Dredd Megazine #257-264) and the Mighty Tharg, editor and supreme being has bestowed upon me a new thrill filled Judge Dredd story, written by the much acclaimed Gordon Rennie droid.
So...
Not only do I have the most sublime and charming little baby girl to dote over...I now have a gig that fulfills a life long ambition, a Judge Dredd strip for the galaxies greatest comic 2000AD! It really doesn't get any better than that!
And not only all that but I'm still working on that secret Wildstorm project I mentioned in my Tuesday, August 14, 2007 post. Life is sweet!

The image above is not from my new Dredd job but is a doodle created over two years ago to remind myself of a story idea I had concerning a stolen dead cat and a trip to the Moon. Maybe one day I'll find the time to tell Tharg about it.

While I'm on...I'd like to thank all the fine folk for their messages re: our wonderful baby girl. Cheers folks! Very much appreciated.

A star is born!

2007-10-07T16:49:00.000+01:00

I really don't have the words to describe all that has happened over the last two weeks so I'm not even going to try...suffice to say that I am now a changed man. I knew that it would have a profound effect on me and my universe but to what extent I was completely in the dark!
Our baby girl was born a healthy 10 pound in weight and looks like she may grow up to be taller than her Mum and Dad!
Thanks so much to all those out there who have wished us well...we both appreciate it.

So...I may be going off the radar for a while! See you all soon!

2007-10-03T02:00:00.000+01:00

30:09:2007

A baby girl.

^-^

2007-09-28T17:22:00.000+01:00

On hearing the recent news that Robert Rodriguez was going to be making a Barbarella movie I promptly dug this old design out that I did a few years back when there was talk of me doing a comic book based on the character. Hopefully, with the new movie coming soon someone out there might say "Hey, I saw this guy on the net who'd be perfect to do the spin off comic!" (I have more where this came from!)

2007-09-19T12:52:00.000+01:00

An appeal to dog owners...
Please don't let pooch get so big! It's cruel to the mutt and not good on the eye! I fill up when I see one of these "over loved" doggies flop and waddle down the street...not that you see them out much, they are usually too exhausted to leave the safety of their homes! Please, eat the chocolate your self!

(This is a sneaky peeky from my latest secret project...hopefully not so secret soon!)

2007-09-12T17:48:00.000+01:00

Well folks it's all done. I finally finished the last pages of Big Robots in time to save my ass!

This has been quite a trip...from dreaming up the idea over two years ago to this point where I can lay the story to rest. My first big project since I came back to comics and my first ever major job where I had full control of the finished page...something I've been longing to do for many years. Much of it I'm surprisingly happy with. If I could draw it all again I'd certainly change quite a few of the pages, some of which I can barely look at! But then I was learning as I went along. Exactly how DO you draw mile high robotic buildings?! The best thing about all this has been achieving a long time goal of producing fully realised pages for my all time favorite comic book. I'm now hoping to do much more work for 2000AD...if I can convince Tharg the mighty that I can turn in pages at the rate expected of a well oiled art droid!

I'd like to thank Alan Grant for scripting this for me and Alan Barnes for accepting the job in the first place. Also many thanks to Matt Smith for being so understanding and patient. My biggest thanks go to my beloved partner who came along just at the right time to inspire me and who gave me the strength to get the job finished before our baby girl is born (two weeks to go!).

I'm now off to contemplate being a father.

2007-09-05T10:38:00.000+01:00

Back through the mists of time once more! A Batcard...not sure what set of cards this was for...maybe you can tell me?! I'm not even sure it ever saw print! Came across this while sorting some work into neat little piles to be moved into my new studio later in the year...hopefully.

2007-09-03T14:15:00.000+01:00

Sticking on the horror theme for now...here's something I did a few years ago that I'd forgotten about! (probably because I only had one copy kicking around!)
It's a mix of photography and photoshop painting.

2007-08-14T13:51:00.000+01:00

Can you keep a secret?
No?
Well I'm sorry but that means I can't tell you what I'm working on now then!
I'm pretty sure at some point soon I will be able to tell you without placing the pressure of secrecy upon your fine shoulders, but for now here's a montage of some images from the books.

2007-07-26T15:20:00.001+01:00

#261 of the Judge Dredd Megazine is out there with Big Robots not only on the inside but this month on the OUTSIDE!
Some of the very fine folk featured in my Links and Kinks section appear in this issue by the way. Thanks again to Bling , JAKe , Jonathan Edwards , Ian at StrangePlanetStories , Will Kane and Woodrow Phoenix for lending my their beautiful faces! You can have them back when I'm done with them don't worry!

2007-07-18T17:49:00.000+01:00

Back through the mists of time I was asked to do a Batman commission for a very (it turned out) patient fellow. Here it is. We decided, as he insisted I have fun doing it, that it should be set in Mega City 1. I even threw in a Joker for good measure! Now let's all concentrate and will DC to phone me with a Batman/Dredd job please!

2007-07-12T12:43:00.000+01:00

I`m hoping JAKe won`t mind me posting this and pinching a tiny part of his work to illustrate this, but it`s for a jolly good cause! You see, m'old mate JAKe has a line of shirts out featuring his wonderful take on Star Wars...see his site here http://www.jake-art.com/ and in my Links and Kinks.
Watch this http://www.indianajones.com/community/news/indyarrives.html to see a Mr George Lucas sporting one of these ace shirts! Nice one JAKe! Well pleased for ya!

2007-07-07T17:13:00.000+01:00

Here`s a link to my New Big Robots section...

http://bigrobots.blogspot.com/

...where you can read each part as it was meant to be read in twelve page increments.

(Note: Also in my Links and Kinks)

2007-07-06T11:53:00.000+01:00

Here`s my first ever (pro) Dredd page from The Judge Dredd Megazine #223. I was so happy with this, finally getting a chance to draw old stony face...I hope you can tell it was v fun to draw!
I`ve posted it 'cos I think it`s one of the best pages I`ve drawn and will act here as a reminder to me of what I can do when inspired!