I got no work done today because…

Trundling over Westminster

2012-02-01T15:47:00.000Z

When it comes to drawing Daleks I like to play around with them a little bit, one way is by changing around the colour schemes but its also fun to place them out of continuity. For this sketch I've placed an updated 2005 design Dalek into the classic 1964 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' scene of Westminster Bridge, nothing drastic but a nod to the past.

I still haven't attempted to draw the updated 'Paradigm' Daleks. I've slowly accepted their design but I have to question the reasons for their change other than a marketing ploy. If the producers of Doctor Who really wanted to re-boot the Daleks and make them feared again why on earth did they decide that each time you've got to see one after 'Victory of the Daleks' it was in a defeated, battle damaged or immobile state? Essentially undermining any 'fear factor' from their last full appearance?

Reposted from Scotch Corner.

Twice as mean!

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000Z

Straighten up and fly right!

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000Z

This chap is from the 2009 Doctor Who Special 'Planet of the Dead' and he's a Tritovore, or as we know them a guy in a boiler suit with a fly head. I actually like these aliens as they remind me very much of earlier 'classic' Who style villains or monsters and the limitations faced by designers to come up with something convincing. They are obviously very well done and have a classic horror feel and look to them, well until they are revealed as being on the 'good guy' side of the story and then they just sort of hop about watching the Doctor for a bit. Still they looked good for a man in a boiler suit.

Reposted from Scotch Corner.

TIE with your boots on!

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000Z

A new year and a new Vader sketch, everybody loves Vader. Drawn him countless times now and never drawn Luke, nobody ever says 'Draw Luke Skywalker' (awaiting that written in the comments now). Did you know that Vader's tie fighter is called a 'TIE advanced x1', bit of a crap name really.

Reposted from Scotch Corner.

Hulk

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000Z

Falling in with Bad Company!

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000Z

Hey you guys!

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000Z

Weeping Angel

2012-01-18T15:17:00.000Z

About a year ago I was approached for a private commission which will feature the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who quite prominently and due to one thing and another it's not even began so I've used this pretty much as a bit of a warm up. More experiments with Copic markers, this time its all Cool Grey markers and a little bit of pencil. I really like the effect you can get from the markers, almost like watercolours in some places but annoyingly my scanner refuses to pick out some of the lighter shades. I have the Copic Ciao range and it has a very nice brush nib which is fun to use. I'm thinking I'd like to try out the larger, more expensive, original Copic Markers but for the time being these will do.

Re-posted from Scotch Corner.

Happy New Year

2012-01-18T15:14:00.000Z

Half way through January already! Sorry for the lack of updates but thankfully for the start of 2012 I've been pretty busy, nothing I can show you all at the moment so I'll just re-post some of my sketches from Scotch Corner to keep you entertained. While I'm here though I will mention that I will be attending this years Hi-Ex convention in Inverness on the 31st March and 1st April and I'll have along my usual mix of sketches, art and prints to sell so I hope to see you there!

Starblazer 'Rocket Age Adventures'

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000Z

I like writing these kind of posts, I wrote one last year with my first work for 2000AD under my belt, it's a 'dream fulfilled' or 'mark it off the wish list' post.

Back on January 25th 2010 I wrote a piece about a painting I had produced in homage to 'Starblazer' the digest sized sci-fi comic published by DC Thomson Ltd in Dundee. The post and painting received a fair amount comment and coverage from around 'the net' and I was lucky enough to see the image 'Stone of R'lyeh' published in the book 'Sci-fi Art Now' from Ilex Press.

As I stated in the post Starblazer ceased publication back in 1991 and DC Thomson has no plans to resurrect the title but if you read through the comments left you'll see a conversation about the roleplaying game 'Starblazer Adventures' from Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. The writer of the game, Chris Birch, talked about why licensing Starblazer from DC Thomson worked for them and how, like myself, he had very fond memories of the comic. I've had the pleasure of producing a few pieces for Cubicle 7 in the last year (fate is a strange chap as fellow Scotch Corner contributor Jon Hodgson is now the Art Director of the company) and when I was asked if I was interested in producing the cover for a new Starblazer supplement I couldn't turn it down.

The supplement is called 'Rocket Age Adventures' and it allows the gamer to use the Starblazer rules as a more retro sci-fi, pulp style rocket ships and rayguns game. The brief called for "a nice dynamic piece with a load of rockets and rayguns and mysterious bulbous craft all coming bursting out at us framing a male and female character in nice rocketeer, bubble helmet style."

Sometimes I know exactly what I'm going to draw and the trick for me is to try and live up to my own vision of how an image should look. Artists and other creative people have been known to be notoriously critical of their own work and its understandable that if what's on paper doesn't match your own vision of how it should look that you will be negative about your achievements. I knew pretty much from the outset how I was going to be approaching this and my initial sketch was approved with one change… to add in another rocket.

Onto the pencils and as I have tendency to produce very tight pencil work it was a good indication for the client to see how the finished illustration was going to look. I then inked and set to colouring the piece. I wanted to have a marked difference between the man and woman and the elements that surrounded them so I kept the characters and the rocky planet surface in their original solid inked style but the rockets, robot and saucers I decided to paint and drop the inked line to give them a different kind of look. I had a lot of fun adding in little touches to this cover and by the time I'd finished I had decided that for me it's the best illustration I've produced this year, I think I nailed it on the head for this one and I'm very happy with it and thankfully so was the client who gave me special permission to show it off.

So in a very rare event I have a cover I'm very happy with, that the client loves and, although the comic disappeared 20 years ago, I think this could be about as close as you can now get to saying you've drawn a cover for Starblazer. Not bad I reckon.

©2011 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

Sawney's Pet

2011-12-08T14:55:00.001Z

Fearful inhabitants of Ballantrae insist they've spotted the return of the cannibal Alexander "Sawney" Bean in the nearby coastal caves. People are going missing and it's not the first time these rocks have heard the crack of human bones…

This was a great excuse to buy and test out ArtRage. It was a steep and quick learning curve but I very much enjoyed using it and hopefully I'll continue to find time and projects for it. Recommended, easy to use, fun and extremely cheap for its abilities.

Reposted from Scotch Corner. Don't forget to check out the Dept Of Monsterology Facebook page!http://www.facebook.com/DeptOfMonsterology

Life everlasting. World without end.

2011-12-02T15:50:00.001Z

Posting up my work from the Mad Monks game the other day reminded me of previous monk related illustrations. Back in 2002 I was still working full time for a design agency in Edinburgh and my work colleague and writer Richard Harris told me a chilling story one lunch time. The story about the monk Columba and his followers on the isle of Iona conjured up a lot of images and I asked Richard if he would write it as a short story for me to illustrate. He dutifully delivered the words and I illustrated four pieces to go along with them including an acrylic/oil painting to set the tone for the whole piece.

I thought it would be good to present the story here for you all to see so I searched through my archive drives to discover it was missing, no doubt lost in a recent hard drive failure. But luckily a low resolution PDF of the story was still surviving as an email attachment from years before so I recovered the text and found the images in an old website gallery back-up.

So I've recreated the story as it was back in 2003 when it was scheduled to appear in the US horror magazine 'Carnopolis' but it unfortunately closed the issue before the story appeared so its never seen print anywhere which is sad story in itself. If anybody knows a horror magazine that would like a short illustrated story then send them my way :)

The Mad Monks of Bierbrau Monastery!

2011-11-30T10:45:00.001Z

Paul Scott at Rathbone Games asked me to produce some character illustrations for their new board game 'The Mad Monks of Bierbrau Monastery'. Six of the brothers with their own personality and agenda within the game. To go along with them they also needed illustrations of the monks and their Abbot to be used for laser etched player counters.

Here's the blarb from their website about the game: Join the monks of Bierbrau Monastery as they race for the barrel of beer, using any tactics they can from chastising with the big stick to humbling with the holy book. On hand is the Abbot to make sure the nobody gets seriously hurt. A fun knockabout game for 2-6 players.

© 2011 Paul Scott - Rathbone Games

Whatever happened to Kevin Cullen?

2011-11-28T16:01:00.001Z

I've worked in splendid isolation on the top floor of my house, my studio is a great size and its joined upstairs by a small bathroom and another good sized room. This secondary room had become the 'dump it in there' room and I'm ashamed to say it still had boxes unopened from when we moved into the house eight years previous. But all that has had to change. We have three children running around this house now and the 'spare' room needed sorting to become a bedroom and with that came some hard choices.

Having read comics solidly since I was 14 and being somewhat of a hoarder I have a LOT of comics, books, magazines, art materials and just stuff. So much so that its taken about six months to clear through the piles of things in the spare room and come to a decision as to their fate, keep them, sell them, give them away or in the bin you go. Invariably one thing that slows the whole process down is that you keep rediscovering items you've been piling up and in the case of comics it becomes very easy to find yourself sat in the middle of a mountain of comics reading your way thru your latest find.

2000AD probably constitutes the biggest pile that needed sorting and for reasons I won't go into you would discover that I have probably near to two full sets of the weekly comic plus best of monthlies, annuals, specials and countless trade collections. Looking through these classic comics it was easy to rediscover some great stories and artists and this'll be where we get to artist Kevin Cullen.

Kevin Cullen first appeared in the Judge Dredd Megazine Volume 2 issue 27 with the Igor Goldkind scripted Judge Hershey story 'A Game of Dolls' (dated May 1993) and then pretty much appeared regularly in 2000AD and the Megazine for the next couple of years. Most notably he drew the stories for the character 'The Creep' written by Si Spencer in the Megazine and case stories for the strip Vector 13 (these where like Area51/X-Files type Future Shock strips) by various writers including Nick Abadzis, Dan Abnett and Kek-W.

2000AD has always been a showcase for new and emerging talent alongside the tried, trusted and brilliant regulars. During the early 90s I paid probably more attention to the new artists than normal as, as I've written before (see here), this was around the time I worked on various trial scripts for the comic. I was paying particular attention to who they used, how they approached their art and created it. There where lots of great artists to take inspiration from inside the pages of the comic but sometimes the new guys offered a better insight as although they could be rough and less experienced if given the chance to develop you could see it happening right in those strips and pages. Interestingly this was also around the time that painted and colour comic strip work was being showcased moving away from the regular mono work and so it was a great time to see some experimenting and process.

Kevin Cullen stood out for me, his first work was stark black and white. Strong contrasts, heavy blocked shapes and textured tone work. He wasn't drawing like the rest of the artists within 2000AD. Paul Rainey reviews Judge Dredd Megazine 2.40 over on his '2000AD Prog Slog' blog and he says about Kevin's art on the Judge Hershey story 'The Harlequins Dance' that 'Cullen is a totally solid story teller whose work I’ve described before as looking like early David Lloyd.' I think Paul hits a description of Kevin's style and approach very well here. Kevin may have used more graphic shortcuts in his art than that of David Lloyd but I can't think of any other known comic artist that could help place the type of art that Cullen was producing. I think the standout difference would be Cullen's approach to colour which is wildly different from Lloyds making him Lloyd with a touch of John Higgins thrown in.

So, lets go back to me surrounded by piles of comics and I'm looking at some of the Vector 13 strips drawn by Cullen. Now, I'm a self employed artist and I've done my fair share of hunting down contact addresses for clients and art editors in my time plus if you every visit Scotch Corner you'll spot that the site has had its fair amount of guest artists and most of these have been 'hunted down' by me and the powers of a good search around the internet. I'm thinking 'I haven't seen anything from this guy since these strips' and 'I wonder if we can get him as a guest on Scotch Corner?'. To steal from Paul Rainey's 'Prog Slog' again, reviewing the colour 'Terror Tale' in Prog 895 from 1994 he finishes by saying 'Whatever happened to this guy?'. So my hunt begins.

Searches for Kevin Cullen bring up the usual results for lots of Kevin Cullen's who have nothing to do with the artist himself plus the Barney listings for all things 2000AD and the Lambiek comic creator listing. Pre-2000AD work is well covered with the familiar small press style magazines that most comic book creators are involved in. In Kevin's case he did a lot of work for sci-fi small press magazines The Zone and Premonitions by Pigasus Press. 'Nightfall' edited by Noel K. Hannan and other titles like 'Works' and 'Back Brain Recluse'. All of these are from around 1989 to 1993 which leads us neatly up to the point where Kevin starts producing work for 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine.

Beyond his 2000AD work the internet hits a blank. Usually you can find lots of ways to track down an artist and usually an artist that has appeared in the UK's leading sci-fi comic is pretty easy to find. Even if they haven't produced work for the comic for a while you can trace where they are and what they are doing now, most end up being involved in the film or gaming industry and as working artists have some sort of a presence on the internet, a web page, blog or agents gallery for example. Even if they don't have those things you can find mention of them in discussion forums and fan sites for 2000AD like the 'Prog Slog'. Kevin Cullen disappears.

Having hit a dead end with the internet I decided to move onto asking some of his co-creators about him. I contacted writers Kek-W and Si Spencer, editors David Bishop and Tony Lee, fellow small press contributor Rik Rawling, I've had numerous conversations on Twitter and sent out more emails but it all comes back to the same thing… 'I really liked his work. I think I met him once. I have no idea where he is but if you find him let me know'. That's pretty much the stock response to all my queries. Check out an interview with Igor Goldkind by 2000ADreview, in it they ask about the Judge Hershey strip 'Harlequin's Dance' and 'Any idea what Kevin's doing these days?', Goldkind's answer: 'I don't know what he's doing now.'

So where is Kevin Cullen? What became of him? From a busy three year stint on the best comic from Britain to just completely disappearing? I now have two reasons to find out what became of Kevin one I can settle here right now. I'd like to tell him that I enjoyed his art, I appreciated the work and effort that he put into it and I enjoyed watching him develop over that short time. If you read this Kevin and you'd like to get in contact I'd love to hear from you and discover your thoughts about your work from this time.

The second reason is purely a matter of curiosity, what the hell happened to Kevin Cullen? If you know Kevin or know of him, past stories, collaborations any news or information at all I'd be happy to hear from you too.

All art in this post is by Kevin Cullen and © their respective owners.

Vworpabix!

2011-11-15T14:44:00.001Z

To call 'Vworp Vworp' a fan magazine would be technically right but possibly give you a false sense of its brilliance. Now onto its second issue the 104 page perfect bound tome of love for Panini Magazines 'Doctor Who Magazine' is so packed full of brilliant articles, art, interviews and all things Doctor Who that I knew I had to contribute to its pages.

With this issue you'll find 'Vworpobix', a board game which lovingly updates the Doctor Who game featured on the back of the cardboard packaging boxes of Weetabix during the 1970s. Featuring the art of Jon Pinto, Leighton Noyes, Paul Grist, James Offredi, Simon Gurr, Adrian Salmon and myself. I was asked to update the 'Race Through Space' section of the game with elements from the 'new' series of Doctor Who so I managed to cram in loads of moments from the last six years not least of all Supermarine Spitfires attacking Daleks in space!

Editors Gareth Kavanagh and Colin Brockhurst have poured all their love and energy into this magazine and it shows, here's a short list of some of the features:

The first half of our exhaustive Abslom Daak tribute, including interviews with writer Steve Moore, and artists Steve Dillon and David Lloyd. Also a Daak comic strip, written for DWM by Steve Moore in 1980 but withdrawn after a disagreement with the editor, now finally brought to the page byDWM artists Martin Geraghty, Adrian Salmon and Roger Langridge.
We’re kicking off our series of DWM editor interviews with a fascinating chat between Dez Skinn and Tom Spilsbury. We also chat to Paul Neary, Alan McKenzie, Cefn Ridout and the elusive Sheila Cranna.
Ex-Doctors Tom Baker and Colin Baker talk about their comic strip selves.
Dave Gibbons, Steve Parkhouse and Mick McMahon discuss The Tides of Time and Junkyard Demon, and we take in The Lodger with Gareth Roberts and Mike Collins.
We’ve got, The Housekeeper, a comic strip written by Paul Magrs and drawn by Bret M Herholz starring Mrs Wibbesey and the Fourth Doctor.
And we’ve got an fantastic free gift in the form of a ‘Vworpabix’ board game. Based on the 1970s Weetabix game, ours has 16 character cards by Adrian Salmon and boards by Paul Grist, Jon Pinto, Leighton Noyes and Graeme Neil Reid.
Two covers: a wraparound Abslom Daak cover by Mike Collins, and an early Doctor Who Monthly pastiche featuring Junkyard Demon (with Jason Fletcher and Ben Willsher’s take on Daak on the back cover).
… and much more!

Head over to www.vworpvworp.co.uk to order your copy and also pick up the first excellent issue too!

StarShipSofa Stories Vol3

2011-11-11T10:08:00.001Z

Released today (11th) is the third volume of StarShip Sofa Stories from the Hugo Award winning science fiction podcast team. Featuring a long list of sci-fi tales with accompanying illustrations the book will be available in a range of options from downloadable eBook to paperback and hardback through Lulu publishing. As you can see I drew a little 'Pong' inspired piece to go with Lavie Tidhar's story 'In Pacmandu'. Go visit their website to order your copy.

Skeletor & Zoltar

2011-11-08T10:55:00.000Z

Over on Scotch Corner, Tom Crielly has been doing a mini theme called Cartoon Capers where he draws cartoon characters from his youth. I was going to suggest these guys to him but found the lure of drawing them myself too much. Imagine a team up between these two baddies and He-Man with G-Force, that I'd like to see :)

WIN a Doctor Who Ink Sketch Competition!

2011-10-15T08:40:00.000+01:00

WINNER UPDATE! - Many thanks to everyone who took part both here on the blog and on Twitter too where word of the competition spread fast and I had an avalanche of entries in the first couple of days. The lucky winner was randomly picked out of the hat and is Dave Candlish who selected the Silence sketch as his reward. I'll try not to leave it a year between competitions next time as its a lot of fun, so to everyone else hang about and try your luck next time, cheers!

I can't believe it has been a whole year since I ran a competition, time flies when stuff and what not happen. So I thought I'd offer the chance for one lucky person to pick one of the three Doctor Who sketches posted up this last week. All three sketches are roughly A5 (14.8cm by 21cm) in size on 250gsm Bristol Board paper, made with combination of Pentel Brush Pen, Copic and Promarker colour pens (I should be sponsored by them for the amount of times I mention their products) and colour pencils.

You have two ways to enter the competition. First is by following me on Blogger (scroll to the bottom of this page and hit the 'Join this site' button at the followers box) and leaving a comment on this very post. Please make sure that your Blogger profile has a correct email address, this is essential for me to contact you should you win.

And the second way is via Twitter. Since my last competition I've joined the hordes on Twitter and can be found talking rubbish and posting art and links at http://twitter.com/#!/GraemeNeilReid

So to enter by Twitter please follow @GraemeNeilReid and Tweet this message after doing so:

Win a DrWho sketch by following @GraemeNeilReid and RT this message - Visit http://bit.ly/qKJMC6 for details #drwho #doctorwho

Here's some terms of entry: The competition will run until midnight (GMT) on the 31st October, only one entry per person. The winner will be picked at randomn and contacted via Twitter or email. The winner will select one of the three sketches shown in the photo above as the prize. If after one month the winner has not responded to this contact a new winner will be selected. Please make sure you follow and tweet (or comment if entering by Blogger) to be entered into the competition. All decisions are final. If you are unhappy with these terms please do not enter. Good luck!

Silence Ink Sketch

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Apparently the singular of Silence is Silent but I couldn't bring myself to write 'Silent Ink Sketch' as the title because it just seemed wrong. Anyway, the recurring monster/baddie for Series 6 was the Silence who had the uncanny advantage of being a tall scary alien in a black suit with the knack of making you forget you even saw them once you'd looked away. The Silence is a religious order who decide they must kill the Doctor (by the torturous means of kidnapping his friends daughter who is in fact his future wife) and halt some future moment involving the Doctor and a certain question about who he actually is and their own end. I could write more about the over complex means and ways they decided to use to achieve their goals and the outcome of the Doctor pretending to die but I think my brain would hurt and I'd get comments from people who have spent a long time figuring this all out for good or bad.

Lets just admire the look of these Silence instead as they have that classic 50s paranoia, men in black, Area 51, large alien head look. They have the big pointy fingers and their mouths go all long and scream when the point at you, the obvious Munch's The Scream references but it also reminds me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Donald Sutherland and that brilliant ending, creepy stuff. They look pretty cool and when they all hang about together in a group upside down on ceilings its very much vampire country, bats in the belfry, see they are religious.

Eyepatch Amy Ink Sketch

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000+01:00

So time gets 'stuck' at 5:02 pm on the 22nd April 2011 and all of history tries to play out at the same time leading to things getting very mixed up, but Amy Pond is on the case and looking pretty cool with an eyepatch at the same time. She remembers who the Doctor is in this mixed up reality (due to the crack in time from her bedroom wall) and is in control, looking like a kick ass ginger Daryl Hannah from Kill Bill, shooting the Silence to save Rory and coldly eliminating Madame Kovarian. She's ticking all the boxes.

The eyepatches are of course (seems so simple now we know) eyedrives which act as external memory and help retain your knowledge of what the Silence actually are and look like. The slow leaking of publicity photos of various members of the cast wearing these eyepatches (previously only Madame Kovarian had only been seen wearing one) was excellent as it stirred up the 'what is going on level' even more, had River Song turned to the dark side even more than her childhood training had infused? So there where more eyepatches on show in this last episode than the whole of the third episode 'The Curse of the Black Spot' which had pirates in it, and of course another merchandising boom for figures now with eyepatches stuck on.

Cowboy Doctor Ink Sketch

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000+01:00

So Series 6 of Doctor Who starring Matt Smith finished back on the 2nd and having not sketched the Doctor for ages I thought I'd do a mini week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) of Doctor Who sketches. If there is one thing you can say about this series its that it has stirred up a lot of discussion. Some people can't stand it, some people blindly love everything about it and others can't get their heads around it. The series was split in two with the first half running from Easter with the intention to adjust the regular Who slot to the later part of the year as will be the case with the next series running late in the year in 2012. A major complaint levelled at the show has been that its too complicated but I think most people have really suffered with the inability to wait for all the pieces of the puzzle to be placed at their feet and can't stand waiting and not being able to figure it out as they go along. Why would you want to know it all straight away anyway?

For myself I've enjoyed this series, I have niggles about some elements but not the extent of allowing it to ruin the show for me. Some comments I've read state that it's not the same Doctor Who they grew up with but if I remember rightly people complained about the series then just as much as they do now. Nothing is perfect and people find complaint in just about everything and anything so your best bet is to figure out for yourself if you like something and not worry about them. I'm guessing that the viewing figures and the booming merchandising market will help keep the Doctor on our screens for a while yet. Talking of merchandise I've drawn the Doctor with his latest hat which no doubt gives them plenty of reasons to release more toys with cowboy hats included, maybe they had a surplus of cowboy hats and asked Steven Moffat to kindly write them into the series?

The last episode of the series, The Wedding of River Song, had so many visually great scenes that I'm only going to sketch from that episode. The crypt scene with the head of Dorium Maldovar was well done and I loved the very snappy skulls. A nice nod to the passing of Nicholas Courtney who played the Brig and a welcome return of Ian McNeice as Churchill. I could keep pointing out cool things from this episode but I'll finish on my biggest negative, a fine example of bad fake beard on the Doctor, who says its not the same as the old series?

Some sketches

2011-10-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

These have all been on Scotch Corner recently but thought I'd post them here too.

I've probably sketched Judge Death as much as Judge Dredd in my time and why not he's 'dead' cool (ha! I'm a genius).

I did this sketch of Mr Vader to take along to the Glasgow Comic Con a companion sketch to the Stormtrooper sketch, he's a popular chap as he was one of the first sketches to be sold.

Last time (and first time) I drew a Stormtrooper was for a kids tumbler cup many many moons ago so it was fun to sketch this fellow in white although really it became more of a 'what not to ink' experiment.

Enough to send a Judda down your…

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000+01:00

Back in 1987 the seventh part of the Judge Dredd epic 'Oz' featured the first appearance of the Judda who look like Judge Dredd drawn by Jack Kirby really. Artist Brendan McCarthy brought these crazy looking clone Judges to life and I couldn't believe me eyes when I first saw them. 'Oz' was a long story and it had a wide selection of artists working on it, thankfully Brendan seemed to cover most of the issues that involved the Judda, in fact I think Will Simpson was the only other artist to draw them in the strip (although John Higgins did some amazing covers featuring them) and he did a great job but it lacked the flare and imagination that Brendan added. I'd have loved to seen Cam Kennedy's take on them.

I couldn't resist having a go a drawing one after re-reading 'Oz' the other week, I enjoyed it so much I drew another one. One of the great things about the Judda is that they have no set uniform so any crazy over the top Judge uniform is fine, well as long as you don't forget to give them massive boots and a 'power staff/rod/thingy'.

Reposted from Scotch Corner.

Holmes and Watson

2011-10-05T11:47:00.001+01:00

These two ink sketches where a first try out with some new Copic Ciao pens that I bought recently. I've been a steadfast user of Promarkers for colouring my sketches but I wanted to give Copic a go, and I have to say with mixed results. I love the brush feel to the Copic and in fact no matter how I scanned them in I couldn't quite capture some of the levels of tone the pens produced but I dislike the patchy effect of laying on blocks of colour. For instance the jacket Holmes is wearing is very patchy and if I'd coloured that with Promarkers it wold have been a lot smoother. Still it's with experimenting that you get to know what your equipment can do. The sketches themselves are of Jeremy Brett as Holmes and David Burke as Watson from the excellent Granada Television series. Holmes was done in the Cool Grey range and Watson in the Warm Grey range, rather suitable for those characters I think.

Reposted from Scotch Corner.

Slay it with Flowers!

2011-09-13T11:02:00.002+01:00

Out this week is my latest comic strip for the Judge Dredd Megazine, a nine page Tale from the Black Museum called 'Slay it with Flowers' written by the talented hand of Alec Worley. The Black Museum stories are 'Dreddworld' stories which basically means they take part in the world of Judge Dredd and in this case in Mega-City One. Digging into a story called Father Earth from 1979, Alec has brought back an old villain, well, only a small but deadly part of him. 'Lovelorn botanist Crayton Stump discovers the key to winning the girl of his dreams when he stumbles upon a flower growing from the remains of the mutant cult leader Father Earth.' I drew this back in Spring of this year so its good to see it in print and it was a bit of a thrill to delve into a classic Dredd strip and add our own after story.

Alec has written up a great post on his own blog where he not only gives you a potted overview of the Tales of the Black Museum series but also a small Q&A section with myself, so go take a look.

You'll easily spot Megazine#315 on the shelves as it features a stunning Dredd cover by Duncan Fegredo. Inside the issue you'll also find an interview with Duncan and recent Scotch Corner guest Staz Johnson as well as great strips by Alan Grant, Mike Collins, Cliff Robinson, Si Spurrier, PJ Holden, Gordon Rennie, Carlos and Hector Ezquerra. Overall an unmissable Megazine!

Tales From The Black Museum: Slay It With Flowers appears in the Judge Dredd Megazine # 315 (out now) and is available from all comic shops and selected newsagents. See 2000 AD’s official website for subscription and digital download details.

© Rebellion

Scottish portraits

2011-07-11T14:53:00.000+01:00

I recently produced six portrait pictures for a gaming supplement called Shadows over Scotland for Cubicle 7's Cthulhu Britannia game and I've had special permission to show you them before it see's print. From top left we have the wonderfully mustachioed Ramsay MacDonald, then hopefully a familiar face to artists out there Charles Rennie Mackintosh. In the middle is Sir Alexander Fleming followed by Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (or as you might remember her The Queen Mother) and John Logie Baird. Lastly but not least we have Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These where a mixture of pencil, ink, markers and photoshop.

Shadows over Scotland for Cthulhu Britannia ©2011 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd

Scotch Corner at Kingdom of Adventure - Wolverine Ink Sketch!

2011-06-27T09:58:00.000+01:00

Not too late for me to mention that the Scottish Art Blog 'Scotch Corner' will be doing a signing and podcast at the Kingdom of Adventure in Kirkcaldy this Saturday (2nd July) from midday. Gary Erskine, Tom Crielly, Andy Hepworth, Jon Hodgson and myself will be there on the day to chat, sign and sketch and then we'll be joined by Simon Fraser via the powers of Skype as we record a podcast. Please come along if you are in the area or indeed make a point of travelling long distances just to join us :)

The Wolverine ink sketch was commissioned by Fraser Craig who I met the weekend before at the Glasgow Comic Con, if you want to commission a sketch just drop me an email!

Kessler Changes! - Ink Sketch

2011-06-23T09:00:00.000+01:00

If you've followed my blog for a while you'll probably know how big a fan I am of the film An American Werewolf in London already and I've sketched and written about the film here before. I could probably watch this film every month and not tire of it but I force myself to have a sizeable gap between viewings for a few films so that I appreciate the event more. I watched American Werewolf yesterday and you guessed it I couldn't resist sketching.

The werewolf transformation scene is so iconic, at the time in won an Oscar for Rick Baker in Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. I love the pace of the film and the fact that they had a great looking werewolf costume/puppet that worked incredibly well but didn't over use it. The long shot of the businessman on the escalator and the werewolf just comes into viewing padding its way to the start of the stairs before it cuts is a great example, brilliant.

Yeah it's a great film and I can't wait until next year when I watch it again. And its got Frank Oz in it too :)

Judge Death Ink Sketch & Glasgow Comic Con

2011-06-16T15:52:00.000+01:00

More sketching and because its for a comic convention I always fall back on my old favourites, I love drawing Judge Death but then who wouldn't?

I've mentioned comic convention and of course its way late in the day to mention which one and not just for the fact that I'm slow to do so. The Glasgow Comic Con is this Saturday (18th) at the Mackintosh Church, Arts & Heritage Centre and if you wanted to go and didn't buy a ticket in advance then its too late as it has been sold out for a few weeks. So I guess if you are going then I hope you'll come and say hello and maybe buy a sketch, a piece of art or a sketchbook (at the very least come say hi).

Rogue Trooper - Ink Sketch

2011-06-09T08:00:00.000+01:00

Couldn't resist drawing a closer profile picture of the genetic infantryman, probably the best rendition of him I've produced so far.

Hats off to Helm - Ink Sketch

2011-06-08T08:00:00.004+01:00

Found some time to get back doing a few ink sketches which is handy as I've a few conventions and appearances lined up so I will have something to sell. I've only ever draw Rogue Trooper once before but he's such a great character that I'd like to get a hang of finding my version of him. One of my favourite short stories was 'Hats off to Helm' where Rogue encounters some Nort Pillboxes and Helm offers to take the brunt of a grenade explosion to save Rogue. Only two issues long but wonderfully drawn by the legend Cam Kennedy.

Radio Times - Saturday Play BBC Radio 4 'Landfall'

2011-04-18T16:30:00.002+01:00

I always enjoy the commissions I receive from the Radio Times as they've always been a great mix and the editors are very open to suggestions and ideas as to how to approach the illustration. This one was no different, here's the supplied brief:

Saturday Play – LandfallSaturday 19 March
2.30-3.30pm BBC RADIO 4

In this original science-fiction adventure by Mike Walker, five lost souls are recruited to travel to an abandoned planet where all they know is that they are to retrieve the only known sample of an ore left over from an old mining operation.

But their task becomes considerably more complicated when one of their party has a close encounter with the indigenous plant life – plant life which seems to have some very odd, very powerful properties. Soon they are battling not only to stay alive but to hang on to the very things that make them human.

The cast includes Nicola Miles-Wilden as Cally, Cyril Nri as Intaba, Clare Perkins as Hudson, Alex Tregear as JD and Adeel Akhtar as Hussam.

The main things to highlight for this illustration I felt was the mining operation, the sinister/odd plant life, five characters and the fact its on another planet. I instantly thought of some great sci-fi imagery like the desolate research operations in John Carpenter's 'The Thing', the mining operation in 'Outland' and a few other elements from 'Aliens' etc. I could see it being very 80s sci-fi-esque.

Here's the approved sketch which I thought summed up all the elements without getting bogged down in heavy detail. A barren planet surface with an eerie desolate but illuminated mining operation. Snaking out from the mine are the tangled roots of some kind of plant life with the shadows of five characters approaching.

The sketch was approved and as you can see I didn't deviate from the sketch to the final illustration at all. A fun job.

Mr Fantastic

2011-03-13T15:32:00.000Z

Repost from Scotch Corner - Marvel A-Z

Mr Fantastic, otherwise known as Reed Richards, is a member of the Fantastic Four. My knowledge of the Fantastic Four comes from TV cartoons more than the comics themselves. He's a scientist and can bend and stretch his body into any shape a side effect from the cosmic radiation he was submitted to during a spaceship flight. He's married to Sue Storm (Invisible Girl) who is the sister of Johnny Storm (The Human Torch). And his pal is Ben Grimm (The Thing). I think that's about the extent of my knowledge on the Fantastic Four, I believe (although I could be picking this up from the recent films) that Richards is trying to find away to return the four back to normality and in the meanwhile they fight crime and stuff.

Eternal Brain

2011-03-01T18:27:00.000Z

Repost from Scotch Corner - Marvel A-Z

Nope I'd never really heard of him either. First seen in 'Red Raven' #1 by Timely Comics (pre name of Marvel Comics) in 1940, Professor William Carmody is mortally wounded by agents of the Emperor of Mongolia (um… okay) and has his brain transplanted into a tank of his own making where he develops mental (as in his brain not just crazy) powers. Later to appear in Marvel Comics: The Lost Generation the good professor has developed a robot body to house his brain called 'Walkabout' and is in the midst of regrowing his body (hence the embryo attachment) when he is killed by someone called Nocturne.

I can't say a lot of that makes any sense to me but you can read some more about him here.

I had struggled to think of anybody to draw for 'E' and had considered Elektra and Elric but hadn't found any inspiration so when I read about Eternal Brain I could see a more graphical approach to the subject rather than going down the robot with a brain in a jar route. Not often I produce an illustration purely on the computer but I had fun painting in the brain with some very loose strokes.

Interview

2011-02-12T08:56:00.000Z

I'm sure regular readers will remember that two of my paintings recently appeared in the book SciFi Art Now. Editor of the book John Freeman has just posted up a creator interview with me over on the SciFi Art Now Blog so go check it out.

While I'm here I'll just mention that I do realise that I haven't posted a lot of new material other than reposts from Scotch Corner recently a trend which may continue for a little longer I'm afraid as work is keeping chained to my drawing board. I will endeavour to fit in a few sketches soon

Darth Vader

2011-02-12T08:49:00.000Z

Repost from Scotch Corner – Marvel Comics published 107 monthly issues of Star Wars starting in 1977 with the adaption of the first film 'A New Hope' written by Roy Thomas with art by Howard Chaykin. The series was immensely popular and has often been cited as 'saving' Marvel from dire finances and poor sales. As usual I've managed to not read a single issue but I'm guessing if you are a hard core Star Wars fan they're worth checking out.

This was done with my Pentel Brush pen for Vader, Staedtler Pigment Liners for the background and then out with the Promarker colour pens.

Conan the Cimmerian

2011-02-04T13:46:00.000Z

Repost from Scotch Corner - Over on Scotch Corner, Tom started doing a Marvel Comic A to Z collections and I joined in at C with this Conan pencil drawing. The original illustration is availble to buy over at the online shop!

Marvel produced Conan the Barbarian comics mostly during the 1970s, written (again mostly) by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala and a few others. I'll admit to having read none of those comics so I'm no judge if they are any good, certainly Savage Sword of Conan seems to have been a popular title and I did read one issue of that years ago as Scottish artist Colin MacNeil illustrated the story.

I know Conan the Cimmerian through the books of Robert E Howard which I read mostly in my teens and the two Schwarzenegger films 'Conan the Barbarian' (1982) and "Conan the Destroyer' (1984). So my rendition finished just today I feel leans more towards the fantasy look of the character rather than the comics version.

Original Scribbles - New online shop open!

2011-02-03T16:43:00.002Z

If you glance to the left of this post you'll spot a new button link for 'Original Scribbles' your one stop handy online shop to buy Graeme Neil Reid goodies. Most of the ink sketches that I post here are destined for sale at various comic conventions but I get a lot of contact from people who just don't make it along to these events and who want to get a hold of a particular ink sketch or piece of artwork. Well, hopefully now everybody will get a chance.

I plan to keep this shop regularly updated with sketches, art, comics, prints and other goodies. So if you spot something I post that you simply have to own there's a good chance if you are quick enough you can head over to the shop and grab it. All postage in the UK is free but there is a charge listed with each item for postage outside of Great Britain.

Remember that if you see something on any of my sites that you'd like and that isn't in the shop you can always contact me to check its availability. And it never hurts to remind people that I am open to ink sketch commissions so drop me a line at gnreid@gnreid.co.uk

What's it all about?

2011-02-02T16:39:00.003Z

This was posted over on Scotch Corner a month or so back but I didn't want to repost it here without writing up a little bit about the film. 'Alfie' is a 1966 British film starring Michael Caine in the lead role. Written and adapted from his own novel by Bill Naughton it follows a young man called Alfie Elkins around on his various romantic adventures. This film almost single handedly set up the 'jack the lad' wise cracking image that followed Caine around for a long time.

It is a remarkable film both in its subject matter and in the way it tells its story. Alfie breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the viewer something which was uncommon but not unheard of in film, a well used device in theatre, and this element makes Alfie such an endearing but flawed character. You love him, he's a funny, charming, exciting guy to be around but he's such a horrendous bastard at the same time.

The film is well known for its abortion scene which must have caused no small amount of out cry in the 60s and is still just as hard hitting today, and the other well known factor is the hit record 'Alfie'. The film was already released in the UK before the track was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, sung by Cher for the US release and also recorded by Cilla Black for the UK market. Here's the end credits to the film which feature not just the scraggy mutt which sums up Alfie Elkins perfectly but some brilliant photo cutting.

I love Michael Caine's performance in this film and its helps that he plays of some remarkable actors like Shelley Winters and Vivien Merchant. He's a wonderful actor and even in some of his more notoriously (critic hated) poor films in the early 80s he still commits himself and turns in some fine performances. His resurgent career in the last decade shows that he is a class act and a true master of his craft.

There was a remake of Alfie in 2004 starring Jude Law which I've never seen. I'm not one to bash remakes so if I happen to be sat in front of the TV when its one time I'll watch it but I find it hard to think that it would offer any more or mean just as much as the original. An excellent film, a classic from the moment it was made.

Jelly Baby Doctor?

2011-01-21T13:50:00.000Z

REPOST from Scotch Corner!

Just before Christmas I got a commission for a Doctor Who illustration from a satisfied customer who had hired me the previous year. This time around we went a bit further back down the regeneration line to the fourth Doctor holding a much loved sweet. I've cropped off the right hand side of the illustration as it features the person who the illustration was commissioned for as their Christmas present, hope they liked it?

Best of 2010

2011-01-18T18:41:00.000Z

Hey, Happy New Year! Okay I know January is nearly two thirds they way through but a) I was busy and then b) I was on holiday and to finish us off c) I've been unwell. I had a fairly busy end to the last year and strolled straight into the Christmas holidays eagerly. 2011 started and quickly I've been hit by an eye infection that progressively got worse and spread to both eyes. So a little bit of forced downtime which, if the pills keep doing their job, will be finished soon and I'll be back on track.

In the meanwhile I'm going to re-post some Scotch Corner posts that haven't made their way to this blog yet and also to begin I'm going to put up the Forbidden Planet Blog 'Best of 2010' questions that I did back in December that for one reason or other didn't actually make it onto their blog, maybe my choices where too close or repetitive to others? Anyway, it would be easy with the passing of time to update or add to the list and selections that I made but I've left it alone, so here's my 'Best of 2010'.

FPI: Can you pick three comics/webcomics/graphic novels which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

The trouble with picking these after you've read some of the choices made by other people is that you either see something you instantly feel you agree with and had somehow forgotten or that you all pick the same titles as each other.

I'll start by picking a title a few others have, At The Mountains of Madness by Ian J Culbard (and not forgetting H.P. Lovecraft). Not only is this a quality looking title the flow and design of the pages works so well that it is a literal 'can't put downer'.

My second choice is the mainstay of British newsstands, 2000AD. Judge Dredd's problem with a certain mayor and the captivating Strontium Dog story with the unforgettable demise of Feral had me reading the comic in the queue to buy it. 2000AD seems to be running on high supply of thrill power this year and for those who stick with it through thick and thin this year has seen us well rewarded.

Speaking of being well rewarded, my last choice is the second volume of 'The Rainbow Orchid' by Garen Ewing. Apart from being overjoyed for Garen when he announced that Egmont where to publish The Rainbow Orchid I was also overjoyed at the prospect of getting to see more than the first book in print. Some fans have been waiting a long time for new RO (I know it was online but it's not the same) and Garen delivered with this second volume and excitedly the third book will be out next year!

FPI: Can you pick three books which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

As usual I'll have to put in a book that is more pictures than words and that's 'The Art of Hammer: Posters from the archives of Hammer Films' by Marcus Hearn. Who doesn't love painted film posters? Not all of the examples in this book are of illustrated posters but they sure are all pretty to look at, lovely design work, great and iconic films.

One of my favourite actors released a new autobiography so 'The Elephant to Hollywood' by Sir Michael Caine has been an amusing and insightful read. He writes in such a way that you actually read it in his voice (or an impersonation of his voice) as you go along.

BBC2 just had an hour long documentary about the subject of my last book hosted by the author, 'Operation Mincemeat' by Ben Macintyre. It's a good year when Ben Macintyre brings out a new book and when its one to do with the real secret plot to foil the Nazis it ticks all my boxes. Fascinating read.

FPI: Can you pick three TV shows and/or movies which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

I'll repeat one of picks from last year and start with Doctor Who. How good is the Eleventh Doctor! Loved the new series, Matt Smith catches the essence of all the past Doctors and adds his own personal touch, and you have a great married couple in Amy and Rory onboard as well. The series was great, my kids loved it and it made a great change not to have an emotional down hearted Doctor for a change, full on Geronimo!

Christopher Nolan's film Inception seemed to be a love it or hate it for many people but I'm strongly in the love it camp. A sci-fi film that looked beyond the MTV style Matrix formula for what the human mind can conceive. Plus Hans Zimmer's soundtrack became an instant favourite.

Let Me In directed by Matt Reeves saw the return of Hammer Films with the remake of a 2008 Swedish film. Originally I wanted to see this purely for it being a new Hammer Film but ended up really enjoying this horror film which struck quite a few chords for me. Plus Owen, the 12 year old boy who the film centres around had the most amazing moon surface wallpaper in his bedroom, I'd like that wallpaper for my bedroom (don't think the wife would though).

FPI: How did 2010 go for you as a creator? Are you happy with the way you got your work out this year?

I drew Judge Dredd for the Megazine and got into the pages of 2000AD with a Terror Tale, most other things have paled in significance :) What can I say I think I've had a fairly happy year artistically, lots of goods things seemed to happen this year and I've had a lot of support from friends and colleagues which has been great. 2010 seems to have ticked for me and I couldn't be happier about that.

FPI: What can we look forward to from you in 2011?

Again same answer as the year before. I have nothing confirmed as yet. I have about two or three personal projects that I hope move on a bit but in the meanwhile I'll continue to produce sketches and art and post over at my own blog (http://www.gnreid.blogspot.com) and at Scotch Corner (http://scotchcorner.blogspot.com). I hope I get to do some more comic work, and I would like to find my way back to the paint brush a few times too.

FPI: Anyone you think is a name we should be watching out for next year?

I'd like to cheat here and mention two people I think everyone should look out for. One is an old name who has been gracious enough to do a few guest posts over on Scotch Corner, Alex Ronald drew Dredd and various other strips a few moons back but left the comics industry for the sparkling lights of the film and gaming industries. He's been tempted back to comics by painting 'The Vampire Vixens of the Wehrmacht' which will debut in issue 7 of Wasted by Bad Press in February. Here's his blog site: http://alexronald68.blogspot.com/

And the second is artist Matt Soffe, a regular contributor to a long list to UK small press comics and the ongoing webcomic Fractal Friction. Matt has developed so much in the last year that its been a genuine pleasure to keep checking out his blog site (http://mygrimmbrother.blogspot.com/) and see his work. There's something quite raw and instinctive about his work and he's also (like myself) happy to throw out some ink sketches to get his mojo going. I love seeing his work.

Halloween

2010-12-08T11:21:00.000Z

The blog has been a bit quiet of late as I've been caught up with work so here are a couple of re-posts from Scotch Corner to look at.

It is a couple of days since October 31st (EDIT: it's a lot longer than that) but I couldn't resist sketching Michael Myers from the 1978 John Carpenter film 'Halloween'. This is another franchise that has diluted the original horror but the first and second films are well worth watching.

Would you care for some tea?

2010-12-08T11:18:00.000Z

The blog has been a bit quiet of late as I've been caught up with work so here are a couple of re-posts from Scotch Corner to look at.

I watch a lot of Doctor Who anyway but my two boys add to the tally a lot by requesting their favourite episodes on while eating lunch. One of them is the series five episode 'Victory of the Daleks' which features those amazing Union Jack fitted Ironside Daleks. It does also feature the 'new' Daleks in a rainbow of colours, love them or hate them they're a toy producers dream!

1286 Progs later…

2010-11-26T10:30:00.002Z

Back in July I wrote three posts about my nigh on twenty year dream of drawing Judge Dredd for 2000ad which came true with the release of issue 301 of the Judge Dredd Megazine back in August (go buy the issue at Clickwheel if you missed it). As personal goal posts go that was a major one ticked off the list, but somewhere in the back of my mind I had a niggle… it wasn't 2000ad.

The Judge Dredd Megazine has been running for twenty years and that in itself is a big achievement for a UK comic. I remember taking a train to Edinburgh to visit the Science Fiction Book Shop (later bought by Forbidden Planet) and buying the first issue. The read thru on the train journey home and subsequent rereading of that first issue inspired me greatly and focused my painted trial work at that point. However, it was hard to look at Colin MacNeil's brilliantly painted 'America' work and then look at my own less than stunning trial work for the Megazine and think anything other than 'I've no chance'.

The Megazine lost itself for a while with a lot of reprint work (which although of high quality didn't work for me) but in recent years its grown strong again and I look at the Megazine as being an addition to 2000ad and not a separate entity, so when I drew Dredd for the Megazine it meant the same as if it was for 2000ad. Or so I thought. Once the strip had been printed I started to get a little pulsing annoyance in my brain, 'It wasn't for 2000ad'.

Next Wednesday, 1st December, I get to say 'I'm in 2000ad this week'. Prog 1713 features the four page Terror Tale story called 'Menhir' written by Arthur Wyatt and illustrated by me. 1286 Progs (short for programmes, which is the 1977 way of saying issue number for a sci-fi comic) after buying my first 2000ad I'm finally in the comic. For years I had a standing order for 2000ad and various other comics at a newsagents in town, as the years rolled by I could see the staff finally get that look in their eyes as if to say 'Aren't you getting a bit old for this now?'. I longed to be able to open up an issue and point to the art inside and say 'I drew that'. Sadly after years of service they closed and I have nobody other than vastness of the internet to say 'That strip in 2000ad this week, I drew that'.

Finally, finally I'm in 2000ad. Ten years ago when I had completely given up any hope of drawing for the comic I used to jokingly say that I didn't want to be in those pages as I loved the comic so much I didn't want to ruin an issue by having my sub standard work printed in it. Well if my work is below par that will be left to the readers to decide but to make up for it in the same Prog will be the second part of a Judge Dredd strip drawn by Brendan McCarthy, a personal favourite of mine and somewhat of a Dredd visionary. Not only do I get to finally be in 2000ad but I get to share its pages with Brendan McCarthy. Good Grud! Go buy the comic next Wednesday (and of course every week).

And yet quiet quietly at the back of brain there is a niggle…

Sci-Fi Art Now

2010-11-09T11:15:00.005Z

Out in the shops or to order online now is this great hardback coffee table book called Sci-Fi Art Now edited by John (Down The Tubes) Freeman and published by Ilex in the UK and HarperCollins in the US. Here's the description of the book from the Ilex site:

This perennially popular genre always attracts the most visionary artists, and this book showcases the crème de la crème of contemporary science fiction painters, illustrators and creators. All aspects of classic science fiction themes are given a fresh perspective by artists examining popular sub-genres such as Sirens of Sci-Fi, Spacecrafts and Spacenauts, Aliens and Alien Worlds, Radical Robots, Incredible Cities, Future War, and Steampunk. Crammed full of exquisite art from around the world and fascinating insights from the artists and creators, Sci-Fi Art Now is perfect for fans of the science fiction genre, whether in movies, computer games, comics, book covers or illustrations.

When I was a young boy there was a slew of sci-fi books that nearly all boys who liked the genre would no doubt have owned. These where all brought on by the interest generated in sci-fi by the release of Star Wars and books by Asimov and the like. Here's a few examples of the kind of book I mean. Spacebase 2000 by Stewart Cowley published by Hamlyn in 1984. It was a collected edition of two books Spacecraft 2000-2100AD and Great Space Battles printed under the TTA (Terran Trade Authority) banner which had released four books all about the future space travel of mankind. Alien World: The complete illustrated guide by Steven Eisler published by Octopuss in 1980. The Flights of Icarus by Donald Lehmkuhl published by Paper Tiger in 1977.

All of these books featured amazing art throughout and I was exposed to these masters of painted sci-fi art long before I discovered comic sci-fi art in 2000AD. Artists such as Jim Burns, Roger Dean, Angus McKie, Syd Mead, Ian Miller, Tim White, Bruce Pennington, Chris Foss and many more. Art tutors always say 'study the masters' well for boys my age into sci-fi and fantasy we certainly did. These guys set the bar very high. I would go into the town library and search through the small paperbacks to find the covers which featured these fantastic artists and therefore be exposed to the written work the cover had brought me to. As the years rolled on the artists themselves had collections released of purely their work, so instead of a mixture of art styles you'd buy large collections like Diary of a Spaceperson by Chris Foss or Medusa by Chris Achilleos.

The release of Sci-Fi Art Now to me is like stepping back to those days of the late 70s and early 80s, a brilliant collection of sci-fi art which I'm very proud to say my work features in. I have two pieces in the book and in keeping with those earlier books and artists both where created traditionally with brushes and paint on stretched board. I do love to paint but I rarely find the time to do so and rely on my pens and computer to finish my illustrations. So its another treat for me to have paintings finished by hand in the book just as it's an amazing thrill to have my work featured besides some favourites artists like Bob Eggleton, Rian Hughes and Dermot Power. Also its great to see so many friends and artists whose work I rate highly and have grown in skill and style such as Matt Soffe, Vicky Stonebridge and my Scotch Corner colleague Gary Erskine.

To top it all off the forward to the book is written by the legend that is Chris Foss accompanied by one of his startling spaceship paintings. From a ten year old boy devouring the art in Spacebase 2000 to having my work in a book with THE Chris Foss, I guess you could say I'm pretty happy with that!

If you'd like to see more work in the book I noticed that someone has photographed various pages from the book and set up a Flikr page to show them in conjunction with a review on his site. These are pictures from the US release of the book which I believe only differs in the cover and some slight design elements.

Ghostbusters Month - Taxi Ride - Ink Sketch

2010-10-31T11:43:00.000Z

Its Halloween and the last day of October so we have the last sketch of this theme month. I set out to draw thirteen sketches and managed twelve which since I had a down period due to health matters I'm happy to forgive myself for. It's fairly obvious that I love the film Ghostbusters and there are a few more sketches I'd have happily tried to fit in and will more than likely sketch in the near future.

So the coming together of the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster coinciding with the shutting down of the ghost containment grid brings on the coming of Gozer the Gozerian, a Sumerian God played by Yugoslav model Slavitza Jovan. We have a great segment where we see various ghosts around New York and Dana Barrett's apartment explodes all accompanied by a section of the song 'Magic' by Mick Smiley. Among the ghosts is a zombie cab driver which is our last sketch. Normally I take great pains to keep true to the original source of what I intend to sketch but in this case I have selected to remove the large triangle advertising boards that sat on top of the taxi in the film. For one I can't see what the advertising is to be able to draw it and I also think the these old NY cabs easily remind you of the scene anyway.

So after a month of Ghostbuster sketches if you haven't all ready gone back and watched the film then make sure you do it soon. Its too good not to watch regularly :)

Ghostbusters Month - Zuul The Gatekeeper - Ink Sketch

2010-10-29T15:58:00.000+01:00

I've been under a lot of stress drawing this sketch y'know :) Since the theme started at the beginning of October I've had no less than five message sent about this sketch. 'Are you doing a Zuul sketch?' Well of course I'd be doing a Zuul sketch but the chances are that one of the two winners of the competition would be waiting patiently to see what the Zuul sketch was going to be like before picking their prize and so you should have entered the competition if you wanted a chance of getting your hands on it. Anyway, all this anticipation of the Zuul sketch meant that when I'd finished it I managed to spell 'Gatekeeper' wrong three times in a row. I've photoshopped out most of the mess that is the written title but still it's annoying that I managed to mess up the title once I'd drawn the sketch.

So, yes its time for the Zuul The Gatekeeper sketch. No real info to be given other than Sigourney Weavers character 'Dana Barrett' is possessed by Zuul and a lot of young hot blooded males seem to like this.

Ghostbusters Month - Eleanor Twitty - Ink Sketch

2010-10-28T10:17:00.000+01:00

The Library Ghost, known as Eleanor Twitty (although I'm not sure you ever find that out in the film) is the very first ghost you see in the film and if I could go back in time I'd tell my ten year old self that this is about as scary as the ghosts get in the film. I was terrified of the moment she transmogrified into the ghost in the sketch following Ray's brilliant plan.

As a side note I'd like to thank all those who have sent me personal messages, comments and tweets regarding my health. I'm in a lot better condition than I was this time last week, I'm mostly off the pain killers and have a lot of movement back in my neck and shoulder, hopefully I'm on the road to a full recovery.

Guess the Theme Competition winners and update!

2010-10-22T14:29:00.004+01:00

As you will spot there is no sketch posted today, sorry. At the start of the week I had an accident with my shoulder that has left my shoulder, neck and arm frozen in a knotted mass of muscular pain. A trip to the Doctor for some strong pain killers has been helping but my work has suffered for this and it's taking me all my effort to finish my paid work on time. Therefore my sketches have taken a back seat at the end of this week. The plan will be to rest up this weekend and hopefully return next week with the final sketches on the Ghostbuster theme.

Speaking of the theme regular readers will recall I asked you to guess what this months sketches would be and the winner could pick a sketch as a prize. Well, only two people guessed correctly that it was Ghostbusters and so as I'm such a nice guy they both can pick a sketch to have. Neil Davidson guessed correctly first so he can get first pick at the end of the month and Jay Eales can choose from the rest. Huzzah!

Ghostbusters Month - Egon Spengler - Ink Sketch

2010-10-20T09:07:00.000+01:00

Ghostbusters was co-written by Harold Ramis who everybody knows plays Egon Spengler in the film. Ramis is one of those actors who I delight in spotting in various (usually small) roles in films that then brings on the inevitable 'Hey, its Egon' remark. He's also responsible for writing, directing and producing some great films including Caddyshack and Groundhog Day.

Egon Spengler: I'm worried, Ray. It's getting crowded in there and all my data points to something big on the horizon.
Winston Zeddemore: What do you mean, big?
Egon Spengler: Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's sample, it would be a Twinkie... thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

Two YouTube videos today, the first is a deleted scene between Janine and Egon and the second is, okay I know its from Ghostbusters 2 but its great.

Ghostbusters Month - Mr Stay-Puft - Ink Sketch

2010-10-18T08:00:00.005+01:00

I should probably have left the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man to the last post but there you go. If you have a spare £20 you can now buy a box of Stay-Puft Caffeinated Marshmallows.

Venkman: We've been going about this all wrong. This Mr. Stay Puft's okay! He's a sailor, he's in New York; we get this guy laid, we won't have any trouble!

And now nothing to do with Mr Stay-Puft really, here's Ray Parker Jr singing that theme tune, you may thinks its a bit corny now but you'll be whistling it later.

Ghostbusters Month - Vinz Clortho - Ink Sketch

2010-10-15T08:00:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday we met the Terror Dog that chased down Louis Tully who then became Vinz Clortho, Keymaster of Gozer. You'll spot on my sketch that I've spelt his name as Vince, whoops. Anyway, Rick Moranis once again steals the show with his performance and if you watch the full clip on Wednesday you'll see most of his turn as Vinz.

"Gozer the Traveller, he will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldronaii, the Traveller came as a large and moving Torb! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex Supplicants they chose a new form for him... that of a Giant Sloar! Many Shubs and Zulls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day I can tell you."

So the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper get it together and bring forth Gozer, here's a short deleted scene where Louis contemplates what he's been up to with Dana :)

Ghostbusters Month - Terror Dog - Ink Sketch

2010-10-13T08:00:00.005+01:00

"Okay, who brought the dog?"

I wasn't aware these dogs had a proper title but apparently those who know these things call them Terror Dogs. Best bit for these guys has to be when one of them chases down Louis Tully from his client only party. Just listen to some of the genius lines from Rick Moranis.

"Nice doggy. Cute little pooch. Maybe I've got a Milk-Bone."

Ghostbusters Month - Winston Zeddemore - Ink Sketch

2010-10-11T08:00:00.004+01:00

Ernie Hudson who plays the fourth Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore is one of those actors who always seems to be in work but if you ask me to name something he's in other than Ghostbusters I'd struggle. Admittedly most of the things he's appeared in I've never seen but he has a long list of appearances over on the IMD.

Janine: Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?
Winston: Ah, if there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.

For a character that comes in half way you'll probably remember two of his very quotable lines more than anyone else's. The most memorable and most quoted is: Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!

And of course his speech to the mayor: I'm Winston Zeddmore, Your Honor. I've only been with the company for a couple of weeks, but I gotta tell you these things are real. Since I joined these men, I've seen shit that'll turn you white. Now this scene is one that was often replaced with alternative words for TV viewing and I remember many times seeing Ghostbusters on ITV where Stantz suddenly says 'Wally Wick' instead of 'Dickless' and various other non offensive substitutes which they actually filmed. Here's Zeddemore saying 'stuff' instead of 'shit'.

Ghostbusters Month - ECTO-1 - Ink Sketch

2010-10-08T08:00:00.017+01:00

"It needs suspension work and shocks, brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rear end..., new rings, mufflers, a little wiring...."

Ecto-1 is the siren wailing 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance ghostbuster car of choice.

Ghostbusters Month - Slimer - Ink Sketch

2010-10-06T08:00:00.001+01:00

Slimer was of course not even called Slimer in the original film but his popularity was such that he returned in the sequel film and appeared in the various Ghostbuster cartoons and eventual superseded the Ghostbusters themselves with 'Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters', everyone loves that green blob!

On Monday I posted the whole hotel scene that introduces Slimer to the world so today I've found a video that talks about the creation of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon that has some great interviews and clips and its all presented by another favourite of mine, the amazing Rolf Harris :)

Part 2 and Part 3

Ghostbusters Month - Ray Stantz - Ink Sketch

2010-10-04T08:00:00.002+01:00

'Gozer the Gozerian... good evening. As a duly designated representative of the City, County and State of New York, I order you to cease any and all supernatural activity and return forthwith to your place of origin or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension.'

Ray Stantz played by co-writer Dan Aykroyd mortgages his family home for the third time and bank rolls the creation of the Ghostbusters team. He's also the one responsible for buying the rundown fire station as a base and the well worn ambulance limo that becomes Ecto-1, so he's easily led but buys very iconic things :)

I love the bit in the movie where Ray is mooching about the corridors of the Sedgewick Hotel having a cigarette and his eyes pop out as he encounters a disgusting green blob. Here's an 11 minutes You Tube video of the whole hotel scene, just count the memorable lines!

Ghostbusters Month - Peter Venkman - Ink Sketch

2010-10-01T08:00:00.002+01:00

Having survived my trip to the cinema with my brother to see Indiana Jones we also ventured out sans parents to see Ghostbusters, I was ten years old and it was 1984. All this month I'll be posting sketches from the film that was a box office smash and a cultural phenomenon that embedded a theme tune and catchphrase into everybody's head. The film is littered with very memorable quotes and character acting.

I'll assume that everybody has seen this film and only give a very, very brief overview. Three doctors of parapsychology get booted out of Columbia University and convinced they can trap a spirit in a holding facility decide to set up business for themselves as ghost busters. Luckily for them a Sumerian God called Gozer the Gozerian has decided to manifest itself at 55 Central Park West, New York in the apartment of Dana Barrett. 'Who ya gonna call?'

Bill Murray plays Peter Venkman who has somehow managed to blag his way through life while chasing bits of skirt. He instantly falls for the charms of their first client Dana Barrett who challenges Venkman: Dana Barrett: You know, you don't act like a scientist. Peter Venkman: They're usually pretty stiff. Dana Barrett: You're more like a game show host. Probably one of the most famous quotes from the film is from Venkman who joins in describing to the major the coming of the biblical like disaster about to hit the city 'Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!'

Guess the Theme Competition!

2010-09-24T19:42:00.003+01:00

It's only a week until my month long theme sketches start and as I mentioned a few posts ago I'm running a short competition to win one of the sketches from the coming month of October. All you have to do is have a guess what the theme of the sketches will be and leave a comment here. Two people have guessed already and have guessed wrong (have another go chaps) so to help a little I'll give you a clue.

It's a film.

So get your guesses in. There should be thirteen (work allowing) sketches for the winner to pick from by the end of the month and as I said before if we have more than one person correctly guessing the theme then the names will go into a hat and the winner will be picked at random. As always I'd like to ask you to be a 'follower' to the blog to enter and make sure you have an email address in your profile or left with your entry so I can contact you. Competition closes the moment I post the first sketch. Good luck and check back again later as I may update this post with a few more clues!

EDIT: Clues!
It's a comedy.
It was made in the 1980s.
"Listen... do you smell something?"

Judge Dredd Megazine 301 on Clickwheel!

2010-09-24T19:32:00.000+01:00

If for some strange reason you failed miserably to pick up issue 301 of the Judge Dredd Megazine to catch my first Dredd story 'The Natural' written by Gordon Rennie, inked by Gary Erskine, coloured by Chris Blythe and lettered by Annie Parkhouse, then shame on you. But have no fear you can still see the most excellent issue by downloading it at Clickwheel, where you can choose to view it either as a high resolution PDF or as a Comic Book Reader file (CBZ). You get the full magazine and the amazing Mick McMahon collection graphic too. No reason to miss out!

Images 34

2010-09-16T14:28:00.002+01:00

Yesterday the postman delivered my copy of the Association of Illustrators annual Images 34. What is Images? Well, I'll let the AOI blarb explain all:

Images - the best of British contemporary illustration
Images is the UK's leading illustration competition, annual, awards show, and touring exhibition dedicated to showcasing the very best contemporary illustration published in the UK.
Images is unique in that it is Britain's only jury-selected illustration competition, judged by a highly regarded panel of industry experts, spanning multiple categories.
The annual celebrates illustration excellence and is distributed to a specially targeted list of international commissioners and sold worldwide.

Back in October last year I heard that two of my illustrations for The Dangerous Book of Heroes had been selected in the book category and if I'd been on the ball reporting these things I could have pointed my London based friends to the exhibition of the work (including a piece by me) at the London College of Communication which ran for a week from the 7th of September. So if you invent a time machine and are stuck for things to do you could go check that out.

Anyway, being in the book is pretty much an honour and one of the few times I get to feel like I'm maybe doing okay at this illustration malarky. Well, getting away with it anyway.

If you want to know more about the competition, exhibition or indeed order the book head over to the AOI's Images website.

Doomlord

2010-09-16T14:01:00.002+01:00

Re-post from Scotch Corner! Doomlord first appeared as a photo strip in the 'New' Eagle comic from 1982. "Doomlord – servant of Nox, master of life, bringer of death!" arrived on Earth to judge mankind's right to existence and unashamedly went around killing people and adopting their appearances to remain undetected. The strip changed to an illustrated version when Doomlord (or Zyn to use his real name) was killed (or was he!) and a second Servitor called Vek was despatched to judge us. This Doomlord still enjoyed killing people but was a much more approachable alien who took a liking to mankind and decided to save us while staying at a boarding house run by a Mrs Souster.

Superbly written by Alan Grant and John Wagner and later with art by Compton, Heinzl and Bradbury the strip was extremely popular and ran for eleven years. Go check out this link to find out more. This was a ink sketch commission completed last week and as I drew it I couldn't help but day dream about being allowed to draw Doomlord every day, sigh, a lovely dream!

Dr Whoops Winner and Guess the Theme Competition!

2010-09-16T13:47:00.001+01:00

Yes, I've finally found time to let you know that the winner of the competition was in fact J.E. Remy who happened to be the very first person to enter. It just goes to show that when it's a lucky dip out of a hat it could be anyone who gets picked. So the sketch has been sent on its way.

I've run 'themed' week sketches on the blog before but next month, October, I'll be doing a theme month. Thirteen sketches on just the one subject will be posted up over the month and just for fun lets have another mini competition. If anyone can guess the theme I'll be doing before it begins I'll let the winner pick one of those sketches as a prize. If by some weird chance more than one person guesses the theme then those who guessed right will have their names put in a hat and the lovely Mrs Reid will randomly pick one winner. So get guessing, you have until the end of September to enter, just leave your guess in the comments to this post and please, please remember to make sure you have a contact email.

The Terminator - Ink Sketch#2

2010-09-10T18:42:00.005+01:00

I'm still not quite getting Mr Schwarzenegger's features quite right, he's a tricky one but I think I've got closer than my last Terminator attempt. Plus to be awkward I decided I would draw him based on his look from the original 1984 Terminator film. It's interesting that the CGI 'Arnie' in the latest film, 'Terminator Salvation', actually gave him 'floppy' hair that you'd have seen him with during his body building career and earlier films like 'Hercules in New York' and 'Pumping Iron'. I decided to go with the spiky style that he had in the first film which by the time they'd gone onto T2 had become a very emaculate spiked flat top type thing. I'll need to revisit him soon to break my inability to get him 'just so'.

While I'm here I'll post a YouTube film that I was forwarded recently of a cut scene from the donkey of a film called Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, its hilarious.

A Hard Day's Fight!

2010-09-07T10:08:00.003+01:00

A couple of weeks back I was contacted by the Liverpool Roller Birds who wanted a design to promote their upcoming roller derby matches. The event itself is called 'A Hard Day's Fight' and the thought of not using the design from the Beatles album 'A Hard Day's Night' as a starting point seemed criminal. So having the concept approved I proceeded to illustrate all twenty members of the group all with the hallmarks of a successful roller derby.

So we have the poster with all the information for the derby and more in keeping with the original album is the T-Shirt design. I must point out that the Liverpool Roller Birds logo was supplied to me as you see it and I have no idea who designed and illustrated it for them? If you are in area on the 13th November make sure you drop by and catch the action.

Dr Whoops Competition winner!

2010-09-07T10:07:00.001+01:00

Did not expect so many great comments for this mini-competiton, thanks to everybody who entered and shared their favourite Tom moments. Thankfully I didn't have to choose which comment won and all the entries where placed into a hat and the lucky winner's name was pulled at random by my lovely wife. Unfortunately, a few entries hadn't joined the site as a follower and where therefore disqualified and a few have no visible contact email on their blogger profile and in the case of the winner this is also true. I've sent an email to an address on the winner's own blog but so far have received no reply so as it stands if the winner does not reply to me by the end of September then a new winner will be selected. If you are concerned that it may be you that has won and have no contact email in your profile either update your profile with a contact or email me directly to find out. As soon as the winner has contacted me I will announce properly who that lucky person is and if not check back at the start of October for a new winner!

Kiss-o-gram Amy - Ink Sketch

2010-09-03T08:00:00.000+01:00

This will be the first time I've drawn the Doctor's latest companion Amy Pond played by Karen Gillan and its in her kiss-o-gram guise of saucy police woman. Yes, I know he's just regenerated and I know he had a bonk on the head but c'mon Doctor a real police woman with a skirt that short? Well, he's from another world isn't he.

Karen was in Doctor Who before playing a soothsayer of the Sybilline Sisterhood in the Tennant episode 'The Fires of Pompeii'. Apart from that she's sort of known for her work on the comedy show 'The Kevin Bishop Show'. Apart from that she's a good Scottish lass from Inverness with what looks like a brilliant career in front of her. I really enjoyed her performance over the series, a perfect companion to the Doctor and now wife to Rory (Mr Pond). I think the three of them work so well together in the Tardis, its reminds me very much of the group or family feel that the Hartnell and Davison Doctor's had with their companions.

Raggedy Doctor - Ink Sketch

2010-09-01T14:41:00.002+01:00

It has been a little while since I managed to squeeze in a new sketch but having found the time its unsurprising that it should be Doctor Who and even less surprising it's the eleventh Doctor. As the new adventures finished on the TV here in the UK my two boys (3 and 5 years of age) suddenly took to the series, so much so that toys, posters, magazines, drawings and constant repeat viewings of the episodes have been the order of the day.

As a long term Doctor Who fanatic it gives me the greatest pleasure to have a couch of Reid boys all with eyes glued to the set watching the Doctor save the day. They've been introduced to episodes of Tennant's, Eccleston's and Cushing films but for them THE Doctor is Matt Smith. And of course he is, he is a great Doctor. So many hints of previous incarnations and his own very Gallifreyan ways. Fantastic.

WIN Dr Whoops!

2010-08-29T16:52:00.003+01:00

I've spent part of the last week tidying and cleaning up the upper level of my house. The 'spare' room upstairs needed clearing out of all the clutter and boxes that got stored there as its being turned into my daughters bedroom and as most of the clutter was over spill from my studio it meant I had to sort out my studio. I've worked with rather large piles of 'stuff' surrounding my art board and computer for about five years, so tidying up has meant I've unearthed many a lost item.

One of the lost items was this ink sketch which I had assumed I had sold at the comic convention Thought Bubble in Leeds last year but it turned out I had slowly been rolling the wheels of my chair over it each time I sat down at the board. So Tom has become the Timelord Dr Whoops :) He's not completely ruined but I certainly cannot expect to sell it to someone... so who wants Tom?

For the next week I'll run a mini competition to win this crumpled sketch. To enter you need be a 'follower' of the blog (just hit that follow button) and leave a comment to this post stating your favourite Tom Baker moment. All entries by midnight on the 5th September. I'll get the wife to randomly pick the winner. Please make sure you have a contact email either in your comment or your profile.

EDIT: If you are a new follower to the blog and enter this competition make sure that if your profile name isn't the same as your real name that you let me know in the message who you are. I've had entries that don't match with new followers so its all a bit confusing :)

Chinook

2010-08-28T14:19:00.003+01:00

I see a lot of these flying about, I keep a pair of binoculars in my studio as I get a fair amount of passing air traffic. Chinooks are great, they look great and they sound proper war film great, wokka wokka wokka wokka wokka wokka wokka wokka etc. (substitute your own helicopter noise as you see fit). I know no technical details about the craft but Wikipedia have all those kind of facts should you wish to know them.

The interesting thing for me on this piece was that for a change I coloured it before I inked it. I lightly penciled out the shape of the helicopter and then set to work with my colour Promarker pens. Once I was happy with it in colour I added in the ink work. Back to front but a fun experiment.

Judge Dredd Megazine #301

2010-08-18T08:00:00.001+01:00

Well my first ever work on Judge Dredd is in the shops today, please go to your newsagent or magazine provider of choice and purchase a copy. Not only do you get to see my work inked by fellow Scotch Corner member Gary Erskine but you also get Simon Frasers story 'Lily MacKenzie and the Mines of Charybdis'. So that's three Scotch Corner contributors all in the same place at once! Just look out for the stunning cover by fellow Scotsman Frank Quitely!

Carrying a big box of polystyrene cups I cowered into the Mighty Tharg's office and asked if I could show the pencils to the first page, seeing through my attempted sweetener he sent me on my way with a Rigellian Hotshot but graciously agreed to my request.

©2010 Rebellion

A study in ink...

2010-08-11T06:34:00.002+01:00

Posted this over on Scotch Corner yesterday but thought I'd put it up here too (helps make the place look less sparse).

Here's a sketch commission I finished last week for Jess Power and her fan site Benedict Cumberbatch Online. Benedict has been wowing TV viewers here in the UK with his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the three feature length episodes that has run on BBC1 on Sunday nights. (UK residents can still see it on the BBC iPlayer for the rest of this week). Its been a great mini series and I'm hoping that more will be commissioned soon, if the reviews have anything to say on the matter it will already have been done.

Jess tells me that she is running a competition on the site to win this sketch so for those with a love of Sherlock Holmes, Benedict Cumberbatch or indeed my sketches head here and enter. The competition runs until mid-September.

20 Years Creep! (Part 3 2009-10)

2010-07-25T11:35:00.006+01:00

And now the shortest section (in terms of timescale anyway) where quite out of the blue I get my dreams to come true. For a long time illustrating anything was not in my plans. Although I continued to do the odd (mostly Dr Who related) illustration I had no intentions of doing anything comic related and in fact my own self published short story collection 'One Last Time' back in 2005 was really me deciding that my very short and not very successful comic career was now officially a thing of the past.

I'm trying to keep this personal history more related to Dredd and 2000ad so I will skip through a big junk of why things happened for me the way they did and get to a point about three years ago when I suddenly realised that if I didn't make an honest attempt at being an illustrator for a living then I'd regret it. This still didn't include (and to great extent still doesn't) being a comics artist.

I think there are many differences to being an illustrator and being a comics artist but two that I'll pick out straight away are the financial differences and the work load. By no means does an illustrator have an easier life compared to a comic artist, deadlines are often short and the work appears at unpredictable times. Often I take on an assignment and for the next however long it takes to complete it I will be locked away in my studio, normal office working hours disappear, weekends disappear and holidays are un-planable. But as a comic artist you need to produce a certain amount of work in a certain amount of time to make it financially worth your while. For years the old 'page a day' (mostly referring to a page of either pencils or inks) quote has been around and it's not far off the mark. For me I simply can't produce the level of work I like to produce in that time. You have three choices, find a level of work you can produce in that time and be happy with it, don't take on the work or do the work, take too long producing it to be financially worthwhile and win the national lottery to help pay the bills.

Just over a year ago I set up the daily art blog Scotch Corner and on the 1st of September 2009 I posted up this painted image of Judge Dredd. I had done the occasional sketch of Dredd and other characters from 2000ad to sell at conventions but again I had no plans and no intentions to seek out any comic work. Still the thought of it did niggle at me with this painting and my post (which in light of me checking now shows I got some facts wrong) finishes with me stating "Would I like to draw a Dredd strip now? You bet I would!". Now this painting was also posted up on Facebook, either by myself or the automated Scotch Corner Facebook page (I can't remember which) and just happened to be read by Judge Dredd writer Gordon Rennie who left a comment along the lines of "Well if only you knew someone who writes Judge Dredd". I also use a section of the image as my profile picture on Facebook and I'm going to copy and paste a comment I left after being asked if I was going to try and get any comic work from 2000ad. I think this really sums up my attitude towards what I thought my chances where. This was on the 23rd March 2010:

As I said in my blog post if I was offered a Dredd to do I'd jump at it but lots of things are different now from when I did my trial Dredd work. Back then I was single with no mortgage, now I've got three kids and a load of bills and I'm the sole income in the house. I'm afraid to say that a trial script for me would either have to fit in with my work or have a very, very long deadline which no doubt wouldn't suit or impress any Tharg. I don't have the time or money to take a month out and earn no money.

A real, paid Dredd would be fine, I've no idea what they pay artists on 2AD nowadays but if I'm earning money while I draw that's fine. Lots of people and artists I know will be horrified by my attitude towards this as they'll drop anything if Tharg came calling but as much as I'd love the chance I've got to be realistic in terms of paying the bills.

And then one month later, 23rd April, I got a commissioning email from Tharg the Mighty. Gordon had written a 12 page script for the Megazine and asked Tharg if I could draw it. I had honestly thought that I wouldn't have a chance as I've no real body of new comic work to show. I have in the last three years produced a lot of work though and my work is fairly easy to find either on my own websites and on other web galleries so I can only assume that the work was of enough a level to let Tharg take a chance. To make it easier, and as a fail safe if I should happen to falter, it was agreed that I would pencil the work and that legendary comics artist and fellow Scotch Corner buddy Gary Erskine would ink. I'm not going to complain about that. Not only do I finally get a chance to draw Judge Dredd but I get my work inked by a favourite artist of mine and one with a steady and accurate hand. I think that the work that Gary and I produce have a lot of similarities and I knew he would 'get' my pencils. I was in safe hands.

So there you go, issue 301 of the Judge Dredd Megazine (out on the 18th August) featuring a stunning cover by Frank Quitely and bagged with a Dredd collection of the superb Mike (Mick) McMahon stories will also have the twelve page story 'The Natural' written by Gordon Rennie, pencils by me, inks by Gary Erskine and colours and lettering by I don't know who :)

It would not have been in my immediate plans to attempt to try for work from 2000ad, having done my last trial script back in 1995 I feel if I had had any real intentions to try again I would have done it by now. So it's really down to Gordon having faith in my work and Tharg (okay his name is Matt Smith) agreeing to it. It was a lot of fun to draw, to me it reads like a 'classic' Dredd story and features loads of elements that make up life in Mega-City 1. And it also finally ticks that "I've finally drawn Dredd" box that has bugged me for nearly twenty years. I hope people like it when it comes out, if I get a chance to draw more that would be awesome but if it's not to be then good Grud, at least I drew it once.

For the eagle eyed and math savvy readers you'll have spotted that this Dredd history of mine actually cover nineteen years and not twenty. Well, I can hear Dredd sentencing me to twenty years more easily than nineteen and lets just say that I either served nineteen years and had the sentence reduced by a year for good behaviour or the Iso-Cubes where full up and they needed the space.

20 Years Creep! (Part 2 1995-2001)

2010-07-20T22:46:00.009+01:00

My four years at college were quickly coming to a finish and I already had work lined up in the advertising and marketing industry. I had one last term of college to go and once again I found myself visiting (I believe the last) Glasgow Comic Convention. I had finished the fourth painted Dredd strip a while back and had decided to take a break and produce some fresh work. While I hadn't been getting anywhere fast with 2000ad I had been producing my own strips and had been sending them off to various small press comics in the UK and from there across the pond to the US where I had some small success getting my work published. I approached David Bishop again and he was looking for artists on a new title 'Lawman of the Future' a tie in comic with the 1995 Judge Dredd film.

I've scanned in the pack of guidelines and the first page of the trial script handed out at the convention. There was also style sheets for the Dredd uniform which was based on the film version and really awful photocopy stats of the really awful Lawmaster bike the film had. This time it wasn't to be painted work but inked samples and only three pages. I managed to send in my samples after a couple of weeks and received back in the post another trial script with a tiny note written at the top to 'vary my inking weights'. Its very fair to say that my inking let me down on the two Lawman trial scripts I worked on. I spent nearly all of my four years at college painting so inking was something a bit new for me. I remember a phone conversation that suggested that my pencilling might be up to scratch but my inks let me down and you can see that quite clearly on these samples. David Bishops letter back to me summed it up pretty well.

And so I left college, began working and fell into a routine that left me little time to continue chasing after comic work. I continued doing my own strips and various other illustrations but really that was the end of my attempts to work for 2000ad. I could have stuck at it but I guess I knew I wasn't up to scratch and only time and experience would possibly make a difference to my chances of gaining work and now there where different things for me to concentrate on.

Six years later I was doing a lot of work for the Scottish Tourist Board and the many smaller districts of tourism in Scotland. One of these was Dumfries and Galloway and upon hearing that residents of that area Alan and Sue Grant where to hold a comic convention I asked the tourist board if we could help them out with some promotional work. Alan Grant is of course the well known comic writer of many different titles including Judge Dredd and Batman. Having secured items like posters and leaflets for them and having spoken to Sue about their needs I worked up a design that just happened to need a drawing of Dredd produced. Now I wonder what I was thinking about there :)

Anyway, the design (as you'll see from the leaflet scan) featured Dredd menacing a perp from a Ron Smith drawn comic page. To save money and as a way of finally drawing Dredd for something I drew the needed illustration. Well, if you can't throw yourself the occasional helping hand? All the work was submitted to Rebellion (now owners of 2000ad) and the latest Tharg the Mighty, Andy Diggle. The reply was along the lines of 'It will do' and that was fine by me. Okay, I had set myself up for the job by designing it that way but this was my little way of finally getting to draw Dredd ten years after I had first tried. And as far as I was concerned it would be my only time of drawing Dredd, so that was that.

Back soon with the final part!

20 Years Creep! (Part 1 1991-94)

2010-07-18T14:17:00.025+01:00

This blog post just keeps getting longer and longer as I write it, I keep finding new things that even I'd forgotten I had or worked on so in the interest of not going mad myself and trying to get half of this in the right order I'll do three posts that will hopefully make sense. I may very well go back and edit these at a later date as I'm sure I'll find more pieces to put in. I'd also like to point out that some of the early pieces I'll post are to me awful and I cringe showing them but then I did do them and I did try and get work by showing them so call me foolish but they meant something to me at the time I produced them.

When I was twelve I used to be taken to a lot of classic car rallies by my Dad. Sounds good doesn't it, interesting thing to do for an hour or so but when you've been in a field with the same twenty cars that you probably saw a few weeks before and there's nothing else to do and your Dad is chatting to his car buddies you get a bit bored. Well one visit to a field back in July 1985 had the added delights of having a few marquees selling jam, cakes, car stuff and general brickabrack all to help raise funds for the car club that they ran. Having walked around the cars and got bored of watching my Dad peer into a car bonnets and talk to the owners I headed off to look at the tables of bits and pieces. Sitting in a box was an annual from 1981, blue cover with two well armed figures and a strange green guy in between them (who I thought might be the Mekon) and blazing across the top in big red numbers (and letters) was 2000ad. I ran back to my Dad and bugged him for the 20p it cost to buy it. I then sat in the back of my Dad's 3 Litre Rover reading the annual over and over while car enthausiasts peered in the car at me.

And so my love for 2000ad begun and having got home I bugged my Dad (or Mum) to take me to a newsagents where I bought my first weekly issue. 2000ad Prog 427 with a Robin Smith cover of Judge Anderson being chased by Judge Death. I hadn't a clue what was going on in the issue but I knew I liked it and I was also aware of the fact that I'd missed about eight years of thrill power, how on Earth had I not seen this before?

What helped me fall further into the charms of 2000ad was that a few weeks after finding the weekly comic I had the double whammy of the first collection book of Judge Dredd Daily Star strips (chocked full of Ron Smith goodness) and the launch of the monthly reprint title The Best of 2000ad. At the beginning 'The Best of' favoured a mix of stories, so it was like getting a really big issue of 2000ad all at once. Thrill Power overload for my brain, loved it all and poured over every page.

It wasn't until I had been reading the comic for a couple of years and had been captivated by the stories and art that I actually took any interest in drawing. Up to that point I had drawn pictures like any child would but I had never shown any great aptitude for it or any great creative yearning to draw. I've read and heard about many an artist who spent all their time from the earliest of years drawing and doodling everywhere, not me. I was about fourteen when I decided I would try and draw something I thought would be worthwhile. My first attempt was my painstaking rendition of the first Nemesis the Warlock page by Kevin O'Neill that I copied (not traced mind) with a Pentel writing pen sat at the family dining table. This was followed a short time later by the first page of Zenith by Steve Yeowell in August 1987, I remember thinking at the time that I should redraw the whole series exactly as Steve had drawn it, I've no idea why I thought that?

So I continued to sit at the dining table and draw things from 2000ad, album covers and anything of interest until I was sixteen and the end of High School suddenly approached. I started 5th year but dropped out after one term as I had finally decided that the only thing I had shown any real ability at was drawing and after a trip to Dundee Art School where I saw the work of Colin MacNeil I quickly decided that I wanted to be a comic book artist and draw for 2000ad. My Mum and Dad where obviously alarmed that I had decided on this course after so short a time of actually showing any ambition to draw but they where very supportive and obviously saw that my mind was set.

I spent the rest of the school year at home drawing and painting and doing odd jobs. The only condition set on me by my family was that at the same time as attempting to get work in comics I would apply to go to college. At the same time as being accepted to college I got my very first trial script. I had gone along to the 1991 Glasgow Comic Convention with my portfolio and unsure what to do so I sat at the bar and showed my work to whoever would look. I had painted a sequence from the film Blade Runner and had a few other pieces to show and someone (I wish I could remember who, I have a vague feeling it was a comics writer) liked my work and proceeded to take me around the various publishers and editors that where at the convention. One of those was Steve MacManus from Fleetway who took an enormous time out to look at my work and talk me through the basics of creating comic work. I finished the day with a load of contacts and more importantly the promise of a Dredd trial script in the post.

Here's the short but very nice letter/note from Steve MacManus that arrived in the post a few days after the convention. I started the trial script and went off to my college interview and was given a place in the course. I was 18 and on track for the career that I had decided I wanted two years previously. And then you hit the part of the story where I'll repeat the previous statement, I was 18 and on track for the career that I had decided I wanted two years previously. And there you go, I had no formal training, no experience and when it came to sequential story telling I had no chance of getting work any time soon. I guess from looking at the samples for my first trial script you can spot something that might become good but it was never going to happen over night.

Quite confusingly a few weeks after receiving my trial script I also received in the post a standard rejection letter from the 2000ad office. I had sent of samples of my work a few months earlier and these had finally worked their way through the slush pile and had been reviewed and rejected. I've scanned in the standard rejection letter for you to see as not only does it feature Rian Hughes lovely Fleetway logo but it shows you the advice and thinking of 2000ad's publishers twenty years ago.

Some things I'd like to point out about this time too which we all take for granted these days. I had no computer, there was no internet for reference, emails and forums to ask advice. The three pages of samples you can see are the only examples I have from the four painted strips I did back then. I worked in the crazed combination of oil paints and inks and I worked pretty quickly. I took the first finished sample strips into Edinburgh had them photocopied and sent Mr MacManus the original art, I know I had read that I should only send photocopies but the quality of the copy compared to the colours of the original I thought it would be detrimental to send anything but the original. I waited two weeks and then phoned. Again I had a nice long chat and my work was critiqued, the many failings pointed out to me but with encouragement thrown in to try again and a second trial script was sent my way. The original art was never sent back and I assume found its way into the bin.

I started college and continued to do trial work. As I said I don't have any more examples of my painted trial work, I gave a lot of my work away about ten years ago when I had decided that I was never going to make it as an artist and should stop clinging onto things that proved I had failed. By the time I finished the third strip David Bishop had replaced Steve MacManus and after a short break he sent me this trial script for the Megazine. I always liked the double mention of the script being spec and NOT a commission on his scrawled message and on the front of the script.

Again I didn't make the grade and that was the last painted Dredd sample I produced for 2000ad or the Judge Dredd Megazine. Before I finished college I had one more attempt at drawing Dredd professionally and I'll get onto that in the next post. Hope this hasn't been too boring to read but its fun for me (with my shocking memory) to try and get my own personal Dredd history in order. Back soon.

Drawing the Law

2010-07-14T20:30:00.002+01:00

So for those I didn't tell or who didn't guess or didn't read elsewhere my 'big' job was drawing a Judge Dredd strip for the Megazine. Although it was never a secret of any kind I just wanted to get on with it and try not to let myself think about it as anything other than just a job. I started writing a post about drawing Dredd the other night and its changed into a gigantic post as I've uncovered some of my old sample work from nearly twenty years ago and various bits and bobs sent to me from Fleetway and editors etc. So I'm going to scan in some terribly bad examples of my work from years ago and finish off writing about finally drawing the character and producing work for the comic that got me drawing in the first place. Back soon.

Where have I been?

2010-06-06T12:09:00.001+01:00

Well, I've been away from the blog a lot longer than I expected and its been more than just the arrival of Lucy back at the start of April that has kept me away. I had originally planned to be away from the blog for about a month and then get back to regular posting of my sketches and news but unfortunately you'll have to wait just a bit longer until I return to my sketch posts. At the end of April I was commissioned on a job that I've waited a very, very long time to work on. Its no major secret what I'm working on but I've decided not to talk overly about the project until it is finished and in the can. So by the end of June I should be finished, will commence sketches again and tell you all about it then. Hope you hang around a while longer :) While you are waiting why don't you check out the post below about the Ebay auctions of some of those sketches!

Sketches on Ebay

2010-06-06T12:06:00.002+01:00

I'm sure regular readers will remember a few months back that I had produced 50 sketches to take along to the comic convention, Hi-Ex, in Inverness Scotland (read my convention report here). Well, sixteen of those sketches found themselves returning home with me and I figured when I had a spare moment and a free listings day on Ebay I'd post them up there and see if anybody who couldn't make it along to the convention wanted to get their hands on a sketch. So here we go, click on this link to go check out the auctions, they finish up on the 16th of June so don't delay!

It all happens at once!

2010-04-13T15:53:00.002+01:00

As you'll see the sketches stopped their regular schedule at the end of last week as two elements arose to hinder their production. The first, a fantastic hindrance, was one that we knew was arriving at any time at the end of March. In true style she kept us waiting ten more days but I'd like to announce the birth of our third child, Lucy Anne Reid who arrived on Thursday 8th April. Its all about the timing and we timed this one perfectly as only an hour after arriving at the hospital our daughter arrived (5.31pm), a healthy 8lbs 1oz. Third time is a charm and in the eyes of the NHS an indication that we might know what to do with a new born baby so after a few checks we where heading home at 1 o' clock in the morning and all tucked up in our beds by 3am, not that we got much sleep :)

So the family has grown by another mouth and we are all still finding the new routine to settle into. With that in mind I'll be taking a small break from posting my ink sketches until we have found that routine and I can handle three kids and work at the same time. I hope that it won't take too long and you'll soon be inundated with Doctor Who and various other sketches before you've had a chance to realise I was gone. I will still be posting my regular contribution on Scotch Corner every Tuesday while I'm away so make sure you drop by and check that out.

On top of the arrival of Lucy we also had a slight technical problem. Last Tuesday night (6th) just after I'd finished setting the last Cyberman sketch to post the following morning my internet ceased to function. A bit of jiggery-pokery and hitting the 're-set' button didn't resolve the matter and a phone call to my ISP the next morning set the wheels in turn to find out what was wrong. Long story short there was nothing wrong at 'my end' and a problem at the local telephone exchange required an engineer to resolve the matter. This morning my internet supply was returned to me. In all the years I've had internet (dial up and then broadband) I've only ever had three suppliers. First was Freeserve who was bought by Orange. I ran into problems with my broadband about two years ago and I'll not go into details but the sheer lack of help or interest from Orange in resolving the problem led me to seek a new provider and I joined BT. I tried for six weeks to get someone from Orange to show interest in my case but I'd hear nothing back from them and every time I phoned to enquire I'd go through the long effort of having to explain what the back story to my complaint was and tell them what they had promised they'd be doing to resolve things, every three or four days I'd phone and every time I'd get the same excuses.

Eventually I decided enough was enough and requested my 'Migration' code to change providers. Orange offered me nine months of free broadband to stay but as I pointed out to them if I can't actually use my broadband it being free for nine months or not wasn't going to be a great incentive. Seeing I wasn't going to be changed on the matter they sent me my code to migrate to another provider. How did they send it? By email of course, not the greatest brains in use at Orange I think.

Now everyone will have a different story when talking about ISPs and I'm sure you could find a lot of people who have had a bad experience with BT but I'm not one so far. For the week that I had no service I got a phone call from them every day updating me with the situation, I had an engineer call around to the house after four days to check the line. I had more interest from them to resolve the matter in one week than all the technical support from either Freeserve or Orange put together over a ten year period. For me BT Broadband gets the thumbs up.

You will be upgraded - Ink Sketch

2010-04-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

The Cybermen first appeared in Doctor Who in the 1966 story 'The Tenth Planet' and successfully saw off William Hartnell's Doctor. So not only did you get to see these terrifying cyborg monsters but the Doctor regenerated for the first time on our TV screens. I can only imagine what that must have been like for the audience as its now the highly expected outcome to an actors reign as the Doctor but back then who knew what was going on?

Created by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis the Cybermen have been through many redesigns but again that is quite fitting for a race that modifies itself for survival and each redesign has been pretty iconic and cool. I've written and sketched these fellows before (here and here) and the fact that they've changed their appearances over time makes them very appealing to sketch some more.

The latest version has given them a proper catch phrase, even if the Daleks 'Exterminate' will never be topped the Cybermen's 'Delete' was a touch of genius. And along with the Daleks, the Cybermen will put in an appearance in the latest new series, nice to see all the favourites welcoming Matt Smith into his role.

Tin pot terror - Ink Sketch

2010-04-05T15:54:00.001+01:00

Well, with the start of the new series of Doctor Who it was going to be very difficult from stopping me sketching something to do with the series. Did you watch the new Doctor? Did you like it, him, her, everything? I did, in fact I loved it, Saturday night TV is going to be great for the next few months :)

While I was at the Hi-Ex comic convention a week or so ago (see the last post for the report) there where a few choices of sketches that people kept asking for. Star Wars, Judge Dredd (2000ad) and the new series of Doctor Who. If I'd only drawn those over and over I'd have been a very popular artist. Thankfully I do like those subjects and will probably be drawing those requested characters anyway, for instance I reckon this is probably about the fourth Dalek I've sketched this year. And with a 'World War 2' Dalek appearing in the new series in a few weeks time I'd put money on me sketching another Dalek very, very soon.

As I'm here I'll also mention that I did indeed come back with sixteen sketches unsold from the convention (mostly 'old series' Doctor Who related) and I will be putting these up on Ebay soon for those who are interested. I'll let you know when they are listed.

Hi-Ex! 3 - 2010

2010-04-02T11:17:00.009+01:00

If you've read my previous reports on the last two Hi-Ex! events (here and here) you'll probably recognise a recurring theme in how much fun I had and what a great event the convention really is. I'm not going to go against that theme with this small report :)

Big difference this year was that I set off for Inverness early on Saturday morning without my table helper and friend Jeremy (Down The Tubes) Briggs sat in the passenger seat as he had elected to travel the previous day and helpfully take most of the 'stock' for the weekend with him. So music fully on I set off on the fairly uneventful two and a half hour journey and witnessed some pretty spectacular landscapes in the morning sun. Arriving at Eden Court just after 9am I met Dave Evans (writer,artists, editor on many a fine title) and gained entry into the venue.

My table was in exactly the same location as the previous year and once Jeremy arrived with the boxes and folders of goodies it took no time at all to be set up and ready for the public. My new wire frame sketch holder getting some envious glances from fellow exhibitors! If I was slightly off my game this year then I had good reason as I was continually checking my mobile phone and nipping (took a few minutes to nip anywhere) outside to phone home and check on the status of my wife who was due to give birth in two days. I'm guessing I missed a few people over the weekend (including Forbidden Planet's Joe Gordon) by doing a disappearing act with phone in hand. That said, even with my mind elsewhere the weekend flew by in a haze of activity.

Saturday was incredibly busy and the prepared sketches, prints, art and sketchbooks did brilliant business and flew off the table. The first three hours literally did fly by, many people stopped to chat and talk about the work I had on show. The whole hall seemed to buzz with energy and I think that everyone being in the One Touch Theatre hall helped with that. The 'artists' wall at the entrance seemed to be a constant queue of activity and I can only guess how many sketches fellow Scotch Corner chums Simon Fraser and Gary Erskine produced? Everybody seemed to be having a great time and doing brisk business too. As usual the mix of people attending was wonderful and once again the family atmosphere was great. I heard from several people that the various activities for kids where all filled up and highly popular.

Scotch Corner member, Tom Crielly, arrived with his son Logan in tow to enjoy the day from the public side of things. After chatting for a while he wandered off to take in the convention and we didn't meet up again until nearly the end of the day where Tom explained that it had been all go with workshops and talks. A full day, but it seemed Logan had enjoyed every moment of it.

My only other duties for the weekend involved attending the 'Portfolio Sessions' where myself, Vicky (organiser of the show, artist, fire fighter and general wonder woman), Dave (previously mentioned) Evans and Vince (artist of hit comic Harker) Danks got to check out some amazing work from a very diverse group. A happy hour was spent checking over portfolios ready for submission to college, samples for comic work and some of the younger attendees whose character designs and comic strips showed an amazing range of imagination and humour. I hope that we where able to pass on some good advice and a shot of enthusiasm for all those who came along, I loved the mix that we saw and hope to see them again to see how they develop.

As is the way of things before I knew it 6pm rolled around and it was the end of the first day at the show. A very short drive to book into my B&B and then into town to meet at the convention hotel (the Ramada) before a massive take over of the Chinese buffet ( I think we managed to take over around half of the restaurant). By 11pm I was done in and not going to pass on the chance of nights sleep without one of my kids coming in to wake me up, I headed off to bed.

If Saturday went quickly then I reckon Sunday happened even faster. Although there was visibly less people in the door throughout the day I had decided to do some 'on the spot' sketches, a very rare occurrence for me, and a mixture of doing these, buying some comics (the Cinebook stall took their usual hit from me), chatting to people and selling more sketches, etc., meant that by the time 3.30 arrived it had passed by in a flash. I had decided to pack up at 3.30 so that I could be back on the road for 4pm and so travel back in daylight and get home in time to see the kids before their bed.

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with a many different people, special shout outs must go to Kevin Levell who had travelled mightily far and whose sketches where stealing the show. John Owens who had contributed the pencil piece he had won on Scotch Corner to the charity auction. John Burdis who led the Hell-Trek up from London and whose bid had won my Dredd painting in the auction. Dave Evans who is always a treat, a good pal and an enthusiastic champion of comics and small press. Also, Stevie White and the Beano team who where set up to the left of me and Terry Martin from Murky Depths at the right. Gavin Leahy who had some amazing Dredd related sketches in his little convention sketchbook. Michael Carroll who always keeps your spirits up and quite frankly said some very nice stuff about my work, he's a gent. The guys from Heroes for Sale, David Wright, Ross Hendry (who lent me a make shift drawing board), Paul Thomson, Gary Erskine, Alex Moore, Simon Fraser, Vince Danks, John Higgins, Colin MacNeil, Al Ewing and Neil Roberts who I only managed to briefly catch up with. Aldous from the Cinebook stall who secured me some sketches from artist Michel Rodrigue just before I set off home, a star! And I'm sure many others whose name either escapes me or I just don't know. Many thanks to you all.

And of course probably the biggest thank you to Vicky Stonebridge and Rich Clements for not only organising the event but making sure we where all okay over the weekend. You guys did an excellent job and it was pleasure to be there. And no small amount of thanks to Jeremy Briggs who once again worked tirelessly at the table for the two days and whose photographs you are looking at with this report. In keeping with my other conventions I did take along a camera but not breaking the trend I took only one photograph, which was this one on Sunday morning before anybody else had turned up, exciting eh!

If I have one complaint about the show it would be that it seems to be too good to spend at a table. I missed so many talks (Colin MacNeil interviewing Cam Kennedy for one) and had so little time to talk to friends I had said I would catch up with that I drove home wishing that I could go back and start the show over on the other side of the table. From all reports everybody had a great time, raised a lot of money for Children 1st and are already enquiring to Vicky and Rich about Hi-Ex 4. If its on I strongly suggest you go.

Go check out theses links for more reviews and photographs from the show.

Down The Tubes Photo Review
Forbidden Planet Blog

Metropolis - Maria - Ink Sketch

2010-03-31T08:00:00.001+01:00

Most sci-fi lovers will know all about Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film 'Metropolis' but probably a significant number will lie if they say they've seen the film right the way through, especially in one sitting. Depending on which cut of the film you've seen (every couple of years there seems to be another version) and which soundtrack score accompanies it can highly bias your opinion. One thing for certain though is that the design and direction of the film are mesmeric and superb. Maria the maschinenmensch (machine human) is truly one of sci-fi's most iconic figures and is of course C3PO's mum.

Captain Britain - Request Ink Sketch

2010-03-29T08:00:00.001+01:00

After my Captain Britain post I had a few comments over on Facebook including a request from Gary Erskine to see me tackle the original design of the character. I really haven't read any of the early adventures of the mighty Captain and I said in the previous post he was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe. He looks like I'd imagine two Americans would draw a British super hero in the 1970s, that's a nice way of saying I really don't like the costume.

I have recently borrowed the first trade back book of 'Captain Britain and MI13' so who knows I may be drawing another version of the Captain soon.

Hi-Ex! Come say hello!

2010-03-26T10:00:00.000Z

Just enough time left to remind you all that I'll be at the Inverness comic convention this weekend, and will have all manner of goodies to sell and give away to you all. If you are attending please drop by and say hello and if you hadn't planned on coming along change your mind and drop by. Go check out the website to convince yourself to head north this weekend! See you there!

80s Horror Week - Pinhead - Ink Sketch

2010-03-26T08:00:00.001Z

Our last dip into 80s horror films this week brings us to 1987 and the film 'Hellraiser'. Based on the successful novel 'The Hellbound Heart' writer Clive Barker who took his own book and turned it into a film with himself directing, and a pretty good job he made of it. Most of the film doesn't feature the character Pinhead (played by Doug Bradley)or his monstrous chums known as the Cenobites but the slowly regenerating shape of a man called Frank Cotton who uses the blood of his victims to restore his dead and damned body.

Its a bit clunky in places but the overall effect and feeling of dread surrounding the Cenobites and the puzzle box works amazingly well and the under use of Pinhead probably makes him so appealing. You'll no doubt be aware that countless sequels followed the film (seven more at last count), I've seen the next two and I think that's probably enough. Another iconic horror character flogged to death for the masses, still if I owned the rights I'd probably do the same thing. And yes, there is talk of a remake of the original film.

80s Horror Week - Freddy Krueger - Ink Sketch

2010-03-24T08:00:00.002Z

The 1984 film 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' introduced the character Fred Krueger a serial child killer who was murdered by the parents of his victims in a boiler room and who returns to haunt the neighbourhood in their dreams. The film (termed a slasher) was a box office hit for writer and director Wes Craven whose budget of $1.8 million seems incredibly low even for the year it was made. You can guess that the money made on that film obviously brought on the incredible run of sequels, eight in total before the (yes you guessed it) remake due this year makes it nine and there was a god awful TV series too called 'Freddy's Nightmares'.

Obviously that amount of sequels waters any original idea or concept down to nothing and seeing as the concept was already tried and tested it only took a couple of those films before it really wasn't worth bothering with. Still the original film was good and the look of Freddy played by Robert Englund (who played nice visitor Willie in the original sci-fi series 'V') set the character as the face of horror for most of the 80s, with his burnt face, razor added glove, hat and Dennis the Menace (in the UK anyway, US readers just ignore this) jumper.

Its hard not to think of all the rubbish films that are connected to 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' but if you take that first film on face value it stands as a good film and Freddy as classic horror baddie. Take a look at the remake trailer, it looks pretty good, nothing much different from the original apart from I guess the budget :)

80s Horror Week - An American Werewolf - Ink Sketch

2010-03-22T08:00:00.001Z

The 1981 (holy cow nearly 30 years ago) horror/comedy movie 'An American Werewolf in London' is surely a brilliant film by anybody's standards and set the bar amazingly high on the whole 'werewolf transformation sequence' stakes. Written and directed by John (The Blues Brothers) Landis and made for reportedly $10 million the film was a box office and award winning success. I very much remember all the hype and reception to this film at the time but it was few years later and somebody's brother renting the 'video' for a gang of us before I actually saw it.

Apart from 'that' scene where he transforms in the apartment the film is choked with great moments, the nazi werewolf stormtrooper, the theatre with his victims watching a very funny porno, his dead friend passing on advice, the English pub full of well known TV faces (Brian Glover, Rik Mayall, John (Nick Cotton) Altman and others), the underground scene with the business man (which I remember comedian Dave Allen parodied on his TV show) and of course the ending is brilliant and all supported by a soundtrack that featured as many good songs with 'moon' in the title that they could find.

Its an awesome film. There was a sequel in 1997 called 'An American Werewolf in Paris' which by all accounts is a complete howler (see what I did). And as is the way these days I believe a remake of the original film is in production. Here's the Wikipedia and IMDB links to find out more.

1st Mechanic - Request Ink Sketch

2010-03-19T08:00:00.002Z

Back in February I did a 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' Week and the delightful Matt Soffe requested a sketch of "the big German bruiser Indy fights on the airstrip". Not one to miss a chance of doing another Indiana sketch and because it features the equally delightful Pat Roach who is credited as 1st Mechanic I was more than happy to oblige.

As I had mentioned in the Toht post about actor Ronald Lacey's various appearances in film and on UK television being a treat it is equally true to say that most of the British public had a soft spot for "Big" Pat Roach a wrestler turned actor and stuntman. Roach appeared in many films and TV roles, most memorable for me would be the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, Clash of the Titans, Willow, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and of course the TV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet where he played "Bomber" Busbridge.

And lets not forget his involvement in the Indiana Jones films, as you'll no doubt know he played a role (or two) in the first three films and was set to appear in the fourth film before is sad death from throat cancer in 2004.

Check out the comedy fuelled fight scene from Never Say never Again. James Bond looks the least suave person you'll ever meet in his grey gym outfit.

Law on wheels! - Ink Sketch

2010-03-17T08:00:00.002Z

Here comes the Judge! I've read before how people have pondered over how they would draw Judge Dredd given the chance. Over the years the different styles of artists drawing the lawman have seen a varying look to Dredd. I've never wondered overly long over my approach to the 'chin of law' as pretty much every time I have drawn him I seem to draw the uniform in the same way. My thoughts usually turn to Dredd's bike, the Lawmaster. Most of the time others have stuck to the tried and tested version of the Lawmaster that Bolland/Smith/McMahon/MacNeil use(d), it's a big chunky bike and you don't need to get too complex with its look. Others (Frank Quitely for example) have attempted to make it a 'real' bike and tried to make sense of an engine and shape that fits with a fast, sci-fi looking bike (think Akira etc.).

I always enjoy checking to see how a new artist to the Dredd world handles the Lawmaster, most stick to the basic 'block' shape and often use very strong shadows to hide away the difficulties of the engine. When the engine is on show it is interesting to see what they do, hints of realism or copy Bolland and wing it? Personally I think I draw Dredd in a sort of traditional way and although I'd like to figure the intricate details of a bike engine that could cope with such a large vehicle I think I'd go for the wing it and steal from Bolland/Robinson avenue :) In this case I've solved all those problems by doing the straight at you shot, its a classic shape which doesn't need clarifying... thankfully.

Dalek (Again) - Ink Sketch

2010-03-15T08:00:00.002Z

Well I gave away my last Dalek sketch in the recent competition so seeing as everybody likes a Dalek I thought I'd better rattle up another one. I'm going to stop putting (Again) at the end of these Doctor Who posts as I'm bound to sketch them again at some point and then it'll just get silly with me putting (Again, again) or (Again x2). Lets just agree that I like Doctor Who enough that I'm bound to draw them over and over and that'll be that.

Whereas I drew a new Dalek with old colouring last time I've simply drawn an old school TV Dalek with the bright paint job from the 60s Dr Who movies, has there ever been a red Dalek in the classic TV series? I'm not sure, any Dr Who buffs out there know?

The Eleventh Doctor (Again) - Ink Sketch

2010-03-12T08:00:00.001Z

Its only three short weeks until Matt Smith takes to the screens as the eleventh Doctor, I'm sure this new series is going to be good, positive even.

Hi-Ex! 2010 Sketchbook

2010-03-11T08:00:00.001Z

Screaming hot of the press is my sketchbook for this years Hi-Ex! comic convention in Inverness. Packed inside with the sketches and art I've produced for the buying public this US comic sized sketchbook has the limited run of just 30 copies and will only be available at the show, so once its gone, that's it.

If you are coming to the show on the 27-28 March be sure to drop by my table and pick a sketch or two, grab the sketchbook, comics, books, prints and other original art that I'll be bringing along and all for a reasonable price :) Oh, and say hello while you are doing it too I like to have a chat y'know!

The Tenth Doctor (Again) - Ink Sketch

2010-03-10T08:00:00.003Z

The ninth Doctor may have got the new series ball rolling but for the last five years its been all about the tenth Doctor played by David Tennant. "I don't want to go" where his last words and apart from a few who will never be pleased with anything I'd guess that most Who fans would have been happy for David to stay for a while longer.

For this sketch I think I've channeled that 'someone's in deep trouble' annoyed Scottish look that the Doctor wore a lot in the last few 'specials' before his regeneration.

The Ninth Doctor (Again) - Ink Sketch

2010-03-08T08:00:00.001Z

The closer I get to a convention the easier I find it to slip back to my favourite subjects to sketch. This week I've slipped back to Doctor Who but have stuck with the 'new' series and will be sketching the three newest Doctors starting of course with Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor.

I think its fair to say that getting Christopher to kick start the role of the Doctor was an excellent choice and put paid to some of the stupid news articles about how the new series was going to be. I still wish he'd stayed on for one more series but we can't have it all can we.

Go check out my Scotch Corner post on Tuesday as I'll post my ink sketch of the first new series companion Rose Tyler.

Chewbacca - Ink Sketch

2010-03-05T08:00:00.001Z

Chewbacca! What a wookiee!!! I don't know if this was one of the easiest ink sketches I've ever done but it didn't seem to take long to do, I guess if you can master the basic 'hair' shape then you can't go too far wrong? This sketch was brought on by a recent comment left by Diarmid who said that when he was a nipper he argued strongly on the fact that nobody could draw Han Solo's sidekick as it would be impossible to render all of that hair. I don't think I've managed to capture just all the hair Chewbacca possesses but I reckon he at least doesn't look like an Ewok.

Chewbacca was played by Peter Mayhew in four of the Star Wars films and countless other appearances on TV and conventions. If you want to see how well someone can actually illustrate Chewie then go here and see Chris Wahl's amazing walk through of a great Chewbacca image.

Hammer Horror - Dracula - Ink Sketch

2010-03-03T08:00:00.002Z

The Hammer Horror film Dracula starring Christopher Lee in the title role is for me the Dracula movie, Christopher Lee is Dracula just the same as Tom Baker is Doctor Who and Jeremy Brett is Sherlock Holmes. Released in 1958 and also featuring Peter Cushing as Dr Van Helsing and Michael Gough as Arthur Holmwood this is a pretty fast paced movie and is probably the version of Dracula that most people would know rather than the novel which it follows but in no way religiously. Lasting only 82 minutes (who needs more?) it features some pretty good performances for a low budget horror movie, some damn fine design and set work and clever direction. I recommend checking it out.

Competition Result!

2010-03-02T08:00:00.001Z

Well the experiment to gain new followers by hosting a competition to win one of my ink sketches has been a great success as far as I'm concerned. At the end of January I had 19 followers to the blog which has been boosted to a grand number of 48!! Some of the people who have signed up didn't even enter the competition so its nice to know that they are genuinely interested in seeing my work and reading the nonsense I write.

All the entries where printed out, placed carefully inside my (erm, I mean the kids) Cyberman voice changer helmet and Mrs Reid randomly selected the winner. Which is colin-john who said "would very much like the 'Dalek Sketch' very fetching it is too in blue :o)".

So colin-john will shortly be receiving the Dalek sketch. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to sign on as a follower to the blog and all those who entered the competition. As the response was so positive I will run another sketch competition very soon so please keep coming back and feel free to leave any suggestions for sketches or any comments at all (the nicer the better).

Five Doctor's - Now with added colour!

2010-03-01T08:00:00.001Z

I've had a few emails recently asking me about the ink sketches I've been posting up, some have been suggesting characters to sketch and some about purchasing the sketches, I appreciate all of these enquiries very much.

I've mentioned before that I like producing these sketches for two real reasons. One is to act as a warm up to the working day, I'll tend to decided the night before what I'm going to sketch and look out any references I might need and then in the morning I'll do the sketch which can take me anywhere from 30 minutes up to an hour and a half depending on what I'm trying to achieve. The second reason is that I take these sketches along to comic conventions to sell. Committing to a comic convention can be a very expensive decision and paying for travel, accommodation, food, table fees etc. can see you £200 down before you've even arrived. So the sketches, if popular enough, can go a long way towards making the event feasible.

The next convention I'll be attending is at the end of March at Hi-Ex! in Inverness. All of my sketches, prints, original art, comics and books will be for sale at this event. Depending on the success of this show if I have any ink sketches left after I'll put them up for sale on Ebay so you can bid then and if any are left after that I will give them away as prizes on the blog. After this next convention if you see any sketch that you would like to own on my blog I will be willing to sell them directly to you, so don't be shy :)

The five doctor's are sketches that I created for the Leeds Thought Bubble convention last November which (shockingly) did not sell on the day. These where black and white only and so to keep them more in line with my colour sketches I've gone back and added a splash of colour, go hunting back through the posts if you want to read more about them!

Marvel UK Week - Captain Britain - Ink Sketch

2010-02-26T08:00:00.001Z

Trying to figure out the publishing history of Captain Britain is like trying to figure which costume he's wearing, he has changed look and title so many times it becomes a blur. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe he first appeared in his own titled comic Captain Britain Weekly but it was a short lived affair and the character then appeared in various comics. I mostly remember Captain Britain from a few issues of Marvel Superheroes that saw Alan Davis take on the artistic duties (which included a re-design of the costume) and was written by a chap called Alan Moore.

Not long after Dragon's Claws and Death's Head where hitting (and also ceasing to hit) the newsagent shelves along came The Knights of Pendragon written by Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson with art by my Scotch Corner chum Gary Erskine. Featuring Brian Braddock as Captain Britain in yet another, albeit slight costume change, most likely brought on by the fact that another character, Union Jack, also featured in the title and they sported similar Union Jack branded outfits. When I first read the comic it seemed so much more modern than your standard guy in costume superhero book. The story was built strongly around British folklore and the Arthurian legend and read more as an environmental crime thriller than anything else. The title certainly hit the spot for me and I renewed my interest in Captain Britain by buying the reprint volumes of the earlier Moore and Davis strips.

The character has seen another revival (and costume change) of late in the (now cancelled) title Captain Britain and MI13, a title I have yet to read. As usual you can read more about Captain Britain at this Wikipedia entry. And you can buy various amounts of reprint material to read, have a look at this Amazon listing to figure out where you'd like to begin?