Drawing Process + Colouring

August has been a busier/more stressful month than I expected and because of this I'm probably not going to be able to add a comic a day for the rest of August but to make up for that I thought it might be interesting to show the working process for the cover of my new comic which I'm hoping to get finished for SPX in September. Maybe this is boring and pretty basic but I'm interested in seeing this sort of thing so hopefully some people will enjoy reading....

 1) First I decide on a theme and title, this comic is going to be next in my "At The..." series titled At The Theme Park. So, I start with a rough plan in my sketchbook of the idea and how it looks in my mind. This is my favourite part of the process, I like the way the rough sketches look more than the final thing usually:

2) From this I draw a more detailed full size rough using a "Happy Days" jumbo ink tank gel ink pen in 0.5mm on thin cheap printer paper. I usually draw at double print size, this will be an A5 cover so in this case I'm drawing at A4:

3) I then use a lightbox to draw a final version of this using an extra fine Rotring art pen on a thicker better quality paper. Here I draw the layers of the drawing so for a complicated cover like this there are four separate A4 pages each with various parts of the final drawing:

4) I then scan these drawings in to Photoshop using CanoScan LiDE 35 scanner and I put then into one psd with each element in a different layer:

5) I use the second rough drawing to check everything is in place and label each layer to make things easier:

6) Next step- I spend a while editing any mistakes and making sure each layer is in place:

7) Now the least fun part, colouring. I don't really enjoy this bit but that's probably because I haven't got a drawing tablet at the moment which would make things easier. I prefer colouring things by hand rather than on a screen. I generally look at things for colour inspiration like this Walt Disney World "Treasure Book of Memories" (ha) and refer back to my original colour plan. I usually start with a background colour which will be the main colour I use for the interior of the comic too (in this case purple) and then I build up a colour palette that is usually pastel rainbow colours of some kind:

8) Hours later (crying) I end up with something presentable that I will probably look at the next day and completely change before it goes to print:

If anyone would like to colour this design themselves I'm going to be sharing the files here for your enjoyment. I'd love to see any alternatives people come up with, feel free to grab the files and do what you want with them (but please don't sell them of course) You could even print it out and colour it in by hand. Send me a link or email me with anything you do- I'm interested in seeing other people's techniques!

I will be resuming the One A Day comics on my website as soon as I can get back to it. I'll probably put a couple up when I can....

Lava puke in COLOUR!

AHHHH! LOOK my good friend Bryony coloured in my lava puke drawing that I drew yesterday, she's done two different colourways. HOW COOL ARE THESE! She's now officially colouring everything I ever draw.

Comic Gosh!p TOMORROW

Tomorrow night at Gosh they will be discussing my comics! 7pm-9pm More info here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/322522331215280/

Comic Gosh!p is a comic book reading group at Gosh! London. It is a monthly event where people can gather and chat about the books of the month. Each event will normally include one mainstream comic book and one small press book!!

Join the Comic Gosh!p group to keep up to date with all the gossip!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/comicgoship

In August we will be discussing 'Fluffy' by Simone Lia and then there will be a general discussion about the work of Lizz Lunney. 'Fluffy' and Lizz's work is available from Gosh London, where you get a 10% discount. You can also purchase Lizz's work online at: http://www.lizzlizz.com/

After the meet up we go for drinks at The John Snow pub, 39 Broadwick Street, Soho, W1F 9QJ. Come along, anytime, it is open to all!

So start reading! And see you all soon!!

 

Tiny Pencil

Recently I did a couple of pages for the new Tiny Pencil Summerzine which is now for sale over on their website. The theme was mammals, monsters, mars and my comic was for the MARS section.

The complete package contains three publications and comes with pencils, stickers and dice-see photo below. You can also read an interview with me on the Tiny Pencil blog where I talk about things I'm currently working on and you can see a photo of me as a child dressed in Roger Rabbit shorts doing some street graffiti.

Here are some small sections from my pages:

 

Top Shelf Digital

My first Top Shelf digital collection goes live today. Only £1.49 for 57 pages of comics collecting my three "At The..." comics. Tell your friends, tell anyone with an iphone/ipad/ibrain etc. Enjoy!

Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humour Vol 2

Reading back, too many of my previous blog posts seem to use the word "exciting" or "excited" so I'm going to try and avoid those words from now on......although that will be difficult in this blog post because I have some news that is causing me great... um...enthusiasm and eagerness.

Last year I was asked to be co-editor of the Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal of Humour Vol 2 along with Freak Leap's Joe List. Between us we collected together a party of some of the funniest comics artists from the UK and mushed them all together into one place.

Sure, the definition of humour (or humor in the US) differs from person to person but hopefully here there is a good enough mix of stories and jokes in which you will find something to stimulate the areas of your brain that cause laughter. It's also not a be all and end all list of funny comic artists in the UK of course but perhaps a good starting point to discovering the work of people you might like. Hic & Hoc is pretty great for that.

Here is the official announcement over on The Comics Reporter and more info:

"Matt Moses of Hic & Hoc officially confirmed with CR this weekend that they've announced a second issue of their well-liked funny-comics anthology. Joe List and Lizz Lunney will co-edit The Hic & Hoc Illustrated Journal Of Humo(u)r Volume Two: The United Kingdom to arrive in September. It will contain work from 25 British small-press comics makers, including but certainly not limited to Becky Barnicoat, Gareth Brookes, Stephen Collins, Joe Decie, Luke Pearson and Philippa Rice. Jon Boam supplies the cover."

We are also in the process of organising a launch for the book here in the UK which will be on 25th October at Gosh comic shop in London. Neither me or Joe are from London but we wanted to coincide the launch with Comica which is that same weekend to guarantee maximum fun. More news on that soon. If you live in America you will probably be able to get your hands on a copy earlier than that if it is back from print in time for SPX in September where me and Joe both have stalls (see link on right)

You can buy VOLUME 1 edited by Lauren Barnett (Me Likes You Very Much) and Nathan Bulmer (Eat More Bikes) online here. I've read it and it's awesome.

EXCITING! (argh)

 

Mail Me Art

 

WOAH! Three blog posts in one day! Information overload!

I have artwork in this exhibition and brand new book-Mail Me Art Short & Sweet! Here are some images of the book and you can grab a copy here. The opening night for the exhibition is happening right now (sadly I couldn't make it last minute) Exhibition runs at The Framers Gallery 30th July until 3rd August. I drew a dusty lion on my mail which you can see below and whoever buys the real artwork will find a secret original comic inside the envelope.

More details:

Now on! An exhibition of mail art in London at The Framers Gallery from 30th July until 3rd August 2013. The exhibition will feature work from MMA3 (Mail Me Art: Short & Sweet) and all of the original art will be for sale, with Animal Aid, WaterAid and the Teenage Cancer Trust each getting a percentage of the sales. We’re also very excited to be officially launching the new Mail Me Art book at the private viewing on the 1st August! Tell us you’re coming. If you can make it to the show, you can buy the mail art straight from the shop.
Taking part in MMA3 are the following artists: Famous When Dead, Andy Ward, Anthony Zinonos, Emma McCann, Gavin de Lint, Gaz Roberts, Gemma Robinson, James O’Brien, Jeff Miracola, John W. Tomac, Jon Burgerman, Laura Steele, Lee Hasler, Linzie Hunter, Marc Scheff, Mark Frudd, Moira Millman, Rod Hunt, Ronald Slabbers, Inkymole, Steve Simpson, Violet Lemay, Willa Gebbie plus many more.
The Framers Gallery (Artefact Showroom)
36 Windmill Street, London W1T 2JT
artefact@xln.co.uk | +44(0)207 580 4878
http://www.theframersgallery.co.uk/
 

Wu Wei

I have some comics in the brand new Wu Wei Anthology which launches tomorrow evening at Gosh comics! Visit the website here for more info.

"Wu Wei is an anthology that gives writers & artists a space to creatively explore spirituality through the medium of comics. ‘Wu Wei’ is a Taoist term meaning non-action. To practice Wu Wei is to act in a natural way and reveal one's own nature."

Here is one of the four pages I have in the book:

One A Day 2013!

It's August! And like the previous few years I put one comic a day on my online comic during this month. Go to my website here to check out the first one and remember to stop by each day for a whole month of free comics! If you enjoy them and want more please go to my web shop and spend some money. Have a great August!