Saturday, 27 June 2009

Big Update

Okay, things got a little messy over the course of those last few posts, so I've deleted some stuff and swapped some other stuff around. Here is what you need to know: There are updates on my real website, so go have a gander. The Titus Andronicus poster is now being used for the Heaton Games Society, because apparently the gig wasn't confirmed when I drew the poster and the band turned down the offer to play the UK. Here's the second version:


Events-wise, I'll be in Sunderland this weekend, because the city council are putting on a big ol' festival, and we're going to have a comic stall there and maybe do some workshops too. By we, I mean myself, Gary Bainbridge, Andy Waugh, any members of the Paper Jam Comics Collective who fancy it, and Durham's finest, the Mallard Small Press crew (or some vague approximation of the above).


More impressively, I've been chosen to exhibit some work at The Mushroom Works Gallery, as part of their upcoming celebration of Illustration 'Quite the Character'. The exhibition will be running between 18th July - 29th Aug and I'll be producing lots of new stuff to show and sell for the occasion. More details will follow when I've been down to meet them on Monday!

Wednesday, 3 June 2009

Thought Bubble & Boreal

Some new things for your viewing pleasure. They're a bit low resolution I'm afraid. Just getting a panic on about internet theft, which I've heard far too much about lately.


'Sea Food' - wallet design for Boreal.


Illustration for the Thought Bubble blog, they've done a little Independent and Small Press Friends of Thought Bubble feature on me, so go have a read.

Thursday, 14 May 2009

Out of Hibernation

Well that's it, I've now been officially promoted (demoted?) from university student to real life starving artist. With no more essays or exams to think about it means I can finally get down to drawing, and panicking that I'll never make it and being broke. The good news is, that during my hibernation I managed to set myself up a few jobs for when I was done. One of these jobs is a wallet design for Boreal, a small collective of art appreciators who aim to promote the work of artists, graphic/textile designers and graffiti maestros (from both established and non-established camps) through a series of limited edition, hand-crafted wallets, bags etc.

The second is a strip for a project that poets Andy Croft, Bill Herbert and Paul Summers are working on, which revolves around a curious incident involving a stray dog, a fashion model and the Moscow Metro line. More on that when I figure it out myself!

The third and final thing is a doodle for the small press page on the Thought Bubble website, which I should hopefully have done in the next week or so. Anyone who doesn't know what Thought Bubble is... what are you? A schmuck?! Gawan, geddoutahere! - Thought Bubble is the best, fastest-growing and most Leeds-based comic convention of the past two years and this third year will be even better. One of the reasons for that is because it will make misanthropic small pressers like me get their act together and produce shiny new things for the occasion. I won't have this blasted internet ruin the surprise of what shiny new thing that might be, but suffice it to say that I'm aiming to do things way out of my league and I have been discussing the operation with a trusted writer/artists/creative type, who for the purposes of this blog will remain anonymous.

In the meantime, did I mention that we're having a launch party at the end of the month? Friday 29th May at the Star and shadow will see the launch of the 5th Paper Jam Comics Collective anthology Robots...and that, and will feature live music, short films, comics, cakes, sweets and all other manner of fun and excitement. It's £4 or £3 to members of the cinema, and the anthology will be available for a special price on the night. Here's a sample from the four-pager myself and Mr. Ian Mayor put together for it:

Monday, 20 April 2009

SFX Shout Out!

A gracious thank you to writer, comic book fan, small press appreciator, long-standing friend of Travelling Man and supporter/home-made cake maker of The Paper Jam Comics Collective, Stacey Whittle, for the inclusion of Costume Party in her small press Top 5 on the SFX Magazine blog, which you can read here. Greatly appreciated!

Saturday, 28 March 2009

NSR Flyer Design


Newcastle's Student Radio asked me to do a flyer for them, which I did. It looks like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Oscar from Sesame Street, cross-bred with me. Artists out there, do you ever find that a lot of your pictures, even of weird dog-faced monster teens, end up looking like yourself? No... just me then? Anyway, you might notice I did that thing where there's a speech bubble coming out of a microphone that I did on the Comedy Festival illustration I did for Narc. I don't know what this is, I realise microphones don't speak, or emit any sound for that matter, so not sure what I'm going for really, but there we go. This is probably going to be the last proper illustration or comic I'm gonna for a month or two because apparently being in your third and final year of university requires work being done, so this will have to suffice for now, sorry!

p.s. these are two sides of one flyer, not one long weird flyer cut down the middle!

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

New Stuff

The Portfolio and Store sections on my website have been updated with a couple of new things. Robot postcards are go! Also, this blog is now the official News page, so you'll never miss an episode again. Things are well.

Sunday, 8 March 2009

The Gentleman Ghost vs. The Courier

Doing this weekly strip makes me sick. Anyway, I've got too much on right now to be busting my balls for people who couldn't give a flying toss about what I'm doing. I'm not getting paid, or any recognition, if anything I'm giving myself a bad reputation on account of how bad the strips are turning out. You won't see the weeklies ever again, and Gentleman Ghost, if you're listening, I'm sorry.