Cycle of Violence Submission part 2

This is the final inked artwork for cycle of violence with a very few tweaks here and there from the original pencils. Most notably I added a ceiling and sky lights in page 2 panel 2 to give the impression that the character is inside an indoor training complex and also widened that panel for dialogue. Also, on the last panel of the last page I trimmed the image so it doesn't bleed off the page

 

Looking back at it now after a couple of weeks away from it, I can take some pros and cons regarding the work.

 I'm happy with the layouts of the images and the flow of the sequences... maybe could do with more over head shots such as page 5 panel 1. 

I felt I really got into the story, but in doing so I didn't keep strictly to the descriptions for the script ( I don't know if that's a good thing or bad. I think I'll put up the pages with the text on my next entry. That'll give me another point of view regarding the strength of this piece).

 

I think my pencils from before could probably be a bit cleaner and defined and like wise my inks as shown above are a bit on the rough side, more solid blacks should be used and cleaner lines in certain areas.

Looking at the work on screen and shrunken down, the cleanness and contrast of page 4, panel 3 and possibly page2, panel 1 stick out to me as a positive, the other panels look very cluttered and less defined, a bit overworked by lines.   

Anyway I'll have to wait for the feed back. The samples have been sent.... so fingers crossed. 

Cycle of violence submission part 1.

This is the pencils for my next 2000AD submission, based on their sample script "Cycle of Violence"

The work was done in my spare time, spread over about 3 weeks since I got back from Thought Bubble.
 With this sample I took some liberties with this script and didn't follow the descriptions too strictly but the original narrative should still fit with what I've done. 

I had previously roughed out the pages following the descriptions and panels closely but felt the images were disjointed and didn't really connect from one panel to another which is something Tom Foster said about my competition entry at Thought bubble. Whereas in thought bubble it was my own choice of images, this time I felt it might be the descriptions of the images.

So with that in mind my approach was to first, break this story down and for me it fell into 3 parts.
Chapter 1 starts in the middle of a crime and finishes with the main character( the boy) surviving the event.
Chapter 2, the boy enrols, graduates and establishes himself as a Judge.
Chapter 3, he encounters the crime that breaks him and ultimately leads to his death at the hands of his former saviour.

Second I read through each chapter and tried my best to edit the written descriptive sequence to fit what I thought would make a better visual sequence.

Notable changes is that I fit the whole of chapter one into the first page and condensed the first 3 and a half panels into the starting image (below), allowing for dialogue and title.

In chapter 2, first page (below left), panel 2, I wanted show what was in the narrative that the boy physically excels though he's a loner.  Panel 4, he's not contemplating his revenge in bed but straight after getting his head flushed in the loo in panel 3.  Panel 5, instead of already having laid out one of the bullies I thought his approaching them would contrast nicely with panel 6. Second page (below right), panel 1 he's walking away from a disciplinary with a sneer and the beaten bullies can be seen in the background.

Chapter 3 I did a lot of changes here. The written descriptive goes as follows: 1.found dead body, 2.mug shot, 3. interrogation (though the narrative is about the suspect going free), 4.the young Judge isn't happy, 5. suspect is followed, 6. picture of the city looking vast.

My visual sequence(above) is 1, found dead body.  2. young Judge arrests suspect. 3. suspect goes free and young Judge looks on not happy.  4. he follows suspect.  5. young Judge's attention is diverted to another victim of crime and can only watch the suspect walk away.

And on the middle panels of the last page he turns away and sees his reflection. I couldn't figure how to do that with one panel so split that into 2.

 

The original script can be down loaded from the 2000AD site.

 

Since finishing this entry I've now finished the inks and that will be part 2 of this when I get the time to blog it.



Paintings of cafes

 
While working on new comic book samples I was approached to contribute some paintings for a book by likenesspress.

The work consisted of interior and exterior paintings of 2 local oxford cafes. I wanted it to resemble the style of a previous painting but needed to economise the process. I think it's worked out pretty well.

 

I spent about 3 hours at each location sketching from observation up and taking photos for reference.

 

After priming and preparing the boards for painting I spent about a day of work on each painting spread over 2 days for drying time at certain stages. This allowed me to switch my attention from one painting to another while leaving the  one I just worked on to dry.

 

All in all that's not too bad, including the preliminary work that's just over 5 days of work.

 

 

 

Joe Perks & Co in St Clements, Oxford
Exterior (above left) and Interior (left)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sofi de France in the Covered Market, Oxford

Exterior (left) and Interior (below)

Thought bubble: Leeds Comic Con

It's been ages since I last posted but I've been very busy sorting out some short stories as well as entering competitions. I recently went to Thought Bubble the comic convention in Leeds. It was a very busy event and got to take a portfolio with me to submit to the 2000ad competition. I got it critiqued by Peter Docherty (who incidentally also looked at my portfolio in 2002 Bristol comic con), Conor Boyle and Tom Foster. It was all very constructive. I also met with a host of small press publisher and hopefully some work will come about through it.

I travelled up with a Charles Cutting , artist /writer of Kadath and artist for Steamhamer who was selling his work at Sloth Comics

Above is my submission for the competition. Although it didn't make the final the main points I need to develop more, as critiqued by Tom Foster, were the way the panels link to each other, specifically in page one 2nd to 3rd panel. The real world elements need to be better drawn and more space was needed for dialogue specifically in page 4.
Pete Docherty commented further on the finish and structure of my line work and where I need to improve. being more purposeful with one brush stroke instead of using many to convey a form and committing to the line work and making things less scribbly.

One of the main positives was that it was kept visually interesting with good varying panels.

Conor looked at different work The Teleguuth story and commented that I need more distance variation especially in the first 2 pages.

Further more I got to watch the artists mentioned and others at work which is always interesting and educational. At one point I watched Kev Walker work and before I knew it an hour and a half had passed.

Also by chance I met Neil R Williams, someone I went to Chesterfield college with, who's created his own comic Carcass and Slime.

Happy Halloween

Jonny Ives and submissions for St Just's Freedom Exhibition

With the summer holidays over it's back to the grind.
 I thought I'd put up this caricature I painted in the summer of Jonathan Ives editor of the Leisure review http://www.theleisurereview.co.uk/

I meet Jonny through our daughter's ballet class where afterwards the children clamber into the.... basket?... of his bike and he cycles up the hill to the café where they all run riot and let off some steam. I thought about a more humorous portrayal at first, thanks to some of the Photos Jonny kindly passed on to me, but decided against it as it wouldn't be very flattering.

 

This took 3 and a half  hours of work in the end.

 

Next is a submission for St Just http://www.st-just-humour.fr/

They're mainly pieces I 'd already put up but there are some new ones I specifically did on the theme they'd set  'Freedom'

 

I took inspiration from Norman Rockwell's illustrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 4 freedoms:

Freedom of Speech

Freedom to Worship

Freedom from Want

Freedom from Fear ..

 

and added and over bearing leader watching in the background.

 

 

Paul and Nicola

 

This is a caricature of my friend and his lovely wife who were recently married. Congratulations to them both. I wish them the very best.