Online shop closure

As a direct result of the present economic situation, we have been forced to close our online store. For five years Big Cartel has been absolutely wonderful but we can no longer afford to pay their rates, which are charged in US dollars.
Thank you everyone who used the shop, and the thousands of people who supported it through social media.
Of course, work goes on and we welcome commission enquiries via email.

Inktober

I’ve missed the start of this year’s Inktober, so here instead is Lac to Black, my comic about the little bugs which are such a big part of Indian ink.
(Click for a bigger version, best viewed on a turnable screen!)

Notes: 24 hour comics

[Links for UWE 2nd year Drawing & Print students, following my visit on 2nd Oct.]

If you want to read the 12 hour comic I talked about, it’s in another post on this site.

Scott McCloud’s original 24 hour comic can be read in its entirety at scottmccloud.com.

Information about last weekend’s International 24 Hour Comics Day.

Les 24 heures de la bande dessinée – the Angoulême BD Festival 24 hour comic event.

Dan Berry has provided a great deal of useful information about the LICAF 2014 24 hour comics marathon: Aims, preparation and a report of the event.

VIDEO: Alfred Hitchcock explains the Kuleshov Effect.

If you want to complete one page per hour you might consider using a timer to stay on track. Frequent short breaks can be helpful, especially late at night. The Pomodoro Technique is a simple method for scheduling breaks.

Other time-restricted comics exercises:
Hourly Comics. Some examples:
John Campbell’s Hourly Comics (done every January day, 2006-2010).
Kristina Baczynski’s 2015 hourly comic.
A selection of Hourly Comics Day 2014.

A 24 Minute Comics manifesto.

IDENTITY: Coincidentally, the theme of the new anthology from One Beat Zines.

Finally, a short list of completed 24 hour comics:
Huma Am by Ricky Lima
Alloy by Studio Octan
Legacies by CuteJuice
Holle a Finnish 24 hour comic
Untitled by Jorge Santiago Jr
Untitled by Tony Smerek.

Samples & examples: 19th Century Gothic

Some illustrations and comics panels from various projects, loose theme: Victorian gothic.

Summer sketchbook 2

It was nice to have time over the summer to do a bit of birdwatching. Gulls may be common and a ‘nuisance’ in towns, but they’re still handsome animals and fascinating to observe. These are lesser black-backed gulls, we also saw herring gulls and black-headed gulls.

Summer sketchbook

I took a Twitter break when the kids were off school so I could fit in more time with them between work. I had a sketchbook with me and here are a few scans.

Star Wars: British Empire

In December I set myself a daily draw project inspired by the number of British actors cast as members of the Star Wars Empire. I don’t think I ever posted a link to all 24 drawings, they are collected on a tumblr here.

John Boyega in stormtrooper armour