Jollity Farm

Sneaky panel from my work on Too Much Sex and Violence # 4.  More news to follow on this one as the whole thing nears completion....

RT

Animals

A few quickies for you today chums.

My strip 'Grace's Imaginary Menagerie' is making it's full colour debut over here at Jim Medway's loverly Comical Animal publication. Do tell him I sent you and take a peep through the top strips and stuff on offer.

Also, there's a review of 'Too Much Sex and Violence' issue 2 over at the Forbidden Planet Blog. They've been good enough to print a snippet of one of my finished pages therein. Go grab the finished comics here courtesy of Reliable Rol Hirst.

Until next time,
RT

Fairies Wear Boots

Evening gang,

Sketchbook stuff for you today I'm afraid, I've grabbed a few quick pages at random....



Whilst I'm on, go and vote for the ever-reliable Rol Hirst for this year's Eagle awards. I know I will.

RT

King Midas in Reverse

What ho chums,

So, what have I been up to recently in the world of comics? Well, I've had the great pleasure of contributing a couple of pages to the second issue of Rol Hirst's very splendid 'Too Much Sex and Violence'. I urge any of you out there to go and check it out as apart from Rol himself, there's a whole host of very talented folk illustrating it. Imagine a Hammer Horror Pyschoville crossed with the Wickerman and you'll be getting close.

(Good old Rol's also kind enough to mention me and the Grinning Mask in an interview he does with the Broken Frontier)

Anyroad up. Without giving any of the story of issue 2 away, I thought I'd use my recent pages to illustrate my working process and handily fill up a bit of my blog at the same time.

So I started off with a few quick character sketches - basing them on sequences from issue 1 whilst still trying to put my own twist on things. I give you Gary Gore - Vampire DJ.
I was trying to get a cross between Nick Cave and Nosferatu for this one.

Next, is the (very rough) layouts. I draw these at A4, then blow them up to A3 in the hope that I keep some of the energy of the scribbles.
Then comes the pencils on layout paper - surprisingly tight pencil work for me I thought?
Finally, inks on tracing paper using a combination of brushes and technical pens (I also use these fabbo pens - a great flexible nib halfway between a standard brush pen and a fineliner. If Kuretake want to send me a load of freebies for recommending their pens to my fourteen or so readers, that'd be great) before scanning and Photoshopping to fit to the page template.
Ta-da. All that's left now is to wait for the issue to come out....

RT

Here I go...

....yet more press I'm afraid.

I've written a review of the Birmingham Comicon which made it's way to the Forbidden Planet Blog.

Unbeknownst to me, the Matthew Craig also wrote himself a review that I mentioned in the post below, and which appeared a day before mine. In what looks like crossed wires from two comics artists from Wolverhampton, we've been singing each other's praises. All strangely unbeknownst to each other.

AND....Rol Hirst (of PJANG and the forth coming 'Too Much Sex and Violence' comics fame), has also took the time to write up a quick review of my comic.

Hurrahs all round.
RT