REDRAWING DEFOE 1666!

Sooo....DEFOE 1666 is OFFICIALLY out today, even though it's actually been on sale early all week! I noticed yesterday that AMAZON UK were actually down to their last TWO copies, but have since restocked! By the way, you should really check out the Amazon review we have there....I'M A GUY DAMMIT!!!!!

Which brings us to this post. When I first found out that Defoe was getting a collected edition, I asked the Mighty Tharg if he would let me go back to the earlier work and redraw certain things that made me cringe looking back at it. I like to think that I've progressed as an artist over these last few years, and to be honest, there's something wrong if you can't look back over your work and see flaws. Thankfully he said yes (after he made me clean his toilet) and so a week later, I had redrawn/retouched Twenty-odd panels throughout the book.

What follows are some of the more obvious redraws, arranged in useful "before and after" panels. Enjoy, and don't forget you can find out more about DEFOE 1666 and where you can purchase it HERE.

Bye bye, and thanks to all those who have bought it up to now!

L

MAKING OF THE DEFOE 1666 BOOK COVER!!!

Hello again you lovely, lovely people! As promised, here is the making of the Defoe 1666 graphic novel cover out now from 2000AD!

I actually first submitted this rough cover idea waaaay back in 2007 after the first chapter of Defoe was completed. In my naivety, I thought there may have been a chance of it getting collected if I offered to pad it out with "bonus material"...what a tool I was...

As you can see, I thought it would be cool to have Defoe posing in a 17th century style portrait, holding a decapitated zombie head, with the chaos of the Great Fire of London behind him. Of course, this would mean that I would have to actually paint it somehow, but I figured I'd worry about that later.

Two years later, whilst in the midst of drawing Defoe "Book 3", I get told we're going ahead with the collection of the previous two books, and so dug out this old design which I thought could still be great if it worked out!



Here's the photo I took as a loose reference. I chopped off someone's head especially for it....

Below is the loose pencil guide I did. Bear in mind that at this point I still had never even attempted any "digital painting" and was pretty nervous about trying to make it pass for a 17th century style portrait.

This is the 80% finished version of the main figure. Luckily, I didn't have a strict deadline for this so I was able to take my time learning on the job, experimenting with different brushes in Photoshop.

I was having problems with Defoe's eyes--up close it looked great with the glints in his eyes, but when shrunk down, it gave the illusion he was cross eyed. Not really the look you want for a hard as nails zombie hunter...

I soon added the background of London burning, based on a famous painting by Lieve Verschuier (1630-86). As you can tell I also placed an orange overlay over Defoe to help him blend more with the fire in the background. Still not quite there yet...

I made various touch ups here and there, the most notable being the wig of the zombie head. I was struggling a bit with depicting realistic strands of hair, but by sheer luck I had bought the latest issue of Imagine FX, which included a new set of digital brushes--one of which was perfect for the look I wanted to achieve!

Next, I had to figure out how to do the baroque-esque frame. I spent hours online looking for a high res image that could be used with no copyright issues attached to it, but no luck. My lovely girlfriend suggested looking in IKEA of all places, and she was right!

So I purchased this cheap black plastic frame, painted HALF of it gold with a black ink wash, and took a high res photo of it....

Next I imported the painted half of the image into Photoshop, manipulating whatever I could, deleting elements and adding bits here and there to make it look more "fantastical".

I then sculpted a skull face out of regular modelling clay, painting it to match the frame....

Then the magic happens...I copied the half frame, flipped it, joined the two halfs together, pasting the skull face at the bottom.

I always knew I wanted the background wall to have some type of texture to it. I ended up using a stipple effect with the "dodge" tool in Photoshop. I also blackened out some areas of the frame using the "airbrush".

And at last I get to join the two elements together and pray that the bloody thing works! Originally, I added a "canvas" texture to the painting, giving it a more authentic look, which i thought worked really well on screen. Unfortunately, I discovered when I did a test print, the canvas texture distorted horribly for some reason, so I had to get rid of it. But I was still made up with how this final image turned out, considering it was my first attempt at digital painting and photo manipulation.

Finally, it was sent to 2000AD uber designer, Simon Parr, who added the logo and text. I'm afraid my awkward frame design probably didn't make it easy for him to fit in the logo, but I think it looks fantastic!

Right, that's your lot. You can bugger off now!

Catch you soon, and buy my book!!!

L

DREDD SKETCH!

WOO HOOO!!! Got the final episode of Defoe , Queen of Zombies, finished this weekend so I'm taking a short break before I get back to work. First I need to spend a full day in bed reading a big ass bag of comics surrounded by Jelly Babies and caramel donuts, then I'm joining a gym...yeah, you heard me....

Before I get stuck into the next Defoe book, I've a few small jobs to get out the way--looking forward to drawing a werewolf for one of them!

In the meantime, I visited Tharg at the 2000AD Nerve Centre and passed him this Judge Dredd sketch, hoping that one day he'll let me draw him....

I shall return in a couple days with another "making of" feature for the Defoe 1666 graphic novel cover.

Wear something pretty...

L

DEFOE 1666 GRAPHIC NOVEL!!!

Hey there!

Ok, finally 2000AD's DEFOE 1666 graphic novel, written by Pat Mills, and illustrated by me, is hitting stores on August 15th!

It collects the first two "books" of Defoe, as well as a sketchbook section where I have alot of the original character designs, plus an afterword written by John (Watchmen, Razorjack)Higgins!

Here's the official description:

London, 1668. It is two years since the city was devastated by the Great Fire, the inferno caused by a comet passing over the capital. But from the ashes rose the undead, hungry for the flesh of the living. Protecting the populace are zombie hunters like Titus Defoe, a former soldier who now makes it his mission to purge the ghouls.

This collection also features around twenty or so panels redrawn/retouched by me, so this is the "remastered" edition if you want to call it that!

If you haven't asked for this at your local comic book store or book store, here's a few links where you can get it online (by the way, the sites don't feature the final cover as shown above): AMAZON UK , FORBIDDEN PLANET INTERNATIONAL and for the rest of the world THE BOOK DEPOSITORY where they actually ship worldwide for FREE! Bargain!!!

Above is the digitally painted cover I did for it, as well as a reminder of some of the images inside. Hope you like the cover--it's my first crack at digital painting. As soon as I'm finished drawing this final episode of the current book (Queen of the Zombies) in a week or so, I'll post up another making of feature, as well as a side by side comparison of the redrawn panels in this collection.

Spread the word guys!

Catch you soon,

L

MAKING OF A ZOMBIE BABY PAGE!

Have to make this quick guys. My schedule's pretty damn hectic until the end of the month as I'm finishing the last episode and a half of this book of Defoe. May have to try and pull an all nighter (though to be honest, I think I'm too old for them now--plus I haven't got any cakes, energy drinks or chocolate to get me through it!).

Anyhoo....last weeks zombie baby episode and cover went down as well as I'd hoped--nobody seemed to get their knickers in a twist about the cover in particular, so it looks like we got away with it! BWA HA HAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! That was supposed to be an evil laugh...

Below is a brief walk through of the making of the first page of that episode. As usual, once I read through Pat Mills' script, I do a very rough layout. What you need to understand is that the layout is just for my own benefit--for 2000AD I don't need to get layouts approved, which is why they usually only make sense to me. I really enjoy this part of the process--it's actually very fun and relaxing working out the story and the compositions.
Next up, we have pencils. As I'm inking myself, I can leave them pretty loose...

Then finally, we have the inks. As you can see, that's where I have to really put the work in. I try to ink as much as I possibly can with a brush first, then go to battle with my fineliner pens!

Right, that's your lot people. Gotta get back to work!

L

EXCLUSIVE DREDD/DEFOE PIC AND SCOTS, MICKS AND HYPERGEEKS OH MY!

Hey guys,

Back from an enjoyable weekend where I consumed WAY too many pasties...

Right,first of all I'd like to guide you into the furry arms of the talented folks at SCOTCH CORNER where I'm today's "guest artist" and contributed a drawing of Judge Dredd with Defoe that I did a year or so ago.

SCOTCH CORNER is a daily art blog, hosted by six uber talented Scottish blokes in skirts--sorry, I mean kilts : Graeme Neil Reid, Gary Erskine, Andy Hepworth, Jon Hodgson, and Thomas Crielly (with one more artist to be announced) and a guest artist once a week.

Everyday a new piece of art is posted, each artist posting on a certain day.

It's a FANTASTIC idea and the guys freely admit "this blog is shamelessly inspired and ripped off from the ELECTIC MICKS."

ELECTIC MICKS will forever be known as the creators, the originators, the mummy and daddies of this very successful style of daily art blog.

It's said that if you speak the names of these seven Irish men out aloud, a tiny leprecahn appears and kicks you in the nuts. I'd rather not risk that, but if you do, their names are Declan Shalvey, Will Sliney, PJ Holden, Stephen Mooney, Stephen Thompson, Nick Roche, and Bob Byrne.

Both these art blogs deserve all the success they get, so please stop by and say hi--you will not regret it. If you do, I'll apologise and say the sacred names of the Irish men three times...

Finally, I'd like to give a big shout out to Edward Kaye of the comic book industry site HYPERGEEK!

Edward reports comic book news, reviews, interviews all the way from Canada, but what's really great is that he's flying the flag for 2000AD, so may the mighty Tharg bless you sir! We humble droids salute you! He's wrote a great piece (click on the link) called:

"2000AD in North America--Why you should be buying it, where you can buy it, and how you can help make it a household name."

He's also starting a new weekly feature called "Thrill Power Thursday" where he'll be talking about the latest 2000AD issues, as well as any other related features he can come up with. But you can read more about his "Statement of Intent" HERE.

Thanks again Edward!

L

THE MAKING OF MY NEXT 2000AD COVER! (UPDATED!)

Hey guys,

Before I go away for the weekend, I wanted to post this "making of" feature for my next Defoe cover for Prog 1643 of 2000AD, which subscribers should be receiving in the morning, and it'll be out in stores from Wednesday.

Oooohhh, I've been looking forward to showing this cover....

Here's what happened: Before the writer of Defoe, Pat Mills, starts writing a "Book" of Defoe, he very kindly asks me for my input of things I'd like to possibly draw in the future, and he'd do his best to put it in if it worked. So a year or so ago, I mentioned a certain scene featuring zombie babies that I thought would be very cool (that scene actually features in this episode of Defoe, so I can't spoil it).

So, inspired by that scene, the idea for this cover just flashed into my head, and I was so certain would work, that I didn't even bother pitching my master and editor, Tharg, different ideas to choose from. I REALLY wanted to draw this idea: Just a simple image of Defoe clearly struggling as he is COVERED in zombie babies!

But even though I thought it could be a great image, I knew it was debatable that Tharg would go for it--after all, if you think of what zombie babies actually are, it's a bit close to the line and could be perceived as "bad taste"...

Anyway, the very crude rough drawing I pitched is below:

So thankfully Tharg liked what he saw, giving me the go ahead to carry on, but understandably voiced his concerns. These being what I predicted: that if the zombie babies looked too much like deceased babies, then obviously some stores may find it too offensive to stock, which is fair enough. It's ok to have zombie babies in the interior story, but it's probably not a good idea to have them on display on shelves in mainstreet stores.

Below is the photo reference I used of myself posing as Defoe, followed by the pencilled cover.

Here's the pencil version I sent for approval. I basically just drew them as angry,drooling, dirty babies, with no sign of decay or "zombieness". But Tharg still thought they screamed "deceased babies" so asked if I could make them look more "demony" instead.

It took a while for me to think of a solution that would still make the creatures on the cover relevant to the story inside, but eventually I thought to give the babies scaled skin and sharp teeth. Also at the suggestion of my buddies John Reppion and Leah Moore, they would eventually have red glowing eyes and a more alien green blood pouring from their mouths, so basically they now looked like little monsters which is alot more acceptable. And Tharg thought so too!

Can I just add at this point in the inking I wasn't happy with Defoe's eyes and expression--he seemed a bit too scared, and I originally wanted more "angry desperation", so before I coloured it, I repositioned one of his eyes in Photoshop and messed around with his eyesbrows abit.

Also, Pat quite rightly mentioned that having the inscription of "Killing zombies since 1666" on Defoe's weapon probably wouldn't do us any favours.

And here's the finished colour piece! We got there in the end. Personally, I'm made up with how it turned out and I'm hoping it could be a memorable cover. But of course, it's up to the readers.

Hope you like it!

L

FUTURE COMMENTS

Hey guys,

Just a quick post to let you know that I've enabled comment moderation and that word verification thingy from this point on.

More and more of my friend's sites and favourite forums have been targeted by spammers lately, and it's only a matter of time before this blog is too. So rather than risk wasting a full day deleting unwanted spams, I thought it best to set up this protection first.

On to fun stuff--I'll be posting up the making of my next cover tomorrow night!

See ya.

L

MORE DEFOE TEASERS!

Helloooooo.....

Episode 3 of Defoe is out in this week's 2000AD, but here's some non spoilery teaser panels for later episodes.

Later next week I'll post another "making of" feature for my next cover on Episode 4 of Defoe--can't freakin' wait to show that baby!

Now I gotta get back to finishing this story! Would you believe I still have to draw episodes 9 and 10?!! Bet you didn't think these things get finished so close to publication did ya...

Later.

L

DEFOE COVER UPDATE AND PHONOGRAM

Hey guys, just though i'd give an update to the earlier "making of cover thread". Here's a scan of the cover with all the finalized text and logo, and I'm pretty damn happy with it!

Thankfully up to now, this first episode has been getting the love on the 2000AD message boards so cheers guys! More updates soon...

Also, the short story I drew to be included in IMAGE COMICS' PHONOGRAM issue 3 (check out my earlier post for more info) is finally out after a delay! So stop by your local comic book store and buy this baby!

L

DEFOE TRAILER!!!!

2000AD have just released the trailer for DEFOE coming out in British stores on Wednesday!

I was stunned and happy beyond belief when I saw this beauty. I honestly had no idea this was being made and just watched it with my mouth wide open--a fly flew in, but I didn't care because watching this just made my freakin' day!


I recommend you download the original mp4 file to your desktop at 2000AD's site HERE if you want to watch it full screen or post it on any other sites to spread the word. Or alternatively you can check it out on YOUTUBE HERE.


So until I find out who was responsible for producing such a well made trailer, I just want to say....I LOVE YOU AND I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES.

*UPDATE*

I've just discovered that the talented 2000AD droid's names responsible for the awesome trailer are Julian Hall and Mechanoise. Here's what Julian had to say on the 2000AD forums:

"I've been doing the trailers, mainly to head towards something I have in mind for them. So they're not quite there yet, but hey it's all good to promote some wicked stories I also composed the track this time around and as always worked with top bloke Mechanoise who worked all the production and said what he liked about the tracks direction to stop me starting over...as is so often the case with us creative types ."

Thanks again guys!


L

GEEK SYNDICATE!

Ok, here's the thing....as you know, I work from home which unless you have the proper motivation (usually a deadline) can be a potential exercise in time wasting. Finding the right type of entertainment to leave on while I work has been a bit of a bugger to say the least.

Unless I have a relaxed deadline, dvds are a big no no. Recently I made the mistake of buying the full series of Battlestar Galactica and got so into it, that I'm now a few days off my schedule, and only just starting to claw back the time thanks to a couple of allnighters. (I dont regret it though--that series is bloody great!)

Radio bores the crap out of me and I can't stand it when they make pointless small talk with callers in. (I don't give a crap what you're having for dinner! And no, I don't care that it's Brenda's birthday!)

Music is getting closer, though I still give into temptation to start dancing around my room pretending to be , for example,Robert Palmer singing "Simply Irresistable" . So once again, it's a distraction.

Podcasts, I have found, tend to be the perfect medium. Comic podcasts in particular, as they talk about topics I'm genuinely interested in and I can just simply listen while I draw. I subscribe to alot of them on ITUNES ,they automatically get updated, and the best thing is that they're free!

At the very top of my podcast list is the fantastic GEEK SYNDICATE hosted by David Monteith and Barry Nugent--two genuinely nice blokes who have been best mates since childhood.

The show discusses all things geek--not just comics, but film ,tv and games. These guys are just comedy gold, and unlike other shows, there are no awkward silences, or creepy ass callers. Just wait until you hear them get into rant mode discussing the likes of the latest Smallville episode, or recounting their real life childhood experience with a wolfman in the Halloween special, or trying to sing the Queen song from Flash Gordon (episode 12)...

If I could kidnap these guys and strap them both to my head, I would. But I can't because I'd look like a freakin' idiot , so please check out their website, and/or check them out in ITUNES ( a bit of explicit content by the way, so not for young Bionicle fans) where there is currently 123 episodes to download!

GET YOUR GEEK ON NINJA!!!!

(Uhh...you'll get that if you listen to their show...)

L

FINALLY!

Yup, finally I can start showing some real stuff from Book 3 of Defoe coming to 2000AD in 3 weeks.
These are the various stages I went through for the first of 3 covers I've done for this year. Originally I approached my editor Tharg with a rough drawing of an Indiana Jones type composition with our heroes Defoe and his sidekick the largest images, the main villian known as The Queen of Zombies looking suitably evil above them, and below, an action scene in silhouette of Defoe and his Brethren fighting zombies. But Tharg, quite rightly, but still dissapointingly, pointed out that there wouldn't be any room for a tagline with the figures at the bottom of the page...

So I had another crack at it, keeping the central figures, making the Queen's skull more central, and completely removed the figures at the bottom, instead adding flames around them, and he went for it!

Next up is the pencils. No problems at this stage, though I still wasn't sure whether or not to add pupils to the skull's eyes. Also, I still had no idea how I was gonna colour the flames at this point.

So here's the inks. Wasn't too keen on how it turned out at this stage. Something didn't seem right. So I sent it to a few friends who pointed out that Defoe's hand didn't seem quite right--it looked like his other hand should be holding the gun, so I redrew that whole section and pasted it on. Also, I could tell it was a mistake adding pupils to the skull's eyes, and the fire just looked too cluttered....

And here's the final colour piece with all the changes! This is actually the second attempt at colouring the image as in the first attempt I kept in alot of the line work for the fire and it just looked amatuerish to be honest. So I scrapped it and started again, completely painting over the fire, though it took a LOOOONG time to get to a point where I could let it go...

Finally, here's a scan of the advert in the latest Judge Dredd Megazine that I discovered today and had a big grin on my face when I saw it. It's great to finally see it with some text.

Right, hopefully this'll make up for the absence of blog posts recently. Catch you soon!

L

DRAW THE WORLD TOGETHER CHARITY SKETCHBOOK AUCTION!

Hey guys. Right, a while ago I contributed a sketch to the DRAW THE WORLD TOGETHER charity sketchbook, which features characters from the game CITY OF HEROES.

Here's what artist and DTWT organiser, Andrew Wildman has to say:

"A second chance to grab one of these limited edition City of Heroes sketchbooks. This one #4of10 All are signed by a whole host of artists; Dave Gibbons (cover), Doug Braithwaite, Misako Rocks, Mark Buckingham, Andie Tong, Phil Winslade, Jon Haward, Mike Collins, Bryan Talbot,  Simon Williams, Andrew Wildman, Neil Edwards, Al (Astral Gypsy) Davidson and Boo Cook. And of course, if you dont want to make a bid yourselves you can help out by posting a link to the auction on any forums or blogs that you are active in. Check out the site for more info and a link to the auction.

Many thanks

DtWT

You can go straight to the Ebay auction HERE  and more on the DRAW THE WORLD TOGETHER charity HERE.

L

DEFOE BOOK 3 TEASERS

Ok people, I'm still kind of limited to what I can show for the time being as this doesn't come out in 2000AD till June,but when the time comes I'll be able to show off the 2 covers I've done for the series--one of which may be a little controversial, so a few changes were needed to make it a bit more, well less, controversial...anyhoo, I'm hoping it will make for a classic cover when it's released!

Bye bye.

L

DEFOE 1666 COLLECTION RELEASE DATE!

Hey guys!

Apologies for the lack of posting over this past month--alot's been going on in my private life, plus Tharg at 2000AD has finally given me my final deadlines for Book 3 of Defoe so I've really had to buckle down lately...

Sooo....here's an update on Defoe's (and mine) first ever trade collection. August 15th is the date you need to put in your diaries, or just write it on your forehead so you won't forget. It's already available for preorder at AMAZON and also at FORBIDDEN PLANET INTERNATIONAL (who also very kindly named it as a "top graphic novel pick" in the latest news letter! Thanks guys!)

I'll have to see what I can do about the officials listings on these sites as it doesn't have much info this early, and if anybody who's already read Defoe when it was serialised in 2000AD would like to leave an Amazon review, I won't complain!

Also, the cover on the listings isn't the final cover--I should know as I recently finished a digital painting for it, and I'm VERY happy with it...a little peak of it is posted above. Once I get clearance from my bosses I'll post the FULL image.

Normal service to this bloggy will resume next week when I'll post some new panels!

Later

L