2000AD PROG 1704 COVER PROCESS!!!

I AM A TOOL.

Yeah, you heard me. This was one of those moments where I should listen to my own advice and know that YOU ARE NEVER AS GOOD AS WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE!!! Read on....

Ok, this is the cover process for this weeks issue of 2000AD. I wanted to depict a scene with Defoe fighting his now zombified ex comrade, The Spiriter, and especially show how the zombies are flying in this episode.

Here's my initial idea that I put down, but didn't submit to Tharg as I wasn't happy with the composition yet, but I was happy with the idea....
After a few obscene photos (that you will not see) I settled on this rough, that was approved by the boss....
Now, I decided early on that I wanted to do this as a digital painting, similar to that of the Defoe 1666 book collection cover found here. So with that in mind, I only pencilled this image, and darkened it up in Photoshop to paint over later....
And here, is what I thought was the finished cover painting that I was initially quite proud of. That, my friends, was the horrible trap I fell in to...

Much like a 10 year old boy running up to his parents to show off a crappy crayon picture of an anatomically incorrect donkey, I emailed this painting to Tharg shouting "Look at me! Look at how clever I am!"....to have him (quite rightly) REJECT IT!

"But...but...but...", I whined to my girlfriend, "He's NEVER turned down ANY of my work before!" (wipes nose on sleeve)

He was completely right of course. As he explained, he thought the image didn't look defined enough, looked a bit blobby, and that he generally preferred my line work. Looking at it now, I can see a DOZEN more problems with it, but it's strange how at the time, you're completely oblivious to them....
So the problem I had was how to add line work to a painting, which is harder than you'd think. Here's the ink line layer that I added in Photoshop, but realized quite early that we'd have to compromise and have it "half and half" and hope that the boss still went for it.
Here's the finished image! It took a while to clean it up around the line work, and as you can see I also recoloured various things that I realized were glaringly naff, including making Defoe's eyes a lot more defined. Thankfully this extra work paid off, and the boss approved it....
Being the impatient type, I did this quick cover mock up, using an older issue's text...
But of course by now, 2000AD have a lovely new redesign, and thanks to designer Simon Parr, here's the final cover that you can find in stores NOW!!! And that is a clever tagline...
And there ends my tale. The moral? DON'T BE A COCKY SOD!

L

STARSHIPSOFA STORIES!!!

Hey guys,

Just a quick one to pimp the latest issue of the newly Hugo Award winning StarShipSofa Stories (volume 2). Quite a while back Dee Cunniffe got in touch to see if I'd like to do an illustration to go with one of the many prose pieces, of which I picked a story called "Bitterseed" written by Ted Kosmatka.

They have an impressive line up of talent of this book--Neil Gaiman for one--but what's also cool is this nifty trailer which you can find on Youtube here!

Check it out and bye for now.

L

MAKING OF A DEFOE PAGE!!!

I REALLY shouldn't be on here. I'm currently rushing to get the final episode of Defoe: A Murder of Angels finished in record time, but y'know what? I just love you all too damn much, it hurts, so here I am with another post.

This is the creation of a page from Episode 3, from script to printed page. First up, here's Pat Mill's script. Thankfully his scripts are never overly detailed and straight to the point, so they're a pleasure to read, especially when I'm on a tight deadline.
Here's my RIDICULOUSLY rough layout. Unlike working for the big American companies, we 2000AD droids don't need to have our layouts looked over by the editor, so they only need to make sense to myself luckily.
Here's my pencils. As I ink myself, I generally don't bother pencilling any background detail like bricks etc.... I'll spare you the sight of my reference photos this time, in the name of public decency....
Here's my inks. As you can see, there's a lot that's been added in the backgrounds. once again, I probably overdid it with the crosshatching, but I'm very pleased with how that second panel turned out. My god, I frikkin' LOVE drawing crocodiles, or alligators (whatever the hell it is)!
Finally, here's the published page, wonderfully lettered by Ellie De Ville (cool name!). As you'll notice, the dialogue's changed a bit, as generally Pat likes to do some rewrites once he's seen my final art.
That's it for now! Be sure to pick up this week's 2000AD prog 1703 with Episode 4 of Defoe, where one of the Brethren DIES!

And check back here next week where I'll do the making of my next cover!

L

DEFOE (GETS SNAPPY) COVER PROCESS!!!

Aaarrgh....having one of those days where nothing I draw is working and I'm rubbing holes in my art boards.

So, here I am, with a handy distraction: The making of this coming Wenesday's cover to 2000AD prog 1701! For those who picked up this week's prog 1700, you'll know that there's a scene in Defoe featuring a crocodile eating zombies in The Tower of London moat, and so here's the rough cover idea that was approved by Tharg with a pun-tastic tag line that I half-joked should be used on the final cover....

A quick manly reference photo that I loosely based it on...

My SECOND crack at the pencils....
Here's the inks. Knowing that I'd be colouring it, I thought ahead and decided not to ink in the area around the gun flash as I wanted to be able to select those lines cleanly when I played with it later in Photoshop. Likewise, I knew ahead I'd be "airbrushing" the black clothing of Defoe into the green of the water, so didn't bother with any background crosshatching.
Final colours. Pretty happy with it, especially with the light coming through the water. Though looking at it months later, I'm not too impressed with the drawing of the zombie in the croc's mouth. Considering how bloody many I've had to draw over the years, I should have done a better job of the fella. No Jaffa Cakes for me tonight....
Now THIS made my freakin' day! On the last page of prog 1700 I was stunned to see this full page advert featuring the new cover with my "DEFOE GETS SNAPPY" tag line! Do you get it?! "SNAPPY" because there's a CROCODILE and Defoe's a grumpy bastard....ahhh forget it ........."SNAPPY"!!!

(And a big thanks to editorial droid Matt Smith and designer bot Simon Parr!)
And here's a scan of the final cover out this Wednesday, with a far more sensible tag line (not as good as mine though *grumble grumble*).
That's your lot for now. Should have quite a few "making of" features coming up now that Defoe's back, so catch you ladies soon!

L

DEFOE'S BACK! AND ANOTHER INTERVIEW!!!

Well, Defoe is returning in this Wednesday's 2000AD prog 1700, which is a big deal! It's a great jumping on point for new 2000AD readers as it's not only the start of Defoe, but also 4 other new stories dipped in sticky Thrill Power!!!

In the run up to Wednesday, that hairy Welsh bloke, Richard McAuliffe (from Everything Comes Back to 2000AD) is interviewing creators featured in the prog, for the Geek Syndicate site. He's already interviewed Rob Williams, and Pat Mills, but now, it's time to make way for THE INTERVIEW OF LEIGH GALLAGHER!!!

(Warning: sexy, sexy contents inside.)

And buy 2000AD 1700 in stores on Wednesday!

MAKING OF A ZARJAZ COVER!!!

Right, here's a brief departure from my usual stuff...

Around 6 months ago Dave Evans, editor of the 2000AD fanzines "Dogbreath" and "Zarjaz" contacted me about doing a cover for "Zarjaz" issue 10 (out in October) based on one of the interior stories.

That story was "FLESH: Extinction" written by Mark Howard, drawn by Chris Geary, and inspired by my current writer Pat Mills' classic "FLESH" series for 2000AD.

So I came up with this rough, based on the main creature....
...but then Dave informed me it was actually a DOUBLE SPREAD they needed, so after cursing his name I figured out the other side, that involved as little extra drawing as possible.
As you can tell, my pencils were pretty rough, and I realized that the perspective was completely wrong when looking at the ground area. I was trying to have him on the edge of a cliff, but it wasn't working, so I redrew it as I inked.
Alot better me thinks! Plus adding the tentacle in the foreground on the left gave it a nice sense of depth I thought...
Finally, colouring! Not much to add here, though I'm not sure if I prefer the black and white version. Pretty happy with it though, and it was nice to draw something completely different to my usual stuff!

DEFOE: A MURDER OF ANGELS TEASERS!!!

Gggnnnnn....must not...show....the ...really cool...stuff...I've just drawn!

I REALLY wish I could show you the latest pages of Defoe (coming out in September's 2000AD) but Tharg would cut off one of my balls (leaving me with only three) so you'll have to make do with these non-spoilery panels....

SOMETHING FROM THE VAULTS 5!!!

Right, here's one I don't think I've shared before...

After Vertigo's The Witching finished in 2004-05, I decided to knock out this Swamp Thing pic just for a sample. Pretty happy with it especially as I did the whole thing in one night...
Nothing came of it and it remained unpublished, and years later when I was working on LEGO BIONICLE, I *GASP* re-used the background for this page....
Don't tell anyone! It'll be our secret, ok?

L

MORE "I'M IN A ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND!!!

OK, so the BBC's "I'M IN A ROCK 'N' ROLL BAND" finished some weeks ago (previous posts HERE and HERE), but here's a few more pieces I did for it...

This Ian Brown pic was the sample I did when I was first approached by SUMCREATIVE....

And here's the KISS Olympics! Not really my usual art style but I had to stick to the style already established by the original artist.



Right, I'm off to sort out another post to make up for the lack of them lately, you lucky, lucky ladies...

L

2D FESTIVAL!!!

GAH!!! Yes I KNOW I'm way late with this "report", but y'know, deadlines, so I apologise....

Anyhoo, as you know I very kindly got an invite to Derry's 2D Festival a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say Niki and I had an AMAZING time!

I've never been looked after so well at a convention before--they literally did everything for us apart from bathe us! Come to think of it....WHY didn't they bathe us dammit?! Next year I demand to be bathed!

We flew in on the Friday, interrupting the wonderful comic workshops being held at the time, but wasn't needed until a panel discussion that night in the PUB, entitled "Everyone's a Critic", about blogging, podcasts, and social network sites. I was on that panel with shiny headed Gary Erskine, bearded Sunnyside Comics Aaron Abernethy, the also bearded Mark Cardwell from Bad Librarianship Now, and hosted by the lovely Emma Vieceli, who did not have a beard.

Never done a panel in a pub before--have to say it's a surprising great place to have them! The talks basically just turn into a big pissed up laughathon! This actual panel is going to be aired on a future episode of Sunnyside Comics, so I'll update with a link

soon...

Instead of baby sitting me for the day, Niki went on a WAGs day trip around Derry with our good friend Mhairi and friend. I usually worry about Niki having a good time at conventions, but it was nice to know she was getting having a great time with the girls, probably talking about boobs and stuff...

And so Saturday was when I got to work, with Vieceli as my neighbour (and I couldn't think of a better neighbour to have!)) What's great about 2D is that it's a FREE event and very family orientated as well. We spent the whole day sketching for anyone that asked, and I later joined artists Ilya and Mark Stafford for the "Monster Me" sketching session (and did my back in!) where we drew some lovely people as grotesque monsters, though a bit worried about the 6 year old who asked to be drawn as "Kick Ass"... Gutted I was stuck with a crappy disposable camera that was useless so I don't have any evidence of sketches I'm afraid. But it's a genuinely good feeling handing over a sketch to a kid that you know is going to cherish it...

Later on it was back to the pub for our 2000AD panel with big daddy Pat Mills, Colin Wilson, Glenn Fabry, my old nemesis PJ Holden and myself. I'll be the first to admit we had a ropey start as we didn't really know what we were doing, but after the first 5 minutes we definately pulled it together and created a thing of utter BEAUTY. We got some great anecdotes, and funny moments like the entire crowd chanting for Pat to hug me, myself having to deny accusations that I looked like Gok Wan after my photo kept on appearing on the slideshow behind us, and after I shared a comment from Pat about my "zombie hands looking too sad" the crowd started doing "Jazz hands"! Unbelievable. We had so many lovely compliments from folk after that... See? Who needs Al Ewing with his Tharg mask doing his Orville the Duck impersonations!!!

I met so many lovely people, but special shout outs to: Eclectic Micks' Nick Roche and Stephen Mooney with lovely wife Jacintha (who REALLY isn't helping my Gok Wan case). Also the rest of the Sunnyside Comics team , Scott Ferguson and Karen Quinn--the only person on this Earth who apparently has the power to put that utter nutjob PJ in his place (seriously, he was like a hamster on crack!)! Wez and Sean are a couple of talented film makers who interviewed a bunch of the guests and I look forward to seeing how good my hair looked on camera...

Speaking of Sunnyside, they did a funny as hell podcast on 2D that can be found here!

Titan Books editor Steve White sat at my table for a while sketching, and left behind a BEAUTIFUL dinosaur sketch that is now framed in my studio. (pic at the bottom of this post!)

Finally, I obviously have to say a huge thank you to organisers David Campbell, Garry Leach, Ciaran Flanagan and Bridin Crilly. Those guys were amazing and if you need me back next year I'll be there if you bathe me this time... with a loofah.

(Photos courtesy of Ciaran Flanagan and Bec Hill)

(Sketch by the awesome Steve White)

BRISTOL COMIC CON REPORT!!!

WOW...what a weekend! I honestly had the BEST weekend at last weekend's Bristol convention!

I've not been in years, but Bristol was THE con to go to when trying to break in. I have to say, it was nice being there after all this time and not having to keep an eye out for an editor to pimp my work to...

This time, it was all about hanging at the 2000AD table with my new friends (Rebellion's Pye Parr, Luke Preece and Wiggz), and catching up with a lot of my old friends. And so much fun was had! It genuinely put me on such a high for days afterwards!

Check out these photos, all courtesy of Rebellion's Wiggz...
Above is me pencilling the big ass Dredd pic that would be later given away to a lucky chappy in a draw.
The finished piece! I'm telling you though, that gun was a pain in the ass to draw...whoever designed it needs a punch in the balls...

The next day I decided to tackle something a bit easier for the give away prize--a zombie. Hey kids, it's 2000AD artist Lee Carter!
The finished piece! It was harder than I thought finding the time to do this, as I gladly did sketches for anyone that asked, but also had to finish it before our 2000AD panel that writer Al Ewing was in charge of. The panel in question definitely had its bizarre moments like Al doing an Orville impersonation with the discarded skin of Tharg...?!
Here's me handing the zombie pic over to Jen, the well deserved winner! She even left me a nice message afterwards--makes it all worth it!
I was introduced to a lovely American bloke by the name of Jimmy Aquino of the fantastic podcast, Comic News Insider, who was obviously drunk because he asked to interview me the next day! Make with the clicky HERE to listen to a very funny show--my interview can be found around the 41 minute mark....I warn you, I do attempt to do a Welsh impersonation...

Thank you so much to all of those who stopped by the 2000AD booth to say hi. And good luck to all of you who showed us their portfolios--I've never been to a con where I've seen so many talents that deserve to be getting professional work--hang in there guys, your time will definately come!

I also met Cosmo--possibly the coolest 10 year old I've ever met in my life, and future comic book artist...or actor...

And finally thanks to all my friends, old and new, who made me laugh so bloody hard--you know who you are....

L

CONVENTION APPEARANCES!!!

Just a quick one guys to let you know that I'll be at The Bristol International Comic and Small Press Expo on the 22nd-23rd May. You'll be able to find me at the 2000AD table all weekend! And just like at the previous SFX Weekender, myself, Clint Langley and whatever other droids are available, will be doing HUGE drawings that you can win in a raffle, of which you can get a ticket with every purchase!

Also, on the 4th and 5th of June, I'm a guest of the 2D Comics Festival in Northern Ireland, Derry! Never been to Ireland before and I can't wait!

L

DEFOE "A MURDER OF ANGELS" UPDATE!!!

Still quite a wait until Defoe returns to 2000AD in September, but that's fine by me, as I have LOADS to still do anyway!

Obviously I can't show much at this point, but above is a couple of non spoilery panels ( And yes, Defoe is pissed in that shot!).

Even though this is Book 4 of Defoe, Pat Mills and I are discussing Book 5, and I'm proud to say that he thought my idea for a story point (and cover) featuring Mungo's codpiece was "Excellent"...so that's nice....

L