Monday 26 April 2010

Wales Comic Con 2010: The Aftermath

Well that was fun!

After a couple of hours in the car early Sunday morning, I arrived to set up at Glyndwr University in Wrexham - sitting next to the ever-pleasant Staz Johnson and Neil Edwards.

Also attending were the likes of Danny John-Jules and Dirk Benedict, cool.

Highlights were doing a sketch for the BEST Star Trek: TNG lookalikes I have EVER seen - wish I'd had a chance to get my photo taken with them - next time...

Coolest of all was meeting Marc Silk, the voice talent behind Stingo, Slugsy and a whole host of other cartoon voices. That's sure to get me some serious brownie points from my children. Sorted.

I spent the day signing and sketching - drawing mostly space marines at this event, there were loads of GW/ BL fans attending, those Horus Heresy books have a powerful hold over everyone who reads them.

(Above)
Kenny and his 'Marine vs Aliens' sketch.
(Photo courtesy Kim Randles Facebook)

After a pleasant and uneventful drive back, I arrived home and had a lovely cup of tea. Job done.

Next posts: limited edition books, Eldar and being a magazine cover star!

Friday 23 April 2010

Wales Film & ComicCon

Hello All,

A quick message to say that I'll be appearing as a guest at the Wales Film & ComicCon (Click the link for a full details) this coming Sunday, 25th April.


The event is being held at Glyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham between 10:00am & 5:00pm. In addition to me, there will be a host of guests from the likes of Red Dwarf, Star Wars and Torchwood - y'know, that kind of thing... I'll be in geek heaven!

I'll be doing the usual signings and sketching - so do come along, say hello and get a sketch done by yours truly.

See you there.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Hi-Ex! 2010: The Aftermath

Well, it's been a while so I thought I'd belatedly post up my experiences at the recent Hi-Ex Comic convention in Inverness.

(Above)
Outside Eden Court, the 501st Garrison check for droids.
(Pic courtesy Joe Gordons' Flickr)

First up, I want to say a big thankyou to Rich and Vicky and all the organisers who made the event so much fun.

After a solid two day drive, stopping off at Stirling at a fantastic B&B, we made it to our holiday cottage 20 miles outside of Inverness - literally in the middle of nowhere, fantastic. Just like the But an' Ben in The Broons.

The opening Saturday of the event was slightly nervewracking, sitting at the artists table alongside the likes of Colin McNeil, Charlie Adlard and Simon Fraser.

Initially I thought people would be looking at me as if to say "Just who do you think you are, sitting next to professional comic artists?", after a while (and making sure my portfolio was open and prominent) I realised I am a professional comic artist and people were interested in chatting and getting sketches done.

Phew, panic over.

(Above)
The artists table: GaryErskine, Simon Fraser,
Alex Moore, Carlie Adlard Colin McNeil and little old me.
(Pic courtesy Joe Gordons' Flickr)


(Above)
Artists hard at work sketching for charity,
whilst I stand up and look like I'm about to pick a fight.
I was in fact having a nice chat about the nature of freelancing.
(Pic courtesy of the Hi-Ex Gallery)

I spent the next two days sketching constantly, with all the proceeds going to the chosen charity, Children 1st. I believe the total raised so far is in the region of £2000 - so well done all.

What was particularly nice and a definite strength of the show was the broad remit it had, it covered comics, gaming and childrens books - and the crowd reflected that. I drew plenty of pictures for some lovely wee boys and girls, one cheeky chappy didn't have any pennies left for a picture of Darth Vader I did for him on the Saturday only to return, briefly, on the Sunday and thrust a shiny 10p in my hand. Gawd bless ye, ye wee scamp.

(Above)
The Games room, friendly people getting everybody involved in the hobby.
Run by the great chaps at Kingdom of Adventure.
(Pic courtesy of the Hi-Ex Gallery)

There were other moments that I'll merely list otherwise this'll turn into a mega-post that nobody will read:
  • Going out for the all-you-can-eat buffet was an eye-opener and certainly not recommended if you haven't eaten much during the day.
  • Chatting to Cam Kennedy was real fun, he was a real seasoned pro with a cheeky glint in his eye.
  • Talking to Colin McNeil about his influence on my Black Library work was great, hope I didn't bore him too much with talk about rim lights.
  • Discussing with Al Ewing about the direction of some exciting 'self-published' future projects.
  • The chaps who noticed I was there on the Saturday and brought their entire Horus Heresy collections to get signed on the Sunday, cool.
And generally, meeting other artists, writers and publishers was fantastic experience and I'm sure I'll see them again at the many other Con's this coming year.

(Above)
2000AD creators and fans - great people all of them.
I am there, at the back, in the shadows -
look carefully, you'll see me.
(Pic courtesy of the Hi-Ex Gallery)

Right. After that, my family and I spent a lovely few days exploring Loch Ness (sadly, no monster) and surrounding area, only to get snowed in for a few days whilst the Highlands experienced freak blizzards. Mind you, I got to make a great big snowman with my kids. Ace.

(Above)
Beautiful Loch Ness on the drive from Inverness to the cottage.

(Above)
Blizzards, snow, grey clouds. The roads were shut.
It was very much like the Shining.
"All work and no play..."

On the journey home we spent a whopping 15 hour drive back home, stopping off at the Deep Sea World to break the journey up.

All in all, we had a fantastic time - best of luck with future events!

So, in future news, Wales Comic Con, Bristol Comic Con, Workshops, more book covers, a 3D World article and even more comic covers.

Stay tuned.

Friday 2 April 2010

Strip: 2000AD Prog 1678

Ta-daaa! My first interior strip for the Galaxies Greatest Comic, "Chrono Cabbie" with script by Alec Worley, painted art by me and lettering by Annie Parkhouse.


If you want to know just what the hell is going on, get yourself down to your local newsagent/ comic store and buy yourself a copy today!

It seems to have gotten a positive response from people, so I'm a very happy man.

Dream... come... true...!