Reminder: Games Day 2009

Hello All,

Just a quick reminder to say I shall be attending Games Day 2009 this coming Sunday the 27th September - so if you have any of my Black Library books, Horus Heresy books or even posters, feel free to bring them along to get signed. I may even have a special sneak preview for anyone who asks nicely...

I look forward to seeing you there!

...And now for something completely different: Oil Painting

This is just a quick post covering a little side project of mine.

On the back of recently attempting to emulate an atelier approach to life drawing classes - with some success - I've taken up oil painting as away of complimenting what I'm learning with the life drawing.

(Above)
'Robot'
Oil on canvas, 8"x10"

I've started with some still life studies of my children's toys, and I'm trying what's called an Alla Prima approach, which means 'first strike', you dive straight in and paint the final image immediately, without waiting for the paint to dry or layering on glazes and all those other incredibly classical and respected techniques.

Also, the great thing about it is that it means I can get a fully resolved painting done within a couple of hours, which is always good.

(Above)
'Fairy'
Oil on canvas, 8"x10"

I was inspired by an American artist called John Howard Sanden (whose book on portraiture should be a compulsory educational text!), the artist John Singer Sargent and also the well used technique of lost, soft and hard edges and how they interplay and focus the eye on an image.

I'm interested in how these techniques will apply to my illustration work, I'm already trying them out so I'll let you know how I get on when the pieces are in print.

Oil painting feels a more mature medium than acrylics, which I've always used and which I've really enjoyed. After I finished up these pieces I pencilled up a load of other canvases so I can dive straight into more painting when a free evening crops up - so I'll keep you posted!

Now- Back to the Cursed Earth!

Local news for local people

Well, I seem to have made quite a stir with my recent Dredd piece, so much so that my local newspaper ran a little article in last weeks edition of the Louth Leader - I even made the front page:

(Above)
Look - there's me on the left...
at the top...
above the strange veg!

I just have to be thankful I made it above 'Strange Veg' otherwise I'd never be able to live that down...!

Here's the piece as it appeared on page 3:

(Above)
The chap who wrote it, Charles, was a keen Dredd fan and I feel
he enjoyed writing the 'Top 5 Dredd Facts' piece to accompany the article -
Nice one, Charles!

Great stuff, a couple of local people have since recognised me and stopped to talk to me about it which is always nice! I imagine CNN or BBC World News may be next on the list ;)

In other news, I'll be appearing at this years Games Day at the NEC on the Sept 27th, so if you want any books or posters signing, bring them on down and I'll deface them with my signature!

(Above)
Games Day in full flow - Sept 2006

Also, I've recently been pencilled in to be appearing at the big Horus Heresy signing at the Forbidden Planet Megastore next February - I'll talk more about this nearer the time, I guess.

Workwise, I'm currently doing some more 2000AD/ Megazine covers and a nice, big set of illustrations for an Iron Warriors book from BL Publishing.

Oh, and it looks like I'll be doing some lecturing at the University of Lincoln on their Computer Science course - all those years in the games biz might amount to something yet!

Peace out, y'all.

Cover: Judge Dredd Megazine

Well, here's a piece I've been aching to talk about, and now it's in the shops... the cover for Judge Dredd Megazine #288!

(Above)

Judge Dredd Megazine#288:
Dredd looming over a troubled Mega City-1

After meeting the Mighty Tharg a couple of times at the Bristol Comic Expo, I'd put it to him about doing covers for 2000AD/ Megazine. After a few emails had been exchanged, I set about doing a couple of quick thumbnails:

(Above)

Thumbnail #1: Old Stoney Face above MC-1

(Above)
Thumbnail #2: More Dredd visible so you can see
all his cool bits, shoulder pads, badge and elbow pads

Of the two, Tharg preferred the mid-length body shot, so I took a quick reference photo and set about making Dredd in 3DSMax and ZBrush:

(Above)
Me attempting to strike a Dredd power pose.
We'd just moved in to our new house
so the studio was in a right old state!

The image was finished off in Photoshop, dropping in a red background, a few low-key lens flares to give it some kick and finally a few layers of colour correction and grain to tie it all together:

(Above)
"I AM THE LAW!"
The final piece sans logo and blurb.

I can't say how cool it is to see my artwork on the cover of the Megazine! Which I clearly remember reading during my lunch breaks when it first came out way back in 1990. To be on the cover of the self same comics I read as a youngster will always be a real buzz.

(Above)
The finished product in my local newsagents - Woohoo!

As for this cover, Tharg seems to have liked it and I've recently completed another cover, hopefully to be used some time soon - but I'll save that for another post.

Harrier Attack 1982

This piece is a quickie to try my hand at something else:

(Above) Harrier bombing run, May 1982

I'm a huge fan of aviation art, especially anything to do with Harriers and Spitfires - they are just beautiful machines! I was trying to get a real sense of energy in this one - hence the painted motion blur and low, dynamic angle. I'm aware the weapons payload probably isn't correct, if anyone wants to correct me - fire away, as they say.

I was going for an old-school Airfix vibe, some of my favourite kits were the Harrier, Spitfire, Lunar Landing Module and Messerschmitt ME 109 - aahh, the smell of glue and enamel paint... great days!

3D Logo: Privateer Press

Hello,

Well here's another piece I recently completed for Privateer Press, a 3D textured version of their Warmachine logo:

(Above)

The new Warmachine Logo for Privateer Press

It was a fairly straightforward task - the bulk of the work being the laying out of the pipes and grills - a 2D sketch being translated into a 3D scene will always require a certain amount of tweaking to compensate for perspective shifts.

(Above)

The different passes used to create the final logo.
From top to bottom: Beauty (with embedded Alpha channel), Ambient Occlusion, Mask 1 and Mask 2

I'm pleased with how the piece panned out - the texture and lighting required a lot of attention especially as the client had a definite idea of how things should look.

(Above)
The 3D scene - one directional light in a 'studio environment' to simulate product photography settings.

The final piece has since been used across the board on their website and print materials. It's great when a project is finished 'cos you get to see the artwork in a context other than the dull, hazy glow of my monitors. So, make sure to check Privateer Press out - the concept art and miniatures are amazing - plus the 3D logo is pretty cool too!

Adventures in Life Drawing: 002: Atelier (-ish)

Well, it's been a few weeks since the last post about taking up life drawing - again - and I'm really starting to get into the art of being an artist - again.

Oh and I've been listening to waaay too much Pendulum after seeing their performances at Glastonbury and T in the Park - AWESOME!

(Above)
Pendulum - In Silico.
Can I do a CD cover for you chaps, please?

Anyway, I've been reading up on atelier method, representational art and all it entails: sight size, precise measuring and the like. It's been a real eye opener and I keep wondering, why wasn't I taught this at art college?

Every Monday at life drawing I've been doing my own atelier-lite training. Using a cheats sight-size to get the proportions and forms down, studying the values and rendering the halftone forms up with graphite pencils and Conte crayons. I have to say I love it, although I feel some spontaneity has been lost with the more formal approach, but you have to break some eggs to make an omelette.

(Above)
Graphite pencil on paper.
Using a cheats sight-size and plotting the overall volumes
and angles as the basis for the final rendering

I've got a veritable arsenal of tools I regularly take, a small compass for measuring, chamois leather for diffusing tonal values, putty rubber, small hand mirror for checking the reverse image, range of pencils, scalpel for sharpening etc. etc. It's like a small army mobilising every Monday night.

(Above)
Graphite pencil on paper.
Again, using a cheats sight-size and using values
to define the forms in the image.

As I've been attending the life drawing sessions, I've been reading Juliette Aristedes books: Classical Drawing Atelier and Classical Painting Atelier - both available on Amazon - and I've been using them as a starting point both thematically and practically - I certainly feel as though I'm making progress - where to exactly, I don't know, but so far it's an interesting journey.

(Above)
Conte crayon on paper.
Using comparitive measuring to plot the mass,
a chamois leather to diffuse the base tones and letting the
image appear as the halftones values are built up.

Maybe in a few years when the kids have grown up a bit I might see about doing a proper Atelier course - we shall see. All in all , life drawing is turning out to be great fun and a good way to keep my 'head in the game', artistically speaking - so I'll keep you posted!

Oh, yeah - nearly forgot - work wise, I'm doing some 2000AD work and more cool Horus Heresy covers. Great times!