Best selling, numero uno...

Now then, now then... guys and gals... this news, just in:


"A Thousand Sons" is the Number 1 selling SF and Fantasy book this week!

I'm incredibly proud to be working with such an esteemed group of authors and publishing team - everybody pulling in the same direction... to success!

I have to take some credit for the success of the books what with the covers being mine and actually being of rather good quality, but the authors can do that much better than me, after all it is their name in big letters on the cover.

Well done all - onwards and upwards.

Will post properly once this magazine article and video tutorial is out the way - early next week.




(ooh, my new 2000AD cover is on this weeks prog# 1673)

Book Signing: GW Plaza, London, Sat Feb 20th

A quick one as Graham McNeill and I will be signing copies of Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons at Games Workshop, Plaza on Saturday 20th Feb from 12-2pm.

(Above)
Bring 'em along or buy 'em there -
We'll sign 'em.

Call the store on 020 7436 0839 for more details.

I'll probably 'tweet' during the course of the day and get any pictures up next week. Also, check the superb Black Library facebook pages for updates and photos.

As usual, I'll be sketching throughout the afternoon and I'll be happy to sign books, so I look forward to seeing you there!

Black Library Live! 2010: The Aftermath

So Black Library Live! 2010 has been and gone - and what a great day it was for me and hopefully all those good people who queued patiently and were polite and passionate about the work Black Library produces.

(Above)
The polite mob, queuing in typical British fashion - good work, everyone!
Image courtesy the Black Library Facebook page.

Some of the the images are from my twitter feed: @SkinnyElbows, where I intermittently 'tweeted' during the course of the day:

(Above)

Black Library's lovely hospitality.
Next year it's got to be a bowl of M&M's
with all the blue ones taken out ;)

The main hall had games themed around the different novels, with the Prospero table being a personal highlight. They'd even sculpted Leman Russ and Magnus in the image of the upcoming Prospero books - I'll get some pics of them up ASAP.

(Above)
The "Art of Black Library" Q&A session.
A life in stand-up comedy awaits. Or not.
Image courtesy the Black Library Facebook page.

Also that morning: Darius Hinks, Lindsey Priestley, Jon Sullivan and I had a Q&A session where everyone seemed to have great and pertinent questions, even if I didn't have a great answer! It was a good chance for people to get to know what it takes to make a cover and how much time and effort goes into it. Thanks to all those who attended, you made Jon and I feel very appreciated.

(Above)
The signing in full flow!
Image courtesy the Black Library Facebook page.

After lunch it was the big signing with Dan and Graham, where we were signing solidly until the end of the day. I gave out a few sketches which seemed to go down well and most seemed interested in my BL portfolio I had on show - especially the new "Nemesis" and "First Heretic" pieces.

(Above)
A pint and the intense temptation of food...

After all that we headed over to Bugmans for a drink, debrief and general natter about stuff and nonsense. Then, slowly, we drifted off one by one as taxi's arrived, trains were to be caught and wives arrived to pick us up.

Oh, and we all had to leave by 6, 'cos they were testing the transformers or something.

A great day meeting the fantastic fans, authors, artists and staff of Black Library - here's to next year!

Coming Soon:
Horus Heresy signing with Graham McNeill
GW Plaza, Oxford Street, London
Saturday, Feb 20th, 12-2pm

Black Library Live! 2010

Hello All,

This weekend is Black Library Live! event at Warhammer World/ Games Workshop HQ, Nottingham. I'll be there with other BL artist extraordinaire/ all round gentleman, Jon Sullivan (check his site out - it's ACE!) to meet and greet.

If any of you are coming along, I shall be signing and I may be doing sketches all day, so feel free to please make sure to say hello. Below is the schedule for the day - I'm looking forward to meeting the BL crew and other authors - should be a good day!


**edit** I'm told the tickets are all sold out - w00t!

I'll get pictures up as soon as possible. See you there...

Cover: Dogbreath Fanzine #22

Here's a quick one - the cover for the latest Strontium Dogs fanzine, 'Dogbreath':


This was a pure painting job in Photoshop, using a bit of reference to get the pose correct. I was going for a Frazetta/ Starblazer feel - sort of late 70's/ 80's vibe. Ace.

Apologies for the use of the word 'vibe' but I feel it's suited here.

Dogbreath is run by my good friends at Futurequake, Bolt-01 and others, who'll be selling this issue and plenty of other interesting reads at the up-coming Hi-Ex comic convention this March.

Note: I shall be a guest at said 'Con - very much looking forward to it!

Back to business, here's the plain version:


Hope you like, I feel I made some real headway in the direction I want to push myself with this piece.

Busy times...!

Quite busy at the minute with a few projects, so here are some old WIP renders of some bad boys from Privateer Press: Ios (now renamed Scyrah) Warjacks:


These were modelled purely in 3DSMax, mostly using subdivision modelling, hard edged modelling and booleans (shudders) - with character sheets by the amazing artists over at Privateer.

The were rendered with VRay using basic settings and a lighting/ studio rig similar to that found in my 3D World article.


The above were a lighter class of Warjack, I also modelled a heavier class - love those huge shoulder pads!


The great thing about this project was that the 3D models also formed the basis of the box illustration - so what you see on the box cover is exactly what you get in the box. Very nice.


So now I can also class myself as a miniature sculptor as well. Here are a few shots of the final painted miniatures over at Privateer Press:

(Above and Below)
The final paint job - I'll leave that to the professionals, thankyou!

This was a very involved process from start to finish - and also very rewarding to see it all come together at the end. Hopefully in the not too distant future I'll post up a more detailed "How it's made..." for you.

Also, I'll put up the final illustrations. I'm sure you'll like them.

See you soon!

Now entering the... Twitterverse!

Hello all,

I'm now on twitter, you can find me here: @SkinnyElbows

I'll shall still be blog-posting, it's just that Twitter will be where you can find out what I had for breakfast or if I'm watching Glee and all that kind of stuff.

Right - need to get these paintings for Fantasy Flight Games done!