Painful progress. PAINFUL! Very busy with web-design at the moment.

Still, another couple of pages of this level of complexity (you'll see what I mean once it's coloured) and then about 4 or 5 swifties, and it's done. It will be nice to have a self-penned short story under my belt -- at last.

Edit:The finished page :0)

I've drawn the first 3 pages, and pencilled page 4....and now here's what will probably be page 7 in the the story (I say 'probably' because I'm being quite free with the layout of this particular story).

I don't normally draw out of sequence, but this was an easy page, and so I decided to squeeze it in between vast amounts of webdesign.

Part of an upcoming anthology....

Happy new year, albeit 3 days late!

I hope you had a great Christmas and good New Year celebrations. If you made any new year's resolutions I hope you kept them/ are keeping them better than I have. Mine was to draw a sketch a day, every day...well, it hasn't happened yet. I've been mega-busy with kids/ dog/ work, and too much Xmas food/ drink hasn't helped my energy levels either!

However, I managed an Alameda page...page 2 to be precise:If I get a spare moment in the next few days I'll start page 3.

I hope to get back into the swing of it sooner rather than later, as Alameda is a story I really want to get off my chest.

Now that I finally know what I'm doing and how I'm doing it, the first page has gone from a mass of scribbles to this:Expect to see a regular outpouring of pages, now that I've sorted out the technique.

You can read more about Alameda and all the work happening in the background HERE, where you'll also get a much better look at the page, and various other pieces of artwork.

So, I guess that's it for 2009. On behalf of both Martin and myself, C2D4 Comics wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you in 2010!

So, Jack in the Box took about 1200 man hours, just to draw, which works out as 10 hours per page. Now that's cool, because it was drawn in a style that was very exacting, and with alot of line work and detail and shadow. But it's also a process akin to having one's testicles gnawed on by locusts for 50 days, and to be honest it's an experience I don't relish repeating with the artwork for the upcoming Alameda.

I drew a Daredevil the other day (below) and although it's lineart only, with colour and grey shading adding body, it still took a couple of hours just to ink, which considering the artform of comics, is actually quite ridiculous. The whole idea is to rattle off page after page and tell a compelling story, right? Surely that's the primary job of a comics artist, or in my case writer-artist? I love pretty pictures as much as the next man, and am a huge fan of artists such as Brian Bolland, and Dale Keown, and their finished pieces are breathtaking. But to be honest I'm more envious of people like Frank Miller who can dash down their stuff and create amazing stories in a fraction of the time. It may be sketchier, or less polished (if clean precise inking is your bag) but the guy's output is incredible, and at the end of the day he has a huge body of compelling STORIES behind him, that is a tremendous legacy to leave the world of comics.

Yes, you can combine the output of Miller with the exactitude of Bolland and have a body of work such as Katsuhiro Otomo's awe inspiring Akira...but I don't really fancy making myself ill over my art, thankyou very much!

I've been looking at my preliminary sketches for Alameda, and my pencils for the first page, and then at the loose open line/ wash of Moebius' latest Arzak book...at the sketchy fresh approach of Posy Simmonds' Tamara Drewe....and with 77 pages of story ahead of me my desire to go mad on the precision and detail has totally deserted me.

That's not to say that I want to be careless or sloppy, but with the story being set in an island paradise, with the subject matter being alot more naturalistic than the sci-fi horror of JITB...I can't see the point in going for style over content, when all I really want to do is draw a bloody good (hopefully) moving yarn that is less hung up on looking pretty than it is appealing to people's emotions.

To that end I've been trying to rattle off some pictures of characters I'd previous laboured agonisingly over in preliminary 'sketches'. In doing so I managed to finish one in 30 minutes as opposed to 2 hours, and to be honest I think the style would better suit the story anyway.

Well, here it is:

Download it as a 300dpi pdf HERE.

There has been much 'Here we go, the preparation for the preparation for Alameda is nearly (almost) underway' type stuff going on, or at least that's how I think it might be coming across.

Well, if I were to tell you that I'd actually finished the script (all 77 pages of it) and have started the first page, would you believe me?

No?Shame on you :0)

But seriously, writing it certainly wasn't easy. Even commiting to the idea of starting it was fraught with 'should I shouldn't I' toing and froing. But I've decided that it's going ahead, and like all comics stories before it, it starts with a scruffy layout sketch like the one above...

Progress reports to follow.

Yes, nearly a month has passed since BICS 2009......and my blog seems to have died!

Well, this isn't a sign of terminal indolence or any lack of interest. In fact Martin and I have been beavering away on our respective and joined projects, and have compiled quite a healthy and varied body of work.

Firstly 'Alameda' is nearing the end of its scripting phase. I'd forgotten just how lengthy and involved writing a script can be...my last one being the 46 page 'Last of the Chickenheads' over two years ago. Alameda is longer, and FAR more involved. I'm approaching it differently too. I'm writing the dialogue and captions first, then adding the direction later, eventually breaking it into panels, then the finished pages, as I go along. This keeps speech alot more natural, and allows me to get the flow of action down without always pausing to add the descriptions for when I draw it.

I've been drawing character studies and conceptuals too, in order to be ready to start cranking out the pages as soon as the script is done. This also prevents my artistic skills atrophying from lack of use...always a danger when you're hunched over a keyboard typing for hours on end. Here's a concept piece...well, a sliver of one:You can also read a little article about my art style/ approach for Alameda, which differs quite alot from the way I drew Jack in the Box: HERE.

Martin has been busy writing his next magnificent octopus, 'Henry Green' which I won't go into too deeply now, because we'll be giving it its own very special launch when the time is right. Here are a few tasteful glimpses of some conceptual studies I've been working on for that very project. As you can see, although I've been deathly quiet on my blog, I haven't stopped drawing at all:Also 'Jack in the Box' continues to be a main priority, with its marketing continuing on a daily basis. It's now in 4 branches of Waterstones: Chelmsford, Canterbury, and...two others. It's a shame that they buy through Gardners, and that the process grants the branches anonymity. Ah well, at least 4 Waterstones are interested! Plus I'll be sending out another dozen care packages once the postal strike is over. (Edit: as of this morning we have a 5th Waterstones buying books from us!)

Another Jack in the Box development is the ongoing creation of a short 3D animated feature, which I've been collaborating on with Richard Ellis of 'Richard Ellis Media'. We hope to bring you an interview with him very soon. He's a top drawer 3D modeller and animator, and I've provided him with extensive character studies showing each character from a variety of elevations, and also showing their relative scale:That's great practice for getting to know your characters...shame I did it AFTER completing the art on the novel! Plus I've story-boarded the feature (MORE drawing). It's now in his very capable hands, and I can't wait to see the first 3D workups of my 2D creations! To see just how cool his 3D animated work is, you can view a 3D version of Frank the Chickenhead, HERE.

And because Jack in the Box also sells via the website, I've had to do a few traditional non-Intuous sketches:This is to honour the 'free sketch with every copy' offer on the 'BUY' page. More info HERE. And drawing in pencils keeps me primed for sketching at the conventions...something I want to do much more of if I get the chance.

Jack in the Box is still garnering praise. 'Small Press Big Mouth', the rather excellent comics-related podcasters, bought a copy at BICS 2009, and they have reviewed it HERE.

Finally, as if I didn't have enough on my plate already...I present Alfie:We have a dog! A really loveable handful, who at 8 weeks old is keeping me busy, entertained, and good company through my days spent working from home. He's a beautiful lil critter, and I'm really looking forward to the day I can take him for his first walk...27th November.

Before that though, Martin and I will be at the Comiket, on Sunday 8th November, with our Jack in the Box display, and more besides. Hope to see you there...more info HERE.

Yes, I know I usually write a lengthy report the day after our comics conventions, and I did again for BICS 2009, but on the Jack in the Box website. Trouble is, my head is thick with cold, I'm feeling absolutely devoid of energy, and so re-posting it here, with all the Blogger formatting it would need for the pictures, seems like one step too far.

But suffice to say that all the hours spent on producing Jack in the Box, and the weeks spent on organising and promoting the event really paid off for us.

Before I post the link to the report of the weekend, just a quickie to say that work on Alameda is streaking ahead. The script is pouring out of me after an initially slow start, and I may even have a first draught written before the end of the month.

Anyway, C2D4 @ BICS 2009: READ ALL ABOUT IT!