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Comica/Observer/Jonathan Cape Graphic Story Prize 2016 ... My Entry

Woah!!!!! So that was a quick year!!

I entered the Comica/Jonathan Cape/Observer Graphic Story Prize for the third year running now. I feel like I am getting somewhere with my work in terms of mood, context and themes, but still not quite nailing a style that will win - although with that being a 'fashion' thing, I may very well be in vogue next year!! They are still proving very good exercises in function and experimentation in comics and will probably bunch all these into a book at some point. In the meantime, enjoy them here!

Cheers x

  

Entry for Comica Contest 2015

This is my entry to the Comica/Jonathan Cape/The Observer Graphic Story Prize 2015. I found out today that I was unsuccessful in being shortlisted, so thought it was time to present my entry here. I like to keep things shtum until I hear back from the contest. Oh well, I will try again next year!

My last entry, called 'The Chair', I thought was good, but this year is better. It's better in colours and tines but also in the drawing too. I feel like my competency and consistency has improved a lot since then. I dunno, what do you think out there!

Illustration Friday: Outside

I've been playing around with textures on various pieces since learning a new masking technique in Photoshop. With this piece for Illustration Friday's weekly topic, OUTSIDE, I have blended the textures into the actual artwork instead of just using the textures for a background. This time, a sense of watercolour texture has been added to the digital colour applied to the figure. The figure in this came from a life drawing session and I thought I would do my version or interpretation of such paintings as Olympia by Manet or Venus of Urbino by Titian.

Illustration Friday: RUCKAS

Jeremy Clarkson has been a bit of a naughty boy. Causing a RUCKAS over the last week or so, throwing all his toys out of the pram when he allegedly lunged at a producer. Many of his views have been vocalised in some form or another and so I decided to illustrate this point. A slightly enlarged ego-head, his Tory blue boxing colours with some of the offended demography written on his knuckles. Red-faced he screams at the next victim to have pissed him off. I will be honest. I'm not a fan of his. He knows a great deal about cars and I have enjoyed his presenting of them on his TV shows, but apparently he isn't a very nice guy off the screen. Go figure!

Illustration Friday: STRONG

Well it has been a long while. Things have been busy in the Beardy Boy camp! I have a comic coming out soon which I will post some news about very very soon. In the meantime I have been plugging away at my illustration practice by taking part (as well for the first time in ages) in Illustration Friday's weekly one-word brief. This week it is STRONG and I felt like wanting to do something different, almost editorial. So, I took to The Guardian's website and searched for articles to do with the word 'strong'. I found a piece, an interview with Mark Strong, and was struck by the first sentence, 'Mark Strong has an uncanny ability to make bad men sympathetic' and the following image sprung to mind. Enjoy...more soon!

Free Halloween Anthology Comic...YES FREE!!

*UPDATE As it is now no longer Halloween, the link to the comic has been removed.

HOWEVER, ALL IS NOT LOST! Read my contribution below. Written by Steven D Quirke and Lettered by Mike Stock. Drawn by me, obvs! Enjoy!

Once in a while, something very VERY special comes around and we get all excited.

A bit like HALLOWEEN!!

To celebrate this darkest of days and nightest of nightmares (eh?!) join me and bunch of very clever and talented indy/small press comic book writers and illustrators by downloading the very, very VERY EXCELLENT:

HALLOWEEN COMIC ANTHOLOGY 

Click that link above to download the comic!

Did I mention it is completely FREE I think I did in the title but still.....it's FREE!! 

The anthology is made up of (fittingly) 13 stories, with some shorts from established series such as Afterlife Inc., Bertie Bear, The Gee Bees, The Kill Screen, Little Terrors, and The Red Mask, as well as some great little one-offs.

Cover to the anthology.