2000AD - Time Is The Only Enemy

2000AD Prog 1837 is out tomorrow (19th June) and features a four page Future Shock tale I illustrated written by David Baillie called 'Time Is The Only Enemy'. It has been close to two years since I did any work for the Galaxy's Greatest Comic so it was a welcome commission and a joy to be back in my favourite comic.

The Forbidden Planet Blog has a preview of the comic to tempt you and finding it on the shelves of your local newsagents should be easy enough with this stunning Judge Dredd cover by Scotch Corner guest Chris Weston.

Jonday - not actually dead

Apologies for my prolonged absence.  I keep running out of Monday.

Here's a variation on a recent cover I did.  Graphics by Paul Bourne.

©2013 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

Cosplay

Drawn from the Dare2Draw. We had some cosplayers to model for us. I forgot which character this is.  She looked good though.

I'm back

Apologies for the lack of posting over the last few weeks. Managed to end up in hospital a few weeks ago and miss some posts (and a million other things). Really need to set up advance posts for future emergencies. Will try to do a few extra posts to 'catch up'.

Anyway, the new Kirkcaldy galleries opened up last week - apparently most of the banners were obstructed on the opening day due to it being so busy and Gordon Brown (and his entourage of armed security etc.), Jack Vettriano and val McDermid etc all being there. But you can make out most of the illustrations done for the various banners and posters on this shot.

Life Drawing: Under The Skin [Perfect Spiral]

When I am not drawing comics or working on storyboards for the film and games industry I can also be found teaching with my wife Dr. Mhairi Stewart as part of our Perfect Spiral venture. We have both had experiences holding independently run workshops at schools, libraries and universities, and hosting public events but decided to bring our skills together as a team. Mhairi brings the science and I bring the creative and arty side to the lessons. The cross curricular aspect to the Perfect Spiral classes are definitely proving popular and we have already worked with the Glasgow Science Festival, Scottish Book Trust, Bute Astronomical Society and many other bodies.

Last weekend we ran our new favourite class Life Drawing: Under The Skin for the Glasgow Science Festival. It was a free event held at the Hunterian Zoology, Glasgow University and even with the draw of the West End Festival parade and the sunny weather outside, our workshops were filled with children and parents/guardians all excited about drawing and learning. The demand for the classes had been so great that we were encouraged to offer a follow-up evening class on Tuesday and decided to make that an adults only night. Some of the specimens were more graphic than the public event at the weekend and other items were especially fragile [over a hundred years old and rarely put out on show] Most of the specimens are also unable to be put on display as there are so many of them archived in the building. Maggie Reilly, the curator of Zoology at the Hunterian, Glasgow University was especially generous with her time and allowed us access to some amazing pieces.

I have included some of my own photos of the evening and a link to the Life Drawing: Under The Skin specimens [photos taken by Timothy Drysdale] which I hope you will enjoy and be inspired by. The cuttlefish and Hammerhead shark skeleton specimens are my favourite and I will no doubt be referencing them for future horror or sci-fi work.

For details about the Perfect Spiral please click here.

Victoriana Style Aquaman

Running a Jules Verne vibe with this week's post © Cubicle 7 2013

Iain Banks

“There's an old Sysan saying that the soup of life is salty enough without adding tears to it.”

'Approaching Serra Station' detail

Superman - Puncher of Planets

So I've drawn several pics of Supes looking all dreamy and angelic. Lets not forget that in his most extreme incarnation he was capable of punching planets out of orbit!

Roller Grrrls cover and spread sketches.

Been a while since I posted any Roller Grrrls work. Here are some sketched ideas for the cover and a double-page spread. The main concern for both layouts was the number of Grrrls in the series. Each team has fourteen characters and we have three teams. Only George Perez could pull off such a cast heavy group shot. I decided to split the characters over the two images instead. Tiered levels [either from physical steps or perspective] helps to make the scene less of a line-up. Prioritising main primary characters over secondary ones is a wee trick too. Overall I am pleased with this initial pass but it needs more tweaking before committing to inks.

You can see more progress on Roller Grrrls on our Facebook page

Victruvian Man

An illo for Cubicle 7's Victoriana 3rd edition, based, of course, on Leonardo's Vitruvian Man.  © C7 2013

Celebrity Swearing No.12 Twinki

'Beached'

30 minute speedpaint.

Superman in flight

My now customary late Superman post. It all works much better in colour I find.

Progenitors

An image from the Onyx Path's Progenitors book for Mage.  It is only now I look at this fresh that I think I've illustrated half of The Scooby Gang by accident.  Put glasses on the bookish girl and you'll see what I mean.  © The Onyx Path 2013

Celebrity Swearing No.8 Harkwright

Battlements.

With great power comes great control.

Yup, another Superman. I reckon I'd going to work through this theme until I am happy with what I'd doing.

I always really liked the way that the Richard Donner /Christoper Reeve Superman touched down on Lois Lanes balcony, it was very light, very delicate. It implied great control. Like parallel parking the USS Nimitz. I think that's one of the great things that Frank Quitely & Grant Morrison did with their All Star Superman too, they implied an unhurried delicacy to the man's actions that belied his immense power.

I missed my allocated date ...again. So this is a retro post, from the present to the past which I did by flying around and around the world REALLY fast ( in my mind )

Have at thee, Knave

Another part of the collage set for Kirkcaldy Galleries opening events. They have a medieval fare, jousting tournaments and re-enactments etc. Doodled up in illustrator.

Retro Post_Batman.

A cover for Batman:Legends of the Dark Knight from a few years ago. Very pleased with this image and continues my focus on headshots and faces as the primary element of the cover. It's an approach that is also seen in my Dredd pics too.

L5R

This was a smith from L5R from what I understand is a new clan.  I got to help design the mon with Adrian Burton!  Fold that metal 2999 times more please!  © AEG 2013

Colour rough

Chalk pastel rough for a painting that is haunting me, its not going to look like this but sometimes you got to put something on paper to begin.

Lazy Sunday Sketchbook Action #2

Man of Steel

I like Superman, he's the original and greatest of all Superheroes. I read a lot of classic Superman when I was a kid. I'm not sure that I have ever managed to draw him to my satisfaction though. He shouldn't be too ripped, but he should be massive ( like Curt Swan used to draw him ), he should never look like he's straining that much either. Too many artists draw him looking like his toenails are being pulled out with pliers. There's a magnificent grace to Superman because a truly great Superman story is rarely about physical duress, it's about morality and ideas. It's not about extreme violence ( unless absolutely necessary ), it's about finding out what right and then doing it.

Kids reading

Aaargghh! Full time freelance is completely screwing with my weekday settings - managed to forget it was Friday again yesterday! Anyway, one of the projects i've been working on is for the new Gallery/library/Museum opening in Kirkcaldy soon. Part of the job involved a collage illustration for the opening weeks events, this element was for one of the kids reading events in the library. Tried my bamboo and pen again but it looked like it had been drawn by a two year old (really need to find time to practice with it) so ended up drawing it with my trusty mouse in illustrator. I'll probably post up a few other elements next week if i give myself enough time to resize and jpeg them.

The Halifax Bruising Banditas logo design

 And now for something a little bit different...

I was asked by Liz Markey of the Halifax Bruising Banditas to design a new team logo for them [incorporating the original brand logo] for their new bout strips. We decided on a masked derby player in the style of my Roller Grrrls project and making it fun. The target was a late addition in the day as we needed a background and it kinda made sense and made for a great design element. The fist tattoo is another nod to the original logo design and works very well in the context of our character.

Overall I am delighted to be part of the team bout design process. Taut Clothing did an amazing job finishing off the tops and Sue Perman is seen here modelling the finished design.  The group shot also shows how Bad-Ass the girls look when they are bouting together!

More God Machine

Another image from The Onyx Path's God Machine.  © The Onyx Path 2013

Jonday... Sometimes...

... there's just nothing to say about an image.  It is, as they say, what it is: