Friday 7 October 2011

Inks for Manchester Art Gallery's Interactive Machine!

The title says it all really. For those that don't know, as well as working freelance I also have a job working at Manchester Art Gallery. Earlier this year I was asked if I'd like to have a crack at doing illustrated interpretations of some of the paintings for their then new Balcony Project. In which gallery decided to fill the balcony space full of paintings and statues; that particular area had been devoid of artworks since Manchester Art Gallery's huge makeover completed in 2002.


Manchester Art Gallery

My interpretations along with written interpretations from other people are availiable to view on a an interactive console in the gallery foyer, situated just below the balcony in question.

Here are my images compliled into one.

Click to enlarge!

The paintings I chose (in descending order) were:
Pymalion and Galatea (1797 Louis Gauffier), Essentially a painting about a sculpture being brought to life in front of it's adoring creator.
Battledore (1906 Leonard Campbell Taylor) In which two middle class women are playing badminton indoors
and The Victory of Appollo (1716 Sir James Thornhill) - image available!! The Greek God Apollo kicking some mythical butt.

I'll leave you to interpret as to just why I came up with those images but suffice to say, I like drawing robots, comics and I've seen Rocky IV more times than anyone has a right to. Though I will be honest about that last one, I knew what I was going to draw after seeing the title alone.



Interesting factoid: The images are actually my first attempt at inking with a brush and I've been doing it ever since.


Tuesday 13 September 2011

The Right To Bear Arms

I drew this about a year and a half ago...

It was an idea that popped into my head that I felt I just had to get down on paper. Unfortunately this was just prior to my current obsession with traditional inking, so it doesn't quite have that vintage comic look that I was after. Also unfortunately, I recently saw an episode of Family Guy in which a similar "Bear arms" gag reared it's ugly head. Arrrgh! So just for the record, I made this, before I saw that.

The vague statistic in my comic strip is based on something I read about actual gun ownership in a Bill Bryson book. (Most likely "Notes from a Big Country" ...though I read it about ten years ago, if I could have been bothered to look up the actual passage which mentions the statistic as a percentage; I may have used it.)

Wednesday 24 August 2011

We're Gonna Need A Bigger Comedy Night!

Materials used:
Indian Ink and Brush (Windsor and Newton University Series size 3)- (for Darth Vader waves and Jaws - I am aware that Jaws was not the shark's name! It was Bruce). Technical pen for the rest and Photoshop for colour. Texture was made by scanning in a blank sheet of paper and layering. All text drawn by hand.


Ever had one of those days where you just want to draw Darth Vader doing stuff?
Luckily for me this desire coincided with a friend of mine Robert Pipe requesting that I draw a poster/flyer for his London-based comedy night called "The Forgery." Movie themed of course. "Like" the Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheForgeryClub

Click to enlarge.

Ahh Star Wars and Jaws; don't quite know if there will be any sketches involving those two films. "We Brake for Nobody" is a reference from the spoof film Spaceballs (Mel Brooks), I thought I'd put that on there when I realised that my picture of Darth has a slightly oversized helmet, much like "Dark Helmet" (Rick Moranis) obviously.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Traditional Comic Book Inkage 1: Poster for Cinema in Fife, Scotland

So, my first post.

Thought I'd cut right to it and post my newest drawing. The thing I am into at the moment is inking comic-book style with a brush; so it was with a degree of "geek-thusiasm" that I embarked on a commission from Stewart Sutherland of Podcast on Fire (go there if you like East-Asian cinema, do not delay).
He volunteers at a "community" cinema in Leven, Fife and they are having a "Superhero Weekend" 12th - 14th Aug ...do check the website if you are in the area.

I mention the whole inking thing because I think it's worth noting that you cannot achieve this kind of stuff with a technical pen. I have kind-of known this for a while but never had the balls or the inclination to give brushes a whirl until recently; when I started on my own comic book. More on that later.
So, I had a list of movies to include on the poster and therefore a wealth of characters to toy with; DC and Marvel. I also didn't want to draw Heath Ledger OR do a poster in which the muscle-bound are being "so serious" all flying towards the viewer, being holier than thou (like something by Alex Ross - whom I admire greatly all the same). Superhero films are fun right?


So I had the super's as if they are WATCHING the movies. Ha! It had to be; breaking the fourth wall like the Hulk smashes, erm walls. Initially I thought of having the characters as if they are shooting a movie in Fife, including some local landmarks. But the idea of committing to something so epic instantly made me want to give up, make another cup of tea and watch crap telly.
Coloured and composited in Photoshop. I would like to point out that the font I used is not comic sans but something called "Lito Lapad." Which is all nice on account of not being comic sans. All critiques welcome.