INSTAGRAM

Follow me on Instagram, it's practically the law.

@loudonillustrator https://www.instagram.com/loudonillustrator

This image is from the "Mr. Alzheimer's" activity pack. It's a precursor to the children's school book created earlier this year: http://p-loudon.blogspot.com/2019/06/mr-alzheimers-goes-to-toyland.html 

Courtesy of creators Emma Smith (AgeUK Salford) and Joy Watson (campaigner).  

Banners for Devil & Co

A homepage, spooky churchyard themed banner AND Alice (as in Alice In Wonderland) specifically for Alice themed merchandise. What am I talking about? Devil & Co. of course! Go there: LINK

Also, if you like H.P. Lovecraft, this should be your Graceland.

Thunder, Thunder, regular cats.

A couple of cats from my "Paul Draws Pets" facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pauldrawspets/ Go there, my rates are good.

I also made that of course ^

Mixing Children and Animals...

For those that don't know, I often create portraits based on photographs. The customer then gets an original piece of art posted to their door! (Framing optional).

 My own incredible kids!

A happy customer!

 ...can't tell if cats are happy. "Paul Draws Pets" 

is also my Facebook page, found here: 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/pauldrawspets

My own children again!!!

My Charity Art Auction for The National Autistic Society

A big hello to readers of my blog. Hope you're all doing well, whoever you are! Or should that be "whomever"?

I am currently running an art auction on my facebook page. As the title of this post suggests, it's in aid of The National Autistic Society. I have always had an empathy for those with the condition, it speaks to my own social awkwardness and obsessiveness although I cannot begin to comprehend a world with such aspects ramped up several notches. Nor can I understand the trauma sufferend by parents and guardians of the afflicted.

Fortunately some help is at hand in the form of a wonderful charity: The National Autistic Society. LINK < click that to discover the great work they do.

Now on to the meat of the post. I am attempting to raise £500 by selling as many A4 sized artworks as it takes in order to reach that goal. The auction is currently in full swing and taking place on my facebook page LINK, bids are placed in the comments section. A drawing is auctioned for up to a week before being posted to the winner after he or she has donated the winning bid to MY JUST GIVING PAGE. Then a new piece immediately goes up for auction.

Postage is free to the entire world!! So there's no reason not to bid, unless you are completely broke and/or hate my scribbles... kind of acceptable, though it makes me sad.

So far I've sold two, the third did NOT sell. Which also makes me sad.

"1995 AD" (featuring Judge Lance Ito) SOLD for £30!!

 "Biggles Vs Giant Wasps" SOLD for £50!!

 "Arnold as Conan" UNSOLD

"Tall Order Skeletor" currently on auction until 

Wednesday 22nd March at 10pm GMT

Anyone is welcome to donate regardless and to contact me about that unsold pic of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I am open to selling it after the fact via a donation to the Just Giving page LINK. Happy bidding, remember to like that facebook page for updates and of course to get in on the action!

EastEnders: Update with Video... Cor Blimey!

Following the last post, several cast members appeared in a video to promote the EastEnders SoapFactory app. Some of them can be seen holding little cardboard cutouts; my drawings of their digital alter egos!

 Danny-Boy Hatchard (Lee) and miniature Lee.

Choose your sarcastic, gritty "oik". 

Pity this isn't StreetFighter. 

Paper view: Tameka Empson (Kim) 

and Natalie Cassidy (Sonia). Note: Kim was not

drawn by me, but the previous artist from whom

I took over.

The actual video...

Christmas Commissions Part 1: Attack of the Golf Zombies

Unless your name is Elf, you probably want to put Christmas behind you now. However, for me this is the perfect chance to tell you about a couple of items I carried out just before the festive season... for that very reason.

"Bubbub and His Babe."

This was for a client who wanted some sort of comic book image for his brother-in-law. The guy in question is into comics, specifically Captain America whilst both himself and his girlfriend have in the past dressed up as Capt and The Silk Spectre (from Alan Moore's "Watchmen").

Take into account that the gift reciever is also something of a golfer AND gets the playful monicker "Bubba" thrown at him whilst his girlfriend gets the slightly less imaginative "Babe." It didn't take me too long to imagine a comic cover set on a golf course, featuring zombies as the stock villains. ...I took a slight leap of faith with the zombie theme and checked with the client first using this sketch (whilst pointing out that the zombies will be added later):

If I can offer a bit of advice for illustrators; it's that no amount of information, both written and visual (such as photos) from clients is too much... if you can push them into doing a sketch, do it! Get as much as you can before you begin and make notes, unless you have it in email form already. The pink hat as worn in a photo sent to me for example, is something that the client suggested would be a nice touch and I agree. ...Plus it links the title colour to the image a bit.

 This is the final image.

I used this commission as an excuse to get hold of more Pentel Colour Brush Pens. They are great and unlike say felt tips, the ink doesn't bleed when dry so you can lay down the black first and THEN colour over the top.

Zooooooming in.

I blended a couple of inks in an egg cup to get the skin colour, which doesn't show up very well on this scan. The other thing about inks of course is that unlike felt tips, a brush creates some texture but doesn't scrub the paper horribly. And there we have it, an A3 sized original.

That's a Super Suit

This is different. Am I now a fashion designer, or have I just insulted the world of fashion design with my flippancy? The answer of course is neither, please read on...

 A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be in the fairly unique position of creating the pattern for a super hero themed suit. This was for a company "Stag Suits" that makes fun outfits for, as you may have guessed, stag nights (or any occasion really). The pattern is made up of comic-book style super heroes all flying around doing their thing, complete with sound effects. My instruction was to make the characters look like they could come from the comic world without actually just drawing superman or spider-man for rights issues, however this made the project into much more of a creative process for me.

I think I would need a few drinks inside me already before going out wearing it, but it was a great project to work on.

HERE IS THE OFFICIAL SITE, GO THERE FOR ALL YOUR STAG SUITS (I'll stop shouting now): http://www.stagsuits.co.uk/product/patterned-suits/fun/super-hero-retro-comic-stag-suit/

Another Bloody Drawing of Bruce Lee

Every artist and his dog seem to draw Bruce Lee at some point; the internet is awash with pencilled or airbrushed pics of the guy and it's a mixed bag. So it was some retisence that I finally cracked and had a go.

Bruce Lee is still the definitive martial arts movie icon. He lived from 1940 to 1973 and was the founder of Jeet Kune Do (or, Way of the Intercepting Fist), which is a form of emtpy hand combat derived partly from Wing Chun. Although a child actor in Hong Kong, he only starred in four completed "kung-fu" movies. Game of Death was only partly shot when Bruce died at just 33 years old.

The yellow jumpsuit worn by Bruce for Game of Death has become something of an icon in it's own right and was more recently mimicked in the outfit worn by Uma Therman in Kill Bill.

Microsoft "Cortana" (not a Ford Cortina).

I created storyboards for a Microsoft "Cortana" advert starring BMX ace Danny MacAskill. The final ad is available to watch right HERE (you tube). Once again, that's me creating images for Microsoft, a fairly big deal and hopefully a platform to get more storyboard work.

Cortana is described as "an intelligent personal assistant on Windows Phones, PC's and tablets." Conversely I used pretty much the oldest media in human civilization in order to help THEM visualise an advert that probably cost many £millions to make.

I don't use a smart phone or a tablet so this is was all news to me... nor have they sent me one for my efforts!

There are 15 frames in total, created with pencil and a brush pen. My preferred method is to fit three frames on one sheet of A4 paper with each frame at 16 x 9cm ...conforming to the now standard 16:9 ratio. This leaves room for any notes on the sides, for either the client or for me to clarify the action.

Got it? Good!

The Apes of Wrath

 "Damn you all to hell!"

Followers of my Facebook page will know about this, however, there are extra bonuses in this blog, including a tutorial below - sort of.

I have just fulfilled an ambition: front cover of Starburst Magazine (out now!) It is the UK's longest running magazine of "cult" entertainment, beginning with a Star Wars cover back in the 70's. Speaking as someone who likes science fiction films, comics, horror (well, parts of) and several other things of that ilk then this is a big deal for me.

Little over half a year ago I did a Rocket Raccoon (Guardians of the Galaxy) poster for the very same mag, so I must have done well with my scribbling for them to call me back for something more prominent. The cover in question is the alternative Planet of the Apes cover. Which I like to think of as the retro apes cover; there is another cover which acknowledges the new movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (a title which sounds like it needs shortening.)

I'll go through the process for anyone interested.

1) Scamps (or sketches) I only made two...because I don't always (if ever) think a ton of sketches is a good idea, preferring one or two at a time. Anyway the one they went for was this:

2) I created the elements separately. This allowed me to move everything freely in Photoshop. So the apes and background elements such as the Statue of Liberty were drawn by hand and scanned in, looking like this:

3) Drag the elements together on screen and colour them. The rocky backdrop was done with a mouse. So I sent them this (minus signature):

4) Lastly they added their own magazine logo of an appropriate colour:

Ta-Daaaaaa!!!! - I have my copy.

After Eden

Promotional work for music group "After Eden."

Involved creating a logo and turning a photograph into a comic-book style image. Tools used: ink and pencils including some tracing. The group have a Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/weareaftereden

 The band with logo...

...And the logo on it's own.

Keyman Vs Death

A mock-comic book cover for a corporate insurance company. 

The "Death" concept was mine; the brief originally was that a businessman was ill so "Keyman" was to save the day (...essentially wrestling the company profits from all the red tape). I felt I needed to draft in a villain in order to make it work as a single comic book cover.

Tools used: pencil, paper, brush pen, photoshop. ...That is all. So, if you own a business or corporate enterprise, check them out http://www.life-finder.co.uk/. In fact if you're rich and powerful, commission me whilst you're at it!

Keyman punches Death in the face.

One can't help but think of He-Man  

(because Keyman sounds like He-Man)

and Skeletor (because he looks like Death).

Alice and the Invaders from Wonderland

Tres important announcement!

Alice discovered Wonderland as we all know, but what would happen if its kooky inhabitants found the rabbit hole and invaded Earth?


Intrigued?

Myself and author, Bret M. Herholz are currently "crowd funding" to support the creation and publication of a graphic novel. It will be drawn by me! Click ---> HERE <----to go straight to the Indiegogo page. For the uninitiated crowd funding is a way of sourcing funds from you, the interested public. Donating can lead not only to the product being made but also exclusive rewards.

The Graphic Novel "Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland" is a great concept and I'm keen to get stuck into something of this scale. IMPORTANTLY you can not only donate to the project but also purchase some artwork along the way. Prints and postcards featuring character designs by both myself and Bret (he's a fellow scribbler in his own right). All proceeds will be piled into the production costs.

Here is an example of one of my original character designs currently up for grabs:

Original art. Ink on A4 paper.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! 

Click HERE to view the page.

Book Preview!

I am currently illustrating a book for Mr Shaan Sharma a client in LA, the book is called "A Session Director's Guide to Commercial Acting in LA." It will be available fairly soon, but in the meantime I have some cropped preview images right here...

 Guaranteed to be a clucking good read.

 You'll need some sweet profile shots if you 

want to succeed in the commercial world.

 It's pretty much the best book ever written.

Wreck It Rock

I was asked by Starburst magazine (The UK's longest running Sci-Fi, fantasy and Horror magazine), to come up with a poster featuring one or more characters from Guardians of the Galaxy. I opted for Rocket Raccoon.

Here's the blurb from the official page.

To celebrate the release of our new Movie/TV Preview issue, we're pleased to unveil a set of free Limited Edition Collectors Prints, each dedicated to one of our specially selected Icons of 2014!

There are 3 to choose from, and they’re available exclusively from TESCO stores when you purchase Starburst #395. Pick your favourite below and get down to your local TESCO while stocks last!

Here's the original line drawing:

For those not in the know Rocket Raccoon is a Marvel character and will feature in next year's Guardians of the Galaxy movie. I won't pretend that I knew much about this particular Marvel strain until recently, however funnily enough I was reading "The Thanos Imperative" when I got this commission. That particular book features not only the Guardians of the Galaxy but an overwhelming ton of Marvel characters so start there at your own risk.

Here's the colour version:

Big thanks to "Starburst Shauna" for finally getting me into the magazine and to the others for agreeing. As Stan Lee would say "Excelsior!!"

Dangerous Games!

Remember school books? Usually they were boring and occasionally stank of fish for some reason. The ones I was involved with, not so much. Back in 2009 I co-illustrated a series of books-for-schools entitled "Dangerous Games."

The concept behind the book is best illustrated by quoting from Rising Stars UK (those who hired me): 

"This exciting range of adventure stories features a trio of computer games 

designers testing out their work for real, entering new virtual worlds and 

encountering exciting and sometimes deadly situations."

Essentially it was my job to illustrate those scenes which take place in the real world, whilst another artist, Rob Lenihan provided the artwork for the more colourful virtual world.

Kojo gets busy making the ultimate video game...

The idea behind the series is to get "reluctant readers" into books via the approach of both video games as a subject matter and a comic book stylistic approach. Probably would have worked for me when I was at school and all I could think about was going home to play on my ZX Spectrum or Sega Megadrive (depending on what year it was).

Skip forward to 2012 and the prospect of illustrating a second series was thrown my way. Of course I said yes! By 2012, I was into using brushes rather than pens to create my lines. See if you can see a difference between the image above and those below. Just for the record, I used (and continue to use) a "Pentel Color Brush." Larger black areas were usually filled in with a black marker, whilst for straight lines I opted for a the classic, cheap Berol Fine. Backgrounds were achieved by scanning in some painted sheets of paper (the same two or three repeated throughout the books.) Compiled in Photoshop.

 Who needs a TV when you've got T-Rex?

The plucky trio go to a museum to inspire a video game.

 Fun and frolics in the office with Tom, Sima and Kojo.

 Just goggle it.

Making video games is no picnic, oh wait, it is!

I massively enjoyed the project. I was given clear instruction and yet, the freedom to employ my preferred style, which I would later go on to employ for the Long Division With Remainders project. If you are in education go and order these books today!! ...Tell 'em I sent ya.

How I got Started in Illustration - Part 3

I'm gonna make this post really short...because life is short; less talking, more doing I say! My first real commission was a children's book entitled Matthew and the Money tree. It can still be found on such websites as Amazon ---> right here.

The cover is still the most epic aspect about the book.

I got the job through a site called "Elance" ...it's one of those bid-for-projects sites in which talented people under-cut each other ensuring that few people get paid what they're worth and where non-discerning clients get said work very cheaply. Those were dark times and I usually begrudge such sites even though I am in the unfortunate position of crawling back to them once more despite bigger projects since my first commission. Odesk is another such site. You "could" say they are useful for those starting out, at a push. As an artist with moderate success, I find such sites a pain in the arse; whereas students from the Philippines probably have some financial success out of them. Suffice to say, my fee for Matthew and the Money Tree was small.

This is one of the better pages.

The work was fraught with other problems too, namely a lack of consistency in my drawings. I remember that after finishing the book, I had to go back and visit each page and create new heads for "Matthew" because he looked different from page to page. This was a lack of experience on my part in creating anything sequential. What I should have done was create "style sheets" from which to draw reference.

One such page I had to re-visit for head-swapping.

Despite my problems with inexperience and the sheer disheartening workload of the book, I am glad I did it. Better things were to come... by which I do not entirely mean nightclub flyers such as this one:

Apparently they all died of scurvy. 

I was also in a design "collective." ...I did that drawing of women in a boat whilst someone else did the design work. I will always be eternally grateful for such opportunities but boy does the drawing make me cringe.