Updating a Classic

About 14 years ago I created an image of perhaps THE two quintessential muscle-bound 80's cartoon heroes locked in mortal arm-wrestle. He-Man and Lion-O from Masters of the Universe and Thundercats respectively, the two other characters are of course Mumm-Ra and Skeletor.

Last week I updated it with a new version. This update was created for a client, his version is coloured by hand. However I did a sneaky black and white scan pre-colour.

 The original.

The remake.

Between the creation of these two images I adopted a different style (in approx 2010); I am now all about the brushes and ink, whereas the first one was all pens and Photoshop. The first one was carefully compiled digitally from at least three different drawings, whilst the second was created all in one go. This change really reflects my current ethos too; just get it on paper and don't faff around with it too much. 

Immediacy over tediacy? (Okay tediacy is not a word). Post-haste rather than fix it "in post".

Incidentally I'm not really a big Mumm-Ra fan. He functions as the "straight" villain next to the tomfoolery of the Mutants, but that's about it; functional. Skeletor on the other hand is just great; always entertaining, always a laugh. Just try watching the Filmation series, Alan Oppenheimer deserves a star in Hollywood. Donald Trump has one for Christ's sake. 

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.

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.