Alice and the Invaders from Wonderland, continues...

More images from the upcoming comic. Really pleased with how it's looking and how it pushes me to get creative in ways that I don't usually get from clients. Big shout out of course to author (and talented scribbler in his own right) Bret M. Herholz.

These images are pre-lettering, basically continues the story the Queen of Hearts invading our dimension and taking over. She's evil like that. Featuring The Mad hatter, The Cheshire Cat, The March Hare, The Dormouse and a "bandersnatch". Lots of "The's" ...I want to be a "The."

Enjoy...!

Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland

I do comics now, it's almost official.

First mentioned in a previous post a couple of years ago, this sequel to the famous works of 19th century author Lewis Caroll is at the stage where several pages have been created and are now in the process of being submitted for potential publication.

Small children in peril; 

guaranteed page turner.

Writer (and comic book artist in his own right), Bret M. Herholz brought me on board to this project an embarrasingly long time ago, in fact if patience is a virtue, then Bret is a man who seemingly has it in spades (and hearts, clubs and diamonds in case you wondered if pun was intended). Finally though it has begun to take shape and I'm pleased to say it has been a joy to scribble thus far. I genuinely feel like a comic book artist at times. It's a good feeling!

"Someone" to the rescue, but whom??

My role is pencils and inks, whilst Bret (aside from writing) handles colours, lettering and those fiddly speech bubbles. This is Bret's blog http://www.bretmherholz.com/ which contains reams of his own published works. This project also has its very own cinematic trailer...

 

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.

Unused Article Illustrations

The following illustrations were designated for an online article about not getting into a fight with your best friend. For various reasons I decided not to hand them over, but those of you who know me may spot two characters from my long overdue graphic novel idea "Bust-Up." 

Fact or Fiction: The Paris and M6 Crashes

I'm published: fact. Not quite for the first time, but this time could be interesting. I was contacted some year-and-a-half ago by a man called Colin Hall. Colin claims to be a security consultant whose job has taken him literally around the world. A paranormal enthusiast, he has become meticulously embroiled in intently investigating some online rumours about mysterious crashes, disappearing bodies and some curiously related blog posts.

Cover of Colin Hall's book.

To cut a long story short. It was my job to illustrate, layout and compile the book; this was no mean feat. It was very much a grubby hands-on affair. I had access to hundreds of photos, hundreds of sketches (Colin Hall cannot draw too well, so I was in the position of re-drawing and making sense of his sketches), stills from a truly baffling youtube video and a ton of text to weave through it all. 

Sample page featuring sketches on lined paper

and stuck-on snippets of reports.

Colin's approach to investigative journalism is holistic; the book is chock full of references to a plethora of conspiracies and spooky mysteries worldwide as he wanted to put the whole thing in context (see the above sample page) as well as drawing possible connections between those more "established" mysteries and this relatively recent one. I use the word "established" tentatively; it's worth noting that a large chunk of the internet now seems transfixed on these happenings, as well as articles in such long-running conspiratorial magazines as The Fortean Times.

Close-up featuring Colin's trip to Paris and polaroids.

Colin Hall's book has certainly been a unique challenge for me and my burgeoning layout skills, I wish him well on his quest. It's a quest which does not end with the book; the reader is encouraged not only to get involved but to report his/her findings to Colin directly. So if the thought of helping unravel a unique and genuine real-time mystery appeals to you, then they may not come much better than this. Will there be a sequel and will you be part of it? Maybe the question ought to be, how many sketches and wine-stained Parisian place mats can I deal with in a lifetime?!

Buy or download the book on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fact-Fiction-The-Paris-Crashes/dp/1905692986