Cover: 2000AD Prog 1773

Another week and another cover for The Galaxies Greatest Comic!

 

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2000AD: Prog 1773

You know the drill... first some sketches, references (incl. gurning) and painting - Et voilà! You have a cover...!

 

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Quick sketches, using the cover template 

as a guide for placement. I kept the colours 

minimal for effect and also give the droids 

some room to play with design and palettes...

 

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 Let the gurning commence! 

Good reference can be invaluable.

Also, it can look silly.

But it's still invaluable...

  

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Many hours later, here's the final result. 

Lots of painting and resizing of Dante's pupils 

to get the right mix of terror and pain...

 

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Dante, on the cover. 

A brilliant story - I'm proud to be a small part of it.

...and a Very Happy (Belated) 35th Birthday to Tharg and his Droids at 2000AD - Thank you for being the best and most consistently brilliant comic going and long may you reign over us ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

That's all for now, currently on the drawing board - Jetbikes vs Orks...

Cover 2000AD Prog 1757

Here's my cover to this weeks 2000AD Prog 1757, "Flight of Angels!":

 

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2000AD Prog 1757

"Flight of Angels!"

As always it kicks off with a brief from Tharg, who wanted Angel Zero on her glider, zooming at the reader -  guns blazing. BLAM!

I knew John Burns was drawing the strip, so I started to think about the strips he did for Look-In but, as I didn't merely want to imitate Johns superlative style (one of the finest comic draughtsman right now) - I wanted to be sympathetic to the artwork and story - that led me to Arnaldo Putzu, cover artist for Look-in magazine.

Me and my sister used to get Look-in when we were children and, while I never knew his name at the time, I LOVED his covers.

 

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Arnaldo Putzu at his best...

Using his bold use of colour as my starting point I ran up two thumbnails based on the brief:

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Two similar but different treatments, 

colour was the driving force on this piece.

Tharg liked the one on the right here, but he made sure I kept her eyes on the reader in the final piece - a small but VERY important point for many covers. 

It's the eyes that can grab the viewer.

Now, the reference shot - here I am rolling about on the floor to get an idea of how you'd hold the guns if you were in that position. I look daft, I know - but you've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette. And I sure look like a stupid egg...

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Posing can be fun, rolling around on 

the wooden floor - just be 

careful of splinters.

From there I hit Photoshop hard and painted up the final piece you see below.

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The full artwork minus cover furniture.

Here's a detail of the piece so you can see it close-up - hopefully the eyes are fixing you with their gaze...

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"Look into my eyes... "

And with that, Tharg was happy, I was happy, so we're all happy! Right?

Another fun cover for the Galaxies Greatest Comic, it really has to be one of the best gigs in the Universe!

2000AD Prog 1757 is in the shops now! - you'd be crazy to miss out ;)

Until next time, my fellow Earthlings!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1745

Here's my cover to this weeks 2000AD Prog1745, 'First Blood':

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2000AD Prog 1745:
The MkI Blackbloods
in their menacing glory.

A neat little brief from Tharg, with the BlackBlood MkI's looming over and reaching out to grab the reader... What's not to inspire an artist!

I took a few reference photos - as always, to get an idea of poses and look for any of those subtle shapes that can sometimes lift an image. In this case it was the angle of the little finger when the hand opens like that. Yeah, that was my big discovery in this pic. Little fingers! GO ME!

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The little finger, the way it's angled - LOOK!

Anyways, I drew up a thumbnail I *felt* delivered on the brief, luckily for me, Tharg the Mighty liked it:

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I submitted just the one thumbnail this time,
sometimes a risky approach, as I felt it most accurately
portrayed what Tharg was looking for.

So I went ahead and painted up the final image, as you can see here:

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The final image, painted in Photoshop.

Tharg was happy, I was happy, we're all happy! Am I right?

I still get a thrill doing covers for the Galaxies Greatest Comic, it really has to be one of the best gigs in the Universe!

2000AD Prog 1745 is in the shops on Wednesday - you'd be crazy to miss out ;)

Until next time, my fellow Earthlings!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1721

Hello All,

A quick post about this weeks 2000AD, with the cover art by yours truly:

(Above)
Basing it on the Henry-Flint-drawn
Shakara strip meant I could
try a more limited palette

I'll do a proper process post soon and maybe Pete Wells over at the EXCELLENT blog, 2000AD Covers Uncovered may have more material at some point as well.

Right, that's it for now, Dr Sketchy's tomorrow.

See you in the funny papers...!

A New Year - a new 2000AD cover!

A Happy New Year to you all!

Here's a teaser from a new cover for 2000AD:

(Above)
SHAKARA!

I'll be sure to put up the full image and process when the Prog is out, sometime soon!

Also, I shall endeavour to update this blog more regularly, as my attention wandered last year with the sheer workload I had - but that's a good thing right?

So fear not, True Believers, there is plenty more work to be seen...!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1686

Now, this is from a few weeks back. (We've been moving house and enjoying the sunshine)

This is my cover for 2000AD Prog 1686, entitled "Borough Boys":

(Above)
Bosh, sorted, Guv.

As always, it started with 3 sketches based on Thargs brief:

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Quick thumbnails, about 480x640 each.

With one chosen, I went on to take some reference photos (hey, no laughing at the back! All artists use some kind of reference) :

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Amazing what you can do with an old suit, raincoat,
dressing gown belt, plastic rifle and
pulling a few Les Dawson faces.

I'd read that Savage was originally based on Stanley Baker, one of the great physical British (specifically Welsh) actors from the 60s/ 70s. So it made sense to get appropriate reference:

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Stanley Baker. Fantastic actor, go watch Zulu or Hell Drivers, NOW!

Then it was over to the computer for final image and paint-up. Here's the piece minus the logos and stuff:

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As the great Gene Hunt said:
"Don’t move, you’re surrounded by armed bastards!"

Right, I'll keep on with my blogging from now on. Might be going to a Dr. Sketchy's event next month - I'll keep you posted.

Strip: 2000AD Prog 1678

Ta-daaa! My first interior strip for the Galaxies Greatest Comic, "Chrono Cabbie" with script by Alec Worley, painted art by me and lettering by Annie Parkhouse.


If you want to know just what the hell is going on, get yourself down to your local newsagent/ comic store and buy yourself a copy today!

It seems to have gotten a positive response from people, so I'm a very happy man.

Dream... come... true...!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1673

It's been a long while since any real posts (deadlines and all), so here we go with another 2000AD cover for the Galaxies Greatest Comic.

My initial idea was for a "90's rave version of Dredd in a Denim advert" - but with more mutants:



Add to that a dash of Brendan McCarthy 90's colour palette, a hairy chest and a good dose of digital painting and voilà, the finished product:


Apologies to Jon Haward and Chris Blythe, as the reference I had for the piece was the B&W line art - so I went ahead and gave her blue hair because it contrasted well against the pink. It was only when I recieved my contributors copy did I notice that she had green hair - I think no-one seems to have noticed!

It seems to be a cover that has split the online fans, which I'm quite pleased about, it's better to have an opinion than not.

With that in mind, here are some of my favourite comments regarding the cover from the 2000AD messageboards, copied and pasted ad verbatim:

W.R. Logan - "Cover: Would go in to my worst cover ever catagory."

DanDontDare - "That cover could have been so much better - the actual artwork is fantastic, but I loathe that pink background Ugh! "

Jamescor - "All the purples on the cover remind me of McCarthy for some reason."

Mikey - "Cover I like this; initially I thought I'd eaten a funny mushroom, but on reflection it's eyecatching and different with being greatly executed."

Tim Tailz - "Havent got round to reading it yet but the cover is superb."

Good work all, thanks for caring enough to post - that's why I love 2000AD fans (myself included!)

In the news...

Hello,

Just a quick post as I try to turn the internet back on itself. I've made it onto the superb FPI blog, which has a nice little post about my recent 2000AD work:

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The FPI Blog.

Go check the blog out if you haven't already - it's a great place for the latest SF/ Fantasy/ Comics/ Toys/ Everything/ Anything news.

...and be sure to tell 'em SkinnyElbows sent you!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1665

Tharg is being very good to me at the minute - he's given me plenty of lovely covers to do and here's the latest cover for Prog 1665: (Sinister Dexter) "The Deadliest Duo":


It was great fun working on this one as it's a step away from the explosions and gritted teeth that usually appear in my work. Also, I love the way there are no header/ footer bars on this, the image just bleeds off the page - luvverly bit of design, Tharg!

As always it starts with a sketch:


Then my wife took a few reference photos with me 'in costume' holding various plastic toy gun props - hey, no sniggering at the back!:


Then I painted up the final version, paying close attention to their expressions, I wanted them to look like they'd just stepped out of a futuristic/ cop/ buddy/ hitmen film ( a sort of Beverly Hills Cop meets Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer):


Here's a little fact, fact fans... Dan Abnett, the writer of Sinister Dexter, is also one of the fantastic writers for the Horus Heresy series, of which I do the covers - Oh, and did I mention that Dan is an AWESOME chap!

The great thing about 2000AD covers is the quick turnaround - you do the illustration, next few weeks it's in the shops - sorted!

Supergirl

Like many red-blooded males, I've always had a soft spot for Supergirl - mainly due to the 1984 Helen Slater film, which I always thought was great fun.

Here's a personal piece I created this weekend, over a couple of hours. Supergirl on patrol over a Kandor/ Chicago/ Seattle type city.

(Above)
Supergirl, keeping an eye out for trouble.
Don't peek up that skirt.

"Sexy but strong" is how I always envisaged Supergirl - I like the idea that any superheroine other than Wonder Woman can be powerful (and not just great big boobs in a super-suit, Power Girl!)

In other news - I'm about to start work on a new cover for the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, 2000AD - which sounds like it should be a fun piece - I'll keep you posted!

How it's made - 2000AD prog 1659

So, just a quick post today, 'cos I often get emails about how I set about creating cover art. I'll concentrate on my recent Dredd cover for 2000AD, from a few weeks ago:

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Prog 1659 in all its Technicolour glory!

It always starts with a sketch, in this case I did 3 quick B&W thumbnails for Tharg, of which he preferred thumbnail #1:

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Thumbnail_001 - the chosen one!

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Thumbnail_002 - classic Bolland angle

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Thumbnail_003 - off roading it!

From here, I quickly mock up and render a version of the cover using various items of stock imagery and models from my now extensive library of 'bits'. It's amazing how quickly you can build up a good resource for use in any illustration.

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Initial render and Photoshop composite

Then on to the fun part - the final paintover, painting in detail and effects, adding in elements that would probably take days to set up and render (yes, particle effects, I'm talking to you!).

This is where I tie all the pieces together, getting character into the expression, adding in film grain and some EFX to give the image some 'pop'!

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Final image with all the bells and whistles.
I received a lot of great feedback at BICS for this one.

In a nutshell, that's how it's made. I use the computer merely as a tool, the same way other artists use watercolour, airbrush or oils.

As usual - if anyone wants to drop me a mail about this or any other piece, commissions or any potential work- feel free to contact me at the email up there on the right. Alternatively, if you'd like leave a comment don't be afraid to do so.

Next up - Battletech.

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1659

WOOHOO! I've only gone and done it, I've bagged myself A 2000AD Dredd cover!

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Dredd on his Lawmaster in the Cursed Earth.
Image courtesy 2000AD Online

I'll do a 'How it's made' in the near future - I'll bask in the saccharine, self-satisfied and extremely pleasant glow of a dream coming true for a while.

I think this calls for an even stiffer drink.

Edit: I've even made onto the superb Forbidden Planet Blog!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1656

Excuse me for getting excited, but I've just done something I've always wanted to do!

The Galaxies Greatest Comic, 2000AD has just published my first cover - Prog 1656, "Morked for Death":

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Johnny astride his Mork
Image Courtesy 2000AD Online

I think I'll let this post sit here for a bit, whilst I take in the sheer joy of achieving a LIFELONG ambition...!

Time for a stiff drink.