Scarboy the Beginning

The End

The toughest part of this page was Lockdown. He affects every part of the page in panel design and balance, his decision now is the focus of the story. It was a challenge to fit him in the middle of the page and allow room for the rest of the story, so it took a few re-draws of his pose to be content. I am very happy with the top panels also, I like the flow of the action. Would have liked more impact in the last panel.

Who to shoot?

The team springs into action but what will Lockdown do? Follow orders or follow his ideals? His finger is on the trigger.

Formation Disperse

I think this was my most pressurised page. A lot to communicate. I had to redraw and ink some elements and wasn't happy with the rendering of the last panel. Really like Baby Jane on this page though.

Beginning of the End

The beginning of the two page finale. You've met the team, you've seen where they live, now see them in action as each member takes up their positions. Lockdown on the some from page one, Baby Jane in control and the others on street level. What will happen?

Team-building

I did this page over a year ago now, and looking at it inked, it's one of those pages I'd like to ink again knowing what I know now. I think I lost a sense of clarity and strength that the pencils contained. Having said that, you do what you know until you know differently and every piece is a step towards who you are as an artist.

Forming Formation 7

The first and only page in the comic where the full team are together. I went for a triangular composition to emphasise unity and strength. The challenge with this page was to nail the proportions, making sure each character related realistically. Also the tiny Baby Jane could have easily been lost to the vertical superiority of her teammates, especially Jumbo Girl. In employing the desk I hoped to give a platform for her to express her large character. The desk helped to frame the team as-well, being the only straight edge on the page.

Sketch Thursday

A communiqué from Monkeylord- oo, oo, ah ah ooh ah eeh oh a eh eeh, eh eh. Oh a ee aeh.-How eloquent.

Toyboy-talkie

Work hard, talk hard, relax hard. With pizza.

One-sided Conversation

Oh what fabulous hair, what divine, ambrosia fed hair. Seriously though, chuffed with the hair, chuffed with the expressions. Don't you just want to be part of that conversation?

My Favourite's the Musketeer

The keys to pencilling and then inking such a large array of repetitive figures. For me. Patience, almost goes without saying, and background music of the kind you'll find yourself humming, singing or generally da-da-da-ing along to at random points.

Toyboy's Dungeon

A case of quantity having a quality all of its own. I must count how many toy soldiers are in the picture...........................................73. I need help.

Inked Victory

And so to inking. I love to work with brushes, so for this project I resolved to ink everything organic with a brush and machined objects with a pen and ruler or french curves. Because of my love of brushes I carried the perception that anything inked in brush was inherently better. This is not true. While some things do look better the most important thing is getting the image from your mind onto the page using whatever tools necessary. I learned the tools always service the image, not the other way around.

Victory is Ours

This was a very enjoyable page to draw, moving from close up action shots to widescreen victory stance back to middle distance talking heads. I love the sense of contempt I captured in Pirouette's body language, it showed me the power of the body as the first communicator of emotion and attitude.

Sketch Thursday

An artifact dating from the medieval age that hints at a deeper story behind it.

Pirouette-wheel and Jumbo-squash

Ouchie!

Jumbo Girl Crush

Apologies for the sporadic nature of my recent postings, I have been rushed off my feets by the analogue world getting a book proposal together and other sundry items. So we return to a semblance of normal service with another Formation 7 pencil.

Sketch Thursday

This is the pencil of my submission to the Kapow convention brochure cover competition. It features the millarworld character Superior hovering majestically before stunned onlookers heralding the arrival of the superheroes of the convention.

Netherworld contest Nether-entry

This is a piece for a contest to design a retailer incentive cover for a new Top Cow comic called Netherworld. Unfortunately I had difficulties registering on their forum to post the entry so I missed the deadline. Very glum-making. It's heavily referenced from a photo with some buildings and the figure added in and some details taken away. Quite pleased with it, not least because I managed to do most of it on my daily commute. Check out the entries at topcow.com's barn.

Dark and Dangerous

Questions of scale and atmosphere. You'll notice a difference on the bottom tier between the ink and the pencil version of this page, the script called for Baby Jane to dress herself and I tried hard for an elegant solution.