HATE

Sometimes you just hate drawing. Everything you do comes out shit, no matter what you do. Yesterday was one of those days. Thankfully, today is going a lot better - but I'm going back and redrawing a couple of panels that are so bad I'd cry for a month if they were published.

You talkin' to me?

Work continues on Starship Troopers - I should have my first episode finished by next week :-) My comic schedule has been knocked back the past 2 weeks by all the paid work I've had recently - a comic strip for Manitowoc, more cartoons for Global Integration and more stuff for Easy Jet, all in colour. It's all paid work though, so I'm all over it, as they say... even though my drawing hand feels like it's about to fall off.

Bristol Comic Expo 2008

Well, we survived Bristol - and bloody good fun it was too! Met some great new people, showed my portfolio all over the place, met some editors, ate expensive food, drank expensive drinks, got arrested by some Stormtroopers (twice)... the perfect (very hot and sunny) weekend. I'll post a load of photos here for your amusement :-)

Cool new people we met: Jon Davis-Hunt (below, who recently drew Tempest for the Megazine). We bumped into each other throughout the weekend, and had a great artists' chinwag while waiting in line for a portfolio review - what a nice guy! He's going to be working with Tony Lee on a new series for 2000AD.

Lee Carter was another top bloke (he recently finished Dead Eyes for 2000AD) - I was amazed at how bright and vibrant the colours were on the prints he had of his pages - apparently there was a problem with his monitor's brightness settings when he was working on Dead Eyes, which led to the printed version in 2000AD looking too dark. So to everyone moaning about the "muddy" art, that's the reason!

Caught up with Tony Lee, who is truly the king of conventions - he knows everybody! After Starship Troopers, we're going to be working on something new and very cool, which I'll post about soon. Tony was responsible for the high point of my weekend - he brought none other than Comic Art God Dave Gibbons over to our table at the Ramada bar (I was fighting my inner fanboy instincts all the way). Dave was more than happy to sit with us and look at my portfolio and gave me some great advice and a few compliments too - it was a pure artist/fanboy moment I'll never forget. Thank you Tony - thank you Dave.

Another fanboy moment for me was meeting a very hungover Simon Bisley on Sunday Morning:

Sharon and I were impressed with the Ramada - nice room, great restaurant and (expensive) bar - we'll definitely be making the trip again next year. Another highlight was walking past the massive queue to get into the con on Saturday morning - and getting in for free, no less. It pays to be a creator!! A few more pics:

Lee Carter with Dave Taylor:

Harry Markos at the Markosia booth:

Sean Phillips with his son and friend Lewis:

Matt "Tharg the Mighty" Smith:

Dave Gibbons:

And last but not least, a Dredd page from my portfolio (still no work for 2000AD yet, but I'll be doing more samples when I have time). I did have a good response from some other editors, so I'll post any news on that in the coming weeks. And now... back to the drawing-board :-)

Look into the eyes, not around the eyes...

Well, the Bristol con is only 3 days away - we've got the train tickets and the hotel room all booked, portfolio is choc full of arty goodness, I have new business cards and for the first time ever I'll be a "guest" rather than a punter (which means I get to swan about with a name badge on, like I'm actually a somebody in the comics industry!).

Starship Troopers goes well - just 2 more pages and I've finished my first part. My damn hand problem reared its ugly head again last week - a full day of drawing followed by over 3 hours guitar teaching... I don't recommend it. My right hand had a shooting pain through it, which lasted almost a week - I couldn't draw, play guitar or use a mouse. Almost better now though and I'm back on track.

I'll take photos at the convention and post here when I get back back - looking forward to showing my stuff to the likes of Simon Bisley, Dave Gibbons, Duncan Fegredo, Dave Taylor, etc - and most importantly of all, Tharg the Mighty. There will be a few editors from DC Comics there too, so I'll take my chances with them as well.