June 2013
9 posts
Giant Days Concludes
Giant Days is done for now! Thanks for all the kind emails and comments about it. I really enjoyed this run and was in two minds about whether to extend it for a further month or so. If you missed the end or want to read the story again, the Giant Days site is here.
Do any of your webcomics take place after Bad Machinery (with the Bad Machinery characters in them)?
No. That would be like opening your Christmas presents on halloween.
See me at ELCAF - June 22nd (or don't)
I’ll be exhibiting at ELCAF 2013 in Bethnal Green, London, on June 22nd. Many of my favourite artists will be there too, and I’ll have hardcover Bad Machinery collections (on sale for the first time in the UK.) All being well, I’ll be debuting the Giant Days 2 book, along with other books, prints, tea towels, and hot sketches for CA$H.
Click here to find out more about the event. Tickets are only 3 pounds and under-16s get in free.
May 2013
22 posts
Extra page for Giant Days 2
I quite liked this one - not quite finished here
Two new prints - Sloth and Duck
I was playing around in Illustrator and came up with two new drawings that I really liked - Sloth and Duck! Two pretty good beasts, right? So I’ve added them to my store in a variety of sizes, from budget priced to super luxury. Check them out!
I should also add that there are just five copies of the original Giant Days comic left. Completists - last call.
Just hugged a pelican
In one of the strangest events to occur in my life, I just hugged a pelican which flew in my window. He seemed sad, and lonesome, and when I looked into his currant-like eyes, I knew he saw in me a brother in arms. Soon, we were hugging. Now, I’m no fool and I know that man and beast cannot be friends, at least, not for long, but I’m glad I took the opportunity when it came my way.
Hi I think you and your art are both lovely (also I think I freaked you out at Thought Bubble in Nov. sorry about that), do you have any specific methods for when you work on your art/comics, or is it just as and when? I seem to have trouble managing my job/art/free time and just never end up getting as much done as I'd like. Cheers!
When I worked a day job, I’d work on comics at the weekend, and the very occasional evening - if I was away at the weekend, they’d all be done in the evenings. That’s why my first five years of output look rough and ready - they were assembled at very high speed, always looking for shortcuts, with little time for reflection on what I was actually doing - I was doing five pages a week! Nothing did more damage to my writing and drawing at the time than drinking alcohol, which I was still doing to a collegiate standard at the time. Understanding this correlation has made me into a model of temperance (most of the time) today.
I still don’t really know how I managed to do all that extra work, I just hated working in an office for someone else so much that I pushed ahead regardless.
I wouldn’t expect anyone to slog away the way I did, doing five pages a week. Two good pages are worth more than five bad ones these days, with so many mediocre webcomics out there.
Now, when I have extra pages to do on top of my normal allocation of 4 or 5 a week, I tend to break them down - doing all the pencils, then all the inks, then all the colours. It makes me feel like the end is in sight if all four pages have got at least something on them.
I hope this helps!
Have any tips for someone trying to improve in drawing anatomy/gestures?
Just practice constantly! I find that drawing while watching TV is very useful - you always have a subject to draw and you’re forced to draw quickly. When I don’t keep up with my sketching, I find I begin to backslide into stale poses.
I realise that “practice” is the most boring answer to this question, but you’re training your eye as much as your hand. The more you’re able to recognise what you get right and wrong, the faster you’ll improve. There’s a world of anatomy and gestures right in front of your face.
