A rough sketch for the same comic.

I don't know how much to talk about or post about the comics I'm currently working on. I'm a fairly slow worker on my own stuff, and I don't really want to give away the whole idea/plot etc. I guess I will post small samples of images and hope that will suffice.

The process of making a comic entirely on your own is tougher than I imagined, even when dead keen on the project. I have a new admiration for people who do this, and understand completely when it takes some of them ten years or so to complete! I'm hoping mine will be faster than that, but I'll have to pull out some stops...

Right now, I'm working on a five page comic piece. The script is by my friend Jonathan - a more serious 'slice-of-life' piece. I've done a few thumbnail sketches to see how I can lay the pages out, and now I'm working on rough sketches, to place the viewpoints, characters etc. I like how the characters turned out in the rough above, but I think the viewing angle needs to be different.

Yikes! How did a week go by without me posting? Can I blame the school holidays?

Anyway, here's one I did mainly to practise inking with a brush. One thing I tried, that I think worked well, was to tip a small amount of ink into small glazed soy sauce dish. I was able to control exactly how much ink I got onto the brush, instead of dipping it into a bottle and having the ink go over the brush's ferrule (not good for the brush).

Playing around with textures, trying to get an 'old' feel to the drawing. The top part of the drawing is another trademark, one that always made me think of those 'cuts of meat' diagrams butchers used to have (and possibly still do). So, that explains this juxtaposition!

This pic is based on an old New Zealand trademark. In this particular one, the bull reminds me of the 'Monarch of the Glen' paintings, with the roaring stag at bay. Perhaps this is the Cattle King?

Old trademarks are such a source of ideas. Some of them are just plain weird. Combining two often gives a surreal effect. I love the text a lot of them have too - so different from modern sensibilities. I might look at posting a few more of them.

...Daredevil had a guide dog?

I did this drawing about two years ago - it was another of those odd thoughts you have, idly musing. In case you don't know, Daredevil is a blind superhero who has enhanced 'radar' capabilities that enable him to function at a level way above that of normal people. What I've always found amusing about his powers, is that, although the chemicals (radioactive, of course) that splashed into his face left him blind and with the 'radar' sense, it also enhanced his other senses: hearing, smell, taste, and his touch sensitivity (to such an extent that he can 'read' a newspaper by running his fingertips along the inked words). The 'sight' and hearing I can get, but the touch?

Still, it's kinda neat. And I bet he can multi-task big time with those abilities!

I read a heap of comics blogs. On one of them, at some time - please don't ask me which one, it was a while ago and I've forgotten, otherwise, I'd acknowledge it - a couple of pages of a very early Superman comic was posted. There was a panel that particularly took my fancy, with Superman admitting that he made his own costume.

I drew up this extremely proud Superman in response, showing off his mad sewing skills!

We went to a talk in the weekend given by a fisheries research scientist. Lots of incredible samples of different fish species - rattails, frost fish, squid, lantern fish, hatchet fish, dragon fish, hoki, orange roughy, ghost fish, etc - and these small shark, which I was able to get enough of a view to quickly sketch. I think they are spotted dogfish, also known as lemonfish.

This species used to be a staple of fish and chip shops; the name 'lemonfish' was probably given so customers wouldn't know they were eating shark. (Although the nickname 'shark and taties' for fish and chips is a bit of a giveaway.)

Just in case you were wondering why the Spiderfan link is on here, I've been doing the art for the 'Spiderfun' comic strip on that site for over a year now. Jonathan writes the excellent scripts, and it has been fun, drawing such a wide variety of characters, and even real people.

I've been teaching myself how to do comics art as I go along, and you can certainly see the difference between the first strips and the more recent ones! The time it takes me to do each one has stayed about the same though.

Go and take a look!

This is an entry for Illustration Friday. Within the deadline this time!

Who or what would be safe in a barrel in the middle of a desert? A fish...?