2016!

Well 2016 sure crept up didn't it!

It was a good year, I spent the year working my buns off on Wailing Heights, Moving, and falling in love. A good 365 days all around.

Most of my year was spent doing games and comics, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I learned a lot this year, most notably in the field of Animation (both puppet and frame) while working for Outsider games. It was a tough time but the results are more than worth it and I just hope that in the end I can put these newly acquired skills to good use.

Below are a few little highlights from this year! 

 

Getting Prints did!

A few weeks ago I was approached to host some prints at a local comic book store and they've been doing rather very well, few Deadpools, few  Star Lords, the usual stuff, that then laid the way to actual commission work, which I'm suuuuuper happy about. 



The Prisoner - Coming Soon -

Seeing as i'm now a residency student at the University of Ulster (well I actually have been for seven weeks but busy is as busy does) I have to come up with some kind of animation!

After a few late nights of scribbling and scrawling ideas down I finally worked out a decent story in which to test my every developing animation skills. I'm keeping it short, as work load increases exponentially when you're doing everything yourself, but learn though doing man!

So the story is fairly light in tone, It's about space (obviously, did you see what the site was called?), it has action, romance (not really) and badass space guns. SO why wouldn't you be interested.

I know i'm still very much a beginner when it comes to a full animation production but with every incursion I seem to learn more and more so why not keep it up. I've only gotten to the story board checkpoint so far but I'm pretty happy with what i've got so far.

I can't really show any production art because I done in it all in Blue pencil and the fucking thing doesn't scan, suppose I can use my phone, hold on.

I won't give away too much yet (as of this date) seeing as the project is still very early on but I have gotten as far as running some digital tests and beginning the storyboards for the trailer I'm preparing to build up some interest with the project.

Below are some design sketches and locations.

I'll not give away the specifics of the project as of yet, and as I find my feet on design and character feel, things might change as the project continues, I'm pretty pumped about this one. I think I should end up with something very cool. 

Below are some storyboard extracts, look at how sweet they look. 

The Month of Host.

Over the last month i've had the extreme pleasure of showing one Tarra O' Connor around Ireland. 

An accomplished comic artist  that came to research here families past and to document the trip. Here book "Roots", the beneficiary of a recent very very successful kick starter campaign  brought here to the country to see how life works in the emerald isle and to find out a about her family.

It was a blast showing her around the pretty little island i'm happy enough to call my home, and I had a huge amount of fun in the process of seeing an American experience Irish weather first hand (gladly, she was a big fan of rain). 

The trip lasted just under a month, and it was about a month too short as far as i'm concerned, but I'm glad she got to see the sticks at all. I wish I could have shown her more and I tried to impart as much as I could for the sake of her book (she got doses of Belfast slang) and I hope it makes for a more interesting read for her many many fans.

Sad to see her go, very sad.  

Gallery after the jump.

Wow, you work for Uproar Comics!?!

So over the last few months i've been working heavily with the guys at Uproar comics on several projects, most Notably their flagship series Zombie Hi and a newly (as of yet unrealised series i'll get into later.) I've been given a short supporting role in an issue and after some cover work i've been given a shot at the main story.

To begin with I submitted a portfolio of work to them and got an email saying they liked what they saw and they'd like to bring me in. I began working with them on a little short 6 page story at the back of issue 10 called "cold feet".

 

gallery, click to scroll!

After that went down pretty well, I was given the task of doing the cover for the next issue, although not coloured by me, I was pretty honoured to involved, I don't wanna fire the full cover out so i'll put out some tests. 

Well after that all went down, I was approached to work on a totally new series, and as a comic artist, this is pretty much the best thing ever. I'm still new in the trade but i'll take any exposure I can get and working on my own series (I pencilled and inked this series myself). The series itself called "Stanger" is a paranormal western that is something i'm very excited about, if I had been given this opportunity a year ago I would have turned it down because I didn't believe I was ready but I though "fuck it" and jumped in. 

So I've finished the first 12 pages of the digital version, and I hope to get to see it come to print, because this is pretty huge for me and I loved every minute of it, and for being arsed reading this blog here's a world exclusive preview at my favourite page so far, with hopefully a lot more to come. 

Drawn in Culture Night

So I'm back again, this time with sweet whales.

I was part of a small group that were asked to draw a little mural on the wall. We weren't bound by any rules (only that it couldn't include tits or the pope, oddly enough) so we brainstormed a little and we came up with the idea with putting some stuff inside a whale ( I wish I could find that initial sketch, it was great. Oh here it is) 

The whole thing was to be drawn on an alley wall, in a pretty trampy but albeit very artistic side of town and It was a blast to do. None of us were taking the drawings too seriously but we were all very physced to be part of culture night in general! Here's some photos from the night, also we drank as time progressed.

GALLERY BELOW!

Honeycomb Creative Winner!

So a few days ago I discovered I'd been won a (all expenses paid) week in Derry to attend the Honeycomb Creative Buzz award workshops. I submitted my short animation Ennui the Imp and it appears to have been good enough to make me one of 20 or so winners. 

I also was contacted by the BBC to do a little interview thing which is pretty great, about being a winner and what I want to do with my life and all that stuff, it was pretty killer. I can be seen on the winners list here.  And then here's my entry on the BBC website! (link not working?)

It was a pretty great experience, got a lot of great contacts and exposure out of the event and i'm glad I was involved! 


Final Year Show!

*Backdated* 

Well my University final year show is finally here, and It's come together pretty well in all. 

I've chosen to print 2 Oldboy prints A1 sized mounted on some ridiculously expensive board along with a few stills from Blinded by Envy. We decided to sell some stuff at the back of the studio, ended up making a pretty sweet amount of money ( about £55, which for me may as well be about a million pound). 

oba1small.jpg



I am Illustrator

Over the past few days i've been heavily involved with a Belfast based Illustration company called " I am Illustrator ". The site just had their first gallery space located in Belfast City Center, in the CastleCourt shopping center. 


The space was leased by the Young at Art campaign and we were allowed the space for a few days. Throughout the event myself and the 8 other artists included got display work in full view of the public and more importantly network with possible clients and industry professionals.


Also we got to draw on the walls.


PJ holden talks about drawing for comics. Me drinking tea.

My exhibition seen in the background. 

My parents would not approve.