Leonieblog

Some very sad news. Steve Donald passed away at the weekend.
A lot of you probably knew Steve, he was at all our comic events and was involved with many arts and business projects in the North East. Andy and I were first introduced to him about seven or eight years ago. He was meant to be one of our business mentors, but we quickly discovered a shared love of bad movies and Buffy the vampire slayer and became good friends. I don't think Steve intended to stay in a mentoring role, but he was one of those people who can't stop themselves from helping you out. He encouraged me to go freelance and passed on work to me. He hired Andy to help out on an animated advert, which went on to win an award. Over the years I have met many people who were also encouraged by Steve, and as he taught many workshops in schools I can't help but think that there are probably many young people in the North East who have taken their first steps in to comics or film thanks to him.
His own work was hugely varied (another great influence on both me and Andy). From Viz to Orson Cart to muppets, he had worked on so much cool stuff it was just plain unfair for one person to have such an awesome C.V! Obviously, he had the best stories and I remember the first time we went to his house he pulled out David Bowies face (a prop he made for an unused scene in Labyrinth). He could also tell you how any special effect or stunt was done and was a massive Buffy afficionado (we got him to give a talk on the subject at one of our Bishi Bashi comic events). We would spend weekends watching box sets with him, the deal was he brought the show, we made food. I remember showing him how to cook a simple pasta dish one evening, he was intent on applying his knowledge of science and logic, where as I am from the vague makey uppy school of cookery. It ended in confusion all round with him turning his attention to how to make my pots more efficient.

He was the most down to earth and most no nonsense person I have met, always obliging to tell it as it is.
He reached many people in a hugely positive way through his work. He was a kind and thoughtful person with a sharp sense of humour.
He will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with his family.