still alive
Shark dive was super awesome.
Full details with photos coming soon.
August 19, 2008
August 03, 2008
Exhibition photos
Some (not very good) photos from the exhibition. Larger versions at Flickr (just click on the images to go there.)
I will not be attending Caption this year. I'm gutted, I thought I'd actually make it down there this year. It seems a huge shame that I can't get there, especially when they're using my artwork on the adverts.
I will, however, be diving with sharks the weekend after that. Yay!
July 27, 2008
The July update
Yet again I've had to take a short break from comics, just as I was getting back in to my stride! Monstrum 3 is pencilled, but I'm thinking of pencilling issue 4 before I move on to inking. I still haven't decided whether or not to publish them together. The stories follow on from one another so I think it'd be nice to have them together.
But before I move on to issue 4 I have a short strip to complete, I'm hoping to get it done this week. It has a sea monster in it.
I've been busy with travel, exhibiting and now paperwork. I've been teaching some more workshops and have some more coming up soon, so I need to sort out invoices and reciepts and CRB checks and all that fun stuff.
I've also been inspired to do a new project. I won't say too much at this early stage, but I'm thinking big, lots of artists and touring. Well, there's no point dreaming small is there?
July 19, 2008
Exhibition and harbour horror!
I have a small exhibition in Middlesbrough next week:
I'm showing some pages from SFP, Monstrum and two illustrations.
I went back to Ireland for a few days last week, they've started tearing up the harbour where I grew up to build an ugly and unnecessary new marina. There was a real public outcry against it and a lot of protests, but it still managed to get the go ahead.
How the harbour used to look:
How it currently looks:
And how it will apparently look when finished:
(It may look all lovely and modern in this sunny picture but imagine it in the pouring rain, because that's how Greystones looks for most of the year.)
July 08, 2008
Moo!!
My business cards were old and a bit annoying. I hate the font (what was I thinking? Did I choose it with my eyes closed?) and the printer resized the design without asking and did a bad job of it, so they've never quite looked right.
So I decided to get some Moo cards (since I can't afford the amazingly elaborate ones I've designed in my head), which have turned out pretty good. There are 9 designs, some have cropped better than others (one is pictured, above). I also have some Moo stickers on the way so I can stick little squids on the back of each one. Obviously, this is more to keep me entertained than to entice potential clients.
May 16, 2008
Diving
I had a diving lesson this week. I was pretty rubbish at it, as I'm a terrible swimmer. The instructors were great, really patient with me! They had to put weights in my diving vest to keep me underwater, and then, while everyone else was swimming about gracefully I was muppeting about so much that I've put my back out a bit. But by the end of the class I was splishing about like a large unco-ordinated fish. One step closer to my great shark adventure!
Here's a picture of me to explain all the technical terms of diving:
April 19, 2008
California
So…as I mentioned before, we went to California to film a documentary. I can’t talk much about the actual documentary and I can’t show photos from it (maybe I can at some point in the future), but I can tell you that it all went very well and it should turn out great. Editing hasn’t started yet, but we’re already working towards our next projects.
We landed in LAX and expected to spend ages trying to get in to the country, but it was fine. The airport is hideous but the security isn’t as bad as everyone makes out. Or maybe we were just lucky. Terminal 5 at Heathrow was also better than we’d been led to believe. We got there and back with all our bags.
The drive from the airport to the hotel took three times longer than route planner had said, because it doesn’t take the traffic in to consideration. The hotel itself (Resident Inn Oxnard) was awesome. I would definitely recommend it, should you ever visit Oxnard. Friendly staff, a swimming pool, hot tub, and a huge complimentary breakfast bar made it a very pleasant place to stay. There were also Happy hours and free BBQs, but we missed all of that. The food in California is amazing. I have never eaten so much in my life and I can eat quite a lot! We tried Mexican, Hawaiian, Japanese and of course In and Out burger. The portions were massive, and everything was super cheap. After a few nights I was wary of the massive portions and decided to order a starter instead, foolishly thinking it would be more manageable. I ended up with four burgers, salad and a mound of potato wedges. Yep, that’s a starter.
On Saturday I met up with my brother and his family who live in San Jose, which is really far from where we were staying, but they decided to come visit us and camp nearby. On Sunday we started filming. We went to a shooting range and I got to shoot some guns! I had some expert tuition and it’s lots of fun. I wasn’t great, but I reckon I can shoot better than a stormtrooper.
The guy we were making the documentary about was really friendly and by the end of the week we’d all become friends. He took us out for meals and he and his wife showed us great hospitality. Everyone we met in America seemed really friendly, it was a bit of a culture shock coming from England, where people don’t tend to talk to strangers unless they have to.
We spent the rest of the week filming, mainly watching people fighting, looking at weapons and dead animals. My job involved making sure that everything we did was within the contracts, okay for insurance, and that we had all the right paper work, etc. So I basically made people sign things and then I just stood around. It’s a pretty neat job.
We got to see some of the area, we went to LA, Santa Barbara, Oxnard, Malibu and Topanga Canyon and some beach between Oxnard and Santa Barbara, I’m not sure where that was. The beaches were stunning and there had been a Great White attack in the area a week before we arrived, so I was hoping to spot one swimming about. I didn’t see any though. Apparently a live Mako washed up on one of beaches along there too, but I didn’t get to see any of those either. There was plenty of thresher shark on the local menus, that’s as close as I got. I’m determined to get a dive in this year. Somehow, somewhere!
L.A. was….smoggy. It was cool to see it. We went to High Voltage (the tattoo shop used in the show L.A. Ink) and I saw Cat Von D milling about. Herod swears we saw Orlando Bloom and Andy says we passed by Nick Lachey too. So we did some celeb spotting while we there. I got pictures of all the important stars too:
We went to the Griffith Observatory,, Sheriffs excellent suggestion, and got an amazing view of the city.
We checked out the farmers market, which had some great food stalls and a cool little Americana antique place. We also went to La Brea tar pits:
Santa Barbara was one of my favourite places.
The beach was lovely and there were a lot of squirrels (which are probably a great annoyance to the residents but very cute for tourists).
I think it was the only place where I had food that wasn’t deep fried and didn’t have any meat in it. But I did follow it with ice cream, so it can’t have been that healthy. The harbour near where we stayed was great too, I loved the local architecture and there was a really nice Mexican café by the beach. We checked out the local retail outlets too (everything was silly cheap over there, I got a great Mutts t-shirt for $4.00!) and we checked out the thrift stores (which were massive!) and Andy got to check out the hospital because his finger got infected. There are a lot of places I want to visit, but I would love to go back there.
Set of photos on Flickr: California set
Also, I’ve put up some work on Lulu. It’s available as stock images or art prints. I don’t know what the quality is like yet so please bear that in mind if you decide to order something.
March 29, 2008
An update from Leonieland
I am going to offer stock illustration/photos and art prints through Lulu, it looks like a pretty good service, I don't know how well it will do but it's worth a try! I've also just been interviewed for Colouring Outside the Lines. The questions were really interesting, it was a very enjoyable interview!
By this time next week I'll be in California working on Andy's documentary along with Sheriff and Herod. I can't wait!
February 24, 2008
Super geeky links sunday.
So, I’ve busy been doing some new illustrations for a museum, making another new comic strip, designing some branding for a new shop and helping to make a documentary. But I’m not going to talk about any of that stuff. Oh no. Instead I’m going to share some links with you today.
Via the ever wonderful http://www.boingboing.net, a gallery of anti-Japanese war propaganda films.
http://www.ir0ngruve.com/fs_gallery/
Really interesting to me, not just because of the artwork but also because I’m really interested in the history of the Phillipines. That might sound random, but it was brought about through studying Kali, a martial art from the Phillipines.(The art was recently showcased on Discovery Channels abysmal ‘Fight Quest’ show) Here’s a Moro warrior:
You don’t see many pictures of those. It was cool that Ben managed to randomly find a kids book all about them at a car boot sale. (previously blogged here: http://www.lomooreblog.com/2006/11/swords_and_sails.html )
Also, here’s how they represent the Japanese:
I think it’s published under creative commons, so I expect the designs will turn up on t-shirts at some point or will be ripped off by some trendy young artist in the near future. Also on boingboing, how to make an R2D2 beanie, an R2D2 made from a beer barrel (which looks better than it sounds) and Disney drawings by Hitler. I’ll let you find those articles yourself because there’s lots of other neat stuff there too, so you should just go and read it.
Here’s a link to a bizarre little comic strip, sent to me by Miguel(http://tizersoze.wordpress.com/). It was also on boingboing a couple of years ago, because everything good ends up there eventually. http://www.bustedwonder.com/exterminus/
People fish tank. Story over at OhGizmo:
http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/02/23/fishtank-friday-people-tank/#more-9623
Spleenal sent some good links too about using a Wii remote to create a VR display and an interactive whiteboard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw&NR=1
Also on OhGizmo! Paintball with dolphins, and other crazy new game ideas from the Game Design challenge.
http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-challenge-the-inter-species-game/#more-9610
I’m currently developing laser tag for sharks, but not as a virtual reality thing, as a real sport. Think about it….people could hunt sharks without killing them and sharks could hunt people without having to use that ‘I thought it was a sea turtle’ excuse that they always hide behind. It’s wearing pretty thin. I mean, I can tell the difference between a sea turtle and a surfer and sharks have way better senses than me. Yeah, laser tag seems like the way forward.
February 09, 2008
T-shirt collection
Well, I've sold some more t-shirt designs and my Uneetee shirt has been re-issued and is selling well.
So, I thought I'd share with you my t-shirt collection, because I really like t-shirts. I've done it as an extended entry because it's long and some people will find it boring. So click the link to read more.
February 05, 2008
Stupidest rejection letter ever.
Just to make sure I didn't get too confident from all the lovely comments I've been receiving, evil cosmic forces decided to send me a horrible rejection letter. Actually, they sent it to the wrong address first but, it managed to catch up with me. I guess evil cosmic forces don't keep an up to date address book.
I've had a lot of rejection letters in the past, I've been sending off work left, right and centre since I was in my teens and my painful optimism made me keep on going. However, this latest one has set a new standard of rejection. I've had to send letters like this out myself and having had so many, I know how horrible they can be. At best, they offer you constructive advice (these are the ones from really good editors) and at worst they don't give you any reason (usually from editors who are struggling with their workload).
This one arrived a year after I submitted work and was incredibly patronising. It was scrawled in biro on the bottom of the letter I had sent to them and offered such revelatory advice as 'try drawing everyday'. Wow, I wish they'd told us that during the MA. It's the type of letter you would send to a child who had sent in their doodles, and I'm mainly offended by the fact they thought that I was that kid. I wouldn't have cared if they'd said the usual 'your work is not for us' or 'your style does not suit our publication', you know, the sort of thing you write to be polite. Or they could've even just said 'NO! NO WAY! UH UH!'
Apparently, if I work harder I might be able to work in the business some day....I actually thought I already was in the business, maybe I should tell the tax office I was mistaken and ask for some kind of refund.
Well, I'll be looking forward to their next publication. I hope I don't end up with a review copy.
January 30, 2008
Happy with my work?
Hey all.
Have you worked with me in the past? If so, I'm looking for testimonials / soundbites to put on my site because people don't seem to believe how awesome I am. That's the only reason I can think of for my present state of poverty. Email me or comment here to contribute. I think the page may be covered in little creatures with the testimonials in speech bubbles, so if you have a creature preference please let me know, and include a business name/website where appropriate (there will be a link to your site as a thank you for your help). This includes people I have worked with on a paid or voluntary basis. And creature preference can include mythical ones too.
January 02, 2008
Christmas 2007
Christmas was good this year,
Lots of nice food:
Festive animals:
and nice food festive animals:
(That's a bull made from jelly beans.)
This Christmas had it all.
We went for a walk around Greystones beach on Christmas day and saw a robin sitting on the old pier, how seasonal!:
(click on it for a larger view)
Unfortunately the plans have now been signed to turn this beautiful old harbour in to a spangly new marina.
Turning it from this:
In to this:
They've also closed down the cinema (as seen in 'father ted'). This cinema is next door to where I grew up, and I saw many of my favourite films here:
It wasn't a very good cinema, but it had character and my love of film was probably spawned by the many visits I had there as a child.
There was also a trip to the aquarium, which I have to admit has improved a LOT since I was a child. The Lego staff seem to be doing an excellent job:
October 30, 2007
Pumpkin 2007
Decided to go with a traditional cartoony pumpkin face this year. We could only afford one Hallowe'en decoration, so I thought it best to stick with the classics. It's a bit happier than last years pumpkin:
October 27, 2007
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Mooo! QuackQuack!
Me and Andy went to a farm on Thursday. I don't know why, it just seemed like the thing to do. It was good fun, but they don't let you take any of the animals home. I would've liked one of the ducks. Some photos at Flickr.
October 24, 2007
diving suits
I don't know why, but I love looking at different designs for diving suits. Here's ten of the best:
http://www.oobject.com/diving-helmets/carmagnolle-diving-suit/667/
The Carmagnolle is my favourite:
It may make an appearance in a future Monstrum strip. I'm just finishing up a Monstrum strip that will be free to read online. That's right, free!
If you're interested in diving stuff too, there's a great book I read a few years ago by Trevor Norton called 'Stars beneath the sea', about the pioneers of diving. They're all crazy. Very entertaining.
October 16, 2007
hallowe'en drink and draw
Next drink and draw session - 27th October, at the sports bar in newcastle.
here's their myspace page.
September 11, 2007
Drinky - Drawy UK stylee
Peter Frain has organised a Drink and Draw session in Newcastle on the 15th of September. We should (kinda) be synching up with the NYC and Milwaukee Chapters. We have a whole bar to ourselves, so, well done Peter!
If you like to drink and draw and will be in the area, let me know! As these are two of my favourite things to do, I will definitely be there! Now add in some sharks, a pizza and some stick fighting and it's my perfect night!
Something else I'm digging at the moment is modern life drawing classes. I've been befriended by a few on Myspace, all in the US, and they do life drawing in interesting places (like the pub) and use all sorts of models, (like burlesque dancers). Sounds like fun and makes a change from some scary looking naked guy in a school hall. I don't know if there are any in the UK, but I think maybe I could organise one locally. Instead of having one person teach it like a class, I think it would be cool to just have group critiques (in an informal way) because it would probably be mainly attended by experienced artists anyway. Again, let me know if you're interested.
August 28, 2007
Comics and Beer
So, a bunch of us comic book people (I believe the collective term is a gaggle of geeks) met up for some drinks and comic talk. It's been ages, in some cases years, since we've all seen each other.
The main attendees were me, Andy Smith, Terry Wiley, Nigel Auchterlounie, John Fellows, Steve Donald and Steven Finch.
And how cool is this? Terry Wileys new business card features a drawing of me:
Spleenal also made a special guest appearance:
I had an interesting debate (okay, more like a drunken argument) with this guy about films, after he'd been cussing star wars I noticed he was wearing this shirt:
I think a good time was had by all, I definitely had a good time. Or did I? I don't know, I may have been a bit drunk.
August 09, 2007
It's quiet....
...too quiet. Don't worry, I haven't been yammering on lately because I'm busy working on the next big thing. I'm also busy telling anyone who'll listen about SFP, I'm like some proud parent who won't shut up about their obnoxious stinky child. Here's a picture, incase you've forgotten what it looks like:
I can't believe I got suckered in to seeing Transformers. At the cinema! That nagging optimism of mine owes me the price of a cinema ticket. I hate you Michael Bay, you've ruined my childhood and rattled my love of film. Not only was the movie bad it was also really really long with a swiss cheese plot. And worst of all, there's blatently going to be a sequel, probably with a different cast and a Michael Bay wannabe director. I doubt Spielberg has even sat through the finished thing. And no Vince DiCola soundtrack, a pox on Hollywood!
My optimism assures me that Jaws 5 will be incredible though.
July 14, 2007
Finally......
Something good is coming......keep checking to find out the good news.
It involves fish.
July 12, 2007
The yellow ink conspiracy
That sounds like a good story title. Anyway, I went to every shop in town in search of a yellow cartridge for my printer, but all the shops were out of stock! They had the other colours, but not yellow. In desperation (because I'd left it until the last minute to print something important and had to get ink immediately) I bought one of those really cheap refilled cartridges. It made magenta come out orange. I won't make that mistake again. Why had everwhere run out of that particular cartridge at the same time? It can't be coincidence, I must have a secret nemesis. That's the only logical explanation.
There was a more important thing I had to write about. What was It?.....Oh, yeah, a new comics people meet up thing. I got an email from Gav recently and it got me thinking that since me and Andy stopped running 'Bishi Bashi' (comic events that happened many moons ago) we've lost touch with a lot of people. So I'm sending the word out to any comics people in Newcastle (or the surrounding area), we'll have a little pub meet in early August. Get in touch if you are interested and pass the message on.
I also got a letter today from Puffin books telling me that my style wasn't what they were looking for. They missed the 'e' off my name, so I'm hoping they've sent me the wrong letter, and somebody called Leoni is currently wondering why Puffin books have sent her a contract with an extra 'e'. Or maybe my nemesis had something to do with it. Yeah, sounds like the type of mean thing a nemesis would do.
June 08, 2007
from pencils to paint
Still working away on 'Tag Team', my new comic. Been busy with work, an IKAEF (International Kali Arnis Eskrima Federation) grading and I haven't been feeling too well this week, hence the lack of activity on my blog. I will try to be more interesting next week! Oh, and my Uneetee tshirt has been added to their collection (limited edition still), so there's still some time to buy it.
May 14, 2007
This is what I do.
People often ask me what it is I actually do. It's something I've had to think a lot about while writing my business plan. It occured to me that I don't post much of my work up here. The main reason for that is because it is top secret and....actually, that's not true...it's more to do with copyright. I don't own most of the illustrations I do, and although I ask permission to use them in my portfolio, I don't think that will stretch to using them on my blog. So to make up for that and explain partly what I do all day (apart from watching cartoons and eating cereal, which is all part of the creative process) here's some of the stuff I've been working on recently:
I had to do some paintings of sick people throughout history with props as well for an interactive dispaly. Here's a sweaty Georgian lady:
Here are some of the props, a bed and a photo of grumpy school kids.
I've been drawing a variety of people for another museum display, here is a chubby baby:
Here is the new logo I've designed for Phoenix Martial Arts Academy:
Okay, so that's the type of stuff I do. Now, on to more important things.
Have you seen Spiderman 3? I'm a bit disappointed in Mr.Raimi, but it could've been worse. I think they could've made it in to two movies, because there was just too much going on and the black suit/venom story is one of my all time ever favourite comic storylines so I think that should have been handled better. At least Bruce Campbell was still in it.
Oh, and an update on the MEG books that I keep going on about (you know the ones about the prehistoric giant shark that swims about eating everything) and you know how much I love sharks......I've entered a competition to be a character in the new MEG book. How cool would that be? My character would probably get eaten by a megalodon, which would be weird to read but still very cool. Fingers crossed I that I make it in to the book!
May 08, 2007
which is your fave?
Have a look at these photos and tell me which is your favourite so I can submit it to this flickr group:
The best ones get in a book. I started off documenting my day: a trip to the garden center, put my new house plants in bigger pots, go for a walk down the Quayside...but then I went to the pub and it all went a bit down hill from there. Everyone elses all look very professional, so I don't think I'll make the book, but it's fun to take part anyway.
May 02, 2007
Get ready to shop.
I've added a little shop section to my website. I should be adding a proper comics catalogue, a range of t-shirts and (hopefully) a print/artwork section in the near future. So get your credit cards ready!
April 25, 2007
Business plans are hard
Does "I am wicked cool" count as a unique selling point?
Those of you who know me well understand how much I hate designers who steal. (Actually, I've probably ranted about this before). I'm all for parody, homage, inspiration etc., but you need to give credit for these things to work. Sometimes it's tough if you are working for a client who wants something that already exists, but when you are making your own stuff, then there's no real excuse (and coincidence only goes so far). Boing Boing have posted a link to a cool site which shows David and Goliath t-shirts (which are all over the place at the moment and are probably uber-rich by now) next to similar, older designs. Check it out here before it gets pulled (the guys already had a letter from lawyers). Boing boing also have lots of comic related items items up today, including Scott McCloud, banning Comic Sans (Yay!),John K.,Jack Chick and underwear perverts. They also mention Aranzi Aronzo, who I've been telling people about for years and years, not that anyone has listened (except for Andy, Sheriff and Emma), and now I bet they're all super cool because they've been mentioned on boing boing. They've been making lovely toys and doing photo stories with them for a really long time, way before it was cool to do it on Flickr and way before that stupid car commercial. Credit where credit's due! (I guess that's todays motto)
April 24, 2007
Time to get serious!
It occured to me that blundering from one freelance job to another was hardly a career, so I met with a business advisor today. I have to draw up a business plan, which involves numbers and normally that would make me weep, but since the numbers relate to money, MY money (and money equals how many cakes and comics I can buy), then it's not so bad.
So, I'll be a proper business soon, with targets and strategies and all those other things that scare artists. If this all works out I'll be super-duper happy. The business advisor was really helpful and made me realise that I could be doing a lot better. Now I just need a calculator....
April 19, 2007
Edinburgh and stuff
Well, I'm still unpacking and getting settled in the new abode, so internet access is patchy. Here's a quick update:
Edinburgh
Andy and I had a lovely weekend in Edinburgh at the start of the month, meeting up with some housemates from yesteryear.
We also went to an amazing Pixar exhibition which featured stunning pre-production art and a 3-D zoetrope (which is one of the coolest thing I have ever seen). If you're in Edinburgh, go check it out. It's so good it will make you sick. Sick and vomitty with envy!
Photos over at Flickr.(not of the exhibition though, they wouldn't let you take photos.)
New comics
Okay, I should have broadband next week-ish (woo hoo!) so then I'll sort out this print on demand nonsense. In the meantime, I've just finished a four page strip for Scar comics (I don't know if it'll get used though) and I'm working on a new comic which will be a collection of short strips by different writers (all drawn by me). I'm also teaming up with Tony Hitchman again for the next Accent UK collection, 'Robots'.
That is all. For now......
March 29, 2007
pocket wookies!
Should hopefully be moving house next week! Then I can live like normal folk, with proper homes, who don't have slugs in the kitchen and packaging crates for shelves. The new place will inevitably have a shark infestation, but that's not such a bad thing.
Seems like my little wookie isn't alone, there's a whole herd of them out there:
http://pocketwookie.com/
I think the person who set this up might've been the same one who emailed me asking where I got my wookie. I didn't realise it would lead to a project like this! I haven't got a very good internet set up (as I like to mention in pretty much every post - that should change when I move. Yippeee) so I haven't watched any of the footage, but it seems to be about Wookie emancipation, which I'm sure can only be a good thing. Although they do like to rip the arms off things and they are a lot stronger than you'd expect for such a tiny creature, so you do have to be careful.
March 18, 2007
Jaws puppet
I've been busy working (yeah, I do that sometimes) so I haven't had much time for blogging. I've made a new finger puppet, an attempt at the Jaws movie poster shark, but the colours are off and the nose isn't pointy enough. At least he looks like a shark though, which is the main thing!
SFP (my graphic novel) still isn't on Lulu yet. This is because my internet connection is too slow and also my friends computer couldn't get the files off my MP3 player. So now I've managed to get the files on to a laptop, but I've had problems downloading an FTP programme on to it, so I'll have to go around someones house with it ( a person with proper internet access ).
Anyway, I'm moving house soon and hopefully I'll be able to get broadband. I must be the only person who still has dial up. Stupid technology.
February 23, 2007
New Website - Coming Soon
Got a new card from the stupid bank, the blog is saved!
My website is getting a much needed overhaul and will be relaunched (fingers crossed) on Wednesday the 28th of February. Write that in your diary, then go check it out and let me know if there are any mistakes. I've tried out some coding that I haven't used before so there may be a few hiccups and I don't kow what the browser compatibility will be like, so please let me know if you have any trouble with it.
Here's my new finger puppet (you may remember the Jack and Kim Bauer puppets and the President David Palmer puppet previously blogged):
Apollo was a birthday present for Bear (Happy Birthday Bear). As you can see I've tried googly eyes instead of beady ones (actually my very earliest finger puppets had googly eyes, so I guess it's kind of a googly comeback) and he also has arms (again, som early puppets had arms). In the past I've made a finger puppet zoo (each animal had its own rhyming illustrated story, this was a family Christmas present when I was a poor student), the cast of Star Trek the next generation (for a friend who had become briefly obsessed), Hansel and Gretel (for an illustration), and me and Andy (for a friend who was going travelling and was unsure whether or not she'd see us again). I'd like to start scaling them up a bit, making stuffed toy versions. I'm getting quite into knitting too, so I might add little knitted accessories. I'm far too busy with drawing at the moment (hurrah!) as I've got some more freelance work in (Yay!).
Don't forget to check out the new site! www.lomoore.com.
February 02, 2007
Now you see it.....
Soon you proably won't. Due to having the worst bank in the world this blog may disappear for a while. Apart from screwing up my credit card (hence all the awful pop up ads on my main site) they have now neglected to issue my other card in time, so I can't pay for this blog anymore. Words cannot describe how angry I am with this rubbish bank.
In the mean time check out spleenal. It's updated more often than my blog and has actual drawings.
January 11, 2007
2007 - Woo hoo!
Okay, so it's taken me a while to get around to writing my first post for the New Year, but I wanted to get things off to a positive start.
It occured to me this morning that the graphic novel I spent so long toiling over is just sitting on a shelf, taunting me in the way that unpublished books tend to do (why do they always pick on me?). I've decided that since I haven't been submitting it to publishers anymore and I can't afford to print it myself, it's time to try the print on demand route. Next week I'm going to spend some time reformatting it and going through the fine print at Lulu.com, then I'll send off for a copy and check out the finished product. If it's of a good standard then, hurrah, it's finally out there and maybe it'll stop laughing at me and pulling faces everytime I pass the bookcase. The only problems with print on demand services that I can see are that you can't really communicate with the printer and there isn't an out of pocket publisher desperately trying to sell the book for you. I know a lot of people seem interested in publishing with lulu, but everyone seems to want someone else to try it out first, so here it goes!
A big hello and thank you to everyone who has been checking out my stuff lately (thats all you guys at comicspace and my pals in the US who are looking for some t-shirts). I've had a great Christmas too, I went over to Ireland and had a nice relaxing time. My sister is training a guide dog puppy at the moment and he's lots of fun, and also really huge for a puppy. He's a labradoodle:
I was also pleased to find one of my favourite ever board games (and I really love board games) still intact in the attic, so we played a few games of that:
It comes with sea monsters, how can any other game compete with that?
And, of course, with Christmas comes all the joy of visiting friends and relatives
and collecting lots of loot, and I got some really great loot this year. We got Mike a V for Vendetta mask, look how scary it is:
I also took some more photos of my home town to add to my growing collection over at Flickr. They should start building the new marina soon, which will be weird. I'm getting as many photos of the harbour as I can before it gets all built up.
I'm still working on that novel too....whenever I type that it reminds me of that bit in Family Guy where Stewie is hassling Brian about the novel he's been writing....anyway, I'm going to put that up on lulu too.
Oh, and happy new year, by the way!
December 18, 2006
Party party party
Merry Christmas - here is a Christmas cephalopod to make you feel all festive.
That's the painting I used on my Christmas card this year, if you didn't get one it's because I only posted about five of them, mainly due to laziness and being busy with other stuff, like partys, woo hoo!
This was the best jumper at the Christmas jumper party on Saturday.
And Johnny 5 was there, it was a great night. There was also the famous Phoenix Christmas party, this picture tells you all you need to know:
I've also joined comic space. And Matthew Badham, finally, has a blog.
And, this months issue of Martial Arts Illustrated has the first part of an amazing interview with Lynn Thompson by Andy. It's not to be missed, go buy it!
November 27, 2006
Swords and sails
Ben stumbled across the best kids book ever, especially good for Kali geeks!
Swords and sails in the philippines was written by Phyllis Ayer Sowers and illustrated by Margaret Ayer, in 1944. It tells the story of Abdul, a young moro boy, during the Japanese invasion. It starts with the line: " Abdul would almost have given his knife to know what was going on in the jungle across the lagoon. " His knife is the most important thing in the world to him, and he gets captured, tortured, catches fire, and still he just carries on without a complaint. Abdul is helluva tough!
"Because he acted like an enemy, Abdul was pleased to see the white man's wrist was dripping with blood from a nasty cut made by the pirate knife." Yeah, they don't make books like this anymore. From what I've read about the period, it seems like a pretty well researched book too. Abdul carries an Anting-anting and there are a few references to traditional weapons too.
More photos on my flickr page:
leonieo (check the moro warrior tag if the images are no longer on the front page)
November 16, 2006
I'm still alive....
...I just haven't updated this in a little while. That's mainly because the days have been flying past and I don't really have anything worth writing about. That probably won't change any time soon, so here's an Octopus to keep you amused until I return.
Oh no, wait, there is something. Some of you may remember the Bryan Talbot interview . During that interview he discussed a book he wanted to write filled with anecdotes about and by comic pros...well, according to the new issue of Comics International (Issue 200, out now, buy it) he's finished it and is currently looking for a publisher. You (possibly) heard it here first.
October 30, 2006
happy hallowe'en!
Wookie has been busy carving the pumpkin (the innards made a lovely soup) and making his Hallowe'en costume (as you can see, the latter did not take him very long).
Wookie has also made an appearance on the time capsule that I previously blogged.
Malcy Duff has an exhibition coming up : Nov. 7th - Dec.5th at the Cameo cinema in Edinburgh.
I'm still looking for work. I'm spending a lot of time knitting and baking and training at the gym, which I'm enjoying, but I'd like to be making comics and earning some money! I can't go any further with Monstrum until I get some quotes back from printers so I know what size I'm working to, which is annoying as I'd hoped to have it ready for the big Birmingham show, but there is no hope of that now. Urgh!
October 03, 2006
zombies ahoy!
Finished that zombie strip (picture above is a detail from one of the panels.) There's a new magazine starting up called Murky Depths, check it out here, they're open to submissions.
The days are flying past at the moment and I seem to be getting nowhere very quickly! Todays been eaten up by filling out job applications (yawn-o-rama). I'm hoping to get some drawing done later, but it's looking unlikely.
Bear and Brownlee have just moved in up the road, so now nearly everyone I know lives within easy walking distance, its all getting a bit weird. Its like our own little town. Actually, round here its more like our own little ghetto.
Something else that makes me smiley is this. I've always wanted wolvie claws and now I can have some. I wonder what area of the Kali syllabus wolvie claws come under?
September 27, 2006
Back to normal(ish)
Finally, the electricity and gas are working again!
Everything is back to normal.
Hurrican Remo is busy wrestling:
Next doors cat thinks he owns the neighbourhood, and therefore can just stroll into anyones house and piss on whatever he wants:
And I need to get some more freelance work.
Yep, same as ever.
Here's how beautiful my dissertation looked, it cost thirty pounds! But they expect it bound in a particular way, so best to just pay up.
The library in town has closed down, so all the books have been relocated to other libraries until it re-opens, and my local library got all the graphic novels! That's going to save me some money.
At the moment my days consist of filling out job applications, finishing off freelance work and filling out invoices, hoping to find some time to work on the next issue of monstrum (and that zombie strip I thought I'd have finished by now), trying to co-ordinate a manga exhibition, and all the usual stuff like doing dishes and other fun things.
Normally I'd be feeling pretty fed-up, but just having hot water and electricity after two weeks without is so nice that I don't really care about much else right now. It's a good feeling.
September 22, 2006
BOOM!
That is the sound that the fuse box kept making.
We've been without hot water and electricity for quite some time now, waiting while british gas messed about. I was very stressed as I had a ton of freelance work to do this week and I needed the computer. Luckily I was able to run an extension cord from the landladies house so I could get my work done. Now we have some electricity (no hot water, no fridge, no washing machine, no microwave, no kettle, no stereo), but british gas are back on Monday to pull up our floorboards (the problem is with the junction box - hooray!) but we don't have floorboards in that room, we have a solid floor which they'll have to cut through. Aaaarrghhhh.
Apart from that, and the fact that I think I'm really losing my mind, everything is just peachy! Haven't been able to work on that comic strip which I was meant to have finished by now, for obvious reasons. No further along with the next issue of monstrum. Handed in my dissertation, apparently I did really well. Some good news at least!
I think this means I'm finished my MA, I have no idea when I'll get results or if I get anything in writing to say that I actually did the course.
September 05, 2006
Calamity Sunday.
It was one calamity after another this weekend! It all started out so perfect. We watched a whole season of Entourage, hung out with Sheriff and Emma, got to eat yummy food (Emma is a really good cook, we're thinking of moving in to their spare room and seeing how long it is until they ask us to leave), watched the Kali gradings (it's fun to watch until you realise that it won't be long until you'll be going through that hell again) and went to the cinema with Matt and Maz.
Then I got home, checked my e-mails and found, to my horror, a bunch of emails from uni people going on about how the dissertation was due in on Monday. Monday? How did that happen? I'm such a poindexter, how did I not realise? I didn't even have a title for the bloody thing!
So I spent all day Sunday trying to get it finished, which was tough enough without the added bonus of two power cuts! Plus Andy managed to spill coffee over nearly every thing I own (how can one mug hold that much coffee?).
Anyway, I got it all finished in the end and handed in. I need to wait for feedback incase there are any mistakes, and then do the final bound version.
The manga exhibition I'm helping organise is going well. I've spoken to Tokyopop and it seems they're onboard, so it's going to be huge! They're talking about competitions and all sorts of neat stuff. Plus we have access to a bar with a cinema licence so we're hoping to show anime too. It's going to rock.
I'm also working on some new strips. I just got a script from Tony Hitchman for the next Accent UK anthology, so I'll be drawing that up soon. And I'm doing a webcomic and an article for the new small press site, www.indiereview.co.uk.
I was talking to someone the other day about naming characters. Usually I don't have a problem with this, stuff like Monstrum was dead easy because all the characters were based on people or were named after adventurers. (Like Campbell got his name because the character was like someone Bruce Campbell would play, Ella Hass is named after Hans Hass the diver/adventurer/biologist etc.) If I do get stuck, I've found some really good baby naming websites. The great thing about that is that you can see where the name originates from and also what it means and how popular it is. I am considering using names from the spam I get because some of them are amazing!
I've been going megalodon crazy lately. I've been reading Steve Altens books, which are the best and worst books ever written. I want to do a photo story of the first chapter of the first book using my giant fuzzy shark (pictured below with wookie) and an inflatable dinosaur, if only I had more time for all these projects!
I also watched the worst movie ever made. Simply called Megalodon, it was worse than shark attack 3, which at least had the courtesy to use file footage. This pile of poop used computer graphics that aren't fit for a bargain basement PC game, they didn't even have any texture on them and parts of the shark were transparent. Screen grabs from the Jaws game look better.
And it made no sense. You'd think for $5.00 it would have been a bit better!
August 31, 2006
Boo Hoo.
My book has been turned down by Image comics and by Fantagraphics. Oh well, what do they know about comics anyway?
Comics International sent me a big ol' pile of comics to review. It includes a series of comics aimed at educating young gay men about safe sex which features the charming characters johnny and lube. I also got a copy of that semiotic cohesion ( Shanes selling it over at smallzone ), and I'll do a proper review for CI, but I just want to say I wish they'd do a comic just about the shark overlords because those bits are genius! A shark that shoots smaller sharks from its gills! Why isn't that a comic?
Thanks to Hank for his nice comments about my weird panda painting too, that cheered me up after my morning of rejection from big comic companies. What a nice stalker Nulsh has!
It's been a busy week. Sams wedding disproved my long held belief that weddings were boring. Here he is on stage with his band at the reception:
His whole family were up singing, it was a great party! Hurrican Remo got dressed up for the occasion too:
And insisted on watching some wrestling:
Super Parka has a scary rapey dance, but Xtream Tiger is pretty cool. Obviously he's no Hurrican Remo.
On Sunday we had a seminar at Phoenix with Flavio Ruiz Van Hoof. Four hours of fighty stuff! We did some light sparring type stuff at the end of the first hour and as we kept swapping partners I ended up with Flavio at one point. He kept yelling at me to kick him, but I was scared to a bit because I'm sure he could rip my leg off if he wanted to. But he's a nice guy and the seminar was good fun.
I also made some eyebrows for Pilchard :
Bet you wish you'd thought of that, eh Curtis?
We went to Jesmond Dene because Andy has never been, even though he's lived here for 6 years or so.
Seems they have a giant bug infestation too.
Then we went to the pub, where I introduced Wookie to the wonders of cider:
August 22, 2006
Big bug
And I thought the slugs were bad, now we have giant ladybirds to contend with. Damn you, global warming.
Have sent out promo stuff, just waiting to hear back. It cost a lot. I need a job. I have no money for important things like cakes and ice cream. Have made a start on next issue of monstrum, also started writing a novel. Lets see which gets finished first.
Andys new outfit. I'm not sure, but I think this is what he is wearing to Sams wedding at the weekend.
August 13, 2006
"I love you, vacuum cleaner dummy!"
Saw 'Monster House' yesterday. It's brilliant! It's like a great 80's kids movie but with CGI. Schrab and Harmon have outdone themselves with this baby,and I can see why Zemeckis and Spielberg jumped on it. (interestingly, a search on ask for monster house brought up Goonies posters)
Speaking of the 80's and Zemeckis, there was also a trailer for tranformers. Why Zemeckis, why did you let Michael Bay take it away from you???? It looks awful!! Some of you may not know this, but I love gen 1 transformers. Really, really love, as in: still have some of the toys, comics, curtains, pillowcase....So I'll go see it, probably more than once, at the cinema, but I doubt I'll enjoy it. For a start it probably won't have the rockin 80's soundtrack that the animated film had. Or the hilarious screechy voiced antics of Starscream that the tv show had. Or the political intrigue and power struggles that the comic had.
There was also a trailer for Spiderman 3, which looks amazing! I also loved the story arc with his black suit (especially with Venom, that was one of favourite spidey storylines), so I can't wait to see this. Linking it back to Transformers, in the early Marvel UK comics, spidey appeared in the transformers comics in his black costume. There's some trivia for you. Marvel would do anything to sell a comic, I mean, really, spiderman and transformers is just a weird team up.
Someone posted a great picture on my shark stuff pool over on flickr. The discovery channel building got all dressed up for shark week,check it out, I'm applying to the council for planning permission first thing tomorrow morning.
August 08, 2006
Rabbit village
There have been a lot less slugs about lately. Either they were embarrassed by their appearance on this blog or the hedgehog that was spotted in our garden has a taste for slug meat.
Went to Royal quays, hadn't been before but ended up going twice this week to say goodbye and hello to Andys mum as she was going on a cruise from the nearby dock. Also got to meet Matts dad (or papa bear as we've been calling him), having visited my own parents recently it seems to be the time of year for catching up with family.
Anyway, Royal quays is a weird place. It's a big retail place filled with discount stuff. But theres lots of odd things. Like rabbit village ( a random petting corner, although according to the sign the rabbits don't like you entering rabbit village, so I guess maybe you are just meant to look at them). This was a super fluffy rabbit, which we deduced was lord of rabbit village because he had his own little hutch cordoned off from the others. Either that or he was particularly bitey.
There is also a lot of old fashioned cars around, for no discernable reason.
And these poor seals were locked in, and the owner hadn't opened a window for them. It's summer for gods sake! They'll die in there!
There is also a clock with a big rotating head on it, which scared Andy a little bit.
But I did get an amazingly yummy ice cream, chocolate seville sundae. I wish I had one now.
I also got a new t-shirt for training in which looks like something from a comic book. Because if you're going to do martial arts you should dress like a super hero. At least that's what I think.
I've also done a logo for Bugpowder, as I'm sure you've noticed they have different logos up all the time. You'll be able to spot mine, it has fish on it.
August 05, 2006
slugs ahoy
With the increased number of great white sightings around the UK, it seems that maybe they are in these waters after all. And about time too. If I can't afford to travel to exotic locations to see a nice big toothy shark then it's up to them to come see me. I have also discovered that tuna mayo is a very good way to attract sharks and it isn't as stinky as chum:
I will present my findings to the oceanographic society at a later date.
I wish I was at Caption this weekend, boo hoo. I'm missing out on a fuzzy felt workshop. I love fuzzy felt.
Instead I'm at home (which has become the hottest nightclub for slugs)
trying to salvage what I can of my graphic novel off my idiot computer, praying I don't have to re-scan the entire thing, because that will take months. I need to send a pdf version off to publishers and also to converse, who probably want to see how I've used their product (the main character wears a pair). I noticed in a little shoe shop in Bray, when I was visiting Ireland, that Scott Morse has done a limited edition pair. Unfortunately I didn't have 60 euros, but I did manage a sly photo.
I love Scotts work, and I'd love to see him do more stuff for DC and Marvel too. His Electra was very cool.
Speaking of DC, I saw Superman Returns the other day. I have to say, Marvels movie intro is way better than DCs.
I thought it was okay, apart from the kid, that whole storyline was awful. My favourite bit was the opening credits, with the John Williams theme tune and the original style font, that was worth going to the cinema for!
I also saw pirates of the caribbean, which I would rate highly simply because there is a good sea monster in it and lots of fish-people things which I enjoyed. As it had a higher sea boggly rating than most movies, it made it good by my reckoning. However, I have happily sat through Jaws the revenge more than once so my opinion probably doesn't count for much.
August 01, 2006
I'm back!
After a lovely trip to Ireland, I'm back and ready to get started on my next comic - issue 3 of Monstrum!!!
I had a great time in my home town of Greystones (flickr set here), where I caught up with my family and my pal Aileen.
Sheriff and Emma gave me a toy squid and a toy shark before I left, so I took them with me and did a little photo story (even on holiday, I can't help it). Flickr set here.
Looks like I'll be missing out on caption this weekend, boo! I love caption, it's one of the most fun conventions in the world because it's more like hanging out in the pub with your mates than attending a convention. And hanging out in the pub is one of my favourite hobbies.
July 18, 2006
My PDF hell
Moomins! Moomins! Moomins! I love Moomins. Via Bugpowder
And the new cartoon based on Mignolas 'Screw on head' (one of the bestest comics ever)! Via drawn.
I've only seen stills so far because my idiot computer won't show it.
And speaking of stupid computers, I can't get my book off my other rubbish computer. I may have to visit publishers in person with my idiot computer so they can read it. I have two cdr files, because it couldn't deal with the book in one sitting, which was fine when I was just printing it out. But now I need to combine the two cdr files, add all the text again (because the computer had a hissy fit and decided the book was better without text) and then convert it to a pdf. At the moment the damn thing won't even open one of the files, never mind two. Yes, I'm talking about you, stupid machine. Grr.
July 16, 2006
beer festival
Here's that dedication I mentioned (click on it to go to my flickr page, where you can find a bigger more legible version):
And here are the endpages and cover of the finished book:
And here are some interior pages from the little books:
Had lots of fun at a beer festival yesterday. Drank some overpriced cider, met some cute dogs with great names (pudding and ninja) and everything else is a bit blurry, but I'm sure it was good.
The Cumberland has the bestest toilets, they are wallpapered with old comics:
More pics on flickr, including pudding the dog and a cardboard bee.