Leonieblog

That British/Polish anthology that I contributed to sometime ago is now available:
http://www.polygobooks.com/newbritishcomics
I haven't had a chance to have a good read of it as it's just turned up, but the artwork is of a high standard throughout. Apart from my contribution, which isn't quite how I thought. I could've sworn I did something pretty good. Tony did a great script and I painted it up with much care. I think it looks really weak black and white, which is my fault entirely, I probably should've done it in a black and white friendly style instead. Apparently Frank Quietly bought some copies. How embarrassing. Oh well, next time he sees some my work it'll be super awesome.
Apart from that, it looks great, so go check it out.

Posted by Leonie at 06:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

New postcard. I'm hoping to exhibit work in Washington DC in May, and this is a new postcard I designed to take with me as freebies. I might put some around at the Bristol convention too.

Posted by Leonie at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Okay. It's done. You can buy it now!

Monstrum Horrendum Vol. 2 Book 1:

Available from Lulu

I had an awesome birthday, which stretched from Friday through to Tuesday, and included a trip to York (a really great city, lots for tourists to do!), some Ewoks, Obama, pitching to Current TV, Jack Bauer and a shark cake.
check out Flickr for photos.

Posted by Leonie at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

some of my work is being exhibited next weekend ( which happens to be very close to my birthday. Just a reminder incase anyone forgot a card / gift. ) Here are the details :

Zinefest! is on Saturday 24th January 2009, 12-4pm.
It's Free and at The Women's Library, 25 Old Castle Street, London
Awesome people contributing to the event (exhibiting/selling work/running workshops etc.) :
Lizz Lunney, Charlotte Percival, Sarah Lippett, Rosie Brice, Karrie Fransman, Erica Akerlund, Lady Lucy, Flo Brooks, Carolyn Alexander, Kate Dickinson, Jenny Linn-Cole, Kate Evans, Liz Greenfield, Leonie O’Moore, Carol Swain, Tanya Meditzky, Francesca Cassavetti, Isy Morgenmuffel, Sarah Ray, Jeremy Dennis, Sally-Anne Hickman, Laura Stimpson, Karoline Rerrie, Ellen Lindner, Sarah Lynch, Sarah McIntyre, Lucy Sweet, Siobhan Bowers, Rachael House, Lee Kennedy, Jess Bradley, Heather Middleton, Jackie Batey, Iro Tsavala, Siobhan Britton, Mireille Fauchon, Emma Welch, Susie Rumsby, plus more.

Also, I got Monstrum back from the printers, it was a bit of a mess. I've sorted out all the problems and I'm just waiting for the new proofs. Then it will be available to buy. I know everyone will be super excited about it. I was going to realease it on the 20th, but I didn't want to steal Obama's thunder.

Posted by Leonie at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just a quick post to let you know that Monstrum Horrendum, Book 1 Vol. 2. has been uploaded to Lulu and I'm just waiting for the proof copies. (Which usually take weeks to show up) I think they'll need a lot of adjusting, judging by the preview, so although Monstrum is finally finished, it will probably be another month before it's available to buy. Boo!
I had an awesome Christmas (there will be the usual photos up soon), hope you all had a great time over the festive period too.

Posted by Leonie at 10:35 AM | Permalink

Postcards have arrived! The image is a new piece of artwork based on a character from "Love the monsters", my first full solo comic from quite a long time ago! I am giving the postcards away for free! I shall be distributing them through comic stores / galleries/ whatever! This batch is quite small, but probably the first of many. I got them done at vistaprint. Some of the printing is a bit hit and miss, but they're good for the price.

Posted by Leonie at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Well, it's been a strange and busy few weeks. The Christmas tree went up this weekend, which is far too early, but I am impatient and I love a nice Christmassy atmosphere.
I've been working on some new stuff, putting together some new art for an exhibition in London (a detail from one piece is above,the characters are from a short comic I did many years ago called Mistakes and Regrets. Page one of the new Monstrum will also be on display), curating a touring exhibition (which looks set to be BIG! If anyone has any funding or sponsorship advice please contact me!) and I've been working on a couple of comic projects. I'm going to say January for the release of the new Monstrum, which is now called Book 1, not issue 3. And I'm looking in to attending either Angouleme or a festival in Poland in March. I'm not sure which, if either, I'll manage. If you have been to Angouleme and can suggest anwhere cheap to stay, please let me know!
I have also made some postcards which will be FREE! I'm just waiting to get them back from the printers. If they look good I will be making quite a few more. If you know of any where good to distribute them (like comic stores) please let me know.
Also attended the screening of Andy's documentary, which was awesome. That's the one that me, Andy, Sheriff and Gerry travelled to L.A. to make. It looked great on the big screen. Hopefully we can get some money to make a longer one.
So, just to recap, if you know of anywhere cheap to stay in France, know of any good arts funding or sponsors, know of some comic stores that would like awesome free postcards, or know of anyone who wants to fund a documentary, please contact me.
And that is all for today.

Posted by Leonie at 05:23 PM | Permalink

Okay, so here's how NOT to make a comic. And just for the record, this is a one - off example and not typical of how I work. i.e. I'm not a complete goof.
First of all, remember Monstrum? It's a comic series I started many, many years ago. Many years ago. And now I'm on issue three. Here's how much it's changed from the first issue to now:

Continue reading "Anatomy of a disaster comic" »

Posted by Leonie at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The new issue of Colouring Outside The Lines has an interview with me in it! Order a copy and check it out. It's a great zine so you should buy it anyway, there's a really diverse mix of artists in it, you'll find all sorts of new art you hadn't seen before.
Also, one of the charity comics I did a while ago ('Do you want to kiss it better?') has been rereleased as a downloadable file, which means that you can now see my contribution in all it's original full colour splendour.
Monstrum is coming on well, I've chosen the most convoluted way of making it so it's taking three times longer than a normal comic. It looks like this, but painted:

I'm hoping to send off some submission samples at the start of next week. Then I only have another 30 or so pages to colour, paint, scan and letter. Then it's all done. Maybe in time for Christmas. Definitely not in time for the Birmingham comic convention, which I will definitely be attending. Train tickets have arrived. It's definite.

Sheriff has a new blog, you'll like it. http://sheriffmitchell.com/

Posted by Leonie at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Well, I haven't got any good photos from the dive, it wasn't really the best conditions for photography. There's some up at Flickr if you're interested.
The dive itself was excellent, I saw some big sandtigers, tope and rays!

As I was waiting to descend (you have to climb down a rope to the main part of the tank) a sandtiger swam past. As her dorsal fin cut through the water, what with the unnatural lighting and bits of metal grating jutting out of the water and the over head walk way, it reminded me of Deep Blue Sea. Awesome! We had to cut the dive a little short as the sharks had started circling and getting a bit too familiar. I also got in trouble for standing up (you're meant to stay close to the floor so as not to disturb the mid-level shark traffic). But it's hard to remember all that stuff when there's supercool massive fish whizzing about. It feels like it happened ages ago, it was a really unique experience for me, it all seems so surreal. Now it's like a memory of a dream that happened to someone else on telly.
Thanks to Malcy for letting us stay over at such short notice. It turns out there are no trains out of Edinburgh after 7.00. I think it's some ploy to make you stay there at expensive festival season prices. Malcy has some excellent new comics out, I read them a few days ago and they're great. I've reviewed them for Comics International, so I won't say much more about them now.
I'm just getting Monstrum ready to send off to publishers for consideration. I'm still planning on self-publishing so if they all turn it down it doesn't matter. I'm teaching in Sunderland tomorrow and generally keeping very busy at the moment (so, of course I've had a ton of neat ideas for new projects.) I seem to mainly be creative underpressure.
Hey, anyone going to the Birmingham comic convention (October) or Angouleme (January)? I'll make it to some comic event in the near future, hopefully both of those.

Posted by Leonie at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

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!

Posted by Leonie at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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?

Posted by Leonie at 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I did this for an anthology, but they don't want to use it now so I thought I'd just post it up here instead.

Posted by Leonie at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Saw this on Flickr, looks like they've used my drawing for the Caption flyers. Sweet!

Posted by Leonie at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

About half way through the pencils for issue 4 of Monstrum! There will be a new web page to go with it. I might run issues 4 and 5 together.
On to some reviews:
Michael Burness says this about 'The creator' (Art by me, story by Tony Hitchman, for 'Zombies' anthology published by Accent UK:
"Not great art wise but a cracking read with an excellent twist at the end."

Glad to say that I will be teaming up again with Tony in the future, he writes good stuff and supplies nice layouts with the script (he has a good visual eye too so it's fun to draw)

Stephen Holland had this to say about 'Green' (the charity comic I blogged recently):

"Do You Want To Kiss It Better #1 (£2-50) by various. Published in support of the World Land Trust - and printed on recycled paper using vegetable oil-based inks on presses run on 100% local wind power by people eating dandelions and non-dairy buttercups grown free-range in their gardens - this is, like many a worthy endeavour, a mixed bag of Quorn. "Cause And Effect" by Shiro (not Matsumune) may well be lifted from - sorry inspired by - USAGI YOJIMBO or some other Buddhist tract but even if so, elevated it has been into a wonderfully fluid series of panels with some fabulous curves, superb brush flourishes and unusual and dynamic camera angles. It's an anthropomorphic life lesson whose figures Mike Kunkel (HEROBEAR AND THE KID) wouldn't have been disappointed in. "Introducing The Opossum Shrimp" by Leonie O'Moore was commendable succinct and bang on-target, whilst the rest... the rest of the people mean well and are therefore saved from my usual range of heartless, caustic witherisms. Details of how to make your purchase can be found at the link."

Yep...I was quite surprised at how well I came off in that review.

Posted by Leonie at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Pencilling is underway on Issue 3 of Monstrum. And this time I might actually finish it. Yay.
I am having quite a few problems with this blog, sorry if you encounter any spam or have difficulties leaving a message, I'm trying to sort it out!

Posted by Leonie at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Part three of 'Job Search' - the webcomic I'm doing for Indie Review - Is now up :
Job Search 3

You may have seen Philip Pullmans new comic in the newspaper at the weekend. It's a little bit Monstrum - esque (you know Monstrum Horrendum right? The comic book I managed to do two issues of many years ago and I keep threatening to do the next two issues any day now...) Obviously this was going to happen at some point, since it's a pretty straight forward formula and an easy to write premise. I'd probably enjoy another comic about sea monsters but I'm not really in to his writing. Clearly a lot of people are, what with his best sellers and all that, but I just find that his books are full of stuff that I know I should like but I just don't connect with them. As much as I love self-publishing, monstrum was one of the few pieces that I hoped would be picked up by a publisher some day, and the artwork and writing has come on loads recently so I was hoping that day would be soon. But I doubt anyone will look twice at it now. And lord help anyone who asks me if I was influenced by his comic! It's awesome that they're trying to revive comics for children, something I'm a great supporter of, but the way the papers are going on you'd swear he was the first person to ever write one!
Anyway, I'm struggling at the moment to do any drawing. I'm working two big jobs at the moment which don't allow me any time for my own comics, or anything else for that matter! I'm missing out on a lot of my martial arts training too. But, I have bills and debts and an expensive chocolate habit to pay for, so I have to work hard.
I do have a renewed determination to do an awesome comic though, so I've pulled out that dusty old script for Monstrum 3 and for a graphic novel idea I had years ago. I'm going to try to get both on the go.
Also, it looks like I might be able to bring out my own range of t-shirts afterall (you may remember I was having trouble finding a way to do it that wouldn't end in me becoming bankrupt)
I went to Leeds at the weekend and I would recommend a visit to the Royal Armouries (if you like that sort of thing.)
I thought this weapon was particularly impressive, it's a knuckle-duster/gun/knife.

It could do with a flame thrower / harpoon attachment.

Posted by Leonie at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I haven't blogged in a while because I'm ridiculously busy right now. Not with anything too interesting, just busy with stuff.
FLOOD, the charity comic for the Red Cross is now available to download, it features one page of fishy goodness by me, and a bunch of stuff by other people. But most importantly there's a page by me. With fish.
FLOOD at Lulu
And the original artwork in all its full colour painted glory is available to buy. E-mail me if you are interested.
I will be teaming up with Tony Hitchman again to work on another short comic piece, you may have seen our previous collaborations in Accent UK books and in Tag Team. I'm looking forward to it!
I should also be attending Caption this year, hooray!

Posted by Leonie at 09:49 PM | Permalink

Part two of my Free Web Comic 'Job Search' over at Indie Review.

Posted by Leonie at 05:50 PM | Permalink

Do You Want To Kiss It Better? the charity comic is now available to buy. I haven't bought a copy yet because I just got back, I think I might have some work in it:
http://www.forbiddenplanet.com/products/34529
I will tell you all about my California adventure, with photos, very soon, I'm just very very tired right now.

Posted by Leonie at 02:46 PM | Permalink

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!

Posted by Leonie at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This years Caption event is themed 'Timewarp', so I've painted a little time travelling minx for their auction. I will send it to them as soon as I find somewhere that still sells cardbacked envelopes.

Posted by Leonie at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)

Issue 205 of Comics International magazine is now available to buy. I'd like to thank Steve Hooker for making it the best issue so far, as he gave my book 'Some forgotten part' an awesome review. It's actually the best review I've ever had. Go and read it!

Posted by Leonie at 11:22 AM | Permalink

In March two of my webcomics will be launched on different sites. It's just how the timing has worked out, I didn't plan it that way.

Ryans Bad Day

This is a short three-parter which I did for Apocalypse Comics - a new online retailer who are very supportive of the small press, go check them out!

Job Search

This is a new strip for Indie Review. It may run for some time as I have a ton of scripts for it.

Posted by Leonie at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Detail from my latest comic strip. I'm a bit behind on my comics, it's hard to find the time or the motivation right now. I am quite pleased with this strip, it's a two pager for a charity comic.
I did a strip for the Flood charity comic too, but I'm not sure what's happened to that. I'll post up a detail from it at some point as I was quite pleased with how that turned out too.

This is some weird toy from a vending machine. I didn't make it, even though it looks suspiciously like one of my creations. You can get one of these amazing toys for only 20 pence. It is part of a balloon filled with sand, note the realisitic hair (made from wool) and the striking features of the printed face. Definitely a bargain.

Posted by Leonie at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Just working on some new webcomics at the moment. Painting up a new Monstrum strip that will go up on www.comicspace.com and then I'm doing one for a new comic retail site. I did a series of web strips for Indie review but they haven't put them up yet, I think they're making a new section or something.
It's taken me a while to get back on my feet after Christmas, I came down with some horrible virus and it really took it out of me. Although I did get to spend all day on the sofa watching DVDs, which was nice.

Posted by Leonie at 03:51 PM | Permalink

Drink and draw last night, we didn't hang around too long, some photos on flickr.
We were given some amazing spleenal figures to customise. Very exciting. He even included a little spleenal sketch book for doodling ideas as I was complaining that I'd mess it up.

Posted by Leonie at 02:54 PM | Permalink

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.

Posted by Leonie at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

More about Tag Team over at Tizer Soze. If you're a contributor, go check it out because the one line summaries of each story are very good.

Myfanwy Tristram is collecting together all the entries of the recent Observer graphic story competition. This is a great idea, when I got the paper to see who had won I was surprised that I hadn't heard of any of the entrants (where were all the stars of the small press?) and I really wanted to see the other work that hadn't made it to the final selection. I'm glad to see some familiar names up on the site and I'm also enjoying the debates that have been springing up. There are also so many other names that I hadn't come across before in my geeky exploits, granted I have missed a lot of conventions and I don't review as much as I used to, so it makes me think: Are there more people making comics in the UK than there are people reading them? It could happen.

Posted by Leonie at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Tag Team is now available to buy.
Stories by Dave West, Nigel Auchterlounie, Andrew Richmond, Michael O'Keefe, Colin Mathieson, Tony Hitchman and Ian Mayor and artwork by me. Thanks to everyone who contributed!
Original pages can be bought at bargain prices over at my main website: www.lomoore.com

More updates to my site: Illustration and Painting pages have been merged, new buy art page added, and some other little changes here and there. Check it out.

Posted by Leonie at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Hurrah! More kind words about my book 'Some Forgotten Part', this time over at : http://tizersoze.wordpress.com/. Tizer Soze is a pretty genius title.
It's a blog with lots of webcomics and musings and other such interesting stuff which you should go check out. And the author has also contributed to the upcoming 'Tag Team' comic. Oh, the world of comics is so incestuous!
While I'm at it, here's some more blogs from 'Tag team' contributors:

http://spleenal.blogspot.com/

http://www.ianmayor.blogspot.com/

Posted by Leonie at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Preview of my strip'The creator' over at Accent UK. It's for their 2008 Accent UK anthology, 'Robots', and it was written by Tony Hitchman.
New comic 'Tag Team' is pretty much ready to go to print, woo hoo! I'm also finishing off some comic strips for the web.
But it's not all hard work, I have managed to squeeze in numerous cups of tea, some light television viewing and I picked up my Phase 2 grading in the IKAEF (International Kali Arnis Eskrima Federation) system. I've also been sorting out the new Team Phoenix website, myspace and other general designy stuff. (I also designed the new uniforms and the door sign and welcome packs and stuff)

Posted by Leonie at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There's an article over at the new Indie Review website which caught my attention. In it, Tom Humberstone briefly touches on a topic which most people working or striving to work in a creative industry will find familiar.
Art - Comic Art.
For years I tried to dress up my comic work as sequential art, going so far as to submit an entire dissertation which ultimately concluded that 'comics are art and I'm not wasting my time, so there, now leave alone you big meanies'. Once I accepted that comics didn't need to be art and that it's okay to be me, I fell in to exactly the same trap all over again. This time I tried to apologise for my 'commercial' work as a designer and remarket my work as fine art. Again, I realised that segregating the different elements of my work was not the answer, and that the 'arts scene' was generally horrendous anyway. I do design, illustration, comics, even write stuff, and it's all the same because it's all by me. Why don't some people get that? Why do comic artists need to validate what they do and why do artists get respect, grants and kudos for intangible conceptual weirdness? Perhaps that bitter thought could form the basis of a new dissertation. Okay, rant over. Just be glad I wasn't drunk when I wrote this! DISCLAIMER:I have many good friends who are artists and, before I get inundated with grumpy mails from them, I'm not specfically talking about any individuals, I'm just making general sweeping statements.

Posted by Leonie at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This site sets you a challenge. Nice idea if you fancy creating something and need a starting point. I think I've already done three out of the five challenges currently posted.
http://52comicchallenges.com/

Here's a question:
What do you do when your paper is too thick to use a light box?
Lately I've been doing my inking on heavy paper (lightboxed from the initial pencil sketches) so I can paint on it. However, it's really hard to make out the pencil sketches, so it's impossible to use detailed pencil drawings.
This is one of the reasons why Some Forgotten Part was drawn straight onto the painting in ink, so I could do away with the pencils. But this won't work for every project. I used some carbon paper type stuff for 'The Creature' strip (written by Tony Hitchman), but this too had its own set of problems. I've also tried doing inks and paint on different layers, but this didn't work well for me.
I might try a cellulose thinner print and see how well it copes with paint.
Suggestions are welcome!

Posted by Leonie at 10:28 AM | Permalink

Drink and Draw Robot by Spleenal. More pictures on MySpace (You probably need an account to see them though)
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=246913947

Posted by Leonie at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

You may have noticed that my next comic, 'Tag Team', has been delayed. Basically, I'm a few pages short. A few of the writers have not been able to send on scripts (the usual case with small press comics, people are busy with real life jobs and stuff), so now I'm stuck without anything to draw and I want to publish this soon!

So, if you'd like to send a script within the next four days, just email me.

Scripts need to be:
an original piece with original characters (no copyright infringement)
one to two pages in length

There is no theme or genre. Writers retain copyright of their script, I retain copyright of the artwork. There is no profit expected, although if money is somehow generated royalties will be shared out in the normal way. The comic will be printed through Lulu.

Posted by Leonie at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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.

Posted by Leonie at 03:02 PM | Permalink

I came across this blog by D'Israeli about the humble brush pen. This is one of my top two pens in the world ever. Yeah, I'm even geeky when it comes to pens. I've used it on two of the stories in my upcoming comic TagTeam, and will probably use it on a couple more. Here's some of my most recent panels (using the brush pen)

From 'the failure of the Gant probe' written by Nigel Auchterlounie

From 'Walk on by' written by Andy Richmond.

We're having a Newcastle comics people pub meet on Sunday. Contact me if you are in the area and want to come along.

Posted by Leonie at 03:50 PM | Permalink

I wasn't expecting such a positive response to my book. Thanks to everyone who has mailed me and everyone who has bought the book! I was actually a bit surprised that it's started selling straight away. Although, no one has actually read it yet and I haven't had any feedback about it yet.....maybe I shouldn't get too excited!
Anyway, thanks for all the support! Years from now when I am sitting in my mansion, waiting for the MTV cribs crew to turn up, wearing a chinchilla fur dress and solid gold shoes, slurping champagne from a ming vase through a diamond encrusted straw, I will look back at this moment and shed a little tear of joy. I like to think that's how Stan Lee lives.
The image above is a painting of an octopus that I did yesterday. You can buy or commission paintings through my site now. (Hey, how else am I going to get on cribs and live the Stan Lee lifestyle I should be accustomed to?)

Posted by Leonie at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

Some Forgotten Part, my graphic novel (remember that thing I've been working on? Did it during an MA? Built a blog around it? Y'know, that thing?) IS NOW AVAILABLE TO BUY!
http://www.lulu.com/content/696776
The print on demand has worked out well, although it has made it a bit pricey, sorry about that!
It's done! Woo hoo!
(BTW, this was the fish related news you've been waiting for)

Posted by Leonie at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1268)

Something good is coming......keep checking to find out the good news.
It involves fish.

Posted by Leonie at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

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.

Posted by Leonie at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tag Team is coming along nicely, so far there are stories from Nigel Auchterlounie, Andy Richmond, Dave West, Colin Mathieson and Tony Hitchman. I haven't had much time to work on it, but it should be finished soon. I've made some little fuzzy wrestlers which will be used in a photo shoot for the cover.
I've spent the last few weeks working on SFP (my ill fated graphic novel). Everything that could go wrong has gone very wrong. I've invested so much time trying to get this thing up on lulu.com that to give up now would seem like such a waste. Hopefully it will be available at some point.
Gavin Pollock is working on a graphic novel for children:

If you are interested in publishing it or know of a suitable publisher, please get in touch and I will pass the information on to him.

Posted by Leonie at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Buy my shirt on Uneetee for one day only! (Thanks for the support Sheriff!)

Also, the new anthology from Accent UK is available, it's all about Zombies with a cover by Steve Bissette!! It's awesome, and I have a two page strip in it too!

Posted by Leonie at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

These are some of the pencil roughs from my new comic, Tag Team. This story is by Tony Hitchman and is a creature from the black lagoon-esque tale. I'm hoping to sell it through print on demand site Lulu, but with all the hassle I'm having with SFP, I might need to look at alternatives. I'm also considering selling the original pages from this comic too, the comic will be black and white but the originals will be in glorious colour!
Thanks for all the nice comments about my Uneetee day, I'm very excited. It's not my best tshirt, but they've said I can submit more stuff in the future. T-shirts should become a big part of my site, all limited edition and very unique!

Posted by Leonie at 01:43 PM | Permalink

A painting from the comic I'm currently working on (called Tag Team). This page is based on a song written by Dave West which was inspired by There Goes Tokyo... (me and Andys old comic company).

Posted by Leonie at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

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......

Posted by Leonie at 09:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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!

Posted by Leonie at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well, I haven't gotten too far with that new issue of Monstrum that I keep promising. I managed some new images of the characters (see above for part of the Ella one in black and white) which will probably get used on the intro page. I've got all the page break downs done, and I've decided to go with the new UK format, I got some very reasonable quotes from smallzone, so once I get my act together I'll give them a go. I joked a while ago that I was working on a novel, just for fun, which would probably be finished first. Well, it's going strong, so it probably will get finished first. I'm feeling a bit out of it all, having missed every convention this year.
I haven't had any freelance work in a while which has made me a bit mopey, and usually that makes me draw even more, but not this time. So I'm trying the age old trick of getting a beautiful new sketch book to fill up, then I'll go in for the second round with Monstrum. I've been pretty busy too....with Jaws unleashed, the best game ever. I don't know why this got such rubbish reviews. It's amazing. You're a huge shark who just wants to cause mayhem. What could be better?
I've just read the new Spirit/Batman comic, it's great. But it's by Darwyn Cooke and Jeph Loeb, (with Dave Stewart on colours) so how could it be anything but great? Darwyn Cooke will also be doing the new Spirit series, so I think it'll be amazing. I've also been reading some great small press stuff, but you'll have to read the review section of Comics International to find out more about that.

Posted by Leonie at 04:22 PM | Permalink

Well, I've typed up 39 pages of script for the new issue of monstrum. I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with it!
I've also just finished a new illustration which I have a feeling may get rejected on the grounds of it being a bit odd. I thought I'd try something new, using a digital collage and an inked drawing. I'm not too sure about the results.
I also checked out this blog, after they'd left a message here, and whilst looking through their archives found this entry which really amused me.
In fairness, there was a brief time when I was regularly featured on Bugpowder, but obviously my popularity has waned as I sneezed twice yesterday and there has been no mention of it.
Their comic looks good, but very overlooked, so remember to order a copy next time you get stuff at smallzone.
Nigel Auchterlounie has another excellent Bunny girl and pig boy comic out. Unfortunately, it's published by Pirhana press who don't seem to sell to comic stores or anything so I don't know how people can get hold of it. I'll try and find out because it seems such a shame that it's so hard to buy.

Posted by Leonie at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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?

Posted by Leonie at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've just finished and sent off a web comic. I'm not sure if or when it will appear on the internet, above is a little sample section.

I'm leaving in my dissertation to be bound tomorrow, it's called :
'Making comics: What issues are affecting creators in the comic industry today?'
It's a snappy title. It's quite a few hundred words over the suggested word count, but most of that is Eddie Campbells Manifesto which I've used as an appendix. Plus I had a pretty good sized bibliography.

Got some freelance stuff on, so no cake, cider or shark shortages in Leonieland just yet. After reporting on the abysmal Megalodon movie, I am happy to say I watched a crap but not as crap shark movie the other night which restored my faith in the genre. Sharkzone uses some actual great white footage (repeatedly) and a dodgey model which seems to have a hole in the roof of its mouth. The plot is ripped off from from Jaws and a scene from shark attack 2 (which was ripped off from Jaws anyway), also some of the shark footage looked similar to the stuff used in bits of shark attack 3. There is also a pointless subplot about diamonds. Why do these people think they need anything other than the shark as the plot? I don't remember Jaws needing russian businessmen, diamonds, oil drilling, nuclear waste dumping etc. to add tension. As usual there is a terrible script and horrendous acting. What makes this movie stand out is the fact that the sharks growl and roar like big cats while attacking. Also, whenever anyone is surprised by the appearance of a shark (how do they sneak up while growling?) they exclaim: 'Jesus, sharks!' which I thought was genius.

Posted by Leonie at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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!

Posted by Leonie at 11:37 AM | Permalink

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:

Posted by Leonie at 12:23 PM | Permalink

It hasn't all been trips to the cinema and all you can eat chinese buffets this weekend. No, I have also been working and I have finally managed to make my graphic novel in to a PDF, ready to be sent out to publishers. I have also designed little promo booklets to go with the discs, to encourage them to actually look at it.
Below is the front (on the right) and back page (on the left). Under that is the interior spread. The big white gaps are for the text (which will explain how amazingly brilliant my book is) and the booklets will be A5 size, matte.

Posted by Leonie at 07:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

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.

Posted by Leonie at 11:40 AM | Permalink

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.

Posted by Leonie at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1st - 7th of August is Clown Week. Get your creepy clown ecards here for the big event.

The exhibition went well, I had 3 A2 sized prints and then a plinth with the finished graphic novel (bound with some lovely leather and great typography, thank you Deirdre!) and three small books filled with sketches. Here are the prints:

And here are the books:

It feels odd to be finished. I need to re-do the text and put the book together as a PDF and start hassling publishers again. Just waiting to do my final assessment this morning, then I just have to hand in my dissertation (in September) and I'm all done. I'm not sure what I'm doing after that. Maybe I should apply to do another MA in September....
Congratulations to Richard Starzecki, who has just had a baby boy. Well, actually Kari had the baby, but you know what I mean. Congratulations!

Posted by Leonie at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here is wookie enjoying my graphic novel. He says it's good, but he has been known to lie. This is the mock up copy, the final one should be finished soon.

I've been doing some kids comic book workshops over the last couple of days with primary schools. Some of the genius strips included memorable lines such as: " I'm going to raid this semi-concious man ". "Better bring your scared face " "Where is my dress? Oh, I am wearing it!" and this gem below:

Which reads:
Panel one: " I'm gonna fight you."
"oh yeah, bring it on."
Panel two: " Oh I'm so scared"
"When I fight you I bite you because I'm Black Diamond."
Black Diamond was a bare knuckle boxer they were learning about.
Also, in one of the comics, someone was knocked out when they tripped up over a dog. It's been a surreal two days.

Posted by Leonie at 05:48 PM | Permalink

Godzilla vs a giant trout. Meal times are never boring around here.
Nearly finished the book. Have decided to print the entire thing at home, double sided A4 (it was intended as an A4 book anyway) and then it will be hand bound by genius bookbinder Deirdre, (if you've seen the TGT Bishi book or the Gone exhibition comments book, they were both made by her).
At the moment she is finishing off my mock up copy, then we'll set to work on the finished one and hopefully we will make some little books of my early sketches and paintings. So at least my exhibition will kick ass! I've been asking around to see if any publishers are willing to look at it as a PDF file on disc (Fantagraphics had said they would need to see more of the book and this seems like the easiest way).
Thanks again to everyone who has been visiting this blog, the last few weeks have been very tough and your words of encouragement and advice have been much appreciated.
Below is one of the final paintings I did for the book, and possibly my favourite, it's half of a double page spread.

Posted by Leonie at 08:52 PM | Permalink

This is the whole book printed out on single sheets. Looks pretty hefty! Having read through it, I've decided to add four more pages as I don't like the pacing in the first part of the story. It will run at 80 pages, but was originally intended to be much much longer, so I have plenty of stuff I can add in.
I still need to sort out the text, and may have found a printing solution (need to talk to someone this weekend about it).
Top Shelf have turned me down, which I'm not surprised about, and Fantagraphics replied to say they thought it was a childrens book. It's nice they got back in touch, I wasn't really expecting a great response to it. Waiting to see if anyone else gets back about it.

It's probably a tough one for publishers, I should've planned for this before I started.
Here's where I went wrong:
1. They haven't heard of me, so it's risky to begin with. I should've signed my work 'Alan Moore' instead.
2. It's painted and could prove expensive to reproduce. I should've done it standard comic size in black and white or computer coloured.
3. It's not the 'hot' style at the moment. I should've gone Manga, that seems a lot easier to shift.
4. It's not easy to market. I should've been controversial or done something that would sit well in a guardian review. I might try this next time, how hard can it be....
5. It's a tough market. I should've killed off every other comic artist and writer or a least scared them off the idea of wanting to get anything published.
6. Not much room for merchandise. Actually, you can make merchandise from anything these days, that's not a problem.
7. I was going to say it wouldn't make a good movie, but it doesn't matter if it's good or not, they'll try and make it anyway. Maybe it would be a good movie. I'd better get that screenplay ready, just incase.

There's the formula for making a graphic novel. Or not. Maybe that could an experiment.

Posted by Leonie at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

If anyone knows a cheap and reliable printer, now would be a good time to mention them.
As I get closer to completion, I have realised that my options are quite limited. I can't afford to self publish, but I do need to get at least one copy printed up for my final exhibition in July. So far I've been quoted over 100 pounds for one copy, which I can't afford. Also, I'm really stuck for time which isn't great when you want something perfect bound.
Unless a publisher picks it up, this book may not see print past one exhibition copy. I'm considering a print on demand service, but don't think they can deliver in time for the exhibition, and I don't know what the quality is like.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Posted by Leonie at 02:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Some possible cover designs. The typography needs some attention on all of them! I sent some work off to a publisher in New York this morning, I used the one with the white figure falling as the cover (but I changed the lettering). Work is coming on well, about another 45 or so pages to go.
Enjoyed Malcy's gig, and the Lightning Bolt one. Got a copy of that French anthology through the post today, some really great stuff in it, it's a nice little intro to British small press. I think they've only made 50 copies of it, for sale in France. I get to see my work in the same publication as people like Metaphrog, the Rubins sisters, Richard Cowdry and Sean Azzopardi, which is really cool.

Posted by Leonie at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Nigel Auchterlounie has been working on a new comic, actually six new comics. Each one works on its own, but they all relate to each other as well. His work is always weird and clever like that. We met up at the Cluny pub (or 'my office' as I like to think of it) and had a little look. It looks really good, he's also been doing some newspaper style strips which are very funny. His Pigboy comics have been reprinted by Pirahna press, but I don't know what the availability is like. If you haven't read them before you should try and get hold of them.

Above is a panel in progress, underneath it is a full page image.
I'm still working away hard, between trips to 'my office' of course. I only have a few weeks left now, the pressures really on!

Posted by Leonie at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Spread the word about the Start a Story project and download a poster from here. Visit the site here.

Posted by Leonie at 03:37 PM | Permalink

Well, it seems the book project has slowed down/been put on hold for a little bit. Some other projects I've been working on should be available over the next few weeks though.

An anthology of strips from the International manga association which has been translated in to French is due out soon.(cover pictured above, I don't know who the artist is) I have a few pages in it, I'm not sure who else has contributed and I don't know if it will be available outside of France.

The new anthology from Accent UK, "Monsters", also features work by me (as well as some really talented people) and should be available at the Bristol convention. Check out previews on their site to see how much it rocks.

I might be lucky enough to get a page in Andy Richmonds new comic" Destroy Bristol" too (also available at the con, I really should go...)

A while ago I mentioned about an anime and manga exhibition at the Newcastle arts centre, which may turn into a larger exhibition. Well, they've been given the go ahead and I'm helping out with it. So, any collectors, creators or enthusiasts (from outside the UK too) please let me know of any ideas or suggestions or if there is anything you want to contribute / promote / would like to see. Lets make this kick-ass!

PrintROOM have been in touch, they collect zines and artists books and things, archive them and tour them about. Read on to hear about their latest exhibition and I recommend all small pressers send their work in. Trust me, they need more comics!

Continue reading "Anthologies Ahoy!" »

Posted by Leonie at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, I'm 25 pages into my graphic novel. 25 whole pages. Yep, Twenty five. pages. 25. Only another 60 or so to go.
Publishers don't seem willing to look at it until it's totally completed, which is understandable, but it would be nice to have some kind of expression of interest from somebody, just to give me some hope.
Looks like I won't be making it to the Bristol convention. The usual money/time issues (as in, I haven't enough of either).
As the work is piling up and the time is dwindling away, these blogs are getting more infrequent. It's not a sign that I'm too lazy to write anything, it's that I'm too busy to!
I'm also finishing up on a chapter for a book I'm working on. I've been bugging people for help with my research and they've all been so great about it! I got a nice pile of Caption zines from Jenni this morning and everyone's given good interviews and passed the word around.
Just finishing off some paintings today and then I'm going to try and start scanning tomorrow. Then I'm doing some text experiments and I'll be spending the weekend writing (hopefully I can fit in some time at the gym too. And the pub.)
I've put all my flickr pics of my artwork into a set here
Oh, and a comics guy linked to me on myspace, here is his blog (yeah, I have a myspace account. Let's leave it at that).

Posted by Leonie at 02:16 PM | Permalink

I've decided that once I've finished this graphic novel, I'm going to do the greatest issue of Monstrum Horrendum ever! Since it's only issue 3 and the others weren't so great, that should be easily achieved. I'm really itching to do the next issue. I had a story arc ready (I have up to issue 5 planned out), but with such a big gap between issues I couldn't help but come up with some extra stuff. So, hopefully issue 3 will be double the size. And if I can get the cash together, I'll do a decent sized print run.
And my drawing has improved, due to the fact I can now spend time just drawing.
And then there will be issue four....which not only has some great character development but also has a Megalodon. As every good comic should.

Posted by Leonie at 03:13 PM | Permalink

Got a comic from this guy to review and I enjoyed it, so if you have around 3.00 dollars to spare (something like that) you might like to give it a go. I've done a proper review of it for C.I. (Just mentioning that incase he reads this and thinks I'm some kind of slacker)
Also, if you want to get your comic reviewed by a Danish fanzine (and, let's face it, it's always cool to get your comics over to other countries) send it to these guys. I don't speak the lingo, so I don't know what they are saying on the site, but there are lots of pictures of comics and their e-mail was very polite.
Graeme from Bookville is putting the word out about a Publishathon in Hull. There was some info about it over at Bugpowder a while ago, but he also got in touch to say they want to encourage new publishers and if there are any artists willing to do talks or workshops please let him know.
And, finally......If there are any anime fans in Newcastle around mid-May (I'm sorry the info is so vague) there should be a small exhibition including original cells at the Newcastle Arts Centre, Westgate rd. If it goes well, it may lead to a larger exhibition, so go show your support!
I'm off to do some doodles. I mean art.

Posted by Leonie at 01:30 PM | Permalink

Drawn have featured Start a story which you may remember I blogged about a while ago when I contributed this gem to one of their projects.
They also do a colouring book project which I should be participating in over the next few weeks. It's easy to take part in their projects and they're great fun, especially if you're in to sequential art or 'comics' as the common folk call them.

I've been getting quite a few enquiries lately about There Goes Tokyo... which means that there is either a rise in people starting off in small press comics or the old site has been recently linked to somewhere. There Goes Tokyo... doesn't do much these days, we aren't totally defeated, but we don't produce much and we don't run events anymore, unfortunately.
So, for those of you who may be about to email me asking about small press stuff, here's my small press short cut list:

http://www.bugpowder.com/ -find out about everything thats going on here
http://www.smallzone.co.uk/ -buy, sell, print small press comics
Engine comics -keep up to date with goings on and promote your comic in RedEye magazine
Comics International-Promote your comic and get it reviewed in Comics International

All the other stuff (events, anthologies, publishers etc.) you'll find out about via these sources. There is tons out there, this will just help you get started.

Posted by Leonie at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

If you enjoyed Poop-o-rama, then you'll love this. The Owly one made me giggle.
I got this via the Dan Fish site. Yoink.

Posted by Leonie at 12:22 PM | Permalink

This is a panel from a strip I've just sent off to Accent UK for their new anthology. It's about a Thai boxing sloth. If that doesn't make you want to buy it then I don't know what will. I'm not sure when it will be released yet.
I've just finished up on some new illustrations for a publisher in London, so I haven't got much happening in terms of freelance work right now.
At the moment I'm doing some research for a book to do with comics and I would really like to get in touch with Pete Pavement (who used to run Slab-O-Concrete). If anyone knows how to contact him, please can you ask him to get in touch with me, I really need to speak with him!

Posted by Leonie at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today I took part in a Sumi (Japanese ink) workshop given by Christine Flint Sato, an artist based in Japan.
We got to play with lots of nice brushes and we found out how the ink and brushes are made. Surprisingly, it is still mostly done by hand as there are parts of the process that can't be done using machinery. I was using Chinese ink because Japanese ink is quite hard to come by over here and it is also a lot more expensive. I think the only difference is that Chinese ink has more glue in it because China has harder water. The ink comes as a stick (made from soot and animal glue) which you have to grind using an ink stone with a little water. (You can see these in the picture above, the ornate gold imagery on the stick gets ground down too and adds a sheen to the ink. Japanese ink is generally less ornate, usually with only a few characters on it.)The brushes are made from different types of animal hair such as badger hair (or Racoon dog as they call it in Japan), horse hair, goat hair and chicken feathers.
You have to work in the opposite way to watercolour in terms of washes, as the first layer will always be on top. So it's more like cell painting in that respect. I had fun, but there are so many varients and techniques that it will take me a lot more practice to make use of it!

Posted by Leonie at 07:28 PM | Permalink

Okay, this project is driving me insane. I thought I was happy with it, but not I'm not so sure. I'm finding it hard to step back and view it objectively and I feel like I've lost sight of what it was I really wanted in the first place.
Help me out. View these three sample pages and tell me what you like/don't like about them. Which one is best? Are they all rubbish?
I've selected one page from the book and made it in three different ways based on how I've been working recently. The sequence takes place in an underwater environment.
Tell me your views either by posting comments here or e-mailing me.

Posted by Leonie at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

In October, 2005 I interviewed Bryan Talbot. It was important research for my dissertation, but also for my practical work as Bryan is best known for his graphic novels. Here is an edited version of the interview. If you have anything to ask or add to this, please leave a comment or contact me.
Sorry it's taken me so long to transcribe this! If you want to find out more about Bryan's work or see what he's up to then check out his website: http://www.bryan-talbot.com/

Continue reading "The Bryan Talbot interview, Oct.2005" »

Posted by Leonie at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm the first person to submit a story to the Foto Folly project on www.startastory.com. Read it here, then go submit your own. It's fun and easy!
Do you miss the show Firefly? I do, and so do these people. (Warning: For those of you viewing this when you should be working, apparently this site is noisy, I don't know I had the sound off anyway.) They're trying to raise enough money to pay Joss Whedon to make a new series. Some fans just won't take 'no' for an answer.
Also, Paul Rainey has a new issue of There's No Time Like the Present out. I've just read it and it's very good, but that's all I'm going to say about it because I'm going to review it for C.I.
Incase you missed it, here is where I interviewed Paul.

Posted by Leonie at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A bunch of links today:
Malcy told me that the much loved cameo cinema in Edinburgh is in danger of closure. Check out:www.savethecameo.co.uk.
John (of What What) has told me about fun and interesting projects at:
http://www.startastory.com/.
If you picked up the January issue of Comics International and came to this blog looking for the Expo review Loriann mentioned it's here:
Saturday and
Sunday
Photos are here: Flickr set.
The 12 hr comic 'Sunday' mentioned in the announcement section is documented here: Sunday comic.

Posted by Leonie at 02:54 PM | Permalink

I don't usually get to work with colour in my comics, but I always have a colour scheme in mind when I'm writing and drawing. Colour is really important in this graphic novel, so I need to get it right. Today I am conducting some colour experiments to try and find the right kind of blue that I need. This would probably be easier if I was colouring on computer or just using a pantone ref., but with painting there are so many factors to consider, so the tests won't be too indepth but they should give me a better idea of what I need to do.

Posted by Leonie at 02:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I was really happy to be asked to contribute to the next Accent UK anthology. The books they've been releasing are excellent. When I was asked to do something for it, I thought it would be neat to collaborate with andy on it, as we haven't worked together in ages. So, I came up with a story concept and asked if he was interested. It turns out, he was developing a character that would fit in the story really well, so he went off and wrote the story over Christmas. He handed me back a great script, but it was 10 pages and we only have 4 pages to play with. Anyway, above is the first page of my script breakdown. I've managed to fit 4 pages into 9 panels, is this a record?
Today I was invited to join the We love Hulk Hogan group on Flickr, thanks to the pictures of Brownlee at the Christmas party. Naturally, I accepted the invite!

Posted by Leonie at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Thanks to Matthew for the mention over on Bugpowder.
Also, if you've ever wondered where some of the ideas for my comic Monstrum come from, check out my new Flickr set. I found some old photos of my Dad from his seafaring days and thought I'd add them to my album.

Posted by Leonie at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

When I first started this graphic novel, I was determined to do it in colour. I could never have guessed that I would end up painting it. I have something against painted comics.
(Warning: If you decide to read the rest of this entry, be warned that it contains strong language such as 'Alex Ross')

A painted panel in progress.

Continue reading "Painted comics" »

Posted by Leonie at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Photos should be up soon, once they've been developed.
Sunday highlights: Sea Life Aquarium, Paul Gravett talk, sleep.
Read on for a full review.

Continue reading "Brighton Comics Expo - Sunday" »

Posted by Leonie at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (43)

Photos should be up soon, we used a 'proper' camera, so everything is being developed. Just like in ye olden days.
Saturday highlights: Seeing old friends, playing with Slaines sword, catching up on what everone was up to, meeting a dalek, going for a meal with some other small pressers and hanging out in the bar.
Read on for full review.

Continue reading "Brighton Comics Expo - Saturday" »

Posted by Leonie at 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (217)

As my practical project for this year is a graphic novel, my research is also to do with this. An early problem I ran in to was describing what the term graphic novel actually means. Sure, you can refer to Will Eisner or look up Eddie Campbells manifesto, but to the average person on the street this isn't going to clarify things.
Anyway, I was really intrigued by Paul Raineys current work, 'There's no time like the present', which he describes as a graphic novel but it is released and formatted like a comic. So I've interviewed him about it. Read on to find out more, and leave a comment if there are any other questions you'd like me to ask him.

Continue reading "The Paul Rainey Interview" »

Posted by Leonie at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

During my character designs and also in one of the key scenes in the novel, an interesting thing came up. The character was wearing a pair of converse, this is based on some aesthetic reasoning but also because it works well in the scene I just referred to. I wondered if I should change it to a similar looking trainer or stick with a branded product. I decided to stick with my initial sketches, mainly because I knew that if I needed reference material it would be no problem! Also, it will change how some people read it, because of brand associations and within the context of the story I knew that would work to my advantage. Anyway, I contacted Converse just to see what their policy was and was told that it was fine to go ahead. Hurrah.

Posted by Leonie at 04:15 PM | Permalink

I've started doing some work in colour, see above. Anyway, normally colour would be one of the last things I would add and usually I don't get to use colour at all due to printing costs. I had hoped to do this graphic novel in colour, but hadn't thought I'd be addressing it so soon, even before finishing my character designs. A tutor has suggested I do it now, to help inform my line work I think. I've done some paintings ( watercolour and gouache respectively) and pantone pieces and it has been enjoyable. When I started doing Monstrum Horrendum I did some paintings and character studies in colour, really just for myself and to have a few colour pieces for the website if I needed them. I wish I could have done the whole thing in colour because even as I was writing it, I had such a strong pallette in mind. Often I finish comics and wish that I could pass it on to Dave Stewart or Laura Allred to colour (some day...sigh....). I think many small pressers are faced with this dilemma, and it is probably a big contributing factor in the rise of web comics.
Also, I am currently interviewing Paul Rainey via e-mail and Bryan Talbot has just confirmed that I can go and interview him! Will be putting it on my blog.

Posted by Leonie at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Photos at flickr.
The Artfayre was good, met lots of people. The sketchbook we did over the weekend turned out really good and was useful for keeping us sane during the multiple alarm bells going off at Hull Art Labs stand.
Our 12 hr comic, called 'Sunday' is now available to buy at Travelling Man Newcastle or mail order from 145 Clydesdale rd Byker NE6 2EQ (Make cheques out to Andy Smith). Please send £2.00 plus a first class stamp.
The print room was really good, they had rare and wonderful books, fanzines and comics from all over the place. Also, Newcastle Graft, a group who have an online forum for artists to post up advice, opportunities, arrange to meet for critiques etc. which is a lovely idea.
Met some other nice people who came along and were interested in doing comics, hopefully they will keep in touch and I can see how they are getting on with their projects.

Posted by Leonie at 03:51 PM | Permalink

Installed Waygood Art fayre stuff today. We've got a really nice space with a shelving unit. If you are in Newcastle on the 23rd or 24th Sept. please pop along. We're selling our 12 hr comic, some prints, and doing a sketchbook over the weekend which will be raffled. I'll put up photos and report next week on how it went. Click below for a full time table of the events and discussions happening at the fayre.

Continue reading "Art Fayre Installation" »

Posted by Leonie at 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

One of the first issues to address when making a graphic novel is the narrative. But I'm not going to talk about that right now. I'm going to talk about the second issue to address, which is the visual style.
Normally, I'll do a story and I know how it needs to look. This time though, I need more reasoning than "Because I wanted to" or "I thought it would look good" or the wonderful "that's just how it came out." A tutor gave me a great idea. He said to do a few different samples of styles and then ask a few artists their opinion. Simple!
So, I'm looking at some of my old comics to find a page that is as close as possible, narratively, to what I want to do. Then I will redraw it in a few different ways. This means that it is not a static illustration and that I am gaining feedback on how the visuals relate to the story too. I've started to develop some questions to ask, next I will have to decide on my panel. I think I will add in some people who aren't artists, but who have an interest in the field, such as writers and critics. I think I might also include some artists from other fields.
I wasn't looking forward to doing lots of samples and having to justify my choices, but now it's turned into a fun and (hopefully) useful experiment. I may post them all up for everyone to look at and comment on.
Moving into the new building today at 4 o'clock, apparently it's not quite finished. I just hope I have some kind of locker because I'm sick of carrying in all my stuff each day. And I'm lazy.
Andy Richmond and Shane Chebsy are doing a 24 day comic, which I'm guessing isn't intended to work like a 24 hr comic because that's a long time to go without sleep. Anyway, there is a call for entries on Bugpowder at the moment, the comic is intended for release at Halloween so there is a horror theme. Andy R. did mention it the other day, I think I agreed to do a single strip, but I'm a bit pushed for time. Also, there is no guarantee that strips will get into the anthology as I'm sure they have had a lot of interest. If I do get a chance to contribute it will be a real challenge to do a good horror tale in one page!

Posted by Leonie at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today has been one disaster after another! Time is running out to get our comic printed for the art fayre and there is no printers able to do the job for a reasonable price. Most of them won't even give us a quote because it's a small print run and I guess the job just isn't worth their time. Usually I'd do it on the photocopier we have, but it's broken!
so now I'm faced with the problem that most small pressers face at some point - do I make this comic at a loss? Is it worth printing at the same price or more than cover price will be? The point of this work wasn't for commercial gain, so maybe we will just have to pay ridiculous printers prices.
I've also just finished a seven page strip that I'm hoping will be accepted for the IMA anthology. Once again I realise that typography is going to be a big issue with my work this year. Lettering is a skill and artform in its own right, and its a skill I don't have! I'm really going to have to get to grips with lettering on computer.
This is going to be a busy year!
Lee has said that the prints are ready, so we can pick them up tomorrow night. They were quite experimental! We asked artists at Caption small press convention to contribute images for limited edition prints, which Lee agreed to produce. I'm quite excited to see how they turned out.

Posted by Leonie at 03:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Andy and I were asked to participate in theWaygood gallery ArtFayre and we thought it would be a good idea to come up with a new comic to sell at it. We decided, firstly, to do a 24 hr comic. However, due to time restrictions we couldn't do this. So we thought, let's do a 12 hr comic instead.
On 11th September 2005 at 11.00 AM, me, Andy Smith and Nigel Auchterlounie got together to make a comic from initial idea through to print ready product in 12 hours or less.

Continue reading "The 12 comic" »

Posted by Leonie at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)