A new poem comic (the first one, with info about the process is here) written by Chrissy Williams and illustrated by me. Really happy with how this came out. I think when we next give this a go, Chrissy may use an odd-numbered amount of lines which could lead to my panel layouts becoming a little more playful…

On Saturday I helped out at Gosh! Comics‘ Free Comic Book Day event and it was a real pleasure.

There were free comics, a lovely informal kids workshop with a rotating cast of comics creators on hand to sketch and offer advice, window drawings, and a busy shop full of new customers eager to find out more about comics. It was exactly what FCBD was designed for and I had a wonderful time being a part of it.

The day started off with Julia Scheele and I running the workshop table while the amazing Roger Langridge and Richard Short started their window drawings (of Kermit and Dennis The Menace respectively). I always love being a part of comic workshops like this and the Drop In & Draw events organised by WAW+P have always been a joy. Sadly, it always takes the kids (and myself) a little bit of time to relax and get into it so, inevitably, by the time I was hitting my stride it was time to let the next comic artist into the fray. Despite this, I managed to meet and chat to some amazingly talented young artists including a boy called Arthur who sat there diligently crafting short comics called The Adventures of Stick Man. They were simple, elegantly constructed little shorts with a genuinely intuitive grasp of the visual language and timing of comics. I encouraged him to bring some photocopied minis into Gosh at some point. I really hope he’ll continue to produce comics. I also hope that a few more kids comic workshops like this will start popping up at the shop in the future as it feels a shame something like this may only happen once a year.

Later in the day I attempted to draw some famous comic characters on the Gosh window. I’d decided beforehand to give Charlie Brown and Snoopy a go. Hoping to have them staring out at Soho/inside Gosh depending on where you were standing. Drawing on the window presents a few challenges but is actually a hell of a lot of fun. I was a little frustrated that my attempt ended up looking a little too much like a Schulz rip-off than something in my own style but was happy enough with it for a first try. I was sitting next to the brilliant Sarah McIntyre who was also drawing her own Vern & Lettuce which came out beautifully.

I joined the kids table for a bit more drawing later in the day, watching Roger and Will Morris draw gorgeous sketches for spellbound kids while chatting away pleasantly about their process. I felt humbled to be on the same table with them.

So there we go. FCBD at Gosh. A brilliant event. Huge thanks to the staff for making it so fun and stress free. Sarah’s also written a blog about the event here. Thanks to Sarah and Gosh for the photos here too.

It’s Free Comic Book Day tomorrow!

You’ll be going along to your local comic shop to pick up some free comics, show your support to independent retailers, and be finding ways to celebrate the medium right?

Good. Because if you live in London, Gosh! Comics have several treats in store for you…

From 12pm I’ll be joining Gosh! for an exciting day full of workshops and window painting. I’ll be starting off on the drawing table, doodling away and available to help anyone who wants a bit of comic art guidance. Later on, I’ll be adding to the Gosh! windows and drawing a well known comic character in my own style. After seeing the Avengers last week (now wasn’t that a fun film?) I sort of want to do something like this…

Anyway, full details are on the Gosh! blog so go have a look at all the other fun stuff they have planned. I’ll also, in my capacity as editor/publisher of Solipsistic Pop, be bringing some free Solipsistic Pop Funnies along with me as a special Gosh! exclusive. Find out more here.

I’ve always believed that the comic medium is closer to poetry than it is to straight prose, film or TV. That the juxtaposition of words and images can communicate such complex and abstract ideas while often employing a restrained economy of line to do so. To paraphrase Eisenstein’s theory of montage: Sentence A + Image B = Idea C.

The excellent poet Chrissy Williams (who has a fantastic collection of poetry – The Jam Trap – available to buy from Soaring Penguin here) actually wrote a wonderful article about the similarities between comics and poetry for The Rialto which can be read here.

Chrissy and I were talking the other day about this and decided to try and create a poem comic together. The idea was that Chrissy would write around eight lines of a poem and each line would work as a caption for a comic panel – but to prevent anything I draw from becoming too literal, Chrissy would also write a one word description of each panel which I would attempt to illustrate (nothing too prescriptive – something like the word ‘Hope’ for example). The plan being that by trying to illustrate the word and bringing my own take on the poem to the comic, we would be creating something more than just an illustrated poem – something that stands alone.

Within a few hours, The Heart Horse arrived in my inbox and I excitedly drew this. It was an enjoyable process and a fun experiment so I think we may try to do a few more when we have the free time. I’ve been working so hard on the first issue of Ellipsis lately that it was a welcome break to have a play and not be too worried about the result if it went wrong…

Oh – and this is completely off topic – but have you heard Drop Out Venus? How good is this new track of theirs?

Now that the Secret 7 Record Store Day sale is over and my sleeve has been purchased, I thought I’d throw my artwork up here.

It was the CSS track ‘City Girl‘ and was drawn directly onto the sleeve with indian ink and poster paint.

Here’s a scan of the finished piece:

I think the remaining sleeves will be for sale online for those of you unable to make it to London on the weekend. Keep an eye out at the Secret 7 website here. All for a great cause and a piece of original art for a very reasonable £40!

I was commissioned to design and illustrate a poster for the Media Reform Rally on May 17th by CCMR. The idea was to try and communicate the structural problems with the way the press and media operate at the moment (and the problems they face) – but without relying on famous faces and recent news stories for imagery. This is what I came up with:

Looks like it’ll be an excellent rally. See you there!

I’ve been working hard on my new comic – Ellipsis – and have just finished the pencils for issue one. It’s 22 pages long and will be self-published through Solipsistic Pop Books as a printed and digital comic towards the end of July. Really enjoying drawing this at the moment, and now I’m focusing on the inks it’s even more fun.

I’ll open up pre-orders sometime in June for the printed book with a little more information about the comic and a schedule for the following five issues.

I’ve written a little about Ellipsis here before, but the brief synopsis is:

Ellipsis is a comic composed of six standalone short stories that interconnect and work towards telling a larger story.
Each issue of the comic will tell a self-contained chapter of the larger narrative.

Here’s a little sneak peek at some loosely pencilled panels:

Also. Having put it off for quite a while, I’ve finally joined Tumblr. Find me here.

I’ll be using it to collect inspiration I come across on the internet but will also throw more of my work, sketchbook material and process bits up there. There might be a bit of overlap in content between this blog and my Tumblr, but for those of you who use Tumblr more than blog subscriptions and RSS feeds, it may be easier to keep up to date with what I’m to…

You may have already heard about the Secret 7 project, but if not, here’s a few words from their website:

There is something about vinyl that transcends every format that has followed in its path. An integral reason for this is that it’s allure and functionality allows the listener to be absorbed by more than one of their senses.

Secret 7″ is a project which aims to rekindle some of the excitement for sleeve art in the digital era by exploring how a track would be interpreted by an array of brilliant artists.

In April the Idea Generation gallery in Shoreditch, London will exhibit around 700 unique seven-inch sleeves inspired by tracks from The Cure, Florence + The Machine, Bombay Bicycle Club, CSS, DJ Shadow, Noah & The Whale and Ben Howard. The exhibition has an added air of mystery as no-one will know who designed each sleeve, or which of our seven tracks is housed inside.

On the 21st April – Record Store Day – through to close on Sunday the exhibition is yours to own. Each of the one-of-a-kind heavyweight 7” records will be available to take home with you for a minimum donation to Teenage Cancer Trust of £40.

Every penny profited from the sale of these exclusive vinyl records is going to the charity.

I’ve contributed a piece to the project. The image was drawn directly onto the 7″ x 7″ cardboard sleeve, which was a fairly nerve-wracking experience when it came to inks…

Here’s a teeny tiny preview:

Obviously, I’m not allowed to say which band/track I picked or show much more of the artwork yet but the private view is next Tuesday (April 17th) and I think the records will be available to buy from the 18th by popping into the gallery. From a quick browse through all the other contributions I think it’s safe to say your £40 will be well spent if you pick one up.

I share a studio with the extremely talented and wonderful illustrator Linzie Hunter. A lot of the time, we’ll have audiobooks playing in the background while we work and, recently, our choice has been the YA book of the moment – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

It’s been a perfect book (well, books – we’re now on the final part in the series) to listen to in our studio. Compelling, but simple enough to tune in and out of when we’re having to read and respond to emails and the like.

I’m glad such a book exists and has a huge, loyal readership – the core conceits of being suspicious of fame, reality TV and celebrity culture while also being politically active and fighting for a better system of government are themes I’m glad young audiences are engaging with.

So anyway, on a whim, I decided to design and illustrate a new book cover for the first book in the series. It was a lot of fun to do and I really enjoyed drawing Katniss.

Here’s the full design:

A close-up of the front cover:

And a close-up of the back cover:

Enjoy watching BBC Question Time? Find yourself shouting at the TV now and again? Use the #BBCQT Twitter hashtag to make snarky comments? If the answer to at least one of those questions is yes you might like to come to the BBC Question Time Watch-along.

It’s a new, regular night organised by Nat Guest (or @unfortunatalie on Twitter) in which you can watch the show in a room full of people, tweet at each other, play the drinking game, and watch some fantastic comedy and political discussion beforehand.

As Nat says on the website:

Twitter has a clever knack of making live events, and shared events, much more fun; even if they’re things that, perhaps, on your own, you would find mind-numbingly dull. I don’t mean that Question Time is mind-numbingly dull; obviously I’m talking about X Factor here. I, in fact, watched all of last year’s series of X Factor – simply because the shared jokes and japes and piss-taking on Twitter made it such a joyous experience to be a part of. And it’s the same with Question Time; even the dry bits and the knee’jerkingly horrifying bits are a lot more fun with a feed full of people doing SATIRE and making JOKES and getting ANGRY AT THE GOVERNMENT. Normally, all on their own, in front of their computerSLASHtelly, yelling at the screen and drowning their political anxieties with whatever liquor comes to hand.

I was asked to create a poster for the event on March 22 – which has a stellar line-up including Josie Long, Sara Pascoe, and MJ Hibbett. Here it is:

Tickets are selling fast so get your tickets now if you fancy going! I’ll see you there.

More information at the BBCQT Watchalong Twitter account.