Fun for all. 19:51

I like to project the image that i'm a party person, but actually i'm a comic book artist. Alas, the two a diametrically opposed.

However lately I've found i'm finally starting to get the "work hard, play hard" ratio in balance. If i'm not working, i'm out walking along the Thames or visiting galleries or meeting new people somewhere in London. I even managed to throw a house party last weekend, which was magical and full of a great deal of clashing east-London outfits. I don't know whose the wigs were, and I couldn't resist fiddling with the photos to make it look like a post-punk nightmare. It was very civilised, honest! We lit the house with tea-lights, made sure everyone had a glowband from Camden and lit a fire in an incinerator bin outside, for when the party spilled out into our courtyard.
A gatecrasher nobody knew exclaimed that this was the strangest house party she had ever been to, which I took to be a good thing.

I'm off to Angouleme BD festival tomorrow, which is always a great party. I tend to come back buzzing with new comic ideas to try, which is just what I need right now as i've been pretty miserable about my artwork lately.
I'm going to try and buy lots of people presents this year, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. :D

Oh! and a very happy Chinese New Year to everyone. I ate enough dumplings to kill a man, which they nearly did. Yum!

~John~

Death and Taxes 01:24

I recorded a Sweatdrop podcast last week on good professional practice as a self employed illustrator. To hammer home my message of strict professional conduct, I thought i'd post a picture of my Self assessment tax system in action. :p

My sister went out for a packet of crisps and came back with a free can of strongbow and a violin. The shop owners around us are crazy!
~John~

Kill Yourself. 15:08

If you're ever in a bad mood, or upset about something, i'd really like to recommend killing yourself in a comic. Sooner or later every artist has to draw a corpse, or a random soldier who's shot in the background etc. Next time you do- why not make it you? It's very therapeutic!
~John~

wow, a full year at least i've had this blog, and in a true traditional spirit, here are your drunken text-characters for the new year: "bnjvkdf;xzdhniuo'fv" with a side order of "I love you man!" I hope you all have a fantastic new years, and may you find the courage to follow your dreams, whether they come to fruition or not. Remember, you only get one spin on this silly earth, make sure you get the most out of it! Have fun! and carpe diem, as they used to say.

~John~ 

Update. 15:16

Internet arguments continue. BT can't find our house. East London is fantastic. New found proximity to Indian spices making cooking highly experimental. Currently Looking forward to annual Jan pilgrimage to comics mecca. Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and a very happy New Year.
~John~

Bye Bye. 18:04

Trying to start a daily blog timetable right before I was set to move house was probably a bad idea. Suffice to say- i'm off tomorrow for pastures greyer, and will be out of contact with the digital world until I'm able to rustle up a broadband connection. The last time I had to do this it took weeks, but times may have changed since then.
I'm sure you'll miss me terribly.
~John~

Inheritance. 21:50

I had to talk to my parents about inheritance tax today. If you want to avoid giving everything you own to the taxman you have to hand it all over to your children something like seven years before you die. Well, that's kinda difficult to estimate, isn't it? It's designed to be a tax on the mega rich (and I support that) but it bugs me all the same because I don't want to think about it.
My family owns some of the land once belonging to William Penn and although the manor house doesn't exist any more the stable buildings and cottages have mostly been converted. The estate is around 350 acres, comprising of five houses two woods and a number of arable and parkland fields.
I don't know the tenants, I don't know the letting agencies, I barely know the gamekeeper or any of the contract farmers.
The "one day all of this will be yours" speech scares the shit out of me. I'm going to go hide under a blanket, or something.

Your reward for listening to me moan is a link to Artquest, which is a UK site to help out artists legally and professionally. It looks pretty good, but I'm still deciding how useful it is in relation to comics.
~John~