War people. 02:22

Bla bla bla, distance colours I am now unhappy with. The stone is slowly starting to bleed, however.
~John~

War backgrounds 18:43

I'm fiddling with colour palettes at the moment. I'm very disappointed with my current colours and I'm searching for one that will be really distinctive and get across the feelings I want for my war comic. Alas, this one is too dark for print. The question is: How to get across a dark, muddy and filthy environment without ending up with dark, muddy and filthy artwork? One painting with a muddy, desaturated palette would be easy, but in every panel of a comic and you'd just be put off.
Any suggestions or examples I should look at would be much appreciated, as I've been battling with this problem for some time.
~John~

Angoulême 2. 00:29

Phew. I'm back from Angoulême 2009 in France. I promised myself i'd actually put something on paper about what I did this year, so I'm going to focus on some specific moments that I enjoyed.First of all was "la gréve". The entirety of the french train staff went on strike in protest of Sarkozy and...well I lost track. (more on him later) But anyway, I ended up making a mad dash to Paris in order to make a connection. I missed this- and spent most of Thursday killing time on the Canal Saint-Martin near Gare d'lest. It was lovely. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the sky was blue. I felt all my feelings of rage at the french rail system just melt away as soon as I arrived. Paris truly is wonderful.

So I made it to Angoulême. Or rather, I made it to the bar in Angoulême, in enough time to be able to catch up with the rest of the English speakers. Almost.
I'm quite concerned about the number of times I mention alcohol in my daily speech, actually. I really don't drink that much. Except at Angouleme.The convention itself is comprised of a number of tents, each holding more stalls than you'd see at any UK con, and all of them selling comics. I keep having to check myself when I call it a con. It's not- it's a book fair, closer to Bologna than San Diego.

I spent a great deal of time in the "Manga Building". (Note; not "tent", not "area", building.)
I got a chance to see Range Murata do an entire coloured drawing on a Cintiq, and Junko Kawakami- who didn't know how to use photoshop. Hilarious. Also the legendary Hiroshi Hirata was signing books in full traditional dress, with a caligraphy brush. This was a performance in itself!

Finally, there was the afterparty. I didn't realise, but there's a party thrown in the chandelier-lit town hall, with a dj and a free bar. The best bit of all was that the only people allowed in had to be carrying "auteur" badges. So artists and writers only. It was all going swimmingly until someone jumped up the wall, tore down a glass framed photo of Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, smashed the glass, tore the print into shreds and threw them all into the air. All this was to riotous applause. I thought a revolution was about to break out. I wished I had a phrygian cap or a tricoloure. Ellen Lindner and Sara Varon looked like they were about to start burning things.

Then Security arrived and we all got thrown out.
Best way to end a party ever. XD

Shoutouts to:

Nick Abadzis
Edmund Bagwell
Joelle
Charlie Orr
Stephen Betts
Simon Fraser
Rian Hughes
Tim Pilcher
Charlie Adlard
Sean Phillips
Yishan Li
Ellen Lindner
Sara Varon


~John~

Also, According to various sources, it is the largest comic book convention in the western world. O_o

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~