Influence Map - Update

Carlos Ezquerra
As I said in the last post Carlos has always been a constant. His work looks so simple...but like so many Great Masters, it is deceptively so.
For more, read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Ezquerra

The Carlos Ezquerra Project

The 'Secret Project' page I was working on can be revealed!
It's for a 'Get Well' book for Carlos Ezquerra.

Mark J. Howard (legendary Shark on the 2000adOnline forums) found out that one of the greatest artists ever to draw for 2000ad (and one of the greats overall), the guy responsible for co-creating many characters including Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Major Easy, Carlos Ezquerra had lung cancer. Carlos had an operation to remove the cancer and was recovering in hospital. Mark took it upon himslef to round up as many contributors as he could and put together a nice 'Get Well Soon' book for Carlos. It became a 'secret project' because he didn't want Carlos to know, but rather to surprise him.

Carlos received the book and was blown away by how much he is loved and appreciated by the fans.

Why not? I say.

Carlos has been a constant influence in my life since I was a nipper reading 2000ad and that is an over 30 year relationship!

Get well soon Carlos. You'll always feel like part of my family.

To read more about this amazing project go here...
http://www.2000adonline.com/forum/index.php/topic,29439.0.html

Influence Map - Update

Ron Smith
I didn't really have much of a appreciation for Ron Smith when I was a youngster reading 2000ad. Mike McMahon and Brian Bolland were the 'flashier' artists to me back in those days. I really gained a better understanding and appreciation for Ron Smith when I got older...pretty much the same thing I saw with Jack Kirby's art.

Ron Smith, for me, is and was the definitive Dredd artist of the 80's. He added a certain 'American' look to Dredd. Almost superhero-ish without being a superhero. And his near impossible poses worked perfectly for him. Something he has in common with Kirby. To me Ron Smith is the english jack Kirby.

Influence Map - Update

Harvey Kurtzman
EC 'War' comics, Mad magazine, Little Annie Fanny, Jungle Book!
A great storyteller! I would study his layouts for hours to try and glean some knowledge of his pacing and storytelling. A Master of composition. Simplicity itself.

Influence Map - Update

Wally Wood

My first exposure to Wood's work was a teenager. There was a Marvel UK weekly B+W reprint, (As far as I can remember, I can't remeber the title of the comic book!) that reprinted some of the sword and sorcery comic strips that Wood drew. It instantly stood out to me and I've been inspired/influenced by him ever since.

There are a lot of stories about Wally Wood. I remember hearing one story in particular. It was when Wood had received a fan letter saying that his work was past it and not up to scratch and that his assistants handled all the work, not him - in other words, he was washed up. Wood saw this as a challenge and produced, what is too me, his greatest work 'To Kill A God' .

This story was told to me when I worked at Fox Animation Studios by Jun Lofamia. Jun brought in the strip in question to show me...and I blew it up on the copier on paper 24x36 and i'm not kidding you. The attention to detail is amazing and some of it gets quite lost 'regular' size.

And the thing is...he probably drew it drunk! Wood was an alcoholic!

Below is the first page of the strip. if you can...search it out. Well worth the time looking.

Wally Wood - Genius!

The Bride of Frankenstein - WIP #2

Here's the latest update on Rich's Bride pic. I got sidetracked working on three 'secret' projects. Hopefully, in the next month or so, I'll be able to reveal what they are. They're all biggies, but one is HUGE!

Influence Map - Update

Alan Davis
For me, he is the definitive superhero artist. His work is so fluid and alive. He can draw anything. He is the only artist that can draw 'serious' and 'cartoony' in the same story and get away with it. I love his 2000ad work, his Marvelman (that's right, Marvelman...none of that Miracleman bullshit!) Captain Britain, Detective Comics...Excalibur, X-Men, Avengers etc I can go on. Oh and the talented so and so can write too!

He's always an inspiration to me.

Influence Map 4

Art Adams
My first exposure to Art Adams was an Action Annual featuring Batman and Superman. And it blew me away. His art, to me, is very illustrative and the amount of detail he slips into his background panels is amazing. Whenever I look at any of his work...I usually find myself just in awe at the amount of detail he puts in. I can spend literally hours looking at his work. Oh, and he too, can draw the ladies. really, really well!

Influence Map 3

Adam Hughes
Probably the best Cheesecake artist there is at the moment. He's the 'Good Girl' artist that all others aspire to be. I first came across Adams work on Maze Agency and then his Justice League run and even back then you could see that there was something special about his work.

He just went from strenght to strenght and I avidly started to buy anything Hughes. I would find myself buying pure crap just coz a Hughes drawing graced the cover of it.

For me, he's right up there with Mucha and Vargas.

Influence Map - 1,2

Okay. Everyone is doing an 'influence map' these days. So, why should I be different? Well, I'm gonna be. I'm going to do an 'Influence' and 'Inspiration' map. It seems to be a better fit for me. Because there are a lot of people who's work I look at that inspire me, rather than influence me. And I see them as just as important as the ones that 'influence' me. Does that make sense?

First up..the Master...

Will Eisner
Growing up in Ireland reading comics, I had no clue to who this guy was until a work friend (Who became one of my best friends, Jim Seville) introduced me to some of his work...namely The Spirit. I was hooked ever since. What Eisner did with the comics medium was amazing.

I was also fortunate to have Mr.Eisner as a teacher waaaaaay back in the day. I learnt more about storytelling from those few weeks with Mr.Eisner than I have ever since!!!

Below...proof of my boast! (Look how skinny and fashion challenged I was..er...cough...still am!)



Frank Cho
Coz, I like the ladies. Well, the way Cho draws 'em. I'm a big cheesecake fan! (Oh, really, you say sarcastically!) And Mr.Cho is one of THE best. No skinny malinks for Cho...his babes have got meat and bones to 'em. Whenever I'm in a rut...I lookee at his doodles. They be teh arsom!

The Bride of Frankenstein - WIP

I've started in on a watercolor (haven't really decided if it will finally be!) of the Bride of Frankenstein for Rich McAuliffe. I promised him this a looooong time ago. hopefully I can get it done in time for the New York Comicon.

Thugs! Issue Four - Cover Image

Back doing Thugs! again.
This is the image I was going to use for the cover of issue 4. But it doesn't look the way I'd like it...so, back to the drawing board.

Crazy Eyeball

Another collaboration.

Scrubby

This is a drawing that I did for a friend. I handed it over to him to 'tidy-up' and make it looks nice in Illustrator. He didn't disappoint.