Mrs. Browns Boys - Christmas Opening

The opening episode of series two aired on RTE Xmas night and then on the BBC on Stephen's Day (Boxing Day). Animating the opening credits is a lot of fun and there are some added extras on the opening for series two. For example...the snowman in the background is actually Grandad!

Ron Smith Tribute - Final!

Finished.
It was a lot of fun. I even included 'King Cobra' and 'Nick Jolly'. As well as a certain 'Legendary Shark'!

Rons Smith Tribute

A blue pencil and partial inks rough.

Mark Howard aka The Legendary Shark is putting together a tribute book for comic book legend Ron Smith. Ron is in his 80's and Mark figured it was about time to present him with a good fandom 'thank you.' Mark had previously compiled the 'Carlos Ezquerra' book.

I'm going to push for more people to contribute to this project on the 2000ad Podcast and on the 2000ad forums.

To me, Ron Smith was the definitive Judge Dredd artist in the 80's. Most people pick Mcmahon or Bolland...but looking back, Ron was a genius. To me, he was the British 'Jack Kirby'.

Knights Rough

Sorcerer/Sorceress Roughs

 One Sorcerer...

...and one Sorceress!

Female Elf Warrior Rough

Male Elf Warrior Rough

Another rough.

Female Barbarian Rough

Another rough drawing.

Mrs. Browns Boys Christmas Special

Yep. A Mrs. Brown Christmas special with my Artwork at the end of this clip. Sweeet.

Barbarian Rough

Another doodle for my project.

Barbarian - Weapons

Just an idea I'm playing around with.

A Judge Death Christmas - Final!

Final!
Poor little kid...but that's Judge Death for ya!
He's a Mean Spirited Alien Superfiend!

Judge Death Xmas Inks!

Inky McInks!

A Judge Death Christmas

Rough pencils for the 2000ad Online Forum Advent Calendar

Anderson - Russ Meyer Style!

Did this for the heck of it after seeing this cheesecakey version of Judge Hershey.
Yeah...I know...it's all very Russ Meyer. That was the point. I'd never draw Andserson like that for a 'real' Dredd strip. It was just for a giggle.

Rogue Trooper Final!

Done and dusted!

Sent this off to Luke a couple of weeks ago. He's happy with it...which I'm delighted to hear.

I based it initially on the classic 70's 'Star wars' poster. The Traitor General replaces Vader, Rogue and Venus = Luke and Leia, Milli-Com = Death Star, Quartz Massacre = X-wing fighters and my favs, Brass and Bland = R2D2 and C3PO.


Rogue Trooper - Traitor General

Inks for the Traitor General. I'm gonna try and finish this drawing this week. It's for a good friend of mine...Luke Foster. Luke is one of the funniest guys I've ever met. And now and again he guest hosts with me on the ECBT2000ad Podcast.

Rogue Trooper - Venus

Inks on Venus Bluegenes.

Rogue Trooper - Blue Pencils

Just a little more detail. Getting there.

Rogue Trooper - Rough

I've been busy finishing up some work for the BBC. So, that's taken most of my time. Well, that and drinking. ;-)

This is a rough idea for a picture I promised Luke Foster for sending out me out a Dredd trade 'The Chief Judges Man'. It's been a while since I posted and a while since I got back to the drawing board really. It shows a bit.

Its' got all the elements I think that sum up the strips classic period. It's got Milli-Com, Nu Earth, The Quartz Massacre, Brand and Brass, Venus Bluegenes, Major Magnum, Helm, Bagman and Gunnar...and Rogue himself.

Hopefully I can make good for Luke on this image.

Judge Dredd - Zarjaz!

Putting the finishing touches to the page three of the Dredd 'Zarjaz' strip. I'm pretty happy with it so far. Got a lot of photoshopping to do on it....but I should manage to finish it and submit it before the weekend...and then I'm on to more BBC stuff. (I'll explain that later!)

Dredd Head 3!

Page 3, Panel 3, Inked!

Dredd Head 2!

Inking!

Dredd Head!

The title of the post says it all

Walter!

Centerspread finally finished! It's taken me ages to kill off. Only one more page left. rough pencils are done. Clean-up pencils are 90% there. Just inking and scanning the next hurdle to jump and then all done!

Mrs Browns Boys - Agnes Brown!

And here's one I prepared earlier.

This is the Mrs.Brown from the BBC show. How can you tell the difference? Easy. Her cardigan is red! The stage show cardigan is green!

Mrs Brown Boys!

I'm back doing some Mrs. Brown work for Brendan again. It's been a while but I'm now redrawing all the characters to match the BBC show and the stage show. A lot of work considering they'll all be vector art! Vector art so Brendan can have his characters on T-Shirts or postage stamps and not lose the quality of the image.

Gotta get cracking!

Update!

Quick check-up on my New Years resolutions now that I've hit the halfway point.

1. Finish the novel I'd been working on. Still working on it...bit by bit day by day. I do figure I'll have it complete by the end of year. So, that's going well.

2. Build a life-size replica of a Dalek. I bit off more than I could chew with that one. I've been too busy to even start on it. This one might be a goal for next year.

3. Lose a ton of weight. Well, this worked up until I came back from Ireland in mid-June. I had lost 20 pounds up to that point...and then beer and Irish food took over. I'll be back on my weight loss plan on Monday. Bikram Yoga will help and cutting down on the booze should help that along. :-)

4. Win another soccer competition. Got a good chance of that this season. I have assembled a really good team and it looks like we're gelling really well. We'll see.

5. Get Thugs! Issue 4 out by May. Done and dusted.

6. Get more issues of Thugs! done. Working on it. Got Al's script for Issue 5 and have most of it thumbnailed out. I'm cautiously optimistic on this one.

7. Write and draw Superhero Squad type Dredd story. Nearly there. It's three pages. I just finished the centerspread and am currently inking the third page. The color on this sucker killed me.

Judge Dredd - Hall of Justice

Good grief!
This thing is taking forever to color! Hopefully I can kill the spread over the weekend and move on to page three!

Judge Dredd - Happy!

What's this? Another 'Happy' Dredd?
What's going on here?

Judge Dredd - Color Test

I'm experimenting a bit. I want to make the Dredd strip look really old school. I'm not particulary happy with the results so far...but we'll see. I might end up scrapping the process altogether and just going back to 'basic' coloring.

Mrs Brown - BAFTA!

This didn't happen...but it would have been well deserved if it did!

'Mrs. Browns Boys' was nominated for best sitcom at the BAFTA awards. For US readers it's the equivalent of the Emmy's/Oscars. It was beaten out by a show called 'Rev'. Which, to be honest, I've never heard of until I read the nominations.

From what I'd been reading online about 'Rev', it seemed to be a safer bet then Mrs. Brown. Mrs Brown seemed to 'risque' for the curmudgeons who voted in that category. Brendans show had walloped every other show in the ratings in his time-slot. It seems that 'Rev' was a strange choice to win.

Oh well. Congrats to them and hopefully next year Mrs. Brown will be holding that golden trophy.

Judge Dredd - Legendary Shark - 2!

Finally! A small update. I just got back from the Auld Country, Ireland! I've been away for two weeks but it feels too short a time. I'll do a bigger update on what I did and what I bought. (Lots of 2000ad stuff!) In the meantime, the Phoenix con is this weekend and I'm really not looking forward to it. I feel burnt out on the whole US comic scene...and I'll miss a fair chunk of it. Man Utd are playing Barca in the Champions League Final that saturday and poor Al will be left to man our con space all by his lonesome. I'm not missing that game...just a shame it's on the same day as the con. Al understands...which is cool.

Judge Dredd -Legendary Shark!

Finally!

I've pieced the centerspread together in Photoshop. I have to clean it up a small bit and start the color process. I've also got to draw page three. I've already got the rough pencils on that done. It's going to take longer for me to do this strip than I anticipated!

I've got some drawings to do for 'Mrs. Browns Boys' this week. Two new character drawings!

Judge Dredd - Walter!

Another peek at the Dredd strip I'm doing. I got the center spread inked! Only one page to go.

Strontium Dog - Arsom! - Page 6

Strontium Dog - Arsom! - Page 5

Strontium Dog - Arsom! - Page 4

Strontium Dog - Arsom! - Page 3

Strontium Dog - Arsom! - Page 2

Strontium Dog - Arsom! - Page 1

So, I've decided to post my Strontium Dog strip that I drew for 'Zarjaz'. I figure that the publication has been out for a while now that there's no harm in putting the full strip up on my blog. Script by Rich McAuliffe and art by me!

Thugs! Issue Four - Parody Ad!

Another gem from the twisted brain of Rich McAuliffe!

Thugs! Issue Four - Cover Final!

The final cover for the first story arc of 'Thugs!'. I have to say that this issue is probably the best of all four. Definitely a lot more polished than the last three. Only the parody ad left to draw and this issue is complete. I've already started thumbnailing issue five. Lots of talking heads...which I hate! But is necessary for the build up to the action and the introduction of two new major characters.

Mrs Brown - A Ratings Hit!

Mrs Browns Boys has finished airing on the BBC and it's proved to be a ratings success. Not only in the UK but in Ireland too. It's ratings beat out the Irish TV powerhouse 'The Late late Show' and in the UK it was number one in it's time slot beating out a few new shows.

Read all about it here.... Mrs Brown Rakes in 2.6 Million Viewers

The show kept it's strong showing in the ratings and even the last show got a bump in viewereship. I'm so proud to be a part of this project that took years to bring to the small screen and Brendan and his family deserve all the success for their hard work.

The show has already been renewed for a second season and hopefully I can be part of that and tweak/add to that opening sequence.

Judge Dredd Superhero Squad!

Is that a happy Dredd arresting a certain Shark?

Female Judge

Judge Dredd - Anderson!

Another rough from the Dredd centerspread.

Judge Dredd - Rico!

I submitted an idea a while back to the good folks at Zarjaz and they liked it...so, I roughed it out and sent them a working script. It's gonna be three pages. The first two a color centerspread!

Rico is the main villain of the piece and I've included a slew of Dredd cameos, from dead to not dead...

It's looking like a lot of fun to do. can't wait to get the go ahead!!!