Edgar Allan Poe & a Murder of Crows

A companion piece to my 'Lovecraft & Friends', and another one I'm doing as a limited edition print. Only making 20 - leave a comment below if you're interested.

Lovecraft & Friends

Probably one of my favourite things I've ever done. Seems a bit rude to bung it up on the old blog. So here he is.

I'm doing a short print run of these - A3 size on 220gsm gloss paper, only 20 available. Leave a comment or email me if you're interested.

Gandalf

Finally watched The Hobbit tonight, and unfortunately, for me it failed to recapture the magic of the first Rings film. I won't go into detail, but I can't see me revisiting it over and over again the way I did (and sometimes still do) with the first trilogy (especially 'Fellowship'). Anyway, Gandalf is still hands down the Best Wizard Ever, and it occurred to me last night that I'd never drawn him.

This is a quick pencil sketch with an equally quick colour test done in Photoshop. Will work it up into a finished piece when I get the chance.

A bunch of stuff

Dear poor neglected blog: have some more pictures. Love, Matt x

The Walking Dead - Michonne (II)

Another study of the actress Danai Gurira as Michonne from The Walking Dead.

The Dark Knight

Another collaboration with the mighty Dave Hitchcock. He was commissioned to draw this wonderfully moody piece and after I commented on Facebook he asked if I fancied colouring it. There was absolutely zero chance of me saying no, so here it is.

With Dave's work, because the linework is so lovingly rendered, a lot of the tonal stuff is already taken care of, so as a colourist I have to bring something else to it. The important things are the colour choices and the textures rather than any real rendering.

Han Solo

Despite being burnt 3 times in a row (along with the rest of the world) after the prequel trilogy, I find myself ridiculously excited at the news that not just 1 or even 3 new Star Wars movies are in the works - but 6! As well as episodes 7-9 we appear to be getting 3 stand-alone movies focusing on Yoda, Han & Boba Fett in turn.

Come on Disney/J.J. Abrams/Lawrence Kasdan and (with a bit of luck) Anthony Ingruber - don't let us down.

The lantern jaw of The Law

Haven't drawn Dredd for what seems like an age, so it was time for another portrait of the monolithic man. For this one I started with a photo of the great Clint Eastwood (John Wagner's original inspiration for the character), then decided to draw him in the uniform from the recent balls-to-the-wall movie. Quite pleased with the result - especially like how the eagle pad turned out (love how the costume designers simplified it).

Pentel brush pen and Photoshop.

Where the magic happens (or not, as the case may sometimes be)

 I'm hard at work on the first five pages of 'Gentlemen Ghouls', but thought I'd take a bit of time out to show a few pictures of my workspace. We were fortunate enough to be able to buy our first house last year, and although it's got it's fair share of problems, I love it. Not least because of the space! For the first time in my life I've got a dedicated studio, and here it is:

 

My beautiful mac and my trusty old laptop (watching Suspiria as I work). You'll notice the signed Vampire Vixens print from the fantastic Alex Ronald, and next to that the latest addition to my walls - a beautifully drawn Hellboy by Neil McClements.

 To the right of my desk I store a load of battered old books which are handy for visual reference - everything from Folklore, World Wars, Vikings, Egyptology to Star Wars. To the right of that a bunch of novels, plus a truly masterful original drawing of Solomon Kane by American artist Patric Reynolds (Abe Sapien, Let Me In, Dark Horse Presents), a cracking drawing of Mola Ram from 'Temple of Doom' by the awesome Graeme Neil Reid (I also have a 'Toht', both awaiting framing) and a signed print by Glenn Fabry.

 

My drawing desk and my shabby old anglepoise lamp and a couple of Andrew Loomis books I've just acquired (absolutely essential reference material - they've recently been reissued, check Amazon). Another stunning bit of artwork from Alex Ronald above it to inspire me (this one an original ink drawing).

 

Assorted useless bric-a-brac to keep me inspired, including a mandolin that's in desperate need of a clean-up and re-string, a couple of dinosaurs, the Ralph McQuarrie Star Wars & Jedi production portfolios and a framed Mogwai setlist from 1997 (or maybe '98). Below, taped to my art cupboard are a load of recent comic covers I printed out by the likes of Mignola, Dave Johnson and Jock, just to keep me on my toes ;)

 

Above left - my comics and graphic novels. Up top are a few of my model soldiers, a broken TIE interceptor and X-Wing fighter, and on the far right a saloon my dad made for me when I was about 5 or 6. Used to play with that for hours.

Above right - a closer look at Neil McClements stunning Hellboy pic. Must colour that one at some point.

Gentlemen Ghouls

Something ghastly stalks Highgate Cemetery...

First rough sketch for a new comic project. It's been far too long since I drew an actual strip, so this weekend I sat down and thumbnailed the first 5 pages of my new project with writer Martin Hayes.

Yep, Hammer Horror is a BIG influence on this one.

Keep the slime from our shore!

Well the New Year has got off to a positive start already, with my first bit of work for Markosia. I've been swapping emails with writer Martin Hayes for a while now, and we've got one or two ideas for possible collaborations, then he approached me to contribute a pin-up for a graphic novel he's got coming out next month called 'Project Luna: 1947'. He asked if I could model it on one of those vintage propaganda posters - specifically this one:

So the top image is what I came up with. The alien was designed by the GN's artist Jim Boswell, I just tried to make him look more disgusting (as is my wont). Really enjoyed this one, the most fun I've had on a piece for a while.

Sketchin'

Practice practice. Mechanical pencil in A5 sketchbook.

The Walking Dead - Michonne

The Walking Dead's Michonne, played with a fantastic one-note scowl by Danai Gurira on the AMC show. She's getting a bit of stick from some online quarters, moaning about the lack of a backstory, emotional range or even dialogue, but personally I think that's the point of the character - whoever she was before is irrelevant and she's truly found her calling in life now, as a completely relentless badass with a samurai sword. She's a Man-With-No-Name-type, a mythic character almost. Seriously, what's not to like?

Rocky Marciano

A rough portrait - bordering on caricature almost I suppose - of boxing legend Rocky Marciano.

Spot of colour

Life demands and the regular day job have been conspiring to keep me too busy/demoralised/bloomin' knackered to do a great deal of artwork this past month, but I'm slowly gearing up for a creative spurt again. Got the cover art for Owen Watts' 'Psychedelic Journal of Time Travel' roughly thumbnailed, plus a couple of nice comic projects on the horizon, so I'm warming up with a couple of quick things. Planning to do a bunch of new 10 minute portraits later today too, so watch this space.

In the meantime, here's a drawing I found on deviantART, by a talented Canadian guy who goes by the moniker JesusFood. Loved this pic so much I asked him if I could have a go at adding some colour, and he was up for it, so here it is.

Lives! Lives for The Master!

A couple images from Coppola's 1992 adaptation of Dracula, and an evil Bilbo thrown in for good measure.

Vincent Price as The Joker

Next illo for The Occultists podcast. Owen suggested this and as soon as I saw the phrase 'Vincent Price as The Joker' in print, it had to happen!

Horror pics - inked & toned at last!

Had an exhausting few weeks and been fighting off the lurgy continually, but here at long last are the 3 Hammer/Universal horror drawings from last month inked up and toned. Inspired by Dark Horse Comics Patric Reynolds' masterful ink & wash work, I decided to try my hand at something similar with the Mummy pic. This was inked with a Winsor & Newton series 7, a larger Pro arte 5/8" brush and a toothbrush for the splatters. Quite pleased with the results actually, but then I got the fear and went back to the Pentel brush pen for the next 2. Will practice though.

An evening in the company of Universal & Hammer horror

Managed to snatch a couple of hours last night to do some sketching, here's the results. From the top: Boris Karloff of course, in the 1932 version of The Mummy; Myrna Loy as Fah Lo See in The Mask of Fu Manchu (also 1932 - god, that was a good year wasn't it?); and the one and only Peter Cushing as Dr John Rollason in Hammer's 1957 production of The Abominable Snowman. Hoping to ink these up too at some point soon.

The Occultists

I'm currently engaged in the rather gargantuan task of colouring my first professional comic ('Banned Across The Universe'), but, conscious that I want to keep my hand in drawing-wise, I agreed to provide an illustration per month for The Occultists, a new podcast from writers Owen Johnson and Max Deacon. In said podcast, the guys chew the fat over cult movies, and it really is worth a listen. Owen approached me and asked if they could use my portrait of Elsa Lanchester as The Bride of Frankenstein, so I said yes of course, taking the opportunity to throw a bit of colour on it too.

The first podcast involved a discussion of 2 movies - Michael Lehmann's blackly comic 'Heathers' (1988) and the 1969 film version of 'Medea', directed by Pasolini and featuring the only movie appearance of Maria Callas in the title role. Owen requested a sort of mash-up illustration but unfortunately due to time constraints I only got around to drawing Medea. Did have bash at a logo too though - not often I get to flex my much-atrophied typography muscles.

I'm looking forward to next month's already, as I get to draw Vincent Price as The Joker!