the mooks

Draw Futurama

Wed, 01 May 2013 20:29:00 +0100

Well it’s that time again.

The next #draw project is here and it’s #drawFuturama. Normal rules apply. It runs until the end of May. Enjoy!

@deladeso

bryce via @sallepierrelamy

@richmooksmith

@AlCapwnd

@jamesboast

Thomas Jones via @sallepierrelamy

@jmctwits

@bizzodoes

@Alandalby

@zeichenwege

@t1do

@hp_matt

@lewisfarrow

@sallepierrelamy

@dochackenbush

@ben_cameron

@jellibat

@hallofeternity

@wsionynw

@ChrisBaldie

@themooks

@chris_doherty

@bruised_blood

@t1do

@jonbalenciaga

@kataang102

@fredrik_s

@mcDonlads

@kanamesan91

@aitchsee

@ladybender2

@Hallofeternity

@geeksarecool

@0100

@Zro_toys

@richardjkeys

@manon_charpenay

@KyWilkinson

@dafttom

@Jimbo_designs

@mushybees

@400footghost

@themooks

@Chesha

@jonbalenciaga

@dochakenbush

@themooks

@jmctwits

@jam_wah

@jonbalenciaga

@jontofski

@themooks

@sallepierrelamy plus a video of him doing it here

@dafttom

@dochakenbush

@_scottpollard

@andresdenkberg

@wendelabra

@themooks

@knowlio

@erinhunting

@treebeerd

@monkeysvsrobots

@warwickjc

@thingsbydan

@fredrik_S

@rukemusic

@joelist

@raid71

@rickeadescomics

@tomthepen

@quantumpirate

@ben_cameron

Moved

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:04:03 +0100

I’ve decided to use this tumblr for just the #draw projects. My new one is http://themookscomics.tumblr.com/

Cheers!

Ghost in the drawer comic

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:20:00 +0100

Here is a 3 page comic I did the other week. I just wanted to do something quick and gentle. Enjoy!

Commission

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:23:39 +0000

I did the above commissions for the lovely people at DMSQD.

They were a lot of fun and I’m open to doing more here

So if you want one get in contact.

Ripped off

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 10:58:00 +0000

A long time ago I created characters called the Mooks and they were my first foray into comics.

They were my way of being creative after I got home from working in animation all day, so I kept them simple and filled them with foul language. I did some strips in an art mag called Dangerous Ink and a self-published comic, as well as lots of one-offs.

Now it’s been a long time since I’ve done them and I kinda feel like I’ve moved on. However, today someone I know brought my attention to this person:

http://lol.yougetcake.com/?t=grade-12

Clearly he’s ripping me off. I think that’s obvious, but my first reaction was that I didn’t care. I’ve moved on, good luck to him.

Then a few people mentioned that it may get mistaken for my work. While I think the difference is clear, others I guess might not. Even though I’ve moved on a part of me still doesn’t want people to think this is my work.

So I’ve emailed him. I didn’t really know what to say. I just asked that he acknowledge that he’s ripping me off on his website and facebook. What else do I say? He’s not going to stop doing it.

It’s an odd situation and I don’t want a witch hunt. There are people getting ripped off like Drew Millward and Erin Hunting where they’re using current work and it will actually effect their earnings. Clearly this is not the case here. All I want is for his work to not be mistaken for mine.

I await a reply.

Boo! Comic

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:40:17 +0000

I was invited to be part of a new comic anthology by Paul Harrison-Davies & Andrew Waugh called Boo!

The idea is to make a Horror comic for children. To tell a scary story for kids aged 8 and over in 4 pages. No pulling punches or watering down - we believe kids want, and need, a good scare.

The level of talent on this project is insane. Along with Andy and Paul there’s Rob Davis, Gary Northfield, Jonathan Edwards, Jamie Smart and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell.

I’m in awe of these guys, so to have my work next to them is a privilege.

Here’s a rough taster of my strip:

You’ll hopefully get to see the rest along with everyone else’s in October.

Here’s a link to the Boo! Comic tumblr

Secret 7's

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:14:49 +0000

I became aware of the Secret 7’s competition last year due to friends having work in it.

You can see the details here

It’s for a great cause and I hope I get to be a part of it. I’ve done two submissions and fingers crossed one get’s chosen.

I’ve linked them below if you want to vote for me

Nick Drake

Laura Marling

Draplin

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:12:11 +0000

Today I watched this talk from last year by Aaron Draplin. I found it very inspiring.

http://t.co/5k8W3Z9w

His Website is here http://draplin.com/

My Process

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:26:00 +0000

I find other peoples process for creating their work fascinating.

For instance, Dustin Harbin’s post on scanning here was really helpful to me and changed a lot about the way I work.

So with that in mind I thought I’d do one. Who knows, maybe someone will tell me a better way of doing what I do and make me more efficient.

I start off by drawing out my idea in pencil and then inking it up using a brush pen. Then I scan in at 600 dpi as a bmp. This cut out a problem I had a while back of not having clean blacks. Once it’s scanned in I then clean up any mistakes and dirt picked up from the scanner (which I really need to clean and always forget).

Once I’m happy with the image as black and white I save it and then convert it to RGB or CMYK. I’ll then add another layer and go back to the background layer and select all the blacks (usually using the contagious setting on the magic wand) and fill it in on the new layer. So this is now my line art layer. I used to fill in the individual areas using a magic wand, but this new method is a lot quicker.

Once this is done I’ll then throw another layer underneath and fill it with white to cover over the original background layer.

I don’t see myself as a great colourist. There are times that I have a strong idea of how I’m going to colour a page going in (the good days) and others I have vague ideas (the bad days), but mostly I just play.

So I’ll put down blocks of colour to try and get an idea of what I want, sometimes I’ll use gradients, but I tend to leave that until later as it’s more of a ball ache to select that area when I want to put the textures in.

Eventually I have a basic colour palette, although sometimes I’ll jump ahead a step to add texture to see if it works.

Next it’s textures. I have only really started using textures in the last few years. I really enjoy the richness it can give a fairly flat area, although I’m still learning not to use too many and swamping the page.

Since the areas have already been colour blocked out I can take a texture, position it over the area, select the colour and copy and paste it over the top with an opacity on the layer. Sometimes I’ll just cut the texture to size by erasing it to fit, usually when I’m going to delete the line art on top of it.

With some of the textures I may tweak the colour as well in which case I’ll use the Colour Balance or Hue/Saturation and play around until I get what I need. The brightness/contrast is also one I use for adjustments.

With this page I also had line art that I changed the colours of. In this case if the line art isn’t connected to anything else I’ll select on the line art layer and then add a layer above and fill it in there. Initially that’s what I did here and then I changed my mind and redrew an element of it on a separate layer.

To make a few areas glow I also added circles of colour that I blurred using Gaussian Blur and put a little opacity on.

Once I’m somewhere near where I want to be I’ll then do a layer of shadows and a layer of highlights. I’ll put the opacity to about 70 and fill in the areas with black (shadows) and white (highlights). Then I’ll select the whole layer using magic wand and contagious setting and go across each layer and use the brightness/contrast to get the effect I want.

Now that’s all done I’ll save and then flatten the whole image and then use the Colour Balance for one last attempt to get the colours right.

So that’s my process. It has changed a lot over the years and I’m sure it will keep doing so. I hope it’s been helpful and feel free to ask any questions.

Below are a few work in progress shots of a piece I did a while ago.

Ink + Paper

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:02:52 +0000

Ink + Paper is an A5 comic magazine filled with talent and soon I will be lucky enough to contribute.

http://inkpluspaper.com/

I will have a strip in the Ink + Paper #4 and here are some of my early coloured panels (minus the text).

Draw Grinch

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 00:49:00 +0000

So #drawCalvinandHobbes is over and what a great response it was, but don’t fear, for the season of good will to all men I shall be running #drawGrinch to get us into that holiday mood.

It’ll run for all of December, and whether it’s Seuss’ original, Chuck Jones’ cartoon, or god forbid Jim Carrey’s version, all are welcome.

Usual rules apply, anyone can enter, just post them with the #drawGrinch hashtag on twitter, or if you want to make it really easy for me copy me in as well, i’m @themooks.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with, here’s mine.

@themooks

@jcodfishpie

@kay_designs

@monkeyvsrobots

@emoireb

@rteefufkin

@jakehub

@robertmball

@umetoys

@republicofjones

@thingsbydan

@jontofski

@therealcraigyc

@ochre7

@creativekickup

@bitsofbobs

@jam_wah

@helloitselliot

@mscremebrulee

@sb_murray

@geeksarecool

@geniusofplace

@Erinhunting

@yemayema

@WarwickJC

@Whitewrose

@dafttom

@tomthepen

@kjmillar

@drewmillward

@thatmadden

@robfuzzard

@takeinpixels

@treehousemarc

@undead8bit

@atxstoryboards

@PaulMHD

@cavanahm

@morgangleave

Heroes & Villains

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:11:00 +0000

For my own amusement I’ve been drawing some Superheroes and Villains. I have put some one black and white ink drawings in my shop here but here are the colour ones I’ve done so far.

Dr Doom

Magneto

Venom

Aquaman

Deadpool

The Goon

Human Torch

Hulk

Wolverine

Red Skull

@mysterio

Superman

Thor

Iron Man

and Wooden Man…

Draw Calvin & Hobbes

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:42:00 +0100

So it’s decided there is a new #Draw project for November and it is #DrawCalvinandHobbes. I have almost finished drawing my POV comic, so I felt it was time to start another #draw project for everyone to contribute to.

I was a latecomer to Calvin & Hobbes, but you can’t deny it’s brillance and the beautiful artwork Bill Watterson provided, so go ahead get drawing and i’ll post them on here. Just add the hashtag or send them to me on twitter @themooks.

@smileykev

@knowlio

@kyanos

@diyardarkknight

@papasworld27

@jmctwits

@jakehub

@kjmillar

@ohyesverysnice

@stulinfield

@reedicule

@mrnickthompson

@thatmadden

@geeksarecool

@undead8bit

@estragonhelmer

@jimjeroo

@sb_murray

@plznty

@psycho_captain

@guymckinley

@jcodfishpie

@minitreehouse

@jamiesmart

@tokyo_sexwhale

@marloesdevee

@gaiabordicchia

@stevemaythe1st

@treebeerd

@Therealcraigyc

@erinhunting

@bruised_blood

@treehousemarc

@dave_eddie

@bitsofbobs

@ochre7

@yohammohammo

@yemayema

@monkeyvsrobots

@douglasnoble

@spudlington

@wildcatstumunro

@ianvincible

@morgangleave

@beanomark

@fredblunt

@EbenezerBleezer

@themooks

@andrewturnbull

@paulmhd

@emoireb

@craigactually

@garethaxford

@shatner69

@thingsbydan

@rickeadescomics

@dafttom

@jellibat

@kerinjo

@benillustrator

@bruceyart

@grungekid84

@popcultivation

@gurroo available for sale here

@robdoylecouk

@timtoons

@atxstoryboards

Mojo back

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:19:04 +0100

I’ve been recovering from surgery and have not been drawing (I’ve kept creative by writing instead). I tried early on but it was straight up bad. Finally I appear to have my mojo back and I’ve been doodling. These are the results.

WIP still doing this one.

POV progress

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:48:56 +0100

As I’ve been working on my current comic Points of View I’ve been posting progress shots on twitter.

I’ve still got a way to go, but I thought I’d collect them all together on here thus far. Hopefully it won’t give anything away and you like them.

RIP Maurice Sendak #DrawSendak

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:49:00 +0100

What a couple of days.

First MCA and now Maurice Sendak. An inspiration to most if not all illustrators, not just for his work but also his philosophy on life.

I was asked to do a #drawsendak on twitter, so here it is.

Note: If you use any of these images, please credit the artist involved.

@pigflaps

@kbaczynski

@haverholm

@scottmhallett

@bruised_blood

@garethaxford

@smileykev

@fhnavarro

@undead8bit covered both #draw’s in one!

@busstopsnwinter

@Fredblunt

@morgangleave

@zeichenwege

@paulmhd

@tomjnewell

@kjmillar

@jabberworks

@dafttom

RIP Adam Yauch aka MCA #DrawBeasties

Sun, 06 May 2012 19:34:00 +0100

Friday the 4th May marked the passing of Adam Yauch aka MCA one third of the Beastie Boys.

I’ve been a huge Beastie Boys fan for a long time and found this news to be heart breaking. Adam Yauch was a great musician and a great activist. He did many things for charity as well as setting up the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. He also shot a lot of the Beasties videos under the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér.

In a world that has become over run with empty pop husks, the Beasties Boys stood for something and their music will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

I want to honor him and the rest of the Beastie Boys with a #drawbeasties tribute. Usual rules apply, post them on twitter with the tag or to me @themooks and i’ll post them on here, anyone can enter.

RIP Adam Yauch.

Note: If you use any of these images, please credit the artist involved.

Here’s mine, not got time to colour properly as I can’t sit down for too long,

My first logo attempt

Here are the rest of the submissions:

@tokyo_sexwhale

@raid71

@jontofski

@gurroo

@republicofjones

@_scottpollard

@kieranshalloo

@wildcatstumunro

@jamiesmart

@jmctwits

@christinabutton

@bruised_blood

@sophiehardwicke

@jeshunt

@yohammohammo

@zeichenwege

@morgangleave

@tomjnewell

@itsmanfromspace

@thingsbydan

@paulmhd

@denimz

@kjmillar

@busstopnwinter

#Draw a little late

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:08:39 +0100

While I may have stopped doing the #Draw posts for a while, Will Morris has prompted me to post his entry, where he combined all three of them.

It’s completely knocked me out. So good.

I can’t wait for his book The Silver Darlings which I’ve seen a little preview of and looks great. See more of his work here http://whmorris.blogspot.com

Art Vs Cancer

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 22:40:49 +0000

After I organized #DrawHellboy I thought it might be nice if we used some of the pictures created as prints and give the profits to charity. For one reason or another that didn’t pan out and instead Chris Thornley (@Raid71) added his idea ‘Hellnuts’ to his exisiting website Art Vs Cancer. Him and his partner Julia (@ArtRaid71) set up the project in June 2011 and have raised a great deal of money for several charities and were even kind enough to split the profits of Hellnuts between two charities of my choosing.

Since then Chris seems have to gone into creative overdrive, producing print after print of beautiful work and they have also allowed some other people to submit designs.

Julia asked me if I would like to put some print designs forward and of course I jumped at the chance.

So I have one design in two colours, signed & numbered,

So if you want some new art for your walls with profits going to good causes, then visit Art Vs Cancer.

Slow process

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:59:00 +0000

I’m currently working on a new comic as a follow up to Chocolate & Me called Points of View. Chocolate & Me was an exercise in getting something finished. I have a horrible problem of starting a project with gusto and then petering out before it’s even half way done, so I needed to prove to myself I could finish a project and that there was an audience out there for it.

So since finishing Chocolate & Me I have written two comic scripts, POV & Cheers Big Ears. Cheers is about 120 pages drawn & so I wanted a quick project to fill in while I drew it. Only once I got started what was a short comic turned into around a 70 page comic.

So here I am. I would like to get it finished for Thought Bubble, but progress at the moment is slow. I decided to draw it at A3 landscape as I like the amount of space it gives me and the level of detail it would allow me.

I am drawing this in my spare time & during lunch at work, which means I don’t really get a flow going, but I thought I’d post up the progress of this page to show the agonizing time it takes me.

First the thumbnail (I thumbnailed the whole thing first)

Then some pencil

Then some more pencils

Then some inking

And finally ready to be scanned in

I always find other peoples process very interesting, I suspect mine might not be as interesting, but there you go.

Apologies for the poor quality pictures, but I draw on lap and took them with my phone.