MERRY CHRISTMAS

*MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR*

I wish, I wish

I wish, I wish, I wish that Fairy Tales didn't take so long to write/draw/compile. I feel like I'm living a slightly absurd double life, with one toe permanently dipped in a far away place whilst the rest of my body gets on with the practical day-to-days. Probably better that way round than the other.

Another day another few pages along.

Sketch page 53 of 55 of what will be ? pages. This is something of a breakthrough page in the old GN. I was limping along from page 51, getting a tad lost when suddenly it/I started to pull together again. Can see the wood for the trees now-I know exactly where we're going now and how to get there, I think.

Painting a gogo

The latest version of my graphic novel in gouache and ink. Ever so slightly different from the last.

Digital page 6, now where's my brush

For a creature of inky habits, it's been a fun exercise and I rather like this. One might say I'm a little slow with the old PS-it has taken 5 days out of my life and if I had painted it probably only 2/3.  I have a wacom blister and the old groove at the end of my middle finger is missing the feel of a brush.
I'm still asking myself the question:- Do I want to hand paint a graphic novel of something in the region of 100 pages?

A previous incarnation

A previous incarnation of an earlier draft in gouache.

Marsh digisketch 2

Toying with the idea of colouring in photoshop or painting by hand, hence another not so late experiment with another frame from the novel. As yet, I'm undecided.

Mistress Pate at Images 34

I had a good evening at the AOI Images 34 exhibition last night.  The quality of the work was great so it is especially nice to see good old Mistress Pate hanging there.

Dum Dum Girls for Spindle magazine, Brighton.

A brief dalliance with photoshop and a little flurry into indie pop for Spindle magazine. Could have done with a T-pot, a few cups and saucers and a bit of cake, but that would have been too much. Very happy with the bugs instead.

The 'Paper Bird' or the 'the House on the Marsh'

Am up to page 44 in sketching out my graphic novel, there are possibly another 44 to go, who knows.  I'm still really excited about it although I'm taking my time before I start page 45. To get my head into gear with the pace of the story I've just started pulling the text from sketchbook and adding it to the illustrations, which is quite satisfing.