Pencil Sketch

So for the first comic that I will be doing featuring this character of mine, I have been trying to figure out a way to create a moody atmosphere with the images with the intent that the comic would be printed in B/W, since printing in colour is too expensive. Originally I was just going to do it all in my usual single tone colour which would come out grey from the printing. But I wanted to do something that takes advantage of that print process and not let it hinder me. So I figured pencil is an obvious choice to make a dark, gritty, moody atmosphere that evokes Noir. 

And that brings us to this sketch, done in HB pencil and black watercolour pencil (a cheap one) and ink for the solid blacks. Upon reflection I feel its still a medium I am not used to in terms of rendering my images in this fashion and it will require me to keep on practicing until I think its good enough for the printed comic. 

So next time I will use different paper and a better black pencil too.

As for the story its still being refined. The first issue is being overhauled as there were too many comic book cliches. Also creating a voice for the character to come through the dialogue is harder than I thought. So basically it feels as though I am starting from scratch again.

I hope to get the comic finished by the end of August so it gives me time to get it ready and printed just in time for DevCon1. I should have some progress shots of the comic coming up soon, so keep watching this site.

More comics

After concluding the previous comic, I was immediately tasked to do another short comic. The deadline was quite tight as it was planned to be ready for the Bristol Comic Expo. Alas we never made the deadline but I had fun doing this project.
Here is a little snippet to whet your appetites.

Visit my tumblr to view the whole comic. Again I only have the artwork so there will be no words to go along with the panels. 

Sioux Warrior 3

OK a lot has happened in May, and I am still busy with multiple projects on the go. But now I have a little break to update you guys on whats been happening in my little world.
First off I was given the opportunity to contribute to the third issue of the amazing series 'Sioux Warrior' created by cape fear comics. They are a small comic press that are creating new ways for readers to engage with printed comics in a similar fashion with digital comics.
If you are curious about them I suggest you go check them out and buy their comics. They are one of the few people out there that are doing something new with the medium so I highly recommend it.

So with the advertising out of the way lets get to the good part; the art. Here are a few pages from issue 3.

Page 3

Page 4

Page 7

To view all the pages go to my tumblr blog to have a look.

A Shadow of Steel

It's been awhile since I last posted up stuff, so here is a little something on a project I'm working on. I am collaborating with the 'Final Frontier' comic shop in Plymouth (again) to make a possible series of self published comic books. So far it's been an interesting project and challenge. It has been too long since I wrote my own stories so it's been hard getting back into the swing of things, but I think we have an interesting story to start things off. If there is any feedback you want to give me in relation to the compositions then please feel free to leave a comment.
I should also point out that as it doesn't have any text yet on the pages it would be hard to understand what is going on. Though once the script has been tweaked the second dummy book will have text incorporated with the images. Hope you enjoy.

Chinstrap.

Hello fellow bloggers, Dave here with a selection of concepts for a comic book character that I am co-designing with a Sam from the comic shop. Essentially I am trying to create a 'cowl' like mask for this hero that incorporates the fedora hat. We also want to try and make him distinguished from other comic characters that have a similar design such as The Spirit, Green Hornet, The Shadow etc. At one point I even applied an old fashioned motor cycle cap to be used as part of his disguise. 

So far it has been an engaging exercise to push the boundaries a little on concept and design and I hope I get to see this project through to the end, and maybe illustrate his first outing maybe. Who knows.