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'Homage' to cover of IRON MAN #150. Hand drawn, no tracing or graph
paper or projectors involved. Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Yeah, I know some of you will have seen this before, but I'm stuck for something to write about so it's either this or nothing. (Hey, whaddya mean that nothing would've been preferable?!)
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It's not generally known, but although I was primarily a lettering artist throughout my 15 year career in comics, my original ambition was to be an adventure comic strip artist. I started lettering simply to get my size 9s in the door, but when I saw that I could earn more as a letterer than as an artist (on account of being faster at the former than the latter), I stuck mainly with the lettering.
However, I did a bit of drawing as well, adding to panels when re-sizing IPC comic libraries, and doing occasional spot illos when the opportunity presented itself. I also worked as a restoration artist on some MARVEL MASTERWORKS volumes, re-inking and even re-creating JACK KIRBY art, which was a huge thrill for me.
However, my frank and forthright views on this blog on the current state of the British comics 'industry' (hah!) has brought me in for criticism from some quarters, with a few disgruntled individuals dismissing me as "only a letterer" and a "Kirby tracer". Thing is, I got my first paying gig as a cartoonist when I was still at school, and have produced artwork for publication (for which I was paid) since even before (during and after) I started freelancing for IPC/FLEETWAY, MARVEL COMICS (and others).
So here are a few examples of pencil and ink artwork ranging from my teenage years right up to adulthood. Quite a few are professional pieces I was paid for, some were freebies for people I know, and the remainder were done simply for my own amusement. I've shown them all before on the blog at various times, but it can't hurt to remind people that I'm certainly more than "only a letterer". Funny how some people who work in comics mistakenly imagine that it's the only legitimate outlet for an artist's work, eh?
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Huh! Not even one appreciative comment so far. I knew I should've take off the 'Do Not Feed The Ego' sign hanging around my neck before I posted this. (Now I know what YOGI BEAR feels like.)
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| Pencil caricature (using my pseudonym) done as a gift for someone |
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"As you dislike a certain cartoonist's version of DESPERATE DAN, then why not do it
yourself?" someone dared. So I did! Characters copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
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| B&W copy of colour ad for local restaurant. Fee was £100, but decided not to sell in the end |
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2000 A.D. pin-up. I was paid for it, but don't know if it was ever
published. Characters copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING |
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| Pencil sample which led to ltg work from IPC. Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS |
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| Set of four cartoon illustrations (sans captions) for Equestrian event programme |
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| Cartoon illustration for local business |
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| Acrylic ink caricature of a friend's son |
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| Pencil caricature done as a gift for someone |
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| Parody of AMAZING FANTASY #15 splash page |
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| Cartoon strip for local business |
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Proposed strip (at the request of BOB PAYNTER) for OINK! while at the preparation
stage. Never got any feedback, but a similar character appeared a few months later |
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| WILLIAM HARTNELL 'DOCTOR' and TARDIS drawn in 1983, background completed in 2013 |
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Acrylic ink portrait done as a gift for someone after much
badgering. Yeah, you can see my heart wasn't really in it |
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| Drawing done as a gift for someone. Copyright KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, Inc |
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| Newspaper ad drawn as a teenager for local business |
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| Photocopy of pencil drawing done for my own amusement around 1981 |
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| Instruction leaflet done for local business's delivery drivers |
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| Newspaper ad for Glasgow hairdressers |
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| Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone |
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| Logo for The ILLUSTRATED COMIC JOURNAL |
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| Drawing done as a gift for someone |
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| Pair of flyers for local business |
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| Proposed logo for Glasgow con. Don't know if it was used or not |
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| Cartoons (sans captions) for two camping posters done in my late teens/early 20s |
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| Logo for local business |
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| Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone |
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| Quick caricature done as a gift for someone |
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| Fun & Activity booklet produced for local business |
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| Acrylic ink caricature done as a gift for someone |
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| Unfinished pencil caricature |
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| Comic strip drawn for The BOOTS NEWS when I was 17. Coloured decades later |
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| Pencil drawing done as a teenager |
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| Unpublished strip for local paper. Others were published though |
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| Cartoon strip drawn for my own amusement |
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| Character copyright DC COMICS |
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And finally - a couple of pages of JK artwork I inked. The FF one appeared in an issue
of The JACK KIRBY Collector. Characters copyright MARVEL COMICS |
9 comments:
I don't care what anyone else thinks, Kid, I think you're an absolutely brilliant artist. I would say that though, seeing as I'm your double from an alternate universe. That's why I've got the same name and avatar as you.
(Well, it was worth a try.)
The caricature stuff worked best for me. It's by no means as easy to do as some people think. (Maybe that's why modern-day MAD went down the tubes...)
Thanks for taking the time to comment, GP. I was beginning to think that the entire population of Earth had migrated to another planet. I think Tom Richmond is a great caricaturist, but when I think of 'Mad', I think of Mort Drucker. (And Don Martin, though he didn't do caricatures as far as I know.)
Magnificent work kid, some of it isn't my favourite genre (caricatures) but over all the pieces look professional and very stylized
T-G
Good man! (Cheque's in the post.)
Great Stuff kid, Love The Hartnell, I'd love to see your Version Of Pertwee!
Well, it only took me 30 years to finish the Hartnell drawing, RD (glad you like it), so let's see how long it takes to start a Pertwee one.
You're a man of many talents. Some excellent stuff here. I very much like the Orion inks and some great work on the subsequent colouring. Any story behind the Kirby inks?
I just saw stats of the pencil art in some magazine and decided to have a go at inking them, B. Or, to be more precise, inking on tracing paper over the stats. I really need to do the FF one again though, 'cos I'm not entirely happy with it. Glad you like them.
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