OH HEY IT'S MARCEL O'LEARY

2012-02-10T20:00:00.003Z

It was my brother's birthday on Wednesday, so I drew him this guy. You're an old man now, Paul!

Neglected Guardian

2012-02-10T01:37:00.003Z

Last year (not long after the picture in the last post was made), I planned to enter the Guardian/Observer's annual comic competition. I was moving house at the time, and didn't end up finishing it, so I'll post it here. Needless to say, it would have been existential (any angst was an added bonus) and I was looking forward to playing with sound and and panel layouts a little. Oh, and puns, too.

This is the rough for the second page. After this, the protagonist would have delved into his introverted/escapist worldview.

Oh, and have a look at this guy's 24 hour (or so) comic: http://english.bouletcorp.com/2012/02/01/darkness/

It's been linked around a little bit, but the guy drew it at Angouleme BD festival in France, and it blows my mind to think he made something that incredible in such a short time. I was actually at the festival, but I don't think I was there when the 24hr comics event was going on! If you ever get the chance to go there, do it. I'll post a little more about it soon!

Hyrax in Arcadia

2012-02-01T19:02:00.003Z

Slightly Larger

Wow, sorry for the radio silence! I've been absolutely swamped with a project over the past few months- hopefully I can show some of it in the future. In the meantime, here's an early concept piece for a comic I was writing a little while ago. I drew it last September (I think), and added some of the buildings recently. I'll try and post more often from now on!

ADVICE TO SINK IN SLOWLY

2011-11-06T23:43:00.007Z

Advice to Sink in Slowly is a project to give illustrated posters of any kind of advice to first year students from former graduates. The lovely John Stanbury, organiser of AtSiS asked me to join in, and as someone who loved having one of these posters in my first year of uni, I was more than happy to join in.

[Full View]

The advice is pretty self explanatory! As much as I loved my course, it didn't teach much about my specific interests, and alongside that, I found it easy to get stressed out by my view of what was 'expected of me' by the course. Illlustration can so easily become obsessive, so I think this advice is still useful. For me at least!

I wanted the poster to be graphic in design, so even if you didn't like the artwork you'd still be happy to have the poster on your wall. Here's close ups of the art itself:

I generally went with the "Draw What You Want" part more than anything thematically close, but I guess from the top, each picture loosely represents knowledge/potential, adventure, and hope/peace and reflection.

I was going to do alternate versions with only one illustration in, but got lazy and didn't. Originally it was going to be a different poster altogether- a digital painting with lots of dismantled tech and machinery:

If you're a student in the UK you can request a poster for free here!

Burrrrfffdayyy

2011-10-31T12:49:00.004Z

I've been busy! So here are some warm up sketches and quick pieces I've done recently.

It's straight up dawg time

2011-10-09T12:00:00.000+01:00

This was going to be in colour, but I got carried away with a black and white experiment. Fun fun fun! Also, my first page drawn at A2, which makes things a bazillion times easier.

Noir

2011-10-07T17:59:00.000+01:00

Here are some warm up pieces from a project that may now be on the backburner:

pewpewpew

2011-10-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

2011-10-02T12:00:00.000+01:00

More life drawing, all 3-15 mins! With a lot of these I learnt quite a lot, and I'm really trying to learn how the body works. Muscle contraction, weight distribution and how the torso twists... I may not get there soon, but I'll get there.

^On the two above I did quick sketches after the poses to try and decipher my drawings and understand how backs work. The bottom left post-pose sketch shows I've got a way to go!

You know nothing, Jon Snow

2011-09-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

Something I did for fun a few weeks ago. I drew it between reading Feast for Crows and a Dance with Dragons, so I hadn't actually read any Jon chapters in a long time, and I didn't really try very hard to get an accurate likeness. So the sword position is wrong, and if I'd actually followed the book he probably has long hair, but whatever! I'll do some more if I ever get around to it.

Don't know what I'm on about? Go read George R R Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series! They made the first book, A Game of Thrones, into a HBO series. But who the hell watches that shit? Go read the books! Fall in love with a million characters only to watch them go through hell and die!

2011-09-28T10:00:00.000+01:00

I've started life drawing once or twice a week. It's fun to balance accuracy and expression, and have dedicated time to learn how to draw as well as study anatomy. Getting down likenesses of the models was always a strong point for me, but I think now that it's been a while I'm more 50/50 with it, but genuinely seem to learn something useful with every drawing. All these are 5-15 minute poses. I'll post some more up soon!

Busybusybusy

2011-08-23T15:14:00.003+01:00

In the midst of moving house and doing a few comic projects, but here's an Akira piece in the meantime:

Here's the bigger, not-quite-wallpaper-size

When I first read Akira I thought it was good, but pretty overrated. Otomblr's helped me understand how amazing Otomo really is, though.

Starwatcher

2011-08-11T09:05:00.003+01:00

Apple Pie was the first Moebius art-meme, and now Brandon Graham's started it all again with Starwatcher [I totally think that me and andy suggested this pic whilst in vancouver with Brandon, but it might have been this one I was thinking of :>]. Spent way too much time on this one, and ended up making it more of a study than anything else. Also, next time I do anything like this, I'll just use a ruler. It's such a fucking hassle without one! This was also a really fun chance to ink something more finished by hand. GO!

Bigger

Sketchesssss

2011-08-11T08:33:00.005+01:00

Me and Josh Bone met up at a tea shop the other day to work on comiccssss, and ended up doing a 2-page challenge. We each picked three random words and had under two hours to think of something. My words were circle, running and fan. It's hilariously bad, and all an excuse to mess around with semi-functional panel layouts, but I'll have to do more. I used to do this sort of thing last year with Andy Porter, so I should keep it up!

Bigger

Here's a little sketch from the V&A museum in London, and below that is a drawing from above the docks in Falmouth. They're on A6 and A4 paper respectively.

You guys know Rebecca Sugar's work, right? Just checking. She's incredible.

HAMPSHIRE FOLK TALES

2011-08-06T00:42:00.004+01:00

Here's a couple sneak peeks at a book I've illustrated called (you guessed it) Hampshire Folk Tales, a book of folklore, myths and urban legends about the English county and it's crazy history. It was actually written by my uncle (a storyteller by trade), and is an amazing read- a lot of these books can be quite drily written, but my uncle has tried to make it as lively and organic as possible. He has a couple of amazing lines on storytelling as a whole, explaining how evolutionary stories can be, and how every different change and personal take on a narrative can create an even bigger story of it's own.

Through some misunderstanding on my part I left myself little time to do these illustrations, and while some may be a bit sparse, I had a load of fun on the book and knocked out a few good results. It's being published through History Press in November, and I'll give you details on buying it closer to the launch date!

KING OF PAINT

2011-07-21T14:51:00.009+01:00

[full size]

Here's a sketch I made for a graff store in Bristol called King of Paint. They have an exclusive sketchbook that they get people to sketch in. I can't wait to see what's new in there next time. Here's their website, and here's their blog.

It's been a while since I've drawn anything at A3 size. It was pretty fun!

Random starred Google Reader post of the day:

http://fuckyeahladywriters.tumblr.com/post/3363943543/in-between-freezing-and-melting-in-between-love

RIP Eagles Initiative...

2011-07-17T19:46:00.003+01:00

So. Comics.

I've mentioned this one before, and here it is in all it's uh, 6-page glory. This was pretty fun to do, and I learnt a whole load from the experience. It may be a little confusing (it's the classic, 'too much story, too little time or understanding of what the audience will understand' routine), but I hope you enjoy it. Originally made for a competition called the Eagles Initiative with the chance to get feedback from a bunch of professionals and have your work published in an anthology, unfortunately the whole competition fell through. Looks like it's just you and me, comics!

If you look at something like this, you'll see something that my comic doesn't do- Stokoe adds just a couple extra panels which if you strictly thought it through may not be necessary, but they make the whole thing much clearer.

Random starred Google Reader post:

http://beautifuldecay.com/2011/06/07/chie-aoki-human-growth/

2011-07-03T14:51:00.004+01:00

In absence of work I'm allowed to show (although I might show a bit soon anyway), here's some life drawing and painting from the past little while. Throughout uni, my life drawing was a lot more structured than sessions I went to before, and so while I've undoubtedly learnt more, I think I've also developed a habit of overthinking obervational drawing, and forgetting to just relax and enjoy myself. Both in my observational drawing and any other work, my goal from here on out is to balance pushing technique and knowledge whilst just... enjoying what I naturally do!

Painting has never come naturally to me, so when I practice observational painting I'm usually slow. Even so, I learn something every time! Gestural sketches (like in the last photo) are really fun to learn natural posture and weight balance, as well as simplifying shape. I still hang on to these when I can, since they can give you a little perspective when you're overthinking anatomic proportions in place of gesture and action.

To me, the absolute master of life drawing is the esteemed Francis Vallejo. He consistently balances line and form, knowledge and expression in every piece. From his warmup sketches to his more polished renderings... he knows his shit. Also check out Jaime Jones (another young genius, and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet), whose life drawing reflects his more painterly nature.

Now, on with things!

INSPIRATION #1

2011-06-15T19:30:00.008+01:00

After being shouted out by a couple of loverly fellas, I thought I'd follow the trend and post some artists that float my boat!

Amélie Fléchais

ssoja's art inspires me pretty much every time I see it. As someone who can't paint for shit, I always love her watercolours, and how she balances pattern with solid shapes, 2-d with 3-d rendering. Even her simple work as an amazing atmosphere to it.

Christophe Marchetti

A lot of this guy's newer work reminds me of Taiyo Matsumoto's Takemitsu Zamurai and Sunny stuff. I haven't actually read any of Marchetti's comics yet, but I'm really curious to see how he tells stories.

Maciej Kuciara

I still don't fully know how to pronounce his name.

Adijin

His websites down atm, so here's his deviantart.
Something I found on a pixiv hunt a while ago:

Quick blast from the past: No matter what people think of Dragonball Z, Dragonball is still an amazing comic. I think it was the first comic after primary school age (post Beano and Spider-man) that really kickstarted my current love for the medium. While everyone loves the Akira bike, this one always has a spot in my heart as my dream vehicle :)

Till next time!

2011-06-02T16:59:00.002+01:00

More character designs! A man's been cursed to be trapped within a puppet like body, to be a ward for a town abandoned through war. All the residents had left on floating city-ships to closely follow the war, and the man has been left alone for years. The book gives him the chance to slowly reveal his personality to a sudden guest to the town, whose earlier designs can be seen here.

The mask on his back shows the man himself, like some kind of death mask.

So I've finally finished university! It feels pretty good...

BUSY

2011-05-05T00:53:00.003+01:00

I've been pretty busy doing work as we gear up for our final times on this old degree thing, but I've got a backlog of stuff to upload when I get the chance. This is from a comic I did last year/January- it was for the Eagles Initiative, a comic competition, but I have no idea when the results come through. When they do, I'll post the whole thing!

FEVER RAY

2011-04-13T12:25:00.004+01:00

Here's another music themed NES label. Any feedback is appreciated, I feel like this one needs tinkering with.

If you ever get the chance to see Fever Ray live, you should! She's one half of the Knife, but her solo stuff is incredible, all thundering and tribal. Her live show is like an act more than a gig- Fever Ray and her band all dress up, the stage is completely decorated and all around there's lasers, smoke machines and lamps that light up in hypnotic patterns to the music. Unlike a lot of gigs, with Fever Ray you feel like a participant in the experience, not just someone watching. You feel obligated to dance, just to match the life of their music!

Here's the black and white version of the artwork in the background. I had a lot of fun doing it! And wouldn't you know, I learnt something too. Very wholesome.

WIP

2011-04-11T01:08:00.000+01:00

2011-04-01T21:40:00.003+01:00

I heard that fanart is good to try when you're in an art rut. So here's a picture using Corey Lewis' version of Wonder Woman. I didn't get the balance of indy hotness to badassery I wanted to, but ah well. If there's more of a fantasy vibe to the picture than the original, it's prrrobably because I've been reading a Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, which is incredible. I know nothing about Wonder Woman, but there should be more stories of her growing up alongside warrior amazon ladies, getting fucked up and cracking skulls as she learns how to fight and survive.

The Storyteller

2011-03-15T03:09:00.003Z

I forget how badly I paint. It's not that my knowledge of colour or tone it particularly bad, but more that I get overwhelmed with what you can do, and have a habit of overthinking and overworking the most basic things. This started out as a speedpainting, but I gave up, blurred it all and changed to a tonal study. I'd like to come back to the picture though, the original is quite a beautiful photo.

While in most ways I feel like I was a generation too late to really get the chance to appreciate Jim Henson, he seems like an incredible man. If it wasn't so late I'd wax on forever about the guy, but even from the little I know of him he seems like a man to aspire to be like.

24 HOUR COMICCCCC

2011-03-07T19:42:00.000Z

Woo! So here's my 24hr comic, completed at the beginning of February at the amazing Eden Project, which if you haven't been, is like a slice of the future- today.

It was for 24hr Comic etc., where three events in different parts of Cornwall were set up for us participants to try and complete 24 pages of comics,24 illustrations, 24 minutes of film, 24 songs, or whatever in the allotted time. It was awesome! Real good fun, with amazing people and organisers.

Although having to get a bus and a couple of trains back home after a distinct lack of sleep is a lot harder than you'd think.

Anyway, here it is! I used photoshop magic to get rid of my coloured pencils and level the pages (here's what an original looks like), so that might be thought of as cheating (going outside the time limit). But I don't care.

It turns out there isn't a photoshop tool to airbrush out bad storytelling. Here's my comments from a questionnaire I gave to the organisers:

"I don’t think it’s explained very well in the story, but the idea is that scientists and biologists created a giant machine for harvesting natural resources, but it malfunctioned and ended up destroying the local environment by letting anything useful rot and stagnate within its structure. The scientists made underground stations to help maintain whatever plantlife was left from above, using mirrors to get sunlight underground. That’s the backdrop, anyway. The creature/machine was inspired by the giant scrap robot in the eden project, and most of the rest of the comic is inspired by all the people and bits and pieces dotted around the area."

So yeah. That's it!

2011-03-05T15:37:00.000Z

character designs for an illustrated book I'm starting, which was actually mentioned... here. It's gonna be fun to do! These are tests for a single character. Her personality isn't really defined yet though, so I've got a little way more to go before I'm done narrowing down.

Also, the go team piece I made was linked here. More work goes into that website than the official page!

Lastly, I've been listening to this cover more than I should: http://hypem.com/#!/item/vhqa/The+Bamboos+-+King+of+the+Rodeo+feat+Megan+Washington+

2011-02-26T02:15:00.000Z

So I saw the Go Team live the other day- one of the few bands you've actually heard of that's played in little ol' faltown- and decided to make a game label/music promo for them, too. Those are actually my NES cartridges in the pictures, bought in Super Potato in Tokyo, but I haven't put the stickers on yet.

Here's the inks for the Go Team piece. Came out pretty nice! I've got one more cartridge left to make a label for. I'm thinking Fever Ray...

MONAE

2011-02-18T12:42:00.000Z

When I went to Japan in January I bought a few old NES cartridges (which are different to the PAL versions) to make some custom labels for. Turns out they're going to be music themed!

First up: Janelle Monae. She's on tour in the UK atm, but I'm not gonna get the chance to see her. She seems like she has a James Brown style of energetic performance, which would be awesome to see! I uploaded the process here, just because the terrible first rough makes me laugh.

Comics Manifesto

2011-02-06T20:18:00.000Z

From Comicz Quest:

"We are sick and tired of the communication media and their self-proclaimed role as the guarantors of public freedoms, as the guardians of the public spirit, the popular sensibility and conscience. Under this cloak of words they are concealing a thoroughly sinister complex: the manipulation of public opinion, the numbing of popular conscience, the substitution of genuine commonality by the logic of economic forces!

And what can you say about common mortals? Frozen in their present, assuming their role without protest: Politicians and terrorists, bishops and rock ‘n’ rollers, pedophiliac internet predators, students, workers, and executives, writers and artists, all utterly predictable and bored, all contributing to the same chorus of tedium, incapable of creating anything genuine!

Where is the virtue? Where is the love?

Wake up, O cartoonists, wake up from your Marvel-ous dreams! Create comics even though no one pays you for them, even though no one reads them! Cartooning is an act of virtue!

Let us undermine the syntax of sense, the logic of profit!

Drawing is an act of love, free, anonymous, and automatic!!

It’s free because no one can ever pay what it is truly worth. It’s anonymous because it’s aimed at the world in general and no one in particular. It’s automatic because, indeed, it’s done with no rhyme or reason whatsoever.

It’s an act of selflessness and purity!

"When the government is evil, the wise man practices virtue in his own home. When the government is good, the wise man does the same.”

We refuse to play your game! Even though no one needs them, even though no one buys them or reads them, even though no one ask us or thanks us… WE SHALL DRAW COMICS!!"

- By Max in Bardín the Superrealist.

I finished a 24hr comic. I'll post it when I'm blessed with scans of the stuff

Loading...

2011-01-31T23:52:00.000Z

I made this a little while ago for a local bar/cafe in Falmouth called Loading. It's the centrespread of their drinks menu, and since it's a vdeogame themed establishment, so are their drinks!

So far Earthworm Gin and the TF2 shotset get a thumbs up from me.

I just finished up a comic for a competition which I'll post when I can, and I also recently came back from a trip to Japan, so expect artses and photos!

Take Five

2011-01-03T00:01:00.000Z

I'm not the biggest fan of Brubeck, but this was a gift. I hope they like it!

Scraps

2010-12-11T14:54:00.000Z

This was a piece for an auction for our poor little course, so we can afford to publish an awesome awesome collaborative book. My piece was left unloved and abandoned, so it's currently moved back in with it's parent until it can find someone else. A bit scrappy, but I like it!

LIFE DRAWLINGS

2010-12-08T01:35:00.000Z

Hey! It's been MONTHS since I've done any life drawing... it's funny how it feels like you're starting from scratch when that happens. So much fun though!

^In reality this is a bit wonky, but it bovvered me enough that I wanted to shop it. Here's the original.

2010-12-05T18:29:00.000Z

Just a quick speedpainting w/reference. I need to do more of these, they're so bloody useful!

2010-12-03T16:12:00.000Z

I didn't realise it had been so long! Here's a few sketches:

This is the starting point of an illustrated book I want to do. This is the initial design (I think it's changed already) for one of a handful of caretakers for an abandoned town. Cursed to this life, he's not really human any more- the town has been empty for decades because of a war that's roamed around the world (no-one really remembers how it started).

These are quick pieces I did on a train journey (roughly photoreferenced). I'd like to say that all of the wonkiness was because of the train, but it's probably just as much because I'm so rusty at inking! I'm finding it awkward to make time to do pieces just for fun lately, but in a lot of ways it's more useful than actual project work (definitely more useful than dissertation)

How do you do?

2010-10-19T18:33:00.000+01:00

So this is the ZX-138. He's a particularly pleasant Assist Robot, who has been sent by the august Ulysses Mathers to rescue his teenage daughter from some altered gorilla monsters. ZX-138 tends to travel on his companion Hitchens, a giant lizard.

Here, have some vultures.

2010-10-13T22:57:00.000+01:00

Golden Oldies

2010-10-13T22:45:00.000+01:00

This isn't actually new, but isn't it amazing?

Green Fingers

2010-09-01T00:18:00.000+01:00

This is a redesign of green lantern Guy Gardner, a character who normally wears turtlenecks and sleeveless jackets with big collars (wouldn't you?). This version knows kung fu, which also taught him to control his (self)destructive ways. All the tattoos on his arms will be of memories and stories from all the different worlds he travels and green lanterns he meets.

Colouring the shorts from my nondescript lineart gave me hell. Crits are appreciated!

MOAR

2010-08-29T22:56:00.000+01:00

2010-08-26T23:50:00.000+01:00

I want to use brush and ink more often.

Everybody loves the sunshine~

2010-08-24T23:20:00.000+01:00

A bunch of sketches (newest at the top). I've done a chunk of life drawing whilst being in Bristol, I'll start posting some highlights of it sharpish!

Nude O'Clock

2010-05-05T00:19:00.001+01:00

I haven't had life drawing for almost 2 months, so it was great to go back! I love finding the balance between learning from expressive drawing and true observation.

You can never truly capture a person through a single photograph, you can't capture every movement, or mannerism. So in comics, I always like how the portrait of any character is built up through every panel, page or picture, that their consistency is an evolution throughout the story. I always try and get a good likeness for the model in life drawing, and I like how through each of these pictures you get an overall idea for the model that you couldn't through one picture alone.

^ this one is my favourite :>

STUFF

2010-05-05T00:08:00.000+01:00

Here are some messaround pieces I finished lately. They're inspired by some recoloured old manga panels I saw a while ago on Same Hat!; I've been meaning to understand more about colour, so I thought I'd kickstart it with some colour references from pictures I like. I'm swamped with work atm, but hopefully I'll be able to show more non uni stuff soon!

The Sea of Frozen Words

2010-04-18T21:21:00.000+01:00

Waaaay back when, back in Summer 2009 to be exact, we had the choice to base a project on one of a handful of extracts describing fictional worlds. I chose the Sea of Frozen Words, which is based on part of a centuries old nonsense book about a Giant called Pantagruel who travels around having adventures and inexplicably changing size. Ignoring that part (which was barely mentioned in the text given), I focused on the war mentioned, basing my story on a member of the cloud-riders who struggles to balance between isolation/the meaninglessness of war and his urge to live.

I never finished colouring it, and so tinkered around with it over easter now. It's coloured terribly, and terribly inconsistently, and reads a bit strangely, but if I don't post it now I never will. I have a habit of thinking of ridiculously elaborate backstories and parallel goings-on, and so I'm never sure how much to actually tell in the story itself. I'll get there though.

Non-24 hour Comic

2010-04-17T03:14:00.000+01:00

This was my first attempt at a 24-hour comic back in November. I didn't actually finish it on the day though, so it probably took about 34 hours in all >_>

Despite the awkward story, tone and artwork, there's enough parts that I'm proud of to make me think it's worth posting. We were given the idea of a local strongman to work with if we wanted to and originally I meant to give the comic a gung ho, British Empire style adventurism to it, but it didn't really work out! I'm quite pleased with some of the panelling and layouts, though.

BRB

2010-04-16T04:29:00.000+01:00

Just a sneaky little placeholder!