Thought Bubbling 2014

Time for a quick visual look at fun times at the past weekend’s Thought Bubble comic convention in Leeds.

Up early and mentally preparing my brain for the day by analysing my stocks and shares…TB2014-00New stuff on sale – hoorah!TB2014-01TB2014-02My table neighbour Van Nim‘s wonderful array of work…TB2014-03Just beyond Van was the great Sally-Jane ThompsonTB2014-04The always lovely to chat to and impeccably dressed David O’Connell and Sarah McIntyre were showing loads of kids the fun to be had making comics and also selling their new Jampires book (and jam comic) along with their other fantastic works…TB2014-05Amazing that despite his serious comic making skills and numerous appearances at conventions over the last few years this was Paul Shinn‘s first comic con with his own tableTB2014-06As always I keep an eye out for cool Disney cosplay – here was a great Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.   TB2014-07Always lovely to be asked to do Lucy the Octopus style portraits of con visitors…TB2014-08TB2014-09TB2014-10Got home to have Suki Kabuki check over my stash of quality comics and books by Ned Hartley, Barry Spiers, David O’Connell, Sarah McIntyre and Paul ShinnTB2014-11And that ends convention season for the year!

MCM London Comic Con 2014

Cheers to all the lovely folk who visited the Tempo Lush table at MCM London Comic Con this past weekend.  Great meeting new people and having folk who had read my work before come back for more!

Really pleased that all my new comics were selling.  Had to rearrange my table a bit to make space!
MCMOct2014-01 I tend to keep some work on the go to make use of downtime.  That’s some panel borders for upcoming Lucy the Octopus strips…
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MCM wouldn’t be the same without my table neighbour Van Nim to share carrots and chocolate with!
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On my other side, Francesca Dare of Penny Blackfeather fame and Karim Flint of Limehouse Comics.
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The mighty Sloth Comics table…
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While I’m usually happy behind my table for the three day event I sometimes can’t resist dashing out to grab a photo if I see some cool cosplay.  Here’s a great Belle from Disney’s Beauty & the Beast…
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And here’s an awesome Mable and Dipper from Gravity Falls
MCMOct2014-07As usual I got a chance to do some Lucy the Octopus style commissions like this David Tennant as Dr Who as an octopus…MCMOct2014-08…as requested by the Cheshire Cat!MCMOct2014-09 And finally three ladies who insisted on pulling some excellent silly faces
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MCMOct2014-12Thanks to everyone who stopped by.
Next stop… Thought Bubble!

Tempo Lush Launch Night at Gosh: Photos, Videos and Report

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Tempo Lush launch night at Gosh Comics last Friday.  There was an amazing turnout which made for a fantastic evening (for me anyway)!

GETTING READY FOR THE LAUNCH

So glad I was working with Rich Hardiman of Comic Printing UK who got all four of the new titles ready and delivered in time for the big day… 01Always important to compare a printers proof of your book with your cat…03Other things that needed to be done included practicing the musical section of the party with Bang! Crash! Whizz! artist Sally-Anne Hickman!  Much of this went down in Hyde Park.02THE LAUNCH NIGHT

So arriving at Gosh I knew I was in good hands as Hannah, Andrew and Steve, part of Gosh’s crack team helped get everything just right.  Nice to see the new books laid out on display!
04One thing I’d forgotten to organise was someone to take some nice event photos, so I was delighted and relieved that amazing photographer Mauricio Molizane De Souza was on hand taking some wonderful pics.  Unless otherwise stated, all the photos of the night in this post were skillfully taken  by Mauricio!

The shop soon had a busy and friendly buzz inside…
06 07 08 10I was thrilled that so many contributors to the new comics turned up for the occasion.  For those who couldn’t make it, we displayed their portraits, as drawn wonderfully by Keara Stewart (see below) so Francesca Cassavetti, Tim Hassan, Mike Medaglia and Aaron Murphy were certainly there in spirit!

After some fun mingling, Steve Walsh Of Gosh and South London Hardcore fame got the crowd’s attention…

11CHATTING WITH ALEX FITCH

Alex Fitch made me feel very comfortable chatting through the new releases as we stood on a make shift stage made up of two benches!
Nice to hear the people’s cheers as each artist’s work was displayed on the screen to our right.
Alex is such a skilled interviewer and comics and film journalist he makes it very easy to chat to him even in front of a crowd!12 13Pic below by David O’Connell…14ROSIE AND JACINDA: DEMON CLOUD

Here’s the amazing team behind one of the books launched on the night, the second volume of teenage fairytale Manga, Rosie and Jacinda.

Top row left to right: Jade Sarson (For the Love of God Marie!, Cafe Suada), Francesca Dare (Penny Blackfeather), Chie Kutsuwada (King of a Miniature Garden, Self Made Hero’s As You Like It), Van Nim and me
Far right: Zarina Liew (The Art of Sleep, Le Mime)
Bottom middle: Inko (Ketsueki (Markosia), Rachel Moves To Brighton)
15So proud to have worked with this lot!

Inkos’ cover looked amazing projected as a backdrop to the party!16Inko (left) and Chie travelled up from Brighton for the evening, with Inko cosplaying as one of the Rosie and Jacinda characters, Aaron!
That’s the first time anyone’s cosplayed as a character I’d co-created.  So cool!17Award winning creator, Jade made it to the event all the way from Milton Keynes.
28Here’s Francesca chilling with our good friend and Limehouse Comics associate Chantel Beaven.18Was touched that Francesca had painted me a lovely pic of the Pumfles (introduced in the new comic), to mark the event.  So cute!19BANG! CRASH! WHIZZ!

Also launched was my first creator-owned kids comic, Bang! Crash! Whizz! as drawn by the amazing Sally-Anne Hickman.
20Sally-Anne and me had great fun performing a musical version of the story, to a visual display of the illustrations.  Engineered with great skill by Richard Carter.21 22 23 24 Photo above by David O’Connell.

So nice that crowd seemed to enjoy it, no guitar strings broke, we remembered most of the words and we didn’t fall off the benches!   26TEMPO LUSH TALES

The biggest book launched on the night was Tempo Lush Tales, an anthology of stuff I’d written with no less than thirteen artists handling drawing duties!

Here’s good bud and artist Paul Shinn27 The talented Matt Boyer29Portrait artist  Keara Stewart30The cheery smile of Steve Walsh, writer of many fine things including the Tempo Lush Tales foreword31 Martin Eden chatting with comic creator Tammy Taylor and fellow Tempo Lush Tales artist Karen Rubins32Keara and her fella checking out the anthology…33Matt and Paul soaking in the launch party vibe.
There’s comic maker Anna Dowsland on the left!34Signing a copy of the book…35For the second musical performance of the night Sally-Anne and I were joined by musician and Tempo Lush Tales artist Steve Horry.  We only had two run-throughs (in the Gosh offices!) with Steve who had learned the song on the day, but being the smooth professional he is, he sounded fantastic.
Pic below by Inko.37

We performed the song Save Night-Time for my Dreams which Mike Medaglia had visually interpreted for the collection. You can see one of Mike’s pictures in Keara Stewart’s photo below.38What an honour to have all these talented artists work with me!
Top row left to right: Chie Kutsuwada, Karen Rubins, Paul Shinn, Matt Boyer, Steve Horry, Martin Eden and Steve Walsh
Bottom row left to right: Inko, Van Nim, me and Keara Stewart39Keara was kind enough to give all the contributors framed original drawings of the portraits she’d done.
My one is now hanging in my studio
40LUCY THE OCTOPUS: ANY LESS THE FREAK

Fun to see my artwork from the third volume of Lucy the Octopus projected in Gosh...42So the line up of creators working on the final comic released on the night is… just me!41 Excellent then that someone else had been up to something Lucy related.
Why it’s cake maker and blogger, Jess Cave!
43Jess made a big and delicious batch of Lucy the Octopus cakes!
Dr Pepper flavour no less!44 45Photo above by Paul Shinn.
The cakes made for a perfect combination with comics and music – my kind of night!
46SO THERE YOU GO!

Thanks to all the amazing people who were involved with the comics and the party!

Back row left to right: Karen Rubins, Paul Shinn, Matt Boyer, Martin Eden
Next row left to right: Zarina Liew, Chie Kutsuwada, Sally-Anne Hickman, Francesca Dare, Jess Cave, Steve Walsh
Next row left to right: Jade Sarson, Inko, Van Nim, Keara Stewart
Me in the centre
Richard Carter at the bottom
47You can buy any of the four comics plus other Tempo Lush stuff here!
Bang-Crash-Whizz-CoverCover-for-PromoR&J2-cover-for-promoLucy3Cover8updateI’ll leave you with one final Lucy cake that made it home.48Peace!

Bang! Crash! Whizz! Sally-Anne Hickman and me make some noisy fun!

Very excited to reveal the cover of next month’s collaboration with the wonderful Sally-Anne Hickman!

It’s an picture book / comic aimed at a pre-school crowd with exceptional taste!

As well as Bang!, Crash! and Whizz! readers can expect to find some Ding!, Pluck! and even Sput! 

We’ve been fine-tuning the story for a while so will be very excited to be able to hold it at last!Bang-Crash-Whizz-Cover
The official launch for Bang! Crash! Whizz! is in London on Friday October 3rd, as the comic goes on sale for the first time along with three other new Tempo Lush Publications, Rosie and Jacinda: Demon Cloud, Tempo Lush Tales and Lucy the Octopus: Any Less the Freak.
Join many of the creators involved, ready to sign copies of comics and be friendly and charming at the wonderful Gosh Comics (1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR) October 3rd 2014, 7pm-9pm!
See the Facebook Event Page here!

For those of you who want to find out more about Sally-Anne, check out this comic about her here!

New Lucy Painting but what’s it for?

Finished up a watercolour image of Lucy and the Demon Beast on Friday.
What could I use it for?
Starting with some pencils…
Lucy3Cover1Paint in the main colours of the two characters…Lucy3Cover2 A bit more tone and the base layer for the other colours…
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Adding the eyes always brings a character to life…
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A hint of a background bringing out the blue of Lucy, plus some colour pencil work…
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Finally some black ink…
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A clean up on Photoshop whiting out the surrounding paper…Lucy3Cover7 And this demon beast is ready for its close up!
Lucy3Cover8updateWhy!  It’s the cover of the third printed Lucy comic: Any Less the Freak, out in October…

Plus for those who don’t know, there’s a launch party in London on Friday October 3rd, for Lucy the Octopus: Any Less the Freak along with three other new Tempo Lush Publications, Tempo Lush Tales, Bang! Crash! Whizz! and Rosie and Jacinda: Demon Cloud.
Join many of the creators involved, ready to sign copies of comics and be friendly and charming at the wonderful Gosh Comics (1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR) October 3rd 2014, 7pm-9pm!
See the Facebook Event Page here!

Tempo Lush Tales out soon!

Time to make it official!

The new collection of comic book stories written by me is almost ready to go to print, to be on sale October 2014!

Here’s a sneaky-peak at the cover by designer, Darker Chi Lynch
Cover-for-PromoHere’s the full line-up of amazing artists involved.
I’ll even tease you with the names of the stories they’ll be working on…

Matt BoyerThe Great Feast
Francesca Cassavetti – In the Bedroom
Martin Eden – The Dig
Tim Hassan – Peacemaker John
Steve Horry – Smoky Digital Seahorse
Inko & Chie KutsuwadaTwo Sons
Mike MedagliaSave Night-Time for my Dreams
Aaron MurphyZardok Infiltration
Van NimAmy’s Hat
Karen Rubins – Not Going to Wondoznia
Paul Shinn – President of West Tibia

Keara Stewart will be providing special portraits and there’s even a foreword by Steven Walsh.

For those who don’t know, there’s a launch party in London on Friday October 3rd, for Tempo Lush Tales along with three other new Tempo Lush Publications, Rosie and Jacinda #2, Bang! Crash! Whizz! and a new Lucy the Octopus comic.
Join many of the creators involved, ready to sign copies of comics and be friendly and charming at the wonderful Gosh Comics (1 Berwick Street, London W1F 0DR) October 3rd 2014, 7pm-9pm!
See the Facebook Event Page here!

It’s going to be special!