Saul Taylor – tempolush.com

Home » Posts tagged "Saul Taylor"

Round up of the Tempo Lush Penny Blackfeather Launch Night at Gosh Comics!

By Tempo Lush September 30, 2015 October 2, 2015 Comics, Events, Lucy the Octopus

On Friday September 18th 2015, a crowd of lovely people shuffled into the amazing shop known as Gosh Comics to help celebrate the launch of four new comics.

That would be the fourth Lucy the Octopus print collection: Too Cool for the Likes of You, the first issue in the second volume of Francesca Dare’s Penny Blackfeather, High Spirits#1, the anthology of positive change Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox (see Andy Oliver’s review on Broken Frontier here), plus we revealed the special project (top secret up until the announcement on the night), Alidade, a 20 page comic made from scratch over one weekend.

All photos are by the amazing photographer Mauricio Molizane de Souza (except where indicated).

There on the left is contributor to two of the night’s comics, Mike Medaglia, helping lay out the goods… So nice to see many friendly faces join us for the evening, some regulars and some new to the world of comic shops… Below (left to right): Friends of Gosh Comics, Paul Shinn (Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributor), Chantel Beaven and Lauren Louise Murphy. m06 On the left below, you can see my amazing co-host, Penny Blackfeather creator and Alidade contributor Francesca Dare.Below: On the far left is comic creator and director Andy Poyiadgi who kindly filmed much of the evening’s activities for us, on his own phone.
Taking a swig of beer is Alidade collaborator Tim Hassan, next to Paul Shinn and with the amazing pink hair is Paul’s fellow Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributor Anna Dowsland.It was great seeing comic related images projected nice and big in the shop……such as this wonderful panel by Francesa Dare, taken from her Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox story Undertow…
And there’s Francesca again signing a comic for a fan!It was great having the shop full, creating a brilliant buzz…It was a busy night but I was glad to catch moments to chat to star creators such as David O’Connell who contributes the first story in Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox, Flat E… m13 And there’s two good friends (and Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributors) who I barely got to chat to at all, even after they traveled to the event from Brighton, the amazing Inko and Chie Kutsuwada…I have a big grin on my face here but I think it masks my nervousness as I’m about to perform some music in a few minutes…Speaking of music, here’s three great performers, newly-weds Paul and Sally-Anne Hickman chatting to my old band mate Miss E (Enoma Igiehon). And two more contributors who created the Tempo Lush Tale Give It a Go, Angela Wraight (back, in glasses) and Nas Bee (front left) who surprised me with some incredible homemade cake to feed the masses… Aw! Such a nice bunch of folk including (left to right) comics academic and creator John Miers (who did a fantastic page of Bugleberry Tree in the anthology), Graphic Novelist S J Harris and Broken Frontier top guy Andy Oliver.
(Photo by fellow Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox contributor Keara Stewart)
That’s James Hickman holding a beer! James created the four page epic for Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox, Colossi, next to Lisa Woynarski.
Lisa used her theatre direction skills to great effect, timing the image changes during the evening’s performances on top of writing her first comic story for the Tanoox anthology: The Death of the Familiar. Miss E, Sally-Anne Hickman and myself downstairs in the shop after a bit of tuning up… And upstairs – Five minutes to curtain!Right! Things are really about to kick off as Steve Walsh, writer, podcaster and Gosh Comics superstar introduces his niece Aimee to get things rolling with a penny-whistle performance… Next up I start plucking away on Imani (my guitar) as we prepare for a special satellite link-up with the undersea town of Stoneydip… …and Lucy the Octopus!

Lucy’s shy at first but does a good job introducing the evening, despite some trouble. You can see screen grabs of the satellite link up here and a video below…

Lucy welcomed to the stage my two musical collaborators for the night, Sally-Anne Hickman……and Miss E, who as Lucy pointed out, bears a striking resemblance to someone who appears in Lucy strips like this one! We three performed a little guitar instrumental I wrote a few years back, which still doesn’t have a name…(Photo by Karen Rubins)

Next it was the turn of the Francesca Dare Theatrical Players to perform a scene from the new Penny Blackfeather comic with style and panache… Left to right: Francesca Dare, Paul Shinn, Steve Walsh and Lauren Louise Murphy.Left to right: Saul Taylor and Ramsey Hassan.

The crowd lapped up the culture, including Andy Oliver and contributor to two Tempo Lush Tales collections Matt Boyer…Now for the serious business of creator shout outs…Musicians strum while Francesca Dare leads the role call of talent involved in the evening’s new comic offerings……such as Graphic Novelist, singer and actress Jessica Martin who produced an amazing page for the Bugleberry Tree section of Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox……and Saul Taylor who won last year’s Complete the Lucy the Octopus strip contest! m44

Now it was time to reveal the secret project! Francesca called to the stage our collaborators on the book……and the crowd saw the 5 artists who made Alidade! (Left to right) Me, Mike Medaglia, Tim Hassan, Karen Rubins and Francesca herself!Mike explained how we created the 20 page comic from scratch over one weekend in August, how fun it was, how stressful it got and what a great experience it turned out to be…

Finally I said a few thank-yous before launching into the song Bugleberry Tree alongside Miss E, Sally-Anne and the whole crowd in the shop.

It was great to display artwork interpreting the song for the Tempo Lush Tales of the Tanoox collection, such as the panels seen in the background below drawn by Rachael Smith.
(Photo by Keara Stewart)

It was a very special night for me – Thanks to all the friends and collaborators who turned up and made it rock monkeys!
All of my new books are available to buy in Gosh Comics and the Tempo Lush Etsy shop!
Phew!

No comments

Interview with Finish the Lucy the Octopus Strip Contest Winner: Saul Taylor

By Tempo Lush January 21, 2015 January 21, 2015 Artwork, Comics, Lucy the Octopus

I was so happy with the response to the Finish the Lucy the Octopus Strip Contest that was run over on lucytheoctopus.net at the end of last year.London Based Saul Taylor’s entry nabbed first place for its off kilter humour, a great expression on Lucy’s face and the pathos of trying to draw a friendly smile on the guitar.

I asked Saul a few questions to find out more about the man behind the winning entry…
You’re a familiar face on the London comic scene, as a vocal fan at various conventions as well as other regular comic based meet ups such as Process, Gosh!p, Laydeez Do Comics and the Comica Social Club. How did you first get interested in local comic events?
Even though I’d been shopping at Gosh! regularly for years, I had no idea about Gosh!p until several months after it started when I heard about it on the Panel Borders podcast. I wasn’t sure about going (believe it or no I’m incredibly shy, I know that might seem hard to believe to the people that know me via Gosh!p but it’s easier with people I know) but I’m so glad I did. I love discussing comics and I’ve met some awesome people who have become friends.

How long have you been into comics and what started your love of them?
Here comes the origin story. Back in 2007 I decided to re-watch all my Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. I got really obsessed with the show again after not having seen for years. It was around the time the Season 8 comic was starting up so I decided to read that (I know season 8 didn’t finish well but I still have fond memories for the first few story arcs). Anyway, I’d been reading about the comic and I knew that a man by the name of Brian K. Vaughan had written the next story arc, and Joss Whedon would be writing an arc of Vaughan’s Marvel comic Runaways.
This intrigued me so I decided that I’d like to read Runaways, but they didn’t have it in the Hackney libraries system so I got out another Vaughan comic instead called Y: The Last Man. By the time I finished the first trade paperback I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life: dedicate it to becoming the world’s number one comics geek.
If there were three comics or graphic novels you would suggest a typical non-comics reader should try, what would they be?
That’s an impossible question, because the sort of comic I’d recommend to one person isn’t the sort of thing I’d recommend to another. I’d want to know what sort of thing they liked in terms of TV, film and books without pictures.
If they’re more into action/adventure fantasy/sci-fi type things I’d maybe suggest:
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil
Alias by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos
But if they tend to prefer more “realistic” or non-fiction type of stuff then maybe they might like to start with:
Palestine by Joe Sacco
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon
Narrowing it down even for twice the number you asked is hard though, I wish you’d asked me for a top 50.
You have a unique sense of humour which comes across in your winning Lucy the Octopus competition panel as well as other cartoons and images you’ve produced. Do you have plans to make more comics or cartoons in this way? I hope so!
I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Sure, when I was a kid I had other ambitions as well. I wanted to be a Blue Peter presenter and be the Prime Minister (not at the same, I knew if I was busy presenting a twice weekly children’s television programme I wouldn’t have had the time to run the country in my spare time).
Making up stories with ideas I get from my mind is always something I’ve wanted to do. Before I got interested in comics I wanted to create TV shows, but as soon as comics came into my life I wanted to be a comic book writer (and artist, but a writer more).
I came up with idea of creating a character called Captain Utopia (sample above). You can see the first (and so far only) comic I produced about him here! I’ve started writing other stories about him but never managed to finish any of them. You might be right that I should try to do more in the humour vein than the epic action/adventure sagas with a strong social message that I’ve wanted to do but have managed to finish.
I assume the Lucy panel was produced using Photoshop or similar drawing software. Is this your preferred medium and do you ever work straight onto paper too?
I use GIMP instead of Photoshop because GIMP is free to download while Photoshop cost hundreds of pounds. I do still do a bit of painting and drawing, but I enjoy digital art making because it has an undo button.
You also produce ceramics which often have a pop culture flavour to them! How would you compare making 3D ceramics to producing cartoons?
Working with clay takes bloody ages. You can make a model in a few hours but then you have to wait for it to dry which might take weeks if it’s a big piece (you don’t want it to dry to quickly because then it could crack).
Then it has to be fired (if you don’t fire it, it’s just a pile of dry clay that will break into tiny pieces if you look at it in a funny way).
After you fire it you can add glaze and then you can fire it again and hope the glaze stays where you put it instead of trickling down your piece. I can only go to pottery class once a week, so it can take a month of two to get anything finished.
Thanks very much Saul. Good to learn more about you.
Really hope we can all see more work from you soon!

No comments

Thought Bubble 2013 Round Up

By Tempo Lush November 26, 2013 November 26, 2013 Comics, Events

I had a fun-filled weekend heading up to Thought Bubble Comic Con in Leeds.

Thanks to everyone who came by my table to say hi or pick up some Tempo Lush goodness!

I was glad my tower of bear boxes didn’t collapse… It was great doing commissions for nice folk that stopped by.
Some Lucy the Octopus style portaits… …and Mike & Sulley from Monsters Inc! Being stuck behind a table for a weekend is made lots of fun by all the cool people than visit!
Here are Hayley Charlseworth and Sarah Turner. Sarah is taking part in WASP 2014 with her webcomic Folklore.Here is, comic creator and video maker, Dan Lester‘s friend Schmurgen Jonerhaffs.The friendly smiles of Alex Hern, Molly Muldoon ( who runs the Dr Who blog, Confused Companion) and Aaron Tavaler who interviewed me for The Big Smoke Podcast which he runs with Karim Flint.Two talented creators and awesome buds Sally-Anne Hickman and Francesca Cassavetti.
Even talented creators have to eat. Dinner at Wagamamas with (L-R) Van Nim, Sally Jane Thompson, Zarina Liew, Paul Shinn (my roomie!) and me…
Plus (L-R) Saul Taylor, Francesca Dare, Jess Cave, Andy Poyiadgi and Elliot Bagget.
Richard Carter and Chantel Beaven.
Ah yes! Here we have myself sitting alongside Mike Medaglia. I was very happy to pick up my copy of his new Avery Hill Publishing title, Seasons, complete with bookmark, bookplate and portrait…
Had much fun on the train journey home playing Mariokart with Van Nim, Paul Shinn and Zarina Liew (who seemed to be having the time of her life).Just about recovered from the weekend now!

If anyone missed picking up any Lucy the Octopus comics or other Tempo Lush stuff you may want to visit my online shop!

Cheers!

No comments

Comiket November 2013

By Tempo Lush November 5, 2013 November 5, 2013 Comics, Events, Lucy the Octopus, Uncategorized

I had a great time as always at Comiket this past weekend. Thank you to everyone who bought the new Lucy comic and other Tempo Lush goodies…

Suki Kabuki helped me sort out my new stock to sell.

In case she sat on it I covered it. She did.Lucy supporter Lily Withycombe took this pic…I was proud to be table buddies with my WASP and Rosie and Jacinda collaborator Francesca Dare… Two more collaborators (with art in Tempo Lush titles coming in 2014) and old friends Sally-Anne Hickman and Francesca Cassavetti.The great Martin Eden, creator of Spandex…Tim Hassan, artist for a story in the upcoming Tempo Lush Tales and his first comic festival table, despite his art looking like he’s been a pro for years…Comiket’s Live Drawing Parade featured some amazing talent including Miss Moti creator and Strumpet editor Kripa Joshi…The buzzing comic-hungry crowd…A Lucy the Octopus style portrait I was commissioned to do of a very cute baby in boots with dragons on…Chilling after the show with Saul Taylor, Francesca Dare, Chantel Beaven, Lauren Murphy and Paul Shinn.Joined by Richard Carter…Tim Hassan with Karim Flint….Wu Wei editor and regular rice eating partner Mike Medaglia…Mike chats to Comica Festival organiser Megan Donnolley. Also in the background is Elliot Baggott and seated is comics podcaster Stephen Lacey. Finally check out Chantel Beaven’s accidental cosplay as Zarina Liew‘s human take on Lucy the Octopus… Looking forward to next Summer’s Comiket at the British Library!