Resolution

This year's resolution is going to be a big one for me, I'm going to start my own graphic novel. I say 'start' as I'm quite sure it's going to take several years to actually complete, as I'll have to weave it around my regular jobs. It's called 'Near Death' and I've created a blog where I'll be documenting the creation of the book from start to finish, starting January 1st 2010 (or tomorrow, as the kids are calling it). I've already started designing some of the characters and props and today's picture is a little Aztec whistle that features in the story.

Time Travelling

BATMAN

Wow, this is my 44th post and my first time posting a Batman image on this blog. Seems funny considering the amount of Batman sketches i've done.

Anyway, here it is (following another Batman by Mooney yesterday). I thought i'd go with the current Dick Grayson costume, for the laugh. Also, for a change of pace, thought i'd flat it in grey tones, just so i could pretend i'm doing the cover to a new Batman; Black and White Volume. A man can dream, alright!?!

EDIT; Mooney pointed out that i did in fact already post a Batman drawing.

D'Oh.

Yet Another Batman Sketch

Holidays.
No draw.
Recent con sketch.

The Night Before Nickmas

Buh...So...tired...

So, at Castle Roche on Christmas Eve, it is tradition for one of us to leave a message of gratitude for Slanty Jaws on our trusty old Magna-Doodle - our family's main form of communication. I took it upon myself to leave the marks this year, accurately depicting and summing up myself, my sister Laura, and my little brother Paul. (Made famous by the Fun Lovin' Criminals in The King of New York.)



What? It's the only effort I feel like making this Chrimizzle. Accept and admire in the order of your choosing.

Hope it's been tip-top, kids!

Nick

christmassy sort of

Did this last year for some horror anthology. Hey it has snow in it

The Big Man

I'd like to take a moment to be serious and talk about a real hero. A man who spent his life helping others and battling injustice. He looks down on us all from above where he resides with the rest of the immortal beings. That man, of course, is Ulysses 31.

AVATAR

This was more a colouring exersize more than anything, and I reckon id give it about a 2 out of ten for achieving anything near the amazing atmosphere thats in Avatar. I thought the movie was one of the most breathtaking pieces of work I've ever seen. A truely beautiful movie

300th POST: INFECTED SANTA

JESUS CHRIST...


...Was born this week. Also; we've made it to our 300th post today! Who'd have thunk it? Not me, that's for sure. I'm amazed we made 3 posts.

To celebrate; an Infected Santa. This year, he's delivering something a little different to all the kids...

Merry Christmas and other such sentiments.

Dec.

Christmas!

Ah, christmas.
I love it, and all the cheesy, over-sentimentalised + over-commercialised shite that goes with it. My favourite week of the year.
Good will to all men, even Dec.

Have a great one!

DON'T LET THE BELLS END!

Ah, Christmas. Does strange things to a boy's choices for an artblog...



Justin Hawkins out of The Darkness, purveyor of the finest of all Christmas songs. Check out the video to see a man scream "BELL END" in the midst of a throng of kids. Big and clever, just like me.

Micky Christmas, Lickers!

Nick x

Happy Christmas, from the Crew on B for Beer...

Hey, due just before Christmas (23rd of December) is the first issue of Happy Valley, just a smidge before my 40th Birthday (which is the 28th of December).

This is the pencil and inks for my eChristmas cards (cus I'm too cheap/disorganised to print anything). Pencils were done by hand, with a pencil, and the inks were down in Manga Studio. I think I love it now.

Anyhue, hope you like, see you all on the other side of Christmas! Have a good one! (there's a 5 page full colour preview here: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/16512.html )

Christmas Card

My Christmas card. Part 5 of Say a Prayer today.

Mewwy Chwithmith fwends!

Quark

I've been watching a lot of Deep Space Nine while working over the past month or so, hence we have Quark here. Probably the finest bunch of characters of any of the Trek shows was to be found on DS9, not too many duds there, and Quark was easily one of the best. Plus Arman Shimmerman was great in Buffy too.

Christmas at Wayne Manor

All little Brucey wants for xmas is the means to fight all the criminals in Gotham. This was very enjoyable to do I must admit. Would like to colour it too at some stage

THE HAND

What're the odds of two ninja-related posts within two days? This one however has NO Christmas connotations.

This week i chose to try my hand (geddit?) at the new-look The Hand, from the recent story arc of DAREDEVIL. At first i didn't like these designs as i really liked the original iconic look of The Hand ninjas, but this new design, by current Daredevil artist Robert de la Torre, has really grown on me. I even went to the effort of colouring this bad boy, in glorious flat-colour (and equally-as-glorious colourized halftone)

Dec.

Silent(but deadly) Night.

What-ho, bit of a weak offering from me this week as I've currently got the toughest deadlines of my career(?) weighing down on me.
A quick sketch of Snake-Eyes the Christmas Ninja done at the recent Micks sketchbook launch in Forbidden Planet. Shameless santa hat added by me hastily this morning.

SEXY UPDATE - while trawling the net this morning I unearthed this pic of our very own Dec and Will.

Buddies indeed you guys, buddies indeed.

Put A Little Love In Your Heart

Wotcha, Mick-Lickers. Continuing my Christmas batch of offerings, here's a specially-created, just under-the-wire homage to probably my favourite Christmas film, Scrooged. As well as enduring drunken blow-ins, popping our old recorded-off-the-telly video of this flick is a time-honoured Christmas Eve tradition at Roche Towers. Pointless for me to go into the reasons why this film is as perineum-shreddingly good as it is, so I'll allow your comments to do the work for me.

God Bless Us, Every One!

Nick

Have a Thargy Christmas

I will continue to post christmas themed images for as long as I can stomach it. Have a thargy christmas and a zarjaz new year.

-pj

Cold, firm knockers

Started off drawing my bird and this is what came out. She has a grenade launcher in her leg in real life.

Spazzmoid is where you need to be right now

A long time ago...

Star Wars followed by more Star Wars. This is the first thing I ever attempted to ink with a brush, a faintly dodgy picture (what the hell is his cloak doing?) of Qui Gon Jinn standing on a droid. Judging by the date this was probably done in the run up to the release of the Phantom Menace back in 1999.

Star Wars

Sliney in Star Wars drawing shocker. There was just too much talk about that show where everything is resolved over a cup of tea yesterday. Also, a quick sketch of one of my favourite Santa TV moments

USS ENTERPRISE [NCC 1701-D]

After drawing little doodles of the Enterprise in my little nostalgic drawing of last week, it thought i'd try a proper sketch of the ship this week. Engage.

Dec.

Elektra Boogaloo

Elektra in her lesser known traditional christmas-red outfit...

"Hold me." "I can't."

Nice festive slice of mawkishness here. No chance to conjour up a unique Nickmas image right now, so resurrected an old Edward Scissorhands sketch from yonks back, and lashed some snow over the blighter. Go and hold the blonde Winona in your life tonight.

Nick

Batman vs Santa

Picture the scene, it's the Bat Mansion, not a creature did stir ... except for some reindeers on the roof and Batman intercepts an intruder...

Ancient Amperduke sketch

Before you pour scorn and deride this wonderful picture's shitty colouring and stiff composition let me state that it was groundbreaking when it was done 9 years ago. This was done just as a goof using an Amperduke type chap and coloured in corel photopaint 6.
Savour this sweet moment of history.


Check crappy out that rust and the blood! 9 years ago, come on. Dec was still dreaming of sitting in the captain's chair.

Dredd

Bit late tonight but here's a quick headshot of Dredd. One of my favourite comic book costumes ever, it's just so over the top and ornamental it shouldn't work, but it really does. It makes him a bitch to draw, especially from awkward angles but it's such an iconic look.

He-man

Seeing as though its the run up to Christmas were adventing it up here. Didnt have much time today so heres a quickie of what i can remember of my first ever xmas pressie

'JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED'

Like Bob and The Moondog, I was asked to donate a piece of art for the Crumlin & Temple St Children's hospital chartiy exhibition 'Just What I Always Wanted'. When i was a kid i was a big Star Trek nerd (The Next Generation specifically), so i guess you can all figure out what i wanted from this image. Still do to be honest.... sigh....

The exhibition opens in Dublin's Twisted Pepper TODAY so make sure you check it out between now and the 12th and support a great cause.

Dec.

What I always Wanted

This is my piece for the exhibition Bob mentioned in his last post, all pieces on sale for a fantastic cause.
I've been meaning to tackle a transformer piece for a while now, but of course the looming shadow of the Roche made the prospect that much more daunting. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, my favourite part by far being the little pic of me playing with my toys as a kid.
Gotta say, these robots are a bitch to draw, so I give Nick that much more credit for tackling hundreds of them in every issue of his books. That and his oh-so-edgy haircut.

AIRMAN

Wotcher! Here be a sketch of Conor Broekhart, lead character in Eoin Colfer's wonderful novel, Airman. It's the Count of Monte Cristo mixed with Batman, with a slight steampunk flavouring, set in a parallel universe version of Wexford in the 19th Century. It really is a blinding read, and I made the pitiful and toadying offering of the original artwork to the author himself at the closing ceremony of last week's Wexworlds Festival back home. I all but drew a speech bubble begging 'Let's work together!' on the original. But yeah, Airman's perfect Christmas reading material for younger relatives, or people like us.

Done in Faber Castell brushy pens. Can't wait to start our Christmas offerings!

Hellboy Headshot

Photoshop greyscale sketch. Added some background noise and just sorta drew on top of it. And..er.. that's it...

Comic Cast Exhibition piece

This is my piece for the charity exhibition 'Just What I Always Wanted'
The exhibition will be on display in Twisted Pepper from Dec 1st-Dec12th

All pieces will auctioned off on Ebay, with ALL proceeds going towards Crumlin & Temple St Children's hospital.

www.thecomiccast.com

The Unfinished X-Men

Here's a real sketchy one, an old X-Men group shot that I never got around to fully pencilling, apart from a little bit of Colossus.

Willys Ark

Well heres a pic that pretty much sums up my week. A hand, a pint, and a flood.
Without mentioning the first point (Its still too heartbreaking!!) I spent the majority of my birthday wading through Cork city streets in a pair of togs as we tried to copy venice for a few days. It was pretty much insane. Looking out my bedroom window, where there was a once a road was a full blown river.

KILLER CROC (again)

Here's another Killer Croc sketch i did at the same time as this one, but i've been keeping it im my back pocket in case i was stuck for time one week. This is that week. Really busy. Note; see how it's an unseen sketch and NOT a panel from a page or that i'm 'too nervous to draw'...? Just sayin'...

Dec.

Frank Einstein/A4 Art

Madman this week, he's nutso. One of the first American comics I was exposed to back in the day was some of the really early Madman stuff written and drawn by a then newbie Mike Allred. I've always loved the simplicity and immediacy of his costume and the wacky adventures he inevitably finds himself in. Thanks to Fran Johnston(the man, the legend, the aroma) for yet again being the dood what showed me the book.

This drawing was done with the lovely new pens I picked up at 'A4 Art' on Thomas st. in Dublin. Can't say enough good things about this as an art supply store, incredibly knowledgeable proprietors who know the game and are full of genuinely helpful suggestions, a great, eclectic(!) mix of traditional and hard-to-find media, and a fantastic location a couple of doors up from the National College of Art and Design on Thomas st. next to the Clock pub. Myself and Dec spent a lovely half-hour there on friday last just perusing their lovely pen selection.
Sterling shop, very highly recommended. Go check it out and tell 'em the Micks sent ye.

I Have The High Ground

Holla, Mick-Lickers. having a wonderful time in my home burg of Wexford at the Wexworlds Sci-Fi festival. They're looking after us a treat down here and even conceeded to giving me my own exhibition in the local Arts Centre. Tis a proud moment indeed. Shame P.J. Holden is ruining it for everyone... (I finally met him! I now have a full set of Micks!)

Anyway, a collaborative effort today; An Obi-Wan sketch I tossed off a while back, coloured up quite prettily, you have to agree, by my former and future lover and Sam to my Frodo, Pat Sinnott. Not bad for a chef, huh? (I believe Lovern Kindsierski can only do cheese on toast.)

Up yours!

Skrull

Hey, I'll be in Wexford today, whooping it up with various peeps. Hope to see you there. In the meantime here's a photoshop painted sketch of a skrull, which I stupidly named krull as I'm an idiot.

(BTW: Sorry about last week, family commitments meant I couldn't get to post until ... I forgot... hoped you enjoyed Leigh Gallagher's personal fantasy...)

UPDATE! I've uploaded the image!

Forbidden Planet sketch

Awful photo of the sketch I drew for the Dublin store. Signing was good. Mainly because I managed to avoid talking to Will and Nick completely

"I think he can hear you Ray".

Watched Ghostbusters again recently, practically perfect film in my opinion. It's weird hearing about the first version of the script where it was set in the future and there were many teams of Ghostbusters. Or that Eddie Murphy was going to play Winston Zeddemore originally. Somewhere there's a parallel universe where Eddie Murphy's a Ghostbuster, Tom Selleck is Indiana Jones and Christopher Walken is Han Solo.

CMON IRELAND

Too Nervous today to draw!

SELENA

Ahoy Hoy.

As the others said, thanks a million to all the folk who made it to the FP signing for the sketchbook and the drinks afterwards. Here's a sketch i did for the good folk at FP before the signing, being Selena from 28 Days Later.

So tired.

Dec.

That Voodoo That Moo Do

Ah, the nineties. A time of glorious world cups and endless eyesore splash-pages. Kinda miss it.
My favourite book during the Image boom was Jim Lee's Wildc.a.ts(gotta have the full-stops), a book where style throttled the life out of substance and then danced a merry jig on its grave. Grifter was my favourite character but I've done him on the blog before. He was followed by the glorious bastion of blandness that was Spartan(he possibly had some superfluous punctuation in his name too but can't remember). A perfect, unfailing, boring machine that had the hottest, sluttiest girlfriend in town.
How I wished I were he.

PS- Oop, can't go without echoing Nickleback and thanking alla the folks who turned up at the Micks sketchbook signing on sat, we had a great time and love you guys way more than is healthy.

Sword Of The Cintiq

Hello!

Big, big thanks to our sturdy Mick Supporters who traipsed out to spur us on in the Forbidden Planet yesterday. I had a wondrous time, and enjoyed interacting with the folk on either side of the table. Big thanks to Kevin and co at FP and special mention to Den Mothers Shalvey and Sliney for getting it all together. Good times!

So yeah, after yesterday's tense will-he, won't-he build up with P.J.'s post, I choose today to leisurely take my Cintiq for the walk. I've only used it for layouts and loose pencils thus far, so this is my first foray into dicking around with brushes and such. So here he be, Jean-Paul Valley himself - my Batman - Azrael.

Just in time!

Nick

Finkle and Crumbert

Coming soon to the pages of Ri-Ra, the fantastic Irish language comic. Here is an unlettered page. Forbidden Planet Dublin tomorrow, come and watch me palm off sketch requests to Dec.

Check out Mr Amperduke on the cover of Judge Dredd Megazine this month. The cover. Italics