Mr Amperduke

Annnnnd its More Amperduke. Im a little late today because Im fighting off the groupies from my newly found celebrity status

MISTER AMPERDUKE

Yeah, in case no one's figured it out yet, this week on the blog we're paying tribute to MISTER AMPERDUKE; opus work of fellow Eclectic Mick Bob Byrne. He's soon reprinting his successful graphic novel and all us Micks are chipping in a piece to include in the reprint (though technically, some of my work is already in the book *cough*).

Here's a pic of the man himself working away in his basement.

Dec.

Amperduke Week

This week (including PJ's post on saturday just gone) we've decided to whip up some doodles dedicated to Bobbo's magnum opus, Mister Amperduke.
If you haven't got a copy yet, well, why not? It's really rather good.

WE GOT ONE!

Another late entry by Roche...it's birthday central round here this month, with my Dad's 65th anniversary of existence precluding me from posting earlier than this. I'd like to dedicate this image to him, even though it will mean nothing and has no significance to our relationship whatsoever.

So yeah...an Ecto-1 in action, hot from a long gone GB sample. Amperduke week is next week, right?

Nick

It's Bob Byrne Week Everybody!

(Alright, I don't think it's Bob Byrne week til next week, but anyhue)

So, we're all gonna do something from Amperduke - but, you know, it's hard to draw any of those guys without, in some ways, mimicing Bob - they're all so clearly defined and done in his style. So, instead, here's a little doodle of me as a Bob Byrne style lego dude - including my massivly square head... (I may be trying to squeeze out a little lego-block poo in this pic, hence the concentration).

(If you're from Lego, I do, of course, mean, a little generic-brick-toy-object poo)

Barricuda's Burger

Friday again?? Jesus. Here is a doodle that really needs a background to work, turned heads and slack jaws etc.

Uncle Spunk Nuggy is dead

Monster ink

So I was gonna draw Jayne Cobb from Firefly today but then I realised he's basically just a guy, which is pretty boring to draw. Plus I spend enough time doing likenesses in my day job so here's a monster instead. Lord I do love to draw monsters.

Grievous cough

Two posts in two days flying out of Decs Studio as I'm up in Captain Cheekbones old headquarters where he learned his craft alongside a leather jacket. Im still on a Star Wars buzz at the moment and I love drawing Grievous, who was done brilliantly in the Genndy Tartakovsky series.
Anyways, thanks to the man himself for kindly posing for this portrait

GHOST RIDER

Always liked the character but had never drawn him before. Till now, that is.

Dec.

Captain Fantastic

Another Firefly sketch, this time of El Capitan.

There Will Be Blood

Helloy. A very old slice of Garth Ennis fannery that I came across again recently. I really enjoy drawing in this style, but I'm still up my nuts in bolts right now, so I'll have to hold off on stylised cartooniness for another day.

Ta!

Uh-huh-uhhhhhhhhh...

Elvis! Zombie Elvis! Zombie Elvis Impersonators!

Bits and Bobs

Up to my eyes with incredibly exciting design work this week so just some lame bits BUT I'm working on a wacky Eclectic Micks poster thing for next week with all of us in it

I drew SPAZZMOID though of course

Incredible Hulk

Bit of a more 'sketchy' sketch today which I'd like to say was for artistic reasons, but really it's because I'm busy and don't have much spare time at the mo'. Onwards to 300 posts!

Eclectic Micks Day

Its a momentous day here in Eclectic Micks land as we reach our 200th post without missing a day of putting up an image. And to celebrate, were going to announce:

The inaugural Eclectic Micks sktchbook, which weighs in at a whopping 120 pages!
The book is going to be launched at the BICS in Birmingham next October, from there were sure to follow it up with an Irish launch and then (hopefully) we'll be able to make a few copies available online
Check out the cover in all its glory here


So it wouldnt be a proper Eclectic Micks day without an art post so heres the big bad Sith himself, Mr. Vader



And ofcourse a little plug for the symptoms, you can check out an exclusive interview with the band right here at thesymptomsrock.blogspot.com which showcases the talented writing of Dave Hendrick and the fine art of the Micks

CYCLOPS RE-DESIGN

Forgive the long description, but this is something that's been rattling around in my head for a while.

Something different this week. After seeing Mooney's class Cyclops a couple o' weeks ago i remembered that when i was a kid i used to love to redesign the costumes of the X-Men, Cyclops especially. So, at the risk of being presumptuous, i thought i'd have a proper go at re-designing his costume.

I can't say i really like any of his designs over the years... i grew up with the Jim Lee design so i have a certain affinity for that one and i think the Quitely design was really good, but kinda over-leathery looking. A common design for Cyclops is the 'dome' look, but i always thought he looked stiff and awkward whenever using his powers.

It seems to me, he could use a more iconic costume, one that mixed all the previous designs, so i came up with this. It's got the military trousers/gloves that remind me of the Jim Lee 'pouches' design, and the 'jacket' aspect of the Quitely degign with one added aspect; a hood. With a hood, you have something that is reminiscent of the 'dome', but more contemporary. Plus; it gives you an opportunity to black out his face in shadow and just draw the glow from his optic blast, making him much more graphically interesting to look at. This guy is the leader of the X-Men. He should look cool. This is my *attempt* at doing so.

Dec.

(NB. I actually have a design for a shirt under the jacket, to vary his 'look' but didn't get to show it here)

A River Runs Through It

Aren't Mondays just the best? Had a GREAT weekend... and now it's Monday.
Still, onward and upward!
Two pieces today. First and main sketch is of River from Firefly/Serenity, as I'd promised a couple people a couple Firefly characters, and River is the feistiest lassy the show had to offer. Quite happy with this one, usually I don't manage to cartoon the likenesses as much as I'd like too but felt this attempt struck a good balance. That and she was naked at one point in the show and that's all the impetus I need...

Second, a reeaaally quick 'Symptoms' piece, lashed out in honour of the Hendrick/Sliney impending masterpiece. I drew this in bayside with Dec along with a sketch for the upcoming 'Mister Amperduke' week on the blog. I actually had two days off this week as I waited for script, and ended up doing FIVE micks pieces, so for the first time ever, I'm ahead, with a few in the bank.
Wahey!

The Lonliest Man In The Universe

Yo! Wish I had a chance to dip my toes in the Symptomania that's been sweeping the blog this week, but I'm doused with a bad case of the works. Still though, Vote Sliney/Hendrick before it's too late! (It's not too late, is it chaps?)

Anyway, a piece of 'In Case Of Blog, Break Glass' art this week. He-Man's obviously fallen out with his mates and had to walk home. Wanker.

Ohhh... that's a terrible rash

(it's a symptom, geddit?)

And you can see me drawing a chunk of it on youtube (using Manga Studio - pic took about 13 minutes, but I ended up losing 3 mins cus youtube will only let you upload 10 minutes... dammit)

More Zuda

No time to add my Symptons homage art but I will soon. Here are some sloppy character designs for my forthcoming zuda entry.
Uncle Spunk Nugget is now Anty Spunk Nugget?

More Symptoms

This is turning into an unofficial Symptoms week here on the Micks blog. Really like the character designs Will did for this comic, excellent stuff indeed. And if the last two posts didn't make the point strongly enough go over to the Zuda comic site, register and vote for Will and Dave's entry.

Vote for the Symptoms

Well as youve seen in Decs images yesterday I have an entry on Zuda this month. Its written by the mighty Dave Hendrick and I drew it on downtime between Farscape miniseries. If youv got a spare few minutes head on over to www.zuda.com and give it a vote and a rating, id love to be able to continue on the story. By the way if any of you micks decide to draw a Symptoms piece then i'll owe ye big time

THE SYMPTOMS

Hey there folks.

Big news this Tuesdec, as fellow Mick Will Sliney along with writer Dave Hendrick are in the running for this month's Zuda Comics competition as of today. Their rock-tastic submission; THE SYMPTOMS can be seen on the Zuda site here. Support the Irish like the 'Guaranteed Irish' thing and vote for 'em won't ya?

Dec.

Yes, Underwear Is Her Costume.

X-Men season continues; The White Queen.

Owned

Hello. In the rare moments betwixt drawing robots, I sometimes get a chance at knocking something out for pleasure. These are some early preparatory scribbles for what I hope will one day bloom into something incredible and lucrative. (Hey, I'm not JUST in comics for the chicks y'know.)

Ta!

When you wish upon a star...

Something something disney something marvel.

Appears to be news. Also: I played with Manga Studio 4, I think that PLUS a cintiq would convert me to all digital - on the other hand, brush is still too lovely to leave...

Thompson didn't miss a day

Well it looks like I'm still the only one to miss a day. Balls!! I checked the site at 11:30 and there was no post so I gleefully drew this. But no, he got there. He always does. Giant Spider and me with headlice here

Cassowary

And I slide in 20 minutes under the deadline, Nick Roche style! Look, it's a cassoway, one of nature's finer birds. Me and Lisa saw one of these in Edinburgh zoo and it kept pecking at her shoes through a gap in the fence, which was scary 'cause these things are about five feet tall and have been known to kill people with their claws. This one just had a shoe fetish though.

Hulk smash puny Dinosaur

DEFOE

Been meaning to do this for a while.

One of the best things about going to comic conventions is meeting fellow pros. Meeting other artists who go through the same daily grind was such a revelation to me when I was really getting into comics but even better than that was that finding out some of those pros were darned great people too. One of those folk is Leigh Gallagher.

Leigh is a lovely (and a pretty darned handsome) fella who has been slogging away on his master work for the last couple of years; 2000AD's Defoe, written by Pat Mills. Leigh has been producing great black and white work for ages now, and the first collection has been released this month and I urge all who read this to go check it out. Above is my take on the main character and some 17th Century zombies.

The story;

London, 1668. It is two years since the city was devastated by the Great Fire, the inferno caused by a comet passing over the capital. But from the ashes rose the undead, hungry for the flesh of the living. Protecting the populace are zombie hunters like Titus Defoe, a former soldier who now makes it his mission to purge the ghouls.

If you can't find it in your local comic shop, check these sites for a copy...
AMAZON, FORBIDDEN PLANET INTERNATIONAL and THE BOOK DEPOSITORY

Highly Recommended.

And feel free to see more about the book, along with lots of great 'making of' posts on Leigh's blog.

Dec.