Formula Romanii

When Bert the Ancient Britain, suggested to Ignoramus about the possibility of a new sport...

"You know, like a chariot race, where we can compete for a.. a.. Trophy like, and each clan can enter a chariot or two, and we can get sponsors...."

...I don't think he had this in mind. But, Ingormaus is nothing if not a traditionalist...! Anyway, he's heard about a new kid on the chariot racing block, Jensonus Buttonus...

WOW - I've been cartooning for over a year...

... and I hadn't even noticed the anniversary!

I can't believe it's been a over a year since I started - it seems like forever, and I don't mean that in a horrible way either. it's just been so quick...
Anyhow, my "lemmings" cartoon didn't get any points this week - too many people had the same idea, however, I made a quick change to the caption, and now it works better...


And Steve Bright liked the idea of a lemming called "Leopold"!

Billious being, well...

Billious just LOVES girls. And it's always a bad idea to walk past a barracks full of horny legionnaires anyway... The motion lines on the leg are wrong - just more stuff I've got to practice...

ArtPen, and Lamy Safari. New pen is on it's way - A Lamy NEXX with an extra fine nib...

CCGB Compo - 26/09/09

Latest attempt in the CCGB Compo (26/09/09). Will this get any votes?

Last of the Romans, and other bits

Bits and bobs this. A trek-type character, a space harlot of some kind, and a test Legionaire.

Quick note - the last few posts have been drawn using my new favourite tools - Rotring ArtPens and Lamy fountain pen, all filled with Noodlers Ink.

Romans 3 - Characters

More character work. (from left to right - top row) Billious, Centurian Stomachus Grossus, Ignoramus (Bill's best mate), General Motus, (bottom Row) Brutus Maximus, Billious (again), and two views of Secretia (our love interest)...

Romans 2 - More Design Work

More design work for a possible comic. The big guy is Brutus Maximus - the real "muscle" in Billious's little squad of grunts...

Romans - Billious

I've been reading some history books about my home town of Colchester recently - it's really suprising how much actually went on around here you know. Anyhoo, it got me thinking about creating some comic characters that could be set in Roman Colchester (Camulodunum to you), the biggest city in Roman Britain. Meet Billious - a typical Roman Legionaire...

Pisa

Latest entry for the CCGB compo...

At the Garage

I've actually seen this happen...

I was at the garage the other day, waiting to fill my poor old Honda with it's beloved petrol, when I noticed the car at the pump in front of me rocking from side to side. As I looked closer, I saw a very agitated young man seemingly kicking his car, and almost pulling his door off! On closer inspection, I realized that the man had parked his car with the filler cap a) on the wrong side of the pump and b) too far from the pump. With this in mind, the man was trying desperately to get the pump nozzle to reach - by pulling it with all his might.

With visions of our petrol station suddenly going up in smoke (and me with it), I hurriedly filled my Honda, and left tuit suite! The cartoon came later on...

Bernie and the Builder

I've been building a patio for the last 3 weeks - can you tell? I've got cuts, bruises, morter rot, sand fly, berri berri and stomach cramps - just from moving the bloody slabs! Used my pain as an inspiration for this cartoon, which was inked using Dip pens and indian ink.


Meet Bernie. Bernie is my daughter's cat, and he's a maniacal bundle of fur, held together with fat and attitude. Trouble is, he's got such a cute face! As above, inked using Dip pens and indian ink. In both cases, I'm using a manuscript mapping nib for the drawing, Speedball b5.5 for the outline (really needs a thinner outline, say a b6).
Bernie

Funny... The Answer!

Figured my problem out. It isn't my drawing as such - i'm reasonably happy with my current style, nor is it my method. It's my lack of animation.

I recently bought a Looney Toons dvd box set, and whilst I was watching it, I realised why I like cartoons in the first place - it's the action. All the double takes, the crashes, wallops, zipping around, punch-ups, chases - it's all action.

I started to look at my old cartoons, and with a couple of exceptions, everything I've done is too static - there's no movement. What I need to capture is a real sense of movement in my cartoons. With that in mind, I'm looking into the work of Roger Smythe (Andy Capp) and Tim Harries (Never Say Dai) - both these cartoonists have a very regimented style (like mine), but they exude movement - let's see if I can capture some of that in my next work...

Funny...

After the last post, I'm beginning to think that I may have gone wrong somewhere. I don't think that my cartooning has improved much recently - too much drawing, not enough cartooning. I few weeks of getting back to basics I think in my sketch book...

Pimp My Caption - 6/9/09

My latest entry to the CCGB "Pimp My Caption" contest...

Pens Again - The Update!

Ok - All my pens have now arrived. I bought 3 Zig Dual tip pens (Black, Cool Grey and Blender), a Pentel Sign Pen, a Papermate Nylon and a Uni POSCA black fine tip (I already have the white fine tip).

First impressions: The Sign pen and the Nylon are practically the same - good for quick sketches in the sketch book (the Sign Pen is slightly better at line & wash). The Zigs - well, I'm not sure. Very versatile, but the ink is slightly purple when used with line & wash - although the grey is nice (wish I had picked a darker shade though...).

The real start however, is the marker that was bought as a afterthought - the Uni Posca black fine tip. The tip is a bit harsh, and can feel a bit scratchy, but the line - lovely! Not much variance, but nice and black, with almost no bleed, and it dries fast. The added advantage is that the white version of the marker can cover the black extremely well (just make sure it's really dry first). This is one of the problems I had when I brought the white marker - on many of my pens, it couldn't cover them up (even the so called waterproof ones) - but it just loves the black POSCA.

I may even be thinking of buying more of these markers in future...

Kuretake woes

You'll remember from my last post that I love using the Kuretake Fude pen. Well, not any more, as I've hit a big snag with it. I like drawing on white card (i can get it cheap, it holds up well to rough erasing, and I can use wet media on it), but the Fude Pen doesn't like it. It's started leaving big blobs of ink, which leads to smudging. Looks as if the ink is having trouble being absorbed by the card, or there is simply too much ink being sent to the nib. Either way, it's nasty. I've drawn a piece half an hour ago, and some of the ink is still wet!

The card I've used before for colour work, and is usually fine. I've noticed that my new sketchbook doesn't like the Kuretake ink either...

If I can't get this sorted out, it will be the end for the Kuretake.

Pens Again!

Yes, it's that time of the month - pay day!

I'm looking at more pens again (I'm such a pen whore - the amount I have is ridiculous) and I'm going to go for more of a graphic look. I've been using fineliners mostly (0.7, 0.5 & 0.1), but I'm still a big fan of the Kuretake Fude Pen (see the Coyote cartoon) which is slowly becoming my favourite - so much in fact, that I've started looking at other brush pens.

I've already got Copic, Faber & Pentel brush pens, but they all have the same problem - too floppy. The Kuretake is much stiffer, and suits my drawing style more. However, there are other types of brush pens - the dual ended markers, which have a bullet tip at one end, and a foam brush tip at the other. Top of these are the Tombow & KureTake brands, so I'm going to buy two of each - one in black, and one in light grey (for shading) and see how these go...