Going Underground

Been admiring Cameron's inks and Guy's colours on Vinyl Underground 5, in stores at the start of February.

I was accused of being a terrorist by a group of security types when I was photographing a tube station for this issue, it got a bit heated. I tried to explain that I was a cartoonist, but that just made them angrier.

Doodles

I'm not good at maintaining a sketchbook, but wish I was. Those hardcovers are intimidating. I'll doodle on A4 sheets of printer paper though, fill them up and then scrunch them up. I broke that last rule to scan and post these from yesterday evening. Ideally having them online will force me to improve - to search more whilst drawing - rather than absent-mindedly regurgitating the same generic faces and poses!

Original art

The following are drawn by the mighty Jonathan Edwards. They're pages from his comic Aunt Connie & the Plague of Beards which is available to buy on his website. They're cherished possessions which I hadta take out of their frames to scan for you (badly, given I didn't go so far as to remove the card mounts too). Jonathan once said to me "I'm getting illustration work from this magazine and I think the art editor would like your work too - send him some samples". I didn't get any work from the fucker but was touched by Jonathan's unselfish gesture. I guess he knew I was never gonna be serious competition!

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I was recently asked to draw Subvertman's better half and as it was being supplied digitally added some half-tones. Hadn't drawn her since '95. The Subvertman comics were collected in Punk Strips, which if you're Stateside and into punk rock, is available to buy from Marc Arsenault's Wow Cool. Marc has a cool blog there too.

That reminds me - when I was holiday a while back someone next to us in a restaurant was wearing a shirt with one of my designs on, a picture of a punk and copper drawn for Riot fanzine and reprinted in Punk Strips. I don't know who makes and sells them but should they read this - and I know it's a long-shot - perhaps they'd consider spreading the joy by donating a few for another thrilling competition ;)

Okay, I hope you had a good xmas reader, and I wish you a very happy 2008. I had good comics for xmas as it happens: the latest Scott Pilgrim and Adèle Blanc-sec, Aya de Yopougon, Tamara Drewe (the graphic novel of the year) and as crimbo presents to myself, The Last Call and Zombies Calling by fellow SLG-er Faith Erin Hicks. I also had perfume, but the less said about that the better.

As ever I'm behind with my correspondence but will endeavour to catch up asap.