Tools of the trade

I thought I'd try something a little different today. I'm going to give you a little insight into some of the equipment I use on a daily basis. This is by no means exhaustive as I have all manner of different pens and other bits that I use for specific jobs.

First up is possibly the most important, 'Paper'. I tend to rough out my ideas in moleskin notebooks or other pads. If they're something that will be scanned in and inked over digitally then chances are I'll just draw them on normal printer paper as it's easier. However if I'm doing something more elaborate like a comic page or a commission that requires hand inking then I will always draw it on bristol board. I tend to use either Daler Rowney or Windsor & Newton personally but there are a lot of other great companies out there. 'Pencils' A lot of people in the comics industry use non repro blue pencils such as col-erase as they don't show up when the page is later scanned into a computer. I on the otherhand have never found one that works right for me, so I stick to my good old Rotring mechanical pencil with a 0.5 lead. I do sometimes use ordinary pencils particularly when drawing on old book pages as they don't tend to be so scratchy against the paper, but mostly its the Rotring. 'Pens' Now then Mickey love let me tell you about Paulines pens! Sorry had to stick a League of Gentlemen reference in there. For most of my illustration work I use uni pin fine liners which are brilliant for cross hatching and drawing in details. I use 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 nibs not sure if they do others but they're my go to. I also use a Pentel brush pen which is amazing for loose sketching and filling in larger areas. Other artists use them for everything with great effect but I haven't mastered it to that level yet. My new boy though is the Pentel Touch, which is somewhere between a brushpen and felt tip. It's a fantastic pen for getting varied line thickness and you can get some really fine lines with it too. I use it a lot for the 'Apple Tree Pirates' as I find it a great cartooning pen.  'Bits and Bobs' I'm sure there are a myriad of different tools out there to help artists including a few I'd really like myself but these are the ones I currently use the most.  A good solid pair of compasses. Mine are Rotring and have been used for years. They are pretty much essential to me because you can do a lot more than just draw circles with them. A 360 degree protractor. These can be really useful for making logos with circles involved as sometimes marking things by eye just isn't accurate enough. A set square is another essential as I use it as a ruler as well as for right angles. Rubbers are another essential item for various stages of drawing. a normal rubber like everybody has and also a putty eraser which is a new discovery to me, no idea why I've never had one before because they're super useful.  So there we go. That's a little glimpse into the tools of the trade for me at least. If you want to know anything more about them please drop a comment or find me on one of the social media below.

Cornelius Update

It's been a while since I did any updates so thought I'd share some of the progress I've been making on Project Cornelius. I'm busy scripting the comic at the moment which is up to about 30 pages and still growing. I have also been working on a new Zombot model to take to the shows and basically terrify everyone into reading the comic when it comes out.

It's early days yet but the base is an old picture frame which I'm building up with air drying clay. Once the clay pavement is finished I can start building the feet and adding detail.

This is the underside of the body which will slot onto the waist when finished. There will be extra armour plates and electrical bits detailing under here when done.

This model was kind of started because I found part of a piece of christmas packaging for the dome that happened to fit perfectly into an old SMA tin. Thus a monster was born.

Just as an indication to the size I've placed a 12" ruler next to him. The legs and body now support their own weight which is a major step. A little more strengthening is required because it's pretty top heavy but you can see where it's heading. Arm and shoulder are the next big additions.

Social Media

I'm in the process of consolidating and organising all my different social media accounts so that I'll have a core of all things I use on a regular basis. Below are links to the Pickle accounts so hopefully I'll speak to you all online soon. 

Apple Tree Pirates Giveaway

Good Morning folks. 
I have a little treat for you all today. I have decided to run a little giveaway in which you could be in with a chance of winning an original piece of Apple Tree Pirates artwork. For those of you who don't know the Apple Tree Pirates is an all ages comic I am working on based around the musings of my now 5yr old daughter. It is a silly, colourful bit of fun which should appeal to everyone from toddlers up to pensioners. To progress the project into new levels of awesomeness I have set up a Patreon to help fund the dream of one day getting my daughters ideas into shops like Waterstones and the like. The intention of this giveaway is to raise awareness of the project and hopefully even get a few more supporters as well. You can check out the Patreon by clicking the link below.

So now to the Giveaway. To be in with a chance of winning an original piece of Apple Tree Pirates artwork all you need to do is follow and share using the sweepstake box below. You get an entry for every box you fulfil as well as an extra entry for every referral you make using the link given. The giveaway ends on the 19th June and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards.

Good luck folks now lets get sharing. :-)

Things Are Gonna Get Silly!!!

Let this be a warning to you all the Apple Tree Pirates has silliness for all the family. Plus the more you support the Patreon the more I'll draw. So please share the page and if you can support the page. It starts as little as £0.64p a month.

The Real Apple Tree Pirates

I thought I'd share the work of a guest artist with you all today. Namely my daughter Poppy. We decided to have a bit of a draw off but only got as far as Avery and Tiny. Now you know why I love this project so much!!!

To find out more about the Apple Tree Pirates check out my Patreon page and please feel free to share or support.