Illustration Friday: Clandestine

For this weeks Illustration Friday topic (Clandestine) I thought it was time my two favourite comic creations Biggins and Charlie got a piece of the action. For this piece I chose to place them in a scene reminiscent of a Humphrey Bogart film (think the Maltese Falcon). This picture was also an experiment for me as I have never laboured over a picture's lighting like this before...I spent an hour experimenting before the final settings (as seen above) were established, and I'm still not sure I got them right! There are plenty things I don't like about this picture, but there are one or two bits I'm really quite chuffed with.

Oh, and the characters are exchanging an object of great secret... something that I think deserves to be kept a great secret!

Charlie: Evolution 1996-2008

These pictures chart Charlie's design evolution from April 1996 to April 2008. Unlike Biggins, Charlie's development has been steadier and all-together calmer. Where Biggins was occasionally subject to occasional quantum leaps in his design, Charlie has remained very similar and faithful to the very first picture drawn of him (no.1 on this panel). Maybe this is why Charlie is a more cheerful character; because Biggins has suffered all the turbulence in the ever-changing quality of my drawing!

Boatsman

Here is a wee picture I've drawn of a man in a boat. Based on a drawing exercize in my oldest drawing book, I found this quite enjoyable to draw.

Merry Christmas

This is my Christmas Card image for 2008.

German Christmas Card (2003 version)

This is a Christmas Card that was originally drawn in German Class in High School in December 1993. Ten years later I re-drew it as seen above. I have just tried to dig out the original version to compare the two, but alas, I could not find it! Doh!

Illustration Friday: Voices

Here is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday topic; Voices.
What started out as a great idea, soon turned out to be a logisitic nightmare...at least when faced with the time given to attempt this. Of the 60+ men there, there are in fact only 16 original designs, and there are subsequently only 16 speech fumes. In the end, this was an 11th hour completion, but I may return to this idea again in 2009.
Trivia: one of the little blokes is talking about Illustration Friday. See if you can find which one it is.

Biggins (2002)

Now this is an interesting one...

I drew this comic in Autumn 2002, and coloured it in December using Paint. It was while doing this that I disovered Photoshop. Anyway, this comic was finished 6 years ago by colouring each frame seperately and printing them all off to be assembled afterwards. This afternoon I dug out all the seperate images, and using my more powerful computer, re-assembled them all within Photoshop. The result is the above 'Comic Totum Pole'. The story has a Christmas vibe, but ultimately the idea was to take Biggins & Co out of their usual "Alien-blasting" setting, and put them into a more docile enviroment...their house. The result was what you see before you.

Another interesting aspect of this piece, is that at the time it was drawn, Biggins was roughly 6 years/72 months old. So when I composed the whole comic, I made it six pages long, and 72 frames in total, as a sort of 'nod' to Biggin's and Company's longevity.

Unfortunately, this image has been automatically re-sized by the website, so the details are not really visible. You can see how much is there, though.

Food (2002)

Here is the second comic page ever coloured on computer with MS Paint.

As with The Underdog Factor, this page was based on a story by Nathan Manders in 1996.

The Underdog Factor (2002)

This comic from 2002 was the first page I ever successfully coloured using basic Paint. Each frame had to be scanned and coloured individually, then printed out... and the whole page re-assembled like a jigsaw piece!

This comic is actually based on the uncompleted Nathan Mander's 'Biggins Story 2' from summer 1996. Six years later I felt it deserved to be honoured in this fashion.

Merry Christmas Cartoon Lovers (2000)

This is a Christmas image I drew in 2000. Back when I did this I had no official way of colouring my images, so I experimented. This is a composite image, made from a photocopy of the original picture coloured with pencil crayon, and another photocopy of the original (on a transparency) placed on top to re-inforce the image lines. The background was copied from an earlier Christmas image that I drew two years previously.

Coffee

I drew this a few months ago after deciding coffee was the most important drink in my life. It's even more important now following the advent of post-Nytol mornings!

Our Glorious Leader (2000)

This is Our Glorious Leader, my most successful cartoon strip to date (going by longevity and the enduring positive sentiments). The main character is Prime Minister Miles Wright, leader of the House Party of Great Britain. Though this endeavour has long since rested, I did eventually return to this character/idea when I wrote my first ever sitcom. I doubt that will ever see the light of day, but maybe one day, the strip will.

Merry Christmas 2003!

Here's a little Christmas picture drawn in 2003. It features all the big characters of the day, and incidentally is the first image I ever coloured successfully in Photoshop!

Charles & Kris-Tea

This is a three-panel 'cartoon' featuring Charlie Pickles and the cartoon representationof Kris-Tea. Took a little while longer to finish than I had expected as I found myself playing around textures and colour-schemes, etc. I only hope Kris-Tea approves...

Illustration Friday : Rambunctious

This is my entry for Illustration Friday this week - the topic or word is "Rambunctious".

For this picture I came up with a new production process and I find the result quite encouraging.

Such was my hurry to complete this in time for bed, that I completely forgot to add the guitar strings and the additional details I had been planning...but the image looks quaint anyway, so I'm happy to forgive myself.

Ned & Haley (Spirit Crusher Inc.)

I thought I'd include this picture because after I added Godboy (below) I realised I have a fondness for my pictures when they're only at the pencil stage. This is Ned and Haley, two very-English ghostbusters. I came up with them after I left university for my first completely independant animation. Alas work commitments have ruled out this possibilty so far.

Super God Boy 2000AD

One of the more unexplainable character creations of the last 10 years is Super God Boy 2000AD. Having gone through an early phase of wearing leather jackets and shades, SGB eventually ended up donning a typical superhero costume. His name comes from...well I suspect it's a cross-influence that includes Super Mario, Superboy, the 2000AD Comicsbooks, and a myriad of other lost references.

Toothy & Analey (2006)

I drew this to commemorate my friend Naz leaving the place we worked (so that she could go on to get a better job). It was drawn to look a bit like a comic book cover. Toothy and Analey were knicknames we had assigned each other, though for the life of me I can't remember who was who! I suspect I was Analey.

Portrait; Sarah Brookes II (2005)

This is the second picture I drew of Sarah Brookes back in late '05. I've often wondered what was going through her mind when the photo this is based on was taken. It shall remain a mystery.

Escape from the Drawing Board (2004 Version)

My fascination with Biggin's evolution took an unusal turn in 2003, when I drew this picture of the new Biggins climbing on top of all the old designs. In 2004 Biggins was re-designed so I altered the picture and coloured it. The result was the above image.

Starhog Linework (2004)

This is the outline of a comic frame, used in the Biggins Versus Burrow 13 comic. It was later colourised and more detail added, but this is a good example of technical linework. It was drawn using 2 pilot pens, with 0.1 and 0.2 nibs.

Star Wars Parody (2001)

This Star Wars parody was drawn in 2001, and was based on a similar page drawn by my friend Mango.

21 Characters

This is the current character poster I'm working on. Every now and then I add a new character. Been playing around with this image for about 6 months now. Will get it up to 30 characters, then finish it, I think!

Multi-Biggins (2001)

A poster showing multiple images of Biggins. Drawn in 2001 I think.

Biggins & Company Poses; A History

These five poses of Biggins, Charlie and Manikin have been done at irregular intervals for twelve years. For the first time, they are now side-by-side for easy comparison. I love to look at this picture and compare one to the other. Notice how Manikin Man has not changed at all in five years!

Biggins; Evolution 1995-2008

These pictures detail the creation and stylistic evolution of my most famous character, Bexley Biggins. Officially created in 1996 from an old 1995 drawing, he has been at the forefront of my 'cartoon/comic' style development for over 10 years. I doubt he'll ever stop evolving!!

Anne the Witch (2008)

I drew this at the end of November. It's loosely based on a photograph, but much artistic license has been applied.

Amy (2004)

This is a recreation of 'Amy', a painting by Arthur Hughes. It was all drawn in less than 2 hours, using a 0.1 nibbed technical pen.

Christmas Scene (1998)

I drew this during a festive mood back in December 1998.

Cowboy (1996)

Drawn in 1996 when I was 13, this Cowboy has remained in my collection as an example of my early drawing style.

By the Fireside

Here is young Charles, endulging in a book by the fireplace. One loves you, Charles, one loves you very much!

Page 46 (2004) Biggins Versus Burrow 13

And page 46...another classic page, drawn in under 2 hours.

Page 29 (2004) Biggins Versus Burrow 13

And page 29...

One Picture, Four Attempts, Six Years

Here are four attempts at drawing the same picture, drawn in 1998, 1998, 2000 and 2004.

Self Portrait: Cartoon Style

I drew this self-portrait earlier this year. Not sure if it looks like me...but people seem to recognise me when they look at it.

Portrait: Sarah Brookes (2005)

Drew this picture of Sarah back in 2005.

Killer Teddy Bear

An illustration from a pretend children's book, back in 2004.

Freckles

This is called 'Freckles (Secret portrait)'

Caligo (2004) Six Screen-shots

Here are six screen-shots from my short animated film; Caligo (2004)

Page 30, Biggins Versus Burrow 13 (1999-2008)

Here is page 30 from the epic Biggins Versus Burrow 13 comic.

Posing Couple

Here's a basic drawing duplicated from a book of drawing techniques.

In the Arms of Paradise (2008)

I drew this back in June when I was feeling somewhat...romantic.

Illustration Friday : Similar

Here is my first entry for this week's Illustration Friday - 'Similar'

My first blog event! JRC is in da' house!

This is my first blog! Yay for the internet!
Who am I? What do I do? How do I do it? When do I do it? Why do I do it? Why do people call me Jimothy? These and many other questions will be answered on a periodic basis via...My blog!