Jim Rowland Creations

Budleigh Photograph Expedition

2011-07-04T20:02:00.006+01:00

In late June 2011 I embarked on a mini break to Devon. I stayed in a delightful village named Budleigh Salterton, and when I went down I took an assortment of stationary with me in case I felt compelled to be creative. I also took my camera in case I felt like taking some snaps. In the end I opted for the latter.

On several occasions I went for a long sojourn along the estuary path that leads to Otterton and took many photographs in course. I have no grandios illusions about being a professional photographer, and the vast majority of my pictures were meagre 'happy snaps' However, I figured I'd post a few random pics just to show some signs of creative life. Enjoy.

Attack From Above 2009/2011

2011-03-23T00:01:00.004Z

Those of you who frequent my blog on anything like a regular basis may find the above image somewhat familiar. The reason for this is that it's an image I completely re-draw every couple of years. I first drew it in 1998, then again in 1999, 2000, 2004 and the above image was drawn in 2009. However, the latest version was never quite 'perfect' because at the time I drew it I was begining to slow down creatively. Consequently; I ended up drawing the image okay enough, yet never produced the rest of it to any degree of satisfaction. Following this image, I didn't draw again for approximately 10 months.

I've gone through the creative cycle a few times since, and now that I'm entering into a new one, I figured I'd give this the once over. While the whole image has now been subject to subtle tweaking and fine-tuning, the central character of Biggins was completely re-scanned and re-coloured. I've also softened and darkened the whole image to make it more visually appealing.

Now - time to begin preparing for this week's Illustration Friday entry...

Illustration Friday: Stir

2011-03-16T00:52:00.002Z

This week the word on Illustration Friday's website was "Stir". I was initially in two minds about whether to sit at my drawing desk tonight as the word didn't provide me with any immediate inspiration. However, in the end I quantified the definitions of the word and devised a basic scene where somebody is simply stirring something - very straight-forward, eh. The result is naturally the picture you see above.

I know - it's not going to win any awards, but considering it was conjoured up entirely in the space of a few hours, it's not half bad. I hope you like it anyway and I have to admit - in the end I had a lot of fun doing this one.

Illustration Friday: Warning

2011-03-11T00:25:00.005Z

Hello folks. Man, it's been ages since I entered Illustration Friday! To tell the truth I've not been drawing much lately but I'm determined to begin a new creative phase.

For IF this week we were given the word "Warning". I actually managed to scrape a few half-decent ideas together for this, but all were too ambitious - you know what it's like when you've not drawn for a while; you get rusty - lazy!

Well, in the end I plumped for the above idea. It's a fairly weak concept - the idea being that the gate has a "Beware the Dog" warning sign, and yet ironically, one can see the dog and there really is nothing to be warey of. That said, it's not bad for a couple hours work, and I am pretty rusty. Maybe next week I'll be forthcoming with something more deserving of merit.

So how are you?

My First Colourisation Tests

2011-02-20T21:05:00.002Z

Hey all. Has it really been over half a year since I blogged my guts out? Guess I've been having another "fallow period", but I'll be participating in Illustration Friday this week so keep your eyes peeled.

Until then, I'm afraid I don't have any new artistic creations to share, but I have recently been expanding my Photoshop knowledge: in particular with regards to colourising black & white photographs.

Last month my grandfather died and while this has naturally been a sad occasion for my family, for a number of us it has created a renewed interest in the old family photographs. During the last few weeks a small number of photographs have surfaced that I've never had the privalidge of seeing and while it has confirmed my fear that there aren't a great many photos of my grandfather in existance it did make me eager to try out a "colourisation" process that I've recently been reading up on.

The photograph below was taken in about 1957, and features my grandfather, my mother (on the left) and my aunty (on the right). The picture quality was fairly clear and so it was an ideal candidate for my first colourisation attempt.

Having completed the above test, I continued to "tweak" until I had a more vibrant spectrum.

Having completed this first example and being somewhat happy with the results, I decided to take a picture of my father taken in about 1968, and not only colour it but restore the damage to the hard copy.

This was how the original was scanned in. It was done at a rather low resolution and it was immediatly apparent that this would place some limitations on how clear I could get it to look. In the end I repaired most of the damage, but owing to the contrast level of the hard copy, I found it a lot more challenging to colourise. My father's the one on the right incidentally.

Having completed these two tests, I shall soon embark on restoring the oldest and most fragile family photo album. Who knows, I might even take a few colour photographs and desaturate them - sometimes black & white really does do more poetic justice to a photograph than "florid" colour.

Character Design for Local Take-away

2010-07-04T20:35:00.007+01:00

I've created the above image this week as a response to a possible brief; A local take-away restaurant near to me currently has a menu featuring a cartoon chef on the front cover. However, the image currently used is, shall we say, somewhat lacklustre. I have therefore taken it upon myself to create something based on their existing image, but have made something (I think) more refined and thought-out. I shall broach them with it this week and see what happens!

Illustration Friday: Linked

2010-04-16T00:44:00.003+01:00

Right, Illustration Friday, Linked, right...
Having had a month's sabbatical from drawing, when I eventually set upon the task of tailoring a new image for Illustration Friday this week I had intended that I should keep my labors to a minimum. I amassed a bunch of serious contending ideas, but in the end I decided I would do something subtle... and as you can see I decided to illustrate "Linking" by depicting a simple scene in which two people are linked via their hands. It may not be the most original idea but I had desire to push forward my understanding of cartooned-anotomy as well as basic composition. As a result, my machinations of creating a simple product ended up being quite an intense but thoroughly enjoyable learning curve. In any case, I'm in the market for opinions, so feel free to offer them. The more constructive and/or critical the better.
It's good to be back.

My New Online Portfolio

2010-03-23T00:36:00.004Z

Hey everybody,

I am now the proud owner of an online portfolio. It can be found at:

http://www.jimrowland.carbonmade.com/

I'm presently gearing up for some new illustrations - my month off has been surprisingly fruitful - so I hope to be rejoining the great creative collective very very soon.

Illustration Friday: Propagate

2010-02-24T23:42:00.002Z

I didn't much time to enter IF this week, so tonight's effort is only equal to half an hour's work.
It's possible I may not be entering IF next week due to work commitments, but I hope to be back soon with a more praise-worthy offering.

Have a good week all!

Illustration Friday: Adrift (My 100th Post)

2010-02-17T01:02:00.004Z

Greetings fellow illustrators. This week's "IF" word is Adrift, and having originally planned to do a boring rowboat scene, my idea progressed to the above image - in ancient times when some people (but not many aparently) believed the world was flat...what did they think would happen if they sailed off the edge? Being as such beliefs probably existed centuries before Newton discovered the laws of gravity I doubt they'd have realised that by sailing off the edge of the world they would've been weightless and adrift in the zero gravity of space...

Valentine's Card 2010

2010-02-14T13:23:00.001Z

Happy Valentine's Day everybody.

To commemorate it this year, I have created this bespoke valentine's card (featuring my girlfriend Sophie and I) which she received last night. I think she liked it...

Illustration Friday: Muddy

2010-02-11T21:55:00.002Z

Here were are at the end of our "Muddy" week and I've only just completed my entry for Illustration Friday due to technical problems with my computer.
I've noticed a few illustrators have drawn pigs in mud for this topic, which is only natural. However, my excuse is that the pig in this picture is Charlie; one of my oldest and best character creations - and he was due for a new outing!

Illustration Friday: Focused

2010-02-03T01:02:00.003Z

Okay - time for a weird one. This week the word Penelope shot at us was "Focused". Ironically this week I haven't been feeling particularly focused... so decided I wouldn't spend too much time pulling my hair out over what idea to do and just get something down on paper quickly and efficiently. The result is the above (somewhat weird) image.
It shouldn't be to hard to determine the link between focus and hypnotism, but I would forgive anyone for wondering why the hypnotist looks like a demonic cross between Super Mario and Saddam Hussein. All I can say is I've drawn this image tonight while drinking gin and Mickey Finn, so my faculties may be compromised.
Anyway, the pencil work seems quite natural and it was a pleasure to draw so hopefully that will translate across to you.
Now to check out what everyone else has done this week....

Illustration Friday: Clumsy

2010-01-27T01:48:00.003Z

Here's my entry for this week's Illustration Friday. The word we've been thrown is "Clumsy" and I wanted my image this week to be a quick one-night effort. The above took a couple of hours with no preparation before drawing commenced. Until I finished it just now, I had no idea how it would turn out.

The main character is Georgie, who I introduced last year and who has never been far from my mind. His canine companion has now been given the designation of Bruno, and this clumsy scene depicts my young lad dropping his ice-cream onto his pup's head.

All comments are welcome!

Illustration Friday: Wilderness

2010-01-22T01:07:00.002Z

Hi all and here is my entry for Illustration Friday this week; the week the word was Wilderness.
It was touch and go whether I would find time to enter this week but low and behold I managed to scrape a few hours together and was able to produce this.
Given that I've created this over several sporadic bursts, I've not really had the opportunity to stand back and examine it properly to assess it's impact(s), but my initial opinion is that it's an acceptable punt. In any case, I have at least illustrated the correct word this week, and I believe I've captured a sufficiently wild atmosphere to warrant an entry.
The image has a slightly sinister effect; due in part to the fact it's all HB pencil, which I dare say you will agree often lends a dark quality if used in mass quantity like this.
Anyway, I've had my rattle now, solet me know what you think of this; I would class this as my first picture deserving of feedback in 2010, so let me know if it's stupendous, stupid, or just somewhere in between.

Illustration Friday: Contained

2010-01-13T22:51:00.004Z

Greetings all, and to all a good day! This is my first original Illustration Friday entry since last April, and goodness it feels good to join you all once again. What I have I missed? Whats the gos?
I'm joking of course, I'm a man and I don't do gossip.
Okay, now I will stress that since I've been out of the loop as it were, I've not practised my art very much, and as such I am apocoliptically rusty! I would therefore ask that viewers of this piece be somewhat forgiving - I can do better!
"How does this represent CONTAINED"? I hear you yell in my left ear with disgust! Well...take notice young urchin; for the image is actually rather simple. The main character (albiet drawn badly) is smoking.... and the words...well there's roughly 600 of them and they are the ingredients that 1 cigarette contains! Gosh!
Anyway, no way will this be Illustration Friday's pick of the week this week because Brianna's got more taste than that, but let me know what you think of it as an idea.
Next week I will be back and a little bit better. Lock up your daughters, etc etc.
Jim.

15/01/10 (13:56) Note:
It has only just occured to me that the word on I.F. this week is Confined and I have illustrated Contained. I've never done that before and must admit to being a supreme plonker. Oh well!

Cat Doodle

2010-01-13T01:12:00.003Z

Hello everybody. It's been a while since I added anything on here because I haven't been drawing much recently, but I'm now back on the horse with the above image.
It doesn't really have a title because it's essentially a doodle that's been tarted up in Photoshop.
I drew it tonight and coloured it in. In total, the whole image took about 3 hours to create and I'm actually quite pleased with the result. The two cats are based on my own; Harry and Hendrix (who at this moment are a few feet away fighting over the litter tray).
Anyway, let me know what you think as a little bit of constructive feedback wouldn't be a bad thing at the moment and would certainly inspire me to continue picking up a pen.
In any case, I promise not to leave it so long before adding a new image next time.

Illustration Friday: Strong

2009-09-10T22:05:00.002+01:00

Rumours of my demise we're greatly exaggerated! After a summer hiatus I'm back with a new entry for Illustration Friday, the topic being "Strong". I've been out of the illustration racket for a few months now, so this entry was always going to be a foot in the door first, and a credible illustration second. The picture itself doesn't require much explaining; I think most of you possess enough imagination to inbue the strength in it. With the next topic I hope to hit the ground running and be hot on it's tail from the get-go, so I hope to catch up with you all very soon!

The Silbadors Revisited

2009-06-14T19:04:00.005+01:00

Right! I've had a few months off drawing to concentrate on a few other projects I've had up and running, but my drawing desk is once again calling my to pick up a pencil. Historically I've always had fallow periods in the few months before the summer equinox, and have always found my pace again just as the nights start to get darker.

Anyway, to keep my blog ticking over until I have a brand new piece, I've decided to post something from my archives. This image depicts a 'fake' band I was in with my colleague Raoul McGurk back in 2007. The band was a cross between the Gorillaz and cheesy Spanish ballads, and the ten songs we recorded were intentionally daft and frivolous. The members of the band were The Donkey (Raoul), Lawrence Scorpion (me) and a third member called Chob (the bald one) who was a silent partner played by nobody. There's a Silbadors's myspace page which gets about 1 play a fortnight. Had we not been more concerned with our proper band (Karousel) I may have gone so far as to produce an animation of the characters.

Illustration Friday: Theater

2009-04-30T20:53:00.002+01:00

I couldn't really think of any ideas for this week's Illustration Friday topic - at least none that inspired me to pick up a pencil. So, this week I've polished an old turd (so's to speak) and used one of my older stock images involving a movie theater. It's from the epic Biggins versus Burrow 13 comic. I'll be back on the illustration scene properly next week and will present something more deserving of feedback.

Illustration Friday: I'm Possibility

2009-04-23T21:47:00.004+01:00

This is my late entry for Illustration Friday this week. The word was "Impossibility".
I decided to cheat and added an apostrophy and a space to the word to make it "I'm Possiblity". The picture I've drawn is an optimistic image - a young boy (Georgie) looking into space and musing upon the notion of what he's possible of. When I was younger I used to do this all the time... sitting on the swing in my garden looking up and thinking about what lay ahead, and later, what lay out there. Although some things are impossible in the real world, as a child the word 'impossibilty' itself seems impossible to me.

Attack From Above 2009

2009-04-18T21:43:00.004+01:00

This is my most complex image of the year so far! It's called 'Attack from Above' and this is the fifth time I've drawn it. I first drew the image back in 1998, which at the time was the first full colour page I'd ever produced. I've since re-drawn the image in 2000, 2001 and 2004.
The scene takes place in New York and despite the 9/11 attacks, I have kept the Twin Towers in the background as a sort of dedication.
Even though the image has been drawn on A4 paper, the attention to detail and line quality means that it looks good even when zoomed right in (as these close-ups will testify);

Charlie Pickles.

Manikin Man

It's taken me better part of a week to get this image finished. The final Photoshop image contains 30 layers and I had to create the spaceships in a 3D program. All in all, I think I've raised my personal benchmark and it'll be at least another 5 years before I attempt this again.

Illustration Friday: Fleeting

2009-04-16T00:21:00.002+01:00

I haven't had much time to illustrate this week, so for this week's Illustration Friday I had to come up with something quick and easy. The above image is the result of that hurried effort. I just sat down at my drawing desk about 20 minutes ago, came up with the idea and drew it straight out. The idea behind it being that I am presently aware that this year is zooming by at an amazing rate. 2009 is fleeting!

Book Sale

2009-04-07T15:45:00.002+01:00

Here is an image called Book Sale. I've drawn this for my department at work who are having a book sale this week to raise money for the Marie Curie charity. What was meant to be a simple project turned out to be rather...complicated! Drawing the main image took very little time, but when I came to colour it, the detail of the books gave me an overwhelming sense of having shot myself in the foot. It's not one of my greatest images, but it was quite fun to produce, and hopefully it will be put to good use later this week.

Illustration Friday: Talisman

2009-04-05T20:58:00.002+01:00

For this week's Illustration Friday theme (talisman) I decided to do something really simple.
Instead of drawing good luck charms, religious icons, etc, I realised that the simplest form of talisman that we can all do (except for some unlucky war veterans) is the elegant crossed fingers. How simple is that??

Georgie and the Trampoline

2009-04-05T02:17:00.003+01:00

Ladies and gentlemen I give you Georgie and the Trampoline. This is an idea I've had for a childrens book, and I've drawn this image to see how it might look. I've tried to make the drawing a little bit more stylised than my usual output and although I've by no means achieved a perfect end product, I reckon I'm moving in the right direction.
You will notice that I've now given Georgie a canine sidekick. I'm afraid I don't have a name for him just yet. Maybe Geoff? The Adventures of Georgie & Geoff? No... no... I will have to keep thinking...

Illustration Friday: Poise

2009-03-30T23:24:00.004+01:00

Following on from my last post, I decided I would like to enter Illustration Friday this week using a more children-friendly image. This is a new character called Georgie and I created him specifically to test out some illustration techniques, so although he's not the most original character, we may see more of him. This image took about an hour to draw and colour in so it's rather a swift piece, but as I'm slowly discovering, sometimes perfection is imperfection and the natural linework adds to the drawing's accessibility. Let me know what you think anyway.
Incidentally - has anyone here ever used acrylic paint? I used to use watercolour a lot, but I want to do some drawings and colour them in with nice solid colours. Is acrylic good for this? I never learnt how to paint things without you being able to see all the unsightly brushmarks at the end. I've tried guash in the past but with my lack of skill, the results were...messy!

Billy & Tinker (Illustration Test)

2009-03-26T00:28:00.002Z

Here is an image I just whipped-up. For a while now I've wanted to branch out into the competitive world of illustrating childrens books. My style has never really been geared up for the task, though. Well, tonight I thought it was time I began exploring some possibilities. The above image was the first of several experiments, using a new drawing style (for me anyway) and some new production techniques. It's quite basic and not too enthrawling, but considering everything about this image was concieved through experimentation, it could've been a lot worse.

Illustration Friday: Subtract 2

2009-03-24T01:03:00.006Z

As I'm not too blown-away with my entry for Illustration Friday this week, I've decided to enter a second one and hedge my bets. Interestingly, this is my first ever fully-computerised entry. The heads are recycled from the edit files of my film Waking Up In Wonderland. I had thought them lost until I managed to find them on an old scratched disc last week. The background was an experiment I did last week to see if I could create grass (seen in my Legendary picture).
After I made this just now, I realised that the characters bodies have been subtracted and thus, this image is applicable for this week's topic. I only wish I'd made this image first as I quite like the colourful disposition of the characters and background.

Illustration Friday: Subtract 1

2009-03-23T21:50:00.004Z

For this week's Illustration Friday I wanted to make something quickly and intentionally-basic. My last four entries have been a little bit on the complicated side so I fancied a change. This is one of the quickest pictures I've drawn in quite a while so I'm not expecting much kudos back regarding it, and in any case, I have a full plate this week - this is the best I could manage!

Some More Texture Tests

2009-03-19T23:40:00.006Z

Having recently discovered the joys of adding paper texture to old drawings, tonight I conducted a few more experiments. Here are two of the better results:

This is a piece from 2001 entitled "Eleventh Hour". There is a more completed version of this on file, but I chose to use the early pencil version in this instance. The results appear encouraging.

I then went on and tried applying texture to a 2004 drawing called "By The Fire" and this time tried to make it more natural looking. It almost looks like it was drawn on the back of an old envelope!

Whether using paper textures will work on some of my more flamboyant pictures remains to be seen. Watch this space!

Illustration Friday: Legendary

2009-03-18T21:32:00.008Z

I don't know why, but this week's Illustration Friday word just didn't seem to inspire me that much. Nonetheless I've had a bash at it. I was originally going to do a Samson & Delilah theme, but changed my mind at the last minute and decided to do a King Arthur picture... specifically the legend that refers to the Lady In The Lake giving Arthur his famous Sword. I may've been slightly influenced by Monthy Python and The Holy Grail as I seem to have recreated Graham Chapman's beard to an uncanny degree. From the outset I wanted to do a high-grade image (like my Intricate or Instinct pictures) in the full knowledge that next week I'm going to attempt something more natural. So to help me along this week, I've used a bit more Photoshop than usual. I just hope the image doesn't look too...artificial.

Unfinished Drink

2009-03-13T01:03:00.002Z

After playing around with old images and new textures on the previous image, I dug out this picture. It's an unfinished drawing I did of Biggins drinking a cup of coffee. At the time I abandonned it to draw another more energetic image (which some of you may have seen on my blog some weeks ago) simply entitled "Coffee". When I stumbled across this image the other day, I found myself wishing I'd competed it.

Biggins Vs Burrow Revamp

2009-03-13T00:49:00.004Z

This is an old image that I just decided to re-vamped for a bit of fun. This image has been subject to a few experiments over the years (partly because it's a nice clean drawing). I was going to develop it into a more extravagant Boxing Promotion poster, but I stopped because I liked what I'd already achieved.

Illustration Friday: Intricate

2009-03-10T20:50:00.002Z

This week Illustration Friday gave us the word "intricate". Following on from my image last week I felt encouraged to draw another vocational scene and it struck me that flying a plane (with all those complicated controls) must be quite an intricate process. As it turned out, the logistics of drawing a cockpit full of buttons proved to be slightly more challenging than I had expected... so in the end I scaled-back the details to make the image more managable. Additionally, in certain places the perspective got a wee bit out of hand and I had to be careful about how I coloured things in. Ultimately though I'm rather pleased with this, especially since I threw it together over 3 short evenings.

Illustration Friday: Breezy

2009-03-04T19:42:00.003Z

For this week's Illustration Friday topic ("Breezy") I came up with about 20 ideas. I spent the whole of last Sunday thinking about which one would be best and as is typical, I simply ended up doing the first idea that had come to me. As you can see, I went for a weather forecast idea, and drew the forecaster in a very breezy pose. In England weather can sometimes be erratic, hence why in the picture I've drawn the wind directions in a very bizarre patterns... this is what it's actually like! I hope you like it!

Starhog 2009

2009-03-03T01:38:00.001Z

Here's a pimped out copy of my CGI Starhog - with vector accesories and enhanced in Photoshop.

Starhog - CGI

2009-03-02T01:07:00.002Z

Following on from my blog below - here are some images of Starhog drawn tonight using a CGI program. This is the first image I've ever drawn in CGI with any degree of success. The fact Starhog is made up of four big circles helped...but still...it's a big step forward for me.

Biggins & Company Vs Futurama

2009-03-02T00:43:00.004Z

Okay - this is just for a little fun. Having just watched the latest Futurama film, I thought it was time to set the record straight on something that's been bugging me for a number of years now.
I'm a fan of Futurama and have watched it for a while now. However, the one gripe I have (not with the show itself particularly) is that Futurama and Biggins and Company have some..."similarities"!

Check out this comparison of the two respective main characters; Fry and Biggins. Is it me or are there some vague similarities? If there are I'm only too happy to point out they are co-incedental as while Futurama has been around sine 1998, Biggins & Co has been knocking around since 1996. Therefore, this interests me because it is a good case study for parallel evolution.
So I believe it's a case of co-incidental design, which encourages me because Futurama has proven there's a big market for this sort of thing - which can only be a good thing for Biggins & Co. Another similarity between the two concepts is their use of spaceships to get around. While in Futurama you have the Planet Express Ship, Biggins has the Starhog. For a little bit of fun earlier, I created the following image;

Biggins the Kid (2001)

2009-02-27T19:17:00.002Z

Here's an old image from 2001 entitled Biggins the Kid. Though it's stylistically obsolete, I've always had a fondness for this one.

A Quick Slideshow

2009-02-26T22:43:00.007Z

Here is a wee slide show. Just whacked it together to show the best of my drawing over the last 12 months, (which is essentially how long I have been drawing properly again after my 5-year hiatus). Enjoy!

Illustration Friday: Instinct

2009-02-25T22:12:00.005Z

For this week's Illustration Friday, I decided to come up with a very simple idea and take my time doing it. Having said that, this was produced surprisingly quickly and the result is the above image. There are a few issues I couldn't work out, and may revisit this in the weeks ahead to correct some of those issues. I suspect this is the most photo-realistic piece I've done to date.

And before anyone mentions Little Red Riding Hood - believe it or not I was halfway through drawing this before it even occured to me that the theme was similar. When I realised this I changed the girl's hoody from grey to red as a last minute acknowledgement.

Character Posters Through the Years

2009-02-22T17:38:00.004Z

As promised in the previous blog, here is a brief history of my Character Posters.
Over the last 10 years I've attempted many, but to date only four have been completed, namely the versions from 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2009. Here they are;

I always had a mandate in mind that I should do one of these posters every year, I suppose the main reason being that my cartoons use several different styles and I used to like drawing them all together to see where I could merge the styles together. I was always worried that by employing different styles I was confusing my development, (hence by the time I drew the third one in 2001 all characters were drawn similarly). Lately, I've realised that having different styles only adds to the overall diversity, so in the latest one I have drawn each one as different as necessary. A couple of these include characters designed by my colleague Nathan Manders, as a nod to our history or collaborations.

Anyway, the current 2009 batch of characters looks as follows;

Over the last year I have been drawing each character seperately and adding the designs to a reference database, and this means I can pluck any character out at any time and use it in any context (such as a character poster). By this April (12 months after beginning the project) I should be able to add several more characters to this picture. So, watch this space.

The Characters of Jim Rowland (2004)

2009-02-22T03:06:00.002Z

Here is the most recent precursor to the current banner (character poster). Drawn in 2004 it is the third such character poster in the archives. I shall present the previous 2 over the coming days.

The Biggins & Company Band (2004)

2009-02-18T19:54:00.003Z

One of the last drawings I did towards the end of my time at university (before I had to get a job!!) was this band image of Biggins and Company. Every character was drawn seperately and added to the composition within Photoshop. The guitars Biggins and Charlie are playing are both based on guitars I actually own in real life.

Waking Up In Wonderland (2003) Re-edit

2009-02-17T00:19:00.004Z

Okay - here is a film I never thought would see the light of day... it's called Waking Up in Wonderland and it was my first big project during my last year of university in 2003/04. In the planning stages the idea was promising and it seemed that I might have a good film on my hands. Ultimately, it just didn't develop as I had wanted.

You'll noticed that it's a wee bit on the pretencious side (a classic failing of many art students) and it didn't help that the story was a bit too melancholy. Yes, it was based on myself and in the end that decision came back to bite me on the bum-bum.

Well, when I dug it out this evening it was so badly edited that I had to make some hasty adjustments before uploading it. Gone is 90% of the live action from the start, gone is the original title sequence, and gone is the very ending. I've now included a new piece of music called Follow Me Home (by my good friend Raoul McGurk) to act as background/mood music, and I've also thrown in some effects...in a some-what hap-hazard fashion.

It's still a pile of poo but seeing how much time I put into planning this thing in 2003, I figured it deserved a base level of exposure.

Illustration Friday: Celebrate

2009-02-16T22:58:00.002Z

This week's Illustration Friday topic was Celebrate. When I came around to doing this picture an hour ago, I was in a rather strange mood and didn't want to pour hours of time into drawing something, so I just started drawing in pen with the aim of messing it around in Photoshop. The above image is the fruits of that endeavour.
Don't ask me to explain it because I can't. I guess you could call it a mood piece as I took a very instictive approach. it does have a weird 1980's vibe which I must confess to liking.
This is Jim Rowland Creations at it's most abstract!

Caligo (2004)

2009-02-16T01:22:00.005Z

This is Caligo, my final film while at university

Starhog 1997-2004

2009-02-16T01:04:00.009Z

Here, to conclude my current period of introspection, is a brief timeline of Biggins & Company's primary mode of transportation; Starhog.
Origially concieved of in 1997, Starhog made it's first appearance in the a comic called The Invasion, drawn during one of my school holidays in the summer (remember those? Six weeks of bliss!!)
It went through a brief period of evolution then settled into a basic design that would be used over and over again, most notably in the infamous Biggins Versus Burrow 13 comic by me and Nathan Manders, drawn in 1999 (and still being worked on believe it or not!).

This image basically comprises of some of the best images of Starhog in chronological order, as seen in comic, cartoon and animation.

Whether or not Starhog will ever come out of retirement is a question that even I cannot yet answer. I was always quite taken with it's design though - it is so simple... just four big spheres thrown together to make a spaceship - how simply can you get!!

Biggins & Charlie: A Historical Introspection

2009-02-14T20:12:00.007Z

Having recently blogged about my last ever comic (drawn back in 2004) I feel it would be equally as interesting to cover the subject of my two first proper comics... drawn in 1996. Not surprisingly, both my last and first comics both feature my most famous character; Biggins (originally called "Biggles" as a piss-take of the books by Captain WE Johns).

These two comics were drawn on landscape A3 paper on my family's diningroom table, and the second one introduces the well-known character; Charlie the Pig.

This is the first one. it's entitled "Biggles Learns to use the Phone"

And here is the second, entitled "Biggles Makes the D.I.Y. Sewage Factory"

I feel the point of viewing these is by way of personal comparison. I like to look at these characters, comparing how they're drawn now in 2009, to how they were drawn in 1996.

Biggins has changed the most, though I think I still see a vague hint of the old design in the new.

But here we an see that, although the drawing quality has improved, Charlie is still essentially a naked pig, and thus, his design has has deviated far less than his companian's.

My fascination with these two characters is rooted in the fact that they are my pilots (almost literally). Whenever I devise a new drawing style or a new way of drawing/colouring a style, I try it on these two guys first. They're my plastecine models and have usually been the first to exhibit any new skill I pick up.

Well anyway, back to the present. I shall be embarking upon my first new Biggins comic venture in the coming weeks and this wee blog explaination may prove useful in the days ahead.

Disco Charlie

2009-02-13T21:34:00.001Z

Not quite sure why I drew this, or when for that matter! Really like this though - can't think why I never finished it.

Waking Up In Wonderland; Screenshots

2009-02-13T20:57:00.001Z

Leading on from the above image, here are three screenshots from the film Waking Up In Wonderland. These may not be the best screenshots, but they're the only three I have lying around on my PC.

Waking Up In Wonderland, Title Comic

2009-02-13T20:38:00.002Z

In 2003 I began work on an animation entitled "Waking Up In Wonderland". The story revolved around a comic artist (played by me) who becomes so obsessed with his work drawing comics that upon falling asleep at his work desk, he wakes up inside his own imagination (hence the wonderland reference as an obvious nod to Alice in Wonderlnd). The above comic was used in a title sequence at the beginning of the film, which basically summed up part of the plot.
The words in the speech bubbles are a poem by Edgar Allan Poe which talks about dreams within dreams.
The main reason I have put this up, is that it is officially the last comic I ever drew. It was drawn in 2004 just after the film was completed, and since then I've never drawn a proper comic. Well, this is of key interest to me because over the next few weeks I plan to put an end to the silence and finally draw a new comic. This image will serve as my best comparison when that day comes.

Untitled Dragon Character

2009-02-13T20:35:00.004Z

I went digging through some archives from my time at University today and found a few images I thought I'd lost. I shall post two now...
The first is the above Dragon character. He was designed as a replacement for a nightclub mascot (already a dragon but badly conceived). In the end I think he went un-used, but I feel quite fond of this little chap's cheerful disposition. I think I shall name him Dennis.
I think when designing him I just ripped off my own Charlie design and made it green!!!

Illustration Friday: Time

2009-02-10T22:38:00.003Z

I've always had a preoccupation with time and the changes it brings. Whether they be on a personal note, cliche milestones or of a scientific nature, these changes always seem to be part of a larger unstoppable force - against which we have no defense.

For this image I have spelt out some of the the big stages of life. Not everybody goes through the pub phase but I threw it in anyway. Originally there was an image of a graveyard at the end, but I didn't want the image to be overwhelmed by the morbid finality of the subject. I wanted to revel in the various stages without an undue sense of conclusion!

Illustration Friday: Flawed

2009-02-04T00:53:00.004Z

This week Illustration Friday gave us the word "Flawed" to illustrate. Already having a fairly full plate this week, I decided to make this image very quickly - one might say "cheap and cheerful". The result is the image you see above. I've opted for a musical theme for Illustration Friday before, but I rather liked the idea of Biggins playing a violin very badly, and people around him comitting suidice out of desperation - thus illustrating the flaws in Biggins' playing.
This was eventually considered too time-costly, so I simplified the idea to Biggins simply playing a violin (neither well nor poor), and Charlie simply reacting in an over-the-top fashion. For a quick image it's turned out...okay.

Stunt Manikin (1997 and 2000)

2009-01-27T22:40:00.005Z

Here are two single (and rather identical) page comics based on the character Manikin Man, from 1997 and 2000. Years and years ago me and my mate Mango began playing around with the idea of him being a stuntman, akin to a crash test dummy. A decade later and for a sentimental challenge, we've agreed to have a bash at drawing what that would actually look like now. Tonight I've played around with a new logo for the venture:

So...watch this space...

Portrait: Unkown Woman

2009-01-27T22:36:00.002Z

I drew this about a year ago. It's based on a drawing excersize in one of my technical books and is one of those pictures that we all do from time to time; namely when inspiration is low you draw it just to make sure can still draw.

William Morris Homage

2009-01-27T22:34:00.001Z

This is an image I drew when I was in Sixth Form College a few years back. I just dug it out and added some colour and; Hey Presto - a strange picture. I quite like this image now!

Illustration Friday: Climbing

2009-01-24T21:36:00.004Z

For this week's Illustration Friday topic ("Climbing") I decided I would scale down my ambitions in order to produce something a little quicker. I bounced around a few ideas (some of which I still feel inclined to do at some point) but for now this picture sums up the word adequately. Unlike other suggestions of late, I think "climbing" is a very direct word and as such, there's a limit to how far one can run with it. Subsequently, I'm quite happy to have come up with such a basic image and only hope that it's simple nature doesn't detract from it's relevance to the topic.

Illustration Friday: Pale

2009-01-22T00:22:00.005Z

This is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday, the respective buzz-word being "Pale".

Like previous words, "Pale" conjoured up far too many images for me to cope with. In the end I plumped for what I consider to be the most apt picture for this word, when coming from a red-haired artist.

I would like to invite all comments on this one, as it was massively-rushed piece, and I'm still not sure if blurring the background has worked...so may change...

What do you all think... (apart from the fact this ginger guy looks a wee bit like William H Macy)?

Biggins Versus Burrow 13: Pages 26 and 43

2009-01-19T22:01:00.004Z

I felt like adding a few more pages from the Biggins versus Burrow 13 comic so here are two to feast your peeps on.

This is page 43, and takes place during a segment of the comic where Biggins has apparently woken up from a coma only to find his past adventures have been nothing more than a dream. Then he has an accident and ends up in a coma again...

And this is page 26 from a part of the comic where Biggins and Company land the Starhog on a mysterious 'space iceberg'. Burrow and his crew follow them only to find Starhog deserted...

I'm sorry about the swearing too. I went years and years without using profanity but it was such a release to pepper a few pages with them.

Dennis the Menace - My Design V.1

2009-01-18T19:41:00.003Z

I've been threatening to do my own design of the celebrated Dennis the Menace (from the Beano) for about a year now, and about half an hour ago I was finally bored enough to try it. It took literally 5 minutes to draw and 5 minutes to colour, so it's only a starting point. Thought it was worth sharing though since it now holds the prestigious accolade of being the quickest-drawn image on my blog.

Illustration Friday: Contained

2009-01-15T00:22:00.003Z

Here we have my entry for Illustration Friday this week, the topic naturally being "Contained".

I thought long and hard over what image to do this week as the word 'contained' brings to mind so many images. For a while I could not decide which idea to do. Originally my plan idea was to do something with a jack-in-the-box as this seemed to illustrate the theme quite nicely - but I wasn't convinced. Then my talented friend Kris-Tea released her illustration, which contained a cartoon of me... well, to repay the gesture I resolved to create an image containing her. The result is the above picture. On one of her trips to get a nice vanilla milkshake, she may find she has another use for the glass...

Illustration Friday: Resolve

2009-01-05T02:16:00.002Z

When I saw this weeks word (resolve) I had so many ideas in mind... so many differant ways of interpreting the word. but finally, I realised that I already had a picture in my archives that related to the topic. This is a picture called 'At the Grave'. The reason I thought it was applicable to the word 'resolve' is because when somebody dies, in a way their life is finally 'resolved'. Additionally, one hopes that all those little differances between the living and the departed are alo finally 'resolved'.

Sorry - didn't mean to be morbid or melancholy, lol - I just thought that maybe this picture fits the context.

Illustration Friday: Clandestine

2008-12-30T22:57:00.004Z

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

2008-12-30T19:31:00.002Z

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

2008-12-30T15:22:00.001Z

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

2008-12-26T16:19:00.000Z

This is my Christmas Card image for 2008.

German Christmas Card (2003 version)

2008-12-26T16:10:00.002Z

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

2008-12-26T15:12:00.001Z

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)

2008-12-21T21:10:00.004Z

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)

2008-12-21T19:28:00.001Z

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)

2008-12-21T16:38:00.002Z

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)

2008-12-19T23:33:00.003Z

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

2008-12-19T01:05:00.001Z

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)

2008-12-16T22:33:00.005Z

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!

2008-12-16T22:07:00.002Z

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

2008-12-16T20:29:00.002Z

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

2008-12-14T21:32:00.002Z

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.)

2008-12-14T14:56:00.004Z

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

2008-12-13T20:38:00.002Z

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)

2008-12-13T20:33:00.002Z

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)

2008-12-13T20:28:00.003Z

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)

2008-12-11T23:11:00.001Z

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)

2008-12-11T23:07:00.002Z

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)

2008-12-11T23:03:00.002Z

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

21 Characters

2008-12-11T22:45:00.000Z

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)

2008-12-11T20:28:00.000Z

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

Biggins & Company Poses; A History

2008-12-10T22:05:00.003Z

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

2008-12-10T22:03:00.004Z

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)

2008-12-10T20:56:00.000Z

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

Amy (2004)

2008-12-10T20:34:00.001Z

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)

2008-12-10T20:33:00.000Z

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

Cowboy (1996)

2008-12-10T20:31:00.002Z

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

2008-12-10T20:06:00.000Z

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

2008-12-09T23:03:00.001Z

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

Page 29 (2004) Biggins Versus Burrow 13

2008-12-09T22:56:00.000Z

And page 29...

One Picture, Four Attempts, Six Years

2008-12-09T19:18:00.001Z

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

Self Portrait: Cartoon Style

2008-12-09T19:00:00.001Z

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.