Final Show 2014 and Patreon

So yeah, this entry is later than planned. However, not due to lack of productivity. I had to make a visit to the doctors which wore me out a bit but I got working on a little something to distract me. I'll touch on more of that later.

In this entry, I'm doing something a little different. Normally I use the blog to share concepts and artwork I've done and discuss them but I'm putting that on hold for today to discuss some super cool things and shine the spotlight on some artists I really enjoyed seeing at Final Show on Monday.

Final Show 2014

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It was interesting being at the Final Show as a visitor rather than an exhibitor. Definitely more relaxed in comparison as I recall stressing and hoping that people would enjoy my work and maybe some big studio hot-shot was scouting for talent and my pigeons were somehow the magic thing they were looking for and that they'd shove a wad of cash into my gob and I'd be set for life with sustainable and reliable income due to a super cool animation job where I would draw nothing but birds and dogs and everyone would want me/want to be me and life would be super groovy good.

... Ehh, it didn't exactly turn out that way. Although I don't have many complaints.

"Look, but don't touch. Unless it's a badge or business card. You can get yo
nasty hands all over dem, son."

Anyway, Ruari and I decided to pop by and see what the students were presenting this year. I found a few favourites and couldn't resist taking some photos to share on the blog. Doin' a little bit of an artist spotlight, I suppose!

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Mark Hughes

Twitter | Tumblr

Mark is a hoot and a half and I just want to kick his arse at how much better his storyboards are. He put so much effort and life into them, it's enviable. It's getting me really hyped to see his finished animations. He was the fellow responsible for the sloth greeter and he has a recurring theme of sloths in his work. Good to know someone loves a kind of animal as intensely as I do!
Also them character designs are so fluid and wacky, yo. Can't wait to see the buggers in action!

Emma Inglis

 Twitter | Facebook | Blog

I'm loving this. I mean look at those colours! And the shading is so soft and its all so bold and the details and textures in everything are just so vibrant and I feel like I could be touching that wolfskin if the woman wasn't going to smack me upside the head for doing so. I especially love the bottom one. Daaaang. I can't make smart word at the good art.
"Now at 21, and more confident than I've ever been, my work aims to take a turn for the gruesome and a much more healthy and feminist approach." And god bless you for it, Emma.

Danielle Waterworth

Twitter

These were made in 3D. I honestly weep at how good some people are in this medium cos I SWEAR TO GOD I am physically incapable of working in it. It's diabolical, the amount of damage 3D does to a tortured soul like myself... or at least to my module grade. However, there are those that are total BEASTS at it and Danielle sure kicked it's ass.

And she made a 3D print of a polar bear, what the HELL. That is incredible and I am mad jelly.

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Those ones in particular stood out to me but I have to say, there was a lot of talent there! Just gonna toss out the honourable mentions cos they should shine too!

Thom Sansom
Tumblr

Kym Davison
Blog

Stuart Brown
(I'm having difficulty finding a source to more of his work, I'm afraid!)

All in all, some rad stuff. But one thing that kind of sucked was that there wasn't a screening of the animations on the huge screen like there usually is. That was a shame. I mean yeah, they had them on a loop in the little screen in the animation room which meant people could see the work but sadly there was no way of hearing them. Such a pity.

Oh, and the bar wasn't even in the same room. Jeeze, what was THAT about?

That aside, it was a good show and it was cool snapping up freebies and seeing some old chums from college. Also got to introduce Ruari to them and he was loving the whole thing, especially the inexpensive drinks. But that's no surprise.

"Hate to see you go but love to watch you leave!"

And now, onto that little distraction I mentioned earlier.

Patreon

So yeah, like I said, I never found that animation studio hot shot to cram money in my face and set me up for life. But perhaps maybe you guys can help me out with that instead?

... Allow me to explain. Patreon is a website where you can donate as much money as you want to a creator either on a monthly basis or whenever they churn out a piece of content. Depending on how much you give to them on the agreed basis, you'll be given rewards by the creator which can vary depending on their work. As well as this, the creator also lists goals that can be achieved whenever they reach a certain money milestone.

Have a look at my page as an example. It lists the projects I want to make a living out of and the goals I wish to reach. I know I'll most likely have to change a few details moneywise but this has given me an idea of what I want to do with my work.

Support me!

If you yourself wish to donate any amount, I'd really appreciate it. And if you have any advice or suggestions for my patreon page, please don't be afraid to share as I want to get the most out of the site as humanly possible. I also want to be sure I'm using it right!

Also, please help me spread the word and thanks to those who have supported me so far!

Next blog entry, I'll be back to sharing artwork and talking about it in more detail. Yes, it will be pigeons, I promise. I know you've missed them~

... shut up, yes you have.

Crumbs: Dog Division Lineup (Better!)

Final Show Visit

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Mondays, ew.

Although my Monday has been pretty spiffy so far. Ruari and I headed out for business lunch and then we went home for business coffee and now we're writing up business things. BUSINESS.

Later on, we're planning on seeing the Newcastle College Animation Final Show to see how the second and final years have been doing. It'll also be good to possibly catch up with former classmates and teachers. Feel free to say hi if you'll be there! Especially if you're a studio doing some networking. You should especially say hi.

Pft yeah, I probably won't get too far on that one. I don't have any work hanging up this year. That and it would be crappy to the students showing their work. I like to think I'm not THAT crappy. Either way, I'm really excited to see what work is being shown this year. I might write up about the show on Wednesday while sharing my own work.

'Til then, here are some Crumbs concepts.

Crumbs: The Dog Division

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I mentioned in the last entry that I had updated the group picture of the main characters of the Dog Division stories. I absolutely despised the last picture and wanted to work on it for a long time. After finally tweaking Snaps' design, I went into making the lineup that much less of an eyesore.

I'm very happy with the result.

"Oh hey Rocky, look what I just stepped in!"
"It's not really your fault, Snaps. She's such a shortarse, no one possibly could have seen her. *snerk*"
"*sniffsniff* I dunno, she smells a little...
"You're both ungrateful shits and I hate you."

I really like how it sums up their group dynamic. They both really do have a high respect for Tita (the pug) as she was the one to see potential in them and help them achieve their goals, with Snaps becoming a therapy dog and Rocky a guide dog for the blind. However, they're all smarmy buggers who constantly take the piss out of each other and Tita seems to be the brunt of the jokes in this instance.

I had the 'Lightpaws' logo sprayed on the wall behind them because in the story, it's also used to suggest the dogs assisting the pigeons. I deliberately made the logo vague enough for this to be possible.

Underneath is a texture test of the characters together, to see if it worked with the rest of the dogs as it did with Snaps. Personally I think it does.

"Am I really that wrinkly?"
"Yes. And short."
"And smelly."
"Bite me."

Much better interaction and just more awesome designs for the characters in general. I'm still experimenting with Rocky's colours as he's a bit tougher to shade than the other two. Which is funny, considering that I have my own chocolate labrador Frodo who I've been using as a reference. Either way, brown is tough to shade and show light without it looking dirty. If that makes sense.

Ah well, more tweaking to go!

I've got more Crumbs concepts to share on Wednesday but I'm not sure what those will be. Probably pigeons. And obviously a summary of Final Show. Guess we'll see in a couple of days.

Ciao~

Hashtag Swag Stag

Schedule Update

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I'm thinking from now on, I'll share something on my blog on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday basis. Kind of like the upload schedule I have planned for Crumbs. I seem to really like working to such a schedule. At least I'm finally getting around to sharing stuff.

Once I have a bigger Crumbs buffer, I'll put that on the Mon/Wed/Fri upload and share blog updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hopefully that'll be happening within the next few months.

Until then, lets get cracking with what we got here.

Swag Stag

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I'm something of a private person when it comes to talking about myself and relationships and the like. However, I'm approaching the second month anniversary of seeing this lovely fellow (It's pronounced 'Rory' to those who have been wondering/asking; it's the Irish spelling) and one way I like to show affection, other than sweetly insulting them, is drawing them pretty pictures for no raisin.

Ruari has a particular fondness for stags (kind of like my pug love: he's got them on pictures, shirts, socks and everything, jeeze what a dork) and aviator sunglasses so naturally I decided to run with these interests and create a little something for him to appreciate.

I think I got a bit carried away.

I want this for a poster. Or a shirt design. Or a beer label. Or a decal for a van.
I want this for an EVERYTHING.

Now, I'm normally not one to be all like 'Daaaamn hombre look at this thing I drewed" but DAAAAMN HOMBRES LOOK AT THIS THING I DREWED

It's probably got a number of faults with it which I'll eventually see after a few months but for the time being, I'm actually really happy with it. Considering it's an animal I haven't really drawn before, it's came out pretty nifty. I have no idea why I decided to go with all the dark and fire and stuff. It was just going that way. And it really makes the stag and glasses stand out, what with them being really super important and all.

So yeah, a little something different than usual that I've wanted to share for the past week now. Also with Ruari's beer magazine work being published and going for sale, I figured now would be as good a time to share as any. If you're into beers beyond the stuff they have in the taps at the pub, you should check out Craft Beer: 100 Best Breweries cos it's got some interesting dranks in there. I've even been slowly expanding my beer palette recently, which I suppose is what happens when you start dating a professional pisshead beer reviewer.

He should totally review that coconut beer next. I forget what it's called but it's hella rad.

... *ahem* YES so, I drew a swag and Ruari got published. Media Power Couple.

Sharing cheesy couple photo cos it's my blog and I do what I want.
Even if I do look like a gurning horse.

Next week, it'll be back to Crumbs concepts. I have a group shot of the Dog Division that I'm very keen to share.

Until then, enjoy the weekend!

Crumbs: Snaps Character Design Revamp

I had a feeling I wouldn't have time to work on a blog entry yesterday, hence why I hedged and said 'or later in the week'. I promise I'm not slipping back into unproductivity the shadows. Too many cobwebs there.

So! I'm only showing little titbits of work so that I actually have something to show on a regular basis. A sort of blog buffer, if you will. If only I could work on the comic in a similar fashion.

Page 15 IS being worked on though! Perhaps I will show a WIP of the page sometime soon...?

For now however, I'm sharing a little character redesign and shading experiment. Snaps, my Irish Setter/Golden Retriever mix has gone through a few tweaks and prods. She is now a therapy dog reformed from being a bit of a terror in her younger days. As well as that, I've redesigned her appearance cos... well, her last one was a bit pants.

I was never happy with that picture and only really shared it so that I could say "Hey look, I am working on stuff! I promise!" (Only to disappear for two months. Time management was always a bugger for me.) but I hated pretty much everything about the character designs. They just weren't... THEM. I have done a new picture of the group of dogs which I will show another time.

The one most in need of an improved look (in my opinion anyway) was Snaps. And here she is now.

Ahh, much better. In my opinion.

And now the bandana actually has a purpose, where it portrays the 'Wingview Softpaws' logo, the group of therapy and help dogs that Snaps is associated with. Below, I've done a small collection of the logos I considered, as well as a comparison of the texture/non textured look for the canine characters. I've decided to keep it that way as it really makes the character designs pop that bit more.
You'll need to click on the image to really see the textures, most likely. Its subtle from a distance but I swear it's there.

Using the same picture cos TIME MANAGEMENT shut up

A lot of what I have to show right now is concept based but I'm trying to get into the habit of sharing WIPs as I enjoy seeing them from other artists. I just feel that my sketches look crap before they're finished (and sometimes after, HEY-YOOO) but thats one of my many insecurities with my work I need to overcome.

I'm thinking I'll have time to write up an entry tomorrow and if so, I'll possibly be sharing something not pigeon OR dog based! Leaping out of the comfort zone on that one. Ahh, experimenting.

Stay hip and happenin', peeps!

Sorries, Berties And Sciences

First things first: I'M SO SORRY

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Do forgive me while I nonchalantly bat the cobwebs away. Yikes.

So yeah, I didn't mean to disappear for two months there, jeeeeze. That was a big fail on my part. Things got a bit hectic in my work area so I've been moving things around and donating/throwing things out for weeks and I kind of underestimated how much of a monumental task that would be. The house isn't even THAT BIG, but it's like when you eat a big plateful of something and you're getting more and more full but there isn't even a slight dent in the food.

Except it's a house.

Anyway yeah, I'm so sorry about that. After weeks of getting bugger all done, I finally set up a small work area in the living room and it's actually proving to be much more productive than I thought it would be. The past week, I've gotten quite a large number of concepts done for Crumbs. I'm thinking I'll start sharing them from tomorrow or at the very latest, sometime this week. So I'll finally have work to share on here! About diddly-darn time, right?

OK, lets get onto some topics!

Bertie Blue Update

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To everyone who has bought a copy (or more!) of Bravest Pigeon, thank you so much! I absolutely appreciate it and with your interest and support, we can continue to create more stories and sell more books!

Hopefully we'll have printed copies of 'Bertie Blue in Paris' out very soon for you lovely folk to enjoy! In the meantime, now that I got my work setup all ready, I'll start focusing largely on the next Bertie Blue story, 'Bertie Blue and the White Rum Sauce'! 

Here's a quick little WIP. Not much to show at the moment but a little teaser for one of my favourite illustrations in the book hopefully. Assuming the author likes it, anywho!

Looking up at the stars, wishing the scarf he was wearing didn't look so much
like a neck brace.

I Contribute To Science!

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Sort of. Either way, kind of stepped out of my comfort zone on this one.

My friend Ellen Murphy (got it memorised? She'll be famous someday, probably!) will be graduating from university soon and for her dissertation, she was writing about... parasites, I think? I'm not a sciencetist. Anyway, she was looking for a diagram outlining a particular sequence of juvenile flukes invading the liver of animals and what happens to them but she wasn't able to find anything describing what she wanted. 

Lucky for her, she had a super willing artist pal able to help! Unfortunately for her, her super willing artist pal knows hee-haw about science and basically needed her hand held throughout the entirety of the diagram's development. But we finally got there and here is the finished result!

If any smart types are reading, hopefully you know what's going on in this sequence cos I still don't have a clue. And I drew the darn thing.

No, seriously, what is going on.

This was actually the first time I'd worked on a science diagram since GCSE BTEC Science and I gotta say, it was pretty fun! I wasn't the smartest in that lesson but I always enjoyed making diagrams and so on. I wonder if I should add 'diagram illustrator' to my list of arty-farty skills...

And Finally...

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So! There's a summary of what's been going on so far. However, there won't be a two month long silence this time! Tomorrow, or later this week, I'll start sharing the latest Crumbs concepts I've been developing for the past fortnight. I'm feeling really good about finally getting various characters and concepts down on (virtual) paper. I've been pretty productive for a gal who still hasn't changed out of her pyjamas. Ah, the joys of self employment.

Stay tuned for more pigeon and/or dog concepts this week, aw yis.