Comic Book Inspiration

Anyone who has been talking to me for say...the past...year? Two years? Would know that I am planning to write a comic book. Well, I have avoided it, ignored it and finally now, I am starting on it. But like every good idea, it needs a bit of inspiration to enter the "the vortex". I grew up reading Archie, Asterix, and Tintin which was followed up with Tank Girl and Deadline magazine (RIP).

These days I have expanded my tastes and comic books/graphic novels have changed a fair bit but two have recently stood out. The first was read by an ex-partner of mine and despite their insistence that I read it, at heart I am a brat and refused to do as I was told. Now, many years on I have finally read it and I should have listened. What am I talking about? Bone of course!

The tale of the three Bones is awesome. It's funny, exciting and adventurous, with all the best aspects of a stranger comes to town and a quest (the best story ideas). You can buy it now in big volumes so you can just read it all at once. The story is epic. I really should have listened, sorry r%$#*t (name has been deleted to protect their poor innocent soul, they didn't know what they were getting into).

Second up is Nathan Jurevicius' Scary Girl. This is super cute. It also has no real dialogue so the image has to tell the whole story. It's bright, colourful and just a tad weird. The story is set under the water and I love the creatures that live in this world.

Neither is like the story I am writing at the moment, nor are they of my style but I prefer to find inspiration in things that do not reflect my style, the temptation to copy (even sub consciously) is lessened. Plus it expands your idea of what is possible.

SO what is happening in my comic book?! Well, there will be two. One, is my epic story of the Army going into North Korea, and secondly, I will be writing a continuous story for the newsletter which a HEAP of you have subscribed for! Thanks! All I can say is stay tuned....

Some weekend inspiration...

Here is a bit of inspiration for the weekend.  Supakitch and Koralie in Mexico doing a mural and playing tourist.  I love seeing these two work together.

SUPAKITCH et KORALIE from Filmaciones de la Ciudad on Vimeo.

Have a good weekend. Be creative! That's an order!

Onwards to Victory!

Authorised by the HiiRagi Home Office and Ministry of Defense, we are proud to announce the launch of our first Propaganda Poster.

That's right, little minions!!! You can adorn your walls with images of the HiiRagi Army rolling down the road to World Domination in A3 size.  What more could you ask for?  You can check it out or even buy it here.

Commissioned Drawing: 'After the Battle'

It's been a long, drawn out, dark and difficult battle but in the aftermath of the morning after, the HiiRagi Army rest in the arms of victory. Except the Recon Unit, they work tirelessly to get the communications up and going. They need to report their triumph to the All Mighty HiiRagi, who never doubted them for a second...

This is a black and white reproduction of an original drawing I did for one of my favourite minions. The original is on hand stained paper to give it an antiquated look. I really like this one, the rendering took frickin' ages but was totally worth it.

HQ: Art Prints

Recently I was commissioned to do an original artwork for someone, which makes me pretty excited. It also made me realise that I hadn't popped on the blog or shop any of the Art Prints that I have now been selling for a little while at Salamanca. I keep meaning to pop them onto the website but (insert usual excuses here)... Slackness aside, I thought I would share the images with you today...

There are two images (with more to come, of course):

Sunday Outing

The New Toy

Each one is printed onto hand stained paper to make it look all 'old' and vintage and stuff...

And if you're really lucky it comes framed in army green!
Goes perfectly with your Army Jars....

Five Favourite: Japanese Illustrators

Yuko Shimizu
Yuko Shimizu is ace. But not because she has the same name as the person who invented Hello Kitty, no. Yuko does awesome drawings. And has a great blog for budding illustrators.

Gez Fry
Ok, so Gez Fry is only half Japanese but his manga style puts him into it as far as I'm concerned.

Shohei Otomo aka Hakuchi
Shohei Otomo aka Hakuchi adds the taste for the traditional japanese art with manga and noir, with a modern and distinguishing style. Beware the site is in Japanese but the images are still amazing.

Tsubaki Anna
The thing I really like about Tsubaki Anna is that the website is called Anna Rocks! I found this illustrator while I was in Japan and even used one of her designs as the basis for my half sleeve tattoo. That's how much I like her.

Ai Yamaguchi
Ai Yamaguchi is another illustrator I discover while being in Japan. The thing I really like about her work is the mural installations that she does, have a look below.

Yep, look at what I just bought...

We all know how much I love Jamie Hewlett. Total leg humping material for even a glance at one of his drawings. Well, look at what I just bought:

Currently available as an A2-sized poster print, is "THE HOLE OF TANK GIRL". Priced at £14.99 per, the print (Pin-sharp artwork on 250gsm cardstock with a matt finish) is limited to 250pcs, signed by writer Alan C. Martin and featuring the art of Jamie Hewlett. You can buy it here. HELL YEAH! BAM!

Art Journals collection

One thing I like to look at are Art Journals. I have quite a collection of 'How to take over the World' Plan Books disguise as harmless Art Journals. I really like to draw and stick stuff in a book, now, this does not mean I like to Scrap Book. No. Keeping a journal is completely different, there's should be A LOT more scrawling for a start and they should look like this:

or this...

or this...

These images are taken from Rowena Murillo's pinterest board, which is just chockers with images like these. I haven't really taken to pinterest yet but this looks like the start of a beautiful friendship...

Awesome.

Influx: Day 2

Here we go with some more progress shots. I used a photocopied stencil of the army to stick up, quick and easy. I was going to colour it in but I think it looks pretty impressive as a black and white. The aerosol guys have gotten colour pretty well covered so I think it will be a nice contrast to keep it monotone. Its weird looking at these images, it doesn't look like there is much work but it took me a couple of hours to get the blending how I wanted to... typical artist...I can work on a single area for HOURS.

Here is a shot of the other guys, chatting to people who have come in during the day, it's been a pretty nice experience all round really. They've painted some cool stuff.

I also kind of like the way this shot is almost a portrait of the ladder and the rubbish bin.

InFlux: Day 1

Here are some progress images from InFLux. I must admit it is quite nice being able to work on such a big size (2.4 x 4.8m). Fingers crossed it all comes together.

The terrifying blank canvas

Add a bit of sky...

And some smoke...

I want my HiiRagi Army! Hopefully you can see where this is going...

Tom in his mask, personally I prefer gas masks but we all know that....

TOm's skulls

Jamin being all street and stuff...

inFLUX or where I will be next week

Yep, making art for the kids... who says World Domination Specialists are selfish and self centered?! Oh, that's right....I did. Anyway, if you're around call in and say Hi and tell me that I've put up my stencil crooked, that should bring on an instant meltdown which are always fun to watch.

where will the wild things go now?

I was a little bit sad to hear Maurice Sendak had died. I grew up on the book Where the Wild Things Are and made sure that my nephews all had copies too. AH well, he helped make me the creature I am today. I think we should all go forth and embrace our wild thing, or at least put on a wolf suit.

Of Monsters and Men

I found this cool little video when I should have been working hard...

Pinky and the Brain

"What will do do tonight Brain?"
"Same thing we do every night Pinky, try to take over the WORLD"

source

I love Pinky and the Brain. I don't think there's any need to say why....
If you can't see the video below, just go here

Illustrator Inspiration: The one and only Shaun Tan

I love Shaun Tan. I think everyone should love Shaun Tan, especially for a home grown talent. I met someone the other day who went to school with him and it elevated a rather ordinary person into a golden status in my eyes, sad isn't it?! Anyway I've accepted my shallowness as just another part of my all encompassing need to dominate the world, it's a rather good excuse for most things really....anyway as I was saying Shaun Tan is great. I mean look at this:

I love his fearlessness in his drawings, illustrating books that deal with social, political and historical subjects using surreal, dream-like imagery that usually poses more questions than it answers. Like the bull picture below:

I recently watched a great lecture given by Shaun Tan at the University of WA (you can download it on line here). He shows this image as one where the viewer has no idea where the bull is pointing, if it is the right direction to go in or if the girl has even asked the question. I admire that he is happy to leave the illustration open to discussion. I find it really hard sometimes with a concept driven idea like HiiRagi to not spoon feed people what it is all about, to be honest I think most often it is best to leave it up to the viewers imagination and in turn it creates a relevance that is all their own.

One of my very favourite images is this one:

So beautiful in its melancholy. It shows how sadness feels like rather than what it looks like and I'm now starting to sound like a complete art wanker so I will stop. Over to some more pictures:

And just one last thing! It took him 5 YEARS to complete The Arrival. I panic when something takes me more than a week to nail. I think there's something to be learnt here....or not. If all else fails, just buy print of his art here.