Boss!

Vworp 4

Hope to see you there!

END OF THE WORLD ?

I was really pleased with how this one turned out. After having *nerves* drawing ROSE , I relaxed here and I think I did a better job. Particularly pleased with Eccleston this time and Boe was a dream to draw in my style.

Hartnell hmm ?

All the William Hartnell Timeteams were pre digital. In some rare cases I made colour copies  before selling the originals. Here's the DALEK MASTERPLAN art , based only on telesnaps , a few stills and mostly my imagination. This was drawn before a lost episode was found that showed the alien delegates.

Two colour tests on photocopy paper for DALEKS INVASION OF EARTH. Looking at the art now I'd be inclined cheat the scene and have the Dalek further back rising out of the Thames...

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THE MCMAHON EFFECT

So I planned to write a quick post to highlight that artist Mick McMahon has his own blog now called 'Tugging Your Coat' - it's on my recommended blog list. Then I realised 'how could I just leave it at that?' . Mick has been the biggest influence on my work of any comics artist  this side of the pond. It's an influence that goes to my very core - let's see where that leads us?

I first saw his work on Judge Dredd in 2000AD , when the comic launched. I'm not sure I was that struck initially , his tough drawing style didn't fit with the other artistic influences in my life , American artist Bernie Wrightson and England's John Bolton were my blueprint for great comics. Mick was more like a musical influence , there was something punk about it , disrepectful , edgy. He evolved quickly too , shucking Carlos Ezquerra's blueprint off and making his own mark on Dredd bringing in the big chin , big boots. BLOCK WARS was the last Dredd he did from that period  - blocky indeed. The crowd scenes reputedly killed it for him  and he left Dredd.

ON INFLUENCE.

Everybody's favourite McMahon work is SLAINE it seems. Everytime I ask this question I get the same answer. 'Sky Chariots ' is like the Rosetta Stone. It's also responsible for more McMahon-alikes than practically anything else he's done. Okay maybe Dredd has influenced a fair few. I've no issue with being influenced , except maybe a little when an artist fails to step out of the SHADOW. I'm as guilty as the next with regard to Mick , though my influence comes from a little later in his career. After returning to comics with the THE LAST AMERICAN ( after a being ill) , his work had evolved yet again. Mick has said in interviews that though he wasn't drawing , he  still was in his head. TLA is a tour de force ( go get a copy of the ComX album) if you don't believe me. Pretty grim too. The art has a level of detail not seen in his work before ( okay maybe SLAINE is a contender) , marker pens on watercolour paper with Magic Marker colours were used ( I know I sold him some at a shop). I remember seeing some pages in COMIC SHOWCASE and being stunned , my eye practically against the pages. All this detail was held together by extremely strong linear drawing , a style of drawing that became paramount to his work whilst detail was pared down. This work is my biggest influence. It taught me to try and see clearly , forget flourish and fancy mark making , simple direct drawing/storytelling rule. Sometimes I forget this lesson. Sometimes I need reminding and this page just did that. 

So today I run across a full page from HELLRAISER # 10 . I'm floored.Seriously. I'm reproducing it here with his consent. Clarity of drawing is the key. Just look at Pinhead's hands. Not a wasted mark. None of the flourish of SLAINE - this is the drawing of a new level. The composition is also worh noting - sexy without being sexist - I love how Mick has drawn her hair - shape and form , but not dead geometrey , there's that slight punky edge ( from DREDD) still there. 

Mick's next project is KESTRELS which could be his most personal too. I like what I've seen - the genius is still intact like I had any doubts...

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The Unearthly Child Returns...

This artwork is identical to the very first Time Team except David Tennant replaces William Hartnell . I was trying to think of an original idea for a piece of art for a charity auction and this image popped into my head! It was an interesting exercise to revisit a style of drawing I'd not done for years again. Memories flooded back of that first call from Gary Gillatt ( then editor) asking if I'd be interested in illustrating a new feature for the magazine. The money's not good he said ( 40 quid) but it will be 7 years worth of work! So right he was and more. At the time I was driving a van delivering newspapers in the day and drawing what little jobs I could get. This was a creative lifeline that I'll never forget - so thanks Gary.

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NEW Terry Sharp

Pop over to http://damned-to-darkness.blogspot.com/  for exclusive look at new Terry Sharp art plus letters for the ongoing DAILY strip I'm working on...

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