Draw Into The Shadows: Try Out For The Unseen Shadows Team At Bristol Comic Expo

Unseen Shadows's sinister Kingpin has posted this over on the Unseen Shadows website:

Unseen Shadows is currently inviting submissions from artists (pencillers, colourists and inkers) for a number of stories.

I will be reviewing portfolios at the Bristol Comics Expo (12th -13th May) from the Unseen Shadows table throughout the weekend. If you cannot make the show this year, or would like to send submissions in advance for discussion on the day please send an email tobarry@unseenshadows.com but please do not send any files over 5mb by email ( I realise that this may mean the images will be in low res but that’s fine). If the files are bigger than this please send a dropbox or largefile transfer link.

The stories in progress at the moment cover a wide variety of subject matter, and it is originality and quality that I’m looking for rather than any specific genre or art style. I would rather have something unusual, challenging, inventive, creative, and inspired than another version of something that is already out there. The writers who are currently scripting the stories will be working closely with me to select the artists we need.

There are no page rates available for Unseen Shadows work. Creators are offering their skills for free at this stage in the hope of this becoming something bigger and, of course, for love of the material. All money taken from sales is put back into the company for further development and promotion. Right now consider this a way to reach an international audience as part of an already very successful transmedia project. Take a look at some of these links to see some of what we’ve already achieved here at Unseen Shadows.

What do you need to show me?

I need  to see sequentials as well as pin ups (unless you want to be purely a cover artist – which is fine, but let me know that).

What formats you work in – traditional media, digital etc.

Whether you work in colour or black and white.

If you are submitting to be an inker or colourist then we need to see copies of the underlying pencils as well as your work.

Finally one of the most important things is to let us know the length of story to which you feel you can realistically commit. Unseen Shadows has comics projects of all different lengths from short stories to graphic novel length books.

I appreciate that indie artists are showing incredible dedication by working on their comics alongside day jobs and other commitments, but if I like your work enough to publish I will work with you to agree a schedule that suits all parties.

As an indie creator myself I appreciate that making submissions can be difficult and nerve-wracking. I will look at everything I receive, and although it may take time, respond to everyone. The important thing to remember is that your work may be great, and I may personally love it, but it sometimes will just not be what I’m looking for right now, but I will keep your details on file for when I need that just that style.

If you would like to see examples of some of the Unseen Shadows projects to date, to get a feel for the type of styles that have been used, and the levels of technical expertise needed, have a look at these previews  and the preview from the Fallen Heroes Comic Adaptation. Don’t feel constrained by what you see. The Unseen Shadows universe is vast and I will be needing lots of different styles in future.

Have a look around the website to explore some of the other transmedia elements that are being developed.

If you have any questions beforehand please get in touch at barry@unseenshadows.com

Adi Granov interview

You know when you say that someone really doesn't need an introduction..? Well this is one of those times, so on with the interview!

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Adi Granov and I am an illustrator and concept designer. I work primarily on Marvel related projects, mostly comics and movies, but a lot of random other stuff too, such as video games, etc. I was born in Bosnia, have spent a third of my life in the US, and currently live in England with my wife Tamsin.

How long have you been drawing? What got you started?

This is one of those chicken and egg questions... I've been drawing all my life and always because I thought it was a lot of fun to create something out of nothing. I became serious about it around the time I was 16. Up until that point I did if purely for fun, but one day realised there was a career to be made out of it.

What or who helped/ or inspired you to paint?

Comics inspired me to draw and my mom encouraged it. I didn't paint at all until I went to art school and to this day I think of my self as a drawer not a painter.

Do you think that being European and coming for that very different school of comics, you brought something different to the very American idea of the superhero?

I suppose so. I think my ignorance of the history and the established rules in the comic world has been of great help to my work and career. I just want to do the kinds of things I like but try to maintain the identities of these iconic heroes. I think the audiences have appreciated my take on the superheroes because it offers something a bit different but attempts to stay true to the characters.

You have a very distinctive and different technique to other artists, are you influenced more by traditional art than by comics?

Technique wise I am mostly influenced by commercial illustrators such as poster and book illustrators. I was specifically very influenced by the airbrush techniques of Hajime Sorayama and Drew Struzan.

What are you working on now?

I am working on the Avengers movie, I am doing Captain America: Hail Hydra covers, and I am in the early stages of the Astonishing Captain America comic mini-series.

Do you ever get really bored when people ask you about (as I'm about to!) Iron Man?

I get bored of drawing him at conventions... But since I continue to work on new designs for him in the movies I am quite happy to chat about it (as much as I can legally). Iron Man has been a huge part of my life and career and I am proud to have been involved in bringing him from the bargain bins to one of the more famous big screen characters.

What is your biggest frustration as an artist?

Lack of time. I always feel that I am at least a day short on every single illustration I do. Time always gets eaten up no matter how well I plan in advance. I wish days were twice as long, but even then I suspect I'd end up in the same situations...

What is or has been a particular highpoint for you?

There are new ones all the time. I suspect you are asking about the professional ones (personal being meeting my wife!), so I have to say possibly when I met Stan Winston and he knew who I was and wrote me a really nice dedication on a poster. At the time I wasn't aware of his illness, but he passed not long after. I feel very fortunate to have met one of the real giants of the effects industry. 

Did your education help or hinder the work you do now?

Hmm, good question... Both. I think it definitely helped with the technical aspects, using the tools, etc. But it is also quite restrictive and a lot of unbridled creativity gets beaten out of you by the house styles of particular schools. I was lucky to have always been very stubborn so I didn't absorb too many of the stylistic ideas, which would've been a mistake. For instance I was advised by one of my professors to abandon linework and focus purely on value, and since a large part of my style, and its appeal, is linework I would say I was wise not to follow that advice.

What is your work regime if you have one?

I don't have a specific regime, but I have patterns and habits. I just work as much as I can every day, which usually means long days. But I also like to take time off randomly to recharge. I dislike the idea of regimented weeks with specific weekends, so I try to avoid those kinds of schedules as much as possible. I've been very busy lately with the movie work as well as the covers, which has meant I've had very little time off the past few months.

What else other than art is important in your life?

My wife and family closely followed by my classic Lotus car, the rebuilding of which is my main hobby. I love mechanical things of all kinds and have a real thing for watches. In general I really like anything that has taken skill and ingenuity to design and build, be it a vacuum cleaner or a jet fighter. I also love learning about history, particularly the politics and wars which have shaped our modern world and society. And I am a huge lover of science fiction!

Where can people find out more about you? 

www.adigranov.net

Adi, thank you very much for your time!

Fiona Stephenson interview

At Thought Bubble we spotted the work of artist Fiona Stephenson- and you can easily see why! It is wonderful stuff. We got chatting and she ended up being as lovely as her work, so we thought we'd ask her a few questions on your behalf, because we're nice like that.

Tell us a bit about yourself?
I attended Barnsley art college and studied illustration at Harrow school of Art in north London. After various attempts at being a freelance illustrator in London, I saw sense and moved back north. I now live in Barnsley with my comic artist husband Dean Ormston. No kids and no pets (not after the incident with Wayne, our now deceased goldfish).
I've been painting for about 4 years, I used to do lettering for Warhammer 40,000, D.C Vertigo and Judge Dredd. I also had a stint at being a colourist. 

'A Revealing Yarn' by Fiona Stephenson

How long have you been painting? What got you started?
I was at San Diego comic con' in the late 90's and someone showed me a pack of cards by Gil Elvgren, I was inspired, I loved his style. Years later (I'm a slow burner) I decided to start a copy of one of his works, 'No you Don't', in oil on canvas, it took me a year on and off, I still have it and it's rubbish! A friend then requested I paint one for them, I did a better job and really enjoyed the process and it went from there.

What are you working on now?
At the moment I have a list of things to do, firstly Stomp a t-shirt company have asked me to paint a girl on a Lambretta, I'm about 6 months late with that. Stockings & Romance are printing a piece of my artwork on a corsalette but I haven't seen it yet. I've also just finished an Elvgren copy commission.

What is your biggest frustration as an artist?
My biggest frustration as an artist is finding good reference, I can find the pretty girls but getting a decent photo of them to work from is another matter.

What is or has been a particular highpoint for you?
My highpoint so far is difficult, off the top of my head, I'd say Bernie Dexter a pin up model from the U.S.A, I painted her and she has one of my paintings, she's been very kind and supportive. Also Steve Niles who wrote 30 Days of Night commissioned a painting from me.

'Pretty as a Picture' by Fiona Stephenson

Did your education help or hinder the work you do now?
I don't think my education helped or hindered, I had a great time at college though and would recommend it, it opens you up to different idea's and experiences.

 

What is your work regime if you have one?
I don't have a regime as such, I'm easily disturbed and I try to paint most days or I get out of the flow and get scared to put brush on canvas.

What else other than art is important in your life?
I love music, I'm an old punk who now goes to 2 Northern soul night's per month (Dean DJ's and I get in free). I'm eclectic and like anything from Glenn Campbell to Holst 'Planet Suit' and loads of indie stuff in between. A few years ago I got an old organ for christmas (no jokes please) with the intention of learning to play 'Come on Baby Light My Fire' by the Doors, I'm still stuck on 'Love me Tender'.

Where can people find out more about you?
You can find me at http://www.fionastephenson.com/

Thank you, Fiona, for taking the time to answer our questions. Now, everybody go to her site and buy something!

John Hicklenton's 100 Months review

I've been trying to get a review of this book written for about a month or so now, and the fates have variously conspired against me.

I did have a few hundred words written, but have somehow failed to save them, and it has since disappeared. But the main reason it has been difficult to review this book is because it is a very difficult book to review.

As most of you I’m sure will know, John Hicklenton was (I just wrote 'is' and had to delete it... see, already it’s getting hard to write this!) a comic book artist, probably best know for his work on Judge Dredd and Nemesis the Warlock. Indeed, it is one particular panel in the story The Two Torquemadas that, for me, sums up everything that is dark and lunatic and scary and disturbing and blackly funny about John’s work.

This one:

In 2000, John was diagnosed with MS, and he took his own life in Dignitas in Switzerland on 19^th March 2010, proving to be as uncompromising in death as he was in his life and in his art.

And so it is with this weight of knowledge that the reader must approach 100 Months, John’s final work. Written, as it was, with the full knowledge that it was to be his swan song, his final testament. Indeed, John took his life only days after completing this book. Now you perhaps understand the reviews dilemma here!

This book cannot be viewed, in my opinion, as simply a book. No, it has to be taken, as I have said (and again, in my opinion), as Hicklenton’s final statement to, and on, the world.

And what has he to say about it/us?

On the whole, this is a bloody bleak read. It tells the tale of Mara, an Earth Godess, who’s face we hardly see, thus making her both everyone and no-one.

She is seeking out a creature called the Longpig. Longpig is a true grotesque. A repulsive and ugly beast who represents all that is worst in humanity, and eventually Mara and Longpig must meet and battle, a brutal and visceral battle, for the soul of the world.

As with all great Art, there is great ambiguity here. Hicklenton seems to have a low opinion of us as a race, ‘Shaven apes tearing up the image of god,’ and of the mess we are making of this planet, and who could blame him? But the book, which (at the risk of repeating myself) is not an easy read, ends on a note that may just be hopeful. Perhaps, if we are given another chance, we might not be so wasteful and arrogant..?

It is amazing to me that I’ve written this far and not yet mentioned the art. It is, as you’d expect, breathtaking. If you’re a fan of Hicklenton’s work, you’ll maybe have an idea of what to expect, but he manages to surpass any expectations. There are images where Mara travels across a landscape of bones and twisted bodies that stop the reader in their tracks, demanding that they dwell on the image and tease out each and every last detail. And there are also deeply disturbing illustrations too- blood and flayed skin are high on the agenda. It is not  comfortable reading. It’s not supposed to be.

As I said at the beginning, this is a difficult book to review, and even now, I’m not sure I’ve managed to.

This book truly is the comic as sequential Art. It is disturbing, as I have already said repeatedly, but only because what Hicklenton is saying about us true. We are greedy and selfish and hateful, but as he points out, we ‘were meant to be more than this, warm with potential.’

I do think though, that Hicklenton has confidence in us as a race, and in our ability to perhaps one day overcome our shortcomings.

I hope he’s right.

Meanwhile- should you buy this book?

Absolutely you should.

Art from the book is featured in the exhibition ‘That’s Novel’ at the London Print Studio, 425 Harrow Road, London until 18^th December 2010.

(Thanks to Phil for the Nemesis scan!)