JOHNNY OMENS

These are some early character designs for a new comic project that I'm working on in my spare time. The character is called Johnny Omens, I can't take imaginative credit for this name however. It was my sister's imagination that conjured the name when she heard it banded around in a meeting, having made a note of it she asked a colleague about him, only to realise it was John Yeomens! I declared that Johnny Omens was a badass name and could I have it? So thank you Sara! Mr Omen's features are based on those of Stephen Malkmus..

A BOY NAMED SUE COMPLETED

Yeah! This little project has achieved some state of completion (on a cottage industry level anyway). The cover was a new challenge. This is the first fully painted illustration that I've done in a long while. I wanted to do something a bit different to the inside and you often see comic covers painted or at least very highly rendered. Its pretty crude but I like it, I think it does a good job of setting up the inside. I read the 'comics patriarch' Infantino's words on the subject of covers where he talks about 'irritating the eye' and using negative space to draw the reader in. I've found this with my own work where some of the throw away crude drawings that I have produced are the persistently popular ones and the examples of finer draughtsmanship go under the radar. Sometimes the little oddities in an illustration are the things that really give the character.

A BOY NAMED SUE

my first real endeavour into drawing comics, i've taken the johnny cash song 'a boy named sue' and developed it into a short comic story. this is page 1

PEACE

This is another design for don't panic on the theme of peace. You can see and vote for the finished poster here. I was quite pleased with the camo pattern, its something I made up with inspiration from the 'full metal jacket' design. The bright yellow (apart from looking more striking) was to indicate peace in its inefficiency as camouflage. Looks pretty cool though, I thought!

BABYCROW

(after Hokusai's "Crow, Sword, & Plum Blossom") I have a love and fascination for crows and their spiritual significance. They are often considered in mythology to have connections to the afterlife, acting as a vehicle for shaman to transcend worlds when they enter a near death trance in a journey for enlightenment. This is one of the reasons that crows are thought of as spiritual guides and messengers. This void they inhabit is free from our perception of time, therefore they sense past, present and future at once. You may be surprised to hear that I'm not a particularly big fan of the Brandon Lee film 'the crow'. I found it a bit angsty!

This image is a retelling of a Hokusai woodblock print. Crows seem to crop up quite a bit in Japanese culture, I don't know much about any Japanese mythology behind this phenomenon but it may be something for me to explore. I love the fantastical themes that Hokusai depicts, I don't know what the story is behind this print but I want to know!

The benefit of a crow as a graphic element is great for striking silhouettes and compositions.

WARRIORS

Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari sits with assembled Afghan Sirdars.

TEN PACES

Another design idea for 'Dead Maids' depicting the duel element of the ghosts story. I'm trying to make the designs simple and where possible one colour so that they are versatile for tshirts, posters etc.