DODGEM LOGIC 7 ILLUSTRATIONS - PART 2

As previously mentioned, I'm in the new issue of Alan Moore's Dodgem Logic magazine.  Here are some of the other illustrations I did for the issue:

a spoof movie mash-up poster - can you guess the films and the title?

a Oija Board on your TV

a Wii remote

Dodgem Logic 7 is available from all good comic shops and alternative newsagents.  Failing that, it's available from their online shop.

DODGEM LOGIC 7 ILLUSTRATIONS - PART 1

The new issue of Alan Moore's Dodgem Logic came out just in the nick of time for Christmas, and I'm part of the magazine's first segment - The Daily Mustard.  Here are some of the illustrations I did for the issue...

a bull toilet roll holder

a police line-up of butlers

a bottle of delicious MSG

The new issue is in shops now and features articles by Stewart Lee, Robin Ince, David Quantick, Melinda Gebbie and Mr Moore himself. There's also comic strips by Josie Long and Steve Aylett, and a cracking cover by the god-like Kevin O'Neill (which can be seen below).  If you can't find a shop selling one, pick it up via their online shop.

'SHOW & TELL' VIDEO PLUG ON GEEK SYNDICATE

David Monteith, legendary UK podcasting type, videoed Gary and I at Thought Bubble, plugging our flip showcase comic Show & Tell.  Lovely bloke that he is.  The video is online now over on the Geek Syndicate site.  If you're dithering over purchasing a copy, let my odd-sounding voice and awkward attempts to turn a few simple pages sway you in the right direction.

Check it out here and then download the Geek Syndicate podcasts - they are ace.

2010 RECAP

With Christmas fast approaching, it seems as good a time as any to reflect back on the year gone and figure out whether I've managed to achieve any of the goals I set myself before 2009 drew to a close...

1) Keep building my portfolio up with exciting work, and, in order to do this, develop whatever style I have in different directions.

Well, I've certainly been busier with illustration assignments than I ever have.  Whether this translates into an exciting portfolio is another matter altogether. However, I am extremely proud of a lot of the work I've produced this year and, comparing them to last year's stuff, I think I've come on leaps and bounds.  The two illustrations above (one for Alan Moore's Dodgem Logic, the other for NARC) are my favourites.

 2) Produce longer fictional comic book work, completely breaking away from the crutch of doing 1-2 page autobiographical gag strips.

This is an easy one - I haven't produced an autobiographical strip this entire year - instead producing a multitude of fictional comic work ranging from 2-24 pages in length for two of my own titles, three anthologies and two new PJCC titles. Looking over the stories, I can even see reoccurring themes in my work - loneliness, the ordinary vs the fantastic - which is hugely satisfying.

3) Put out a regular minicomic title (that features the above strips) and end the curse of only being able to put out a minicomic once every 4-5 years.

This year I managed two titles - the full-length Hermit and the joint-comic Show & Tell, which somewhat surpasses my efforts last year (especially seeing as Blether was a collection of old work). Considering the amount of illustrating I've been doing, and my strips for anthologies, I don't think that's half bad. And plus the stigma of each minicomic having to take 3-5 years to produce (and as a result have an uncecessary weight of expectation put on it) has now been lifted, freeing me up to take more risks with subsequent projects.

4) Get myself and my work better known, especially in the US, with an aim to eventually getting noticed by comics publishers. Not necessarily published by them, but at least noticed.

Well, I'm not getting a graphic novel published any time soon - I probably would have mentioned that!  However, getting work in two volumes of top US anthology HIVE has got me some much-needed American exposure, and getting in Solipsistic Pop has hopefully attracted some attention in the UK.  I'd call this one a work in progress.

5) Get something I've written broadcast or performed (professionally or semi-professionally). I've been close a couple of times, but this coming year I want to make something happen.

This one is largely a fail. I've made a few in-roads to getting my writing back on track and have been met largely with disappointment.  On one hand, I got a couple of sketches through to the script stage on BBC Radio 4's Recorded For Training Purposes, which, despite leaving with essentially nothing to show for my efforts, was something of a confidence boost.  On the other, I spent a month writing a sitcom for a BBC competition, only to receive neither confirmation that'd they'd got my script or any official word of the competition's result - I had to read about it online.  So, swings and roundabouts.  Between my day job, my teaching course, my illustrating and my comic book work, writing has definitely fallen by the wayside. But that's okay - something had to.

Outside of last year's wish-list it's been a pretty productive year: I had my first t-shirt design made, which was awesome; I came out from behind the safety of the PJCC table to joint-exhibit with Gary at Thought Bubble 2010 and the Leeds Alternative Comics Fair; and I was interviewed for the first time about my work.  Not a dull year, by any stretch of the imagination.

And what of 2011?  Well, I've been thinking a lot lately about how I need to progress and if 2009 was all about getting productive and establishing myself and 2010 was all about developing my skills and getting my name out there, then the motto of 2011 is - Be More Professional.  And I don't mean wearing a tie to work.

I've already laid the seeds of Being More Professional in a couple of ways and will keep any of you nice folks still reading this blog informed if or when they grow and bear fruit.  Other than that, I'm going to keep trying to do better illustrations, make more enjoyable comics and try to write something funny.

CARICATURE CHALLENGE (WEEK 2)

CHERYL COLE

Week two and I'm a day late posting this - sorry!  Thinking Chevy Chase was too easy for me, Ems deliberately set me a difficult this week with Cheryl Cole.  I spent the last seven days drawing around twenty different attempts at the Geordie X-Factor judge and occasional warbler.  The above two are the best - not so much caricatures as, well, drawings.

The problem - and the reason Ems gave for the assignment - is that Cheryl is so blandly good-looking that it makes caricaturing almost impossible.  Thanks Ems!  I've studied her face for a week now and there's very little to distinguish her from every other conventionally good-looking celebrity doing the rounds.  She's a bit gaunt nowadays and that's reflected in the cheekbone area, but if you overemphasise that she looks ancient.  A slight misjudgement here or there and I ended up with Belinda Carlisle and Christine Bleakley.

Fingers crossed for someone more idiosyncratic this week!

"SHOW & TELL" REVIEW AT FORBIDDEN PLANET

Richard Bruton over at the Forbidden Planet blog has reviewed Show & Tell - the showcase comic Gary and I launched at last month's Thought Bubble convention.  Richard did me a lovely review of Coupledom earlier in the year, so I was keen to know what he thought.

As it happens, it's not the best review I've ever had (and I doubt it's Gary's either) but it has some nice things to say about my work, such as...

"I do like Waugh’s artistic style, all minimal linework and nice cartoony expressions and he’s a nice turn of phrase in his dialogue." 

and...

"It makes me interested to see more of both artists"

So that's two things to take from it.  You can read the full review here.

On reflection, I feel that the nature of the title being a showcase of work rather than a proper meaty comic leaves it open to criticism.  To some, it'll have all the problems of an anthology, but without the inherent variety.  And that's fair enough.  However, Richard admits himself that he wasn't aware of Gary's work before reading this and so as a means of getting one artist's work seen by those familiar (or fans of) the other, it has been somewhat of a success.

I would say Show & Tell is ideally suited to someone buying some of Gary's or my regular titles and fancied a little something extra.  For a mere £2 it's certainly worth that.  Show & Tell can be picked up here.

MUSTARD 5

After a recession-induced hiatus, the UK's premier comedy magazine Mustard is back with a fifth issue and I am all over it with illustrations galore and even a two-page comic strip.  I'll post the illustrations once it's been on sale for a bit longer, but in the meantime, I thought I'd use this opportunity to rally up some sales and support of this title.

The new issue boasts a "two-fisted" interview with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring, once the comedy double-act behind my teenage favourites Fist Of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy, now successful and ground-breaking stand-ups, writers and podcasters in their own right.  The issue also features articles by the legendary Alan Moore and IT Crowd/Garth Mareghi star Matt Berry.

Previous issues, of which #2 - #4 are still available (and #1 can be read for free online), have featured detailed interviews with such British comedy lumineries as Graham Linehan (Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Big Train), Michael Palin, and Jesse Armstrong & Sam Bain (The Thick Of It, In The Loop, Peep Show), as well as hilarious original content from up-and-coming writers, cartoonists and illustrators.

The magazine has had cracking write-ups from the BBC, Channel 4, The Guardian, The Telegraph, and Word magazine.  The Guardian ran a review in their Guide pull-out on Saturday, which can be read online here, if you need any more convincing.

It is important to note that there are no paying ads in the new issue, so the editor has paid for the entire run out of his own pocket.  A risky move, especially in today's climate.  As a result, it is more important than ever that #5 sells out to prove the viability of the title and ensure further issues are made.

Mustard 5 is a mere £3.33 (inc. p&p) when purchased via their site - a complete bargain, especially considering there is little else like it on the market at the moment.  Please lend your support and order yourself a copy - you won't regret it.  And while you're at it, pick yourself up a set of their spoof movie postcards for £3.50 - I illustrated three of them.

CARICATURE CHALLENGE (WEEK 1)

CHEVY CHASE

I'm starting a new project on here - each week Em is going to give me the name of a celebrity and I'm going to draw a caricature of them and post it on here.  If I go a whole year that'll be 52 caricatures.  Not all will be in the same style - when I've got the time I'll be trying out some new techniques here and there, when I've not they might just be black and white scans.  And they won't all be good, either - some people are easy to caricature, others are not - but therein lies the challenge.

I texted Em for a name today and she came back with Chevy Chase.  He's as good a person to start with as anybody.  This is actually the second time I've drawn him - the first was for the Steve Guttenberg project I worked on years ago - but I started completely from scratch with this one.  FACT: his name comes from The Ballad Of Chevy Chase, which details a hunting party into the Scottish Borders (my part of the world) that leads to war between the Scots and English.