14 December 2011 "Some composition sketches for possible dragon paintings developed from previous drawings and ideas. Been working a bit on anatomy and bone structure so they look slightly different from what I was doing before - hopefully more believable structurally and visually. Will post updates of progress as and when."

 

 

 

18 October 2011 "Gave up on digital techniques for this webcomic - just too time consuming because I have to learn the processes along with doing the actual inking work. Went back to traditional and came up with a couple of panels I like the look of. The lower one wont be used in the final comic - it's just in here for reminder purposes and to give people an idea of how it all might look. Going to keep a limited colour palette in browns, yellows and greys so hopefully it'll work as a greyscale version too."

 

 

04 June 2011 "Started mucking about with digital painting techniques recently, trying to teach myself how it all works so I've got a half chance of producing a webcomic within the next three years... Anyway, I'm completely new to it all but I figured I'd post wip updates of different panels, see if any progress shows through. Very first panel here, and it's only a rough layout sketch so I'm not worried about messing it up. Wiil post the next stage as and when."

 

 

16 April 2011 "looking at starting a new dragon this year. No idea how long it will take and I havent got the composition worked out yet, but I figured I'd post some initial brainstorming sketches and get things started. Messing around with bone structures and possible positions of wing and arm elements here. Not sure about the twin shoulder blades so may have to rethink that one..."

 

 22 November 2010 "Finally got the background finished. It looks pretty good, though not what I saw in my head. But no worries. I like the way it's turning out. Next job will be to trace on and block in the dragons and foreground rocks. Will post an update once thats done."

 

 

13 November 2010 "Latest update. Apologies for the inconsistency in the colours. Changes in weather affect the camera exposure. This latest picture is pretty close to the real thing, if a little faded by the flash. A few bits and pieces to be tweaked before going further. Need to enlarge the left hand and lengthen the left arm, fix the angle of the right arm, and straighten up some of the pillar edges. They're at too much of a perspective angle at the moment. Will post more updates as and when."

 

02 November 2010 "Latest version of the Gargoyle painting. Nearly finished the background and have started working on the body of the Gargoyle. I'm pretty happy with the way this one is going. Will hopefully have new updates to post soon."

 

 

02 November 2010 "A couple of updates on the dragon painting. Did a bit of work on the clouds and the mountain but not happy with the background peak. It's too regular, so I'll probably go back and fix that at some point. Also posted a picture showing the position of the lefthand dragon. Will trace it and the righthand dragon on once the background has been painted in."

 

24 October 2010 "Posting the first progress photo of the dragon face off in the mountains painting I've been working on. Sketches and layouts are posted further down this page. Going for a deep dirty red, gold and black colour scheme with black dragons. The camera doesnt pick up the true colours very well. They're a lot duller in reality, but it's a good start. Going to block in some clouds in the sky next, get some perspective going in it. Most of the background will be hidden by the dragons which will be traced in for painting later on. Using acrylics on stretched canvas."

 

 

24 October 2010 "Latest Gargoyle update. Making slow but steady progress with this. Been changing some things as I go and will probably change more but I'm liking how it's going. Might have to darken the left wing as it's too light and clean a grey at the moment. I'm using acrylics on stretched canvas for this one. Will post new photos as and when."

 

 

13 October 2010 "Making progress with the gargoyle I posted sketches of earlier. Traced the outlines onto canvas so I know where I'm going with it and am currently working on the background - getting the colours and tones right. Going to have the stonework in a reddish sandstone with the gargoyle in a dirty grey so it doesn't disappear into the background. Using acrylics on stretched canvas. Apologies for the poor photograph. Will hopefully have better ones to post shortly"

 

 

12 September 2010 "Messing about with comic pages here. Not planning on taking these any further, other than using them for practising inking tehcniques. The story is developing in my head and these no longer suit my needs. Good practice though, and they'll remind me just how little I know about sequential art. No dialogue bubbles or text in them. Was going to add all that later. And the blank space in the first page was where I was going to put the title."

 

06 August 2010 "Finally got round to working on the sketches for this dragon painting thats been niggling the back of my head for a year. Made some changes to the dragons and the background and feel like its at a good stage. Pretty much ready to move forward and start working on the full size board, get the colours worked out and the background blocked in. Thinking of calling this one Face off. Will post more updates as and when."

 

04 May 2010 "Updated sketch of the gargoyle figure. It still needs work - going to lower the angle of the left leg and need to start figuring out the wings and the features of the face. Think I might have made the head too big this time. Getting there though."

01 May 2010 "Thought I'd also post an initial sketch for a possible gargoyle I want to paint. Got the idea for it after an unsuccessful submission to a magazine of a similar subject. I liked the idea and decided to go back to it and hopefully improve on the previous image. This will probably be a personal piece as I plan to paint it in acrylics on A2 board - too big for my scanner. The figure needs a lot of work but its a good starting point. Will post progress updates as and when."

01 May 2010 "Working on more character studies for this graphic story. Soon, I'm going to have to get past my procrastinating and actually draw the story. The first is a male character done in a crime noir style. Had a lot of fun with it but the style doesnt really match the post apocalyptic feel of the story so I'll probably change that. Really just trying out different ways of inking. The second is a pencil study of the main female character. Going mainly for a sense of the character than any detail. Kind of like a female Clint Eastwood in High Plains Drifter."

 

20 September 2009 "Character and environment study for a graphic story I'm working on. Its something I've never done before and people and cities are not usually my thing so I'm on a steep learning curve with both, and it shows. Figure needs a lot of work as does the city but I'm enjoying the project and will hopefully have more detailed work to show soon."

 

 

 

07 February 2009 "Study of second dragon for painting. Needs some perspective work - head is too big. Plus pen drawing showing rough position of dragons and background."

 

25 January 2009 "First pen drawing of possible dragon for next painting. Was thinking of doing two - this one and another facing it. Mountains in the background. Not sure about the body - never twisted one round so far before. And definitely need to move the tail - bring it round in front of the rock, make it longer."

 

27 November 2008 "Bad picture but the light is terrible right now. Winter. Anyway, its finished. I used a metal mesh frame as a base, built the form up using plaster bandages and clay, and painted it in acrylics. Will post a decent picture in the gallery soon."

04 November 2008: "Thought I'd try something completely different this time. I've never done a 3D version of a dragon before. It looks a bit odd but I had fun making it. And it does kind of look like one of my dragon types. Still needs painting and varnishing. Will use blacks and reds - make it a fire dragon."

03 June 2008: "First sketch for a painting I'm thinking of - needs a lot of work but not bad for first go."

 02 July 2008: "Falling a bit behind with this. Just finished working out a background for it - low light over snow. Now, all I need to do is paint the thing..."

29 July 2008: "Nearly finished the background. Dragon'll be added in later. Getting there..."

18 August 2008: "Finished this the other day. Just cant get the photos to take properly... Think I need a new camera. Someone suggested Blue Ice as a title but I think I'll go with my instincts on this. Going to call it Low Winter Sun. Kind of a cliche up here in the north but it works for the image, and I like it."

10 May 2008: "Halfway through this one. Got the idea after seeing a tree twisted by the wind. Like seeing shapes in the clouds. Saw the Dragon hunched over a rock ledge looking down. Also did a couple of colour studies from the sketches. They're up in the Dragons gallery."

22 May 2008: "Finished it, finally! Not sure about a name for it - maybe The Watcher..."

06.06.08: "Trying out things with different heads here. Might do a full size painting of a close up. Jaws and teeth..."