Pixar: 20 Years of Animation

Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable morning at the Museum of Scotland visiting the Pixar exhibition. What a fantastic selection of work on show, most of the art was design or pre-production work but it gave you an amazing insight into the process behind creating their films. I was stunned by some of the work, simple and quick sketches that gave you the feel of the film or characters and also some highly finished pieces that instantly caught the eye.

I've never actually seen the film 'Finding Nemo' but a set of charcoal pictures by Simón Vladimir Varela where so stunningly great that I was disappointed to find that they didn't have a catalogue or accompanying book for the exhibition. I believe if they had brought along prints of the work on show they would have sold out easily. Wow, is the word I'd use for some of the art. Very interesting and highly inspirational. If anybody knows anything about Varela's work I'd appreciate hearing, the internet has surprisingly found very little on the artist.

In one small dark room they had a 3D Toy Story Zoetrope. I walked into this wonderful animation half way through its three minute cycle and could not fathom what I was looking at. I simply could not figure out how it was working. However, over the course of the three minutes the machine slows down the cycle's the animation goes through so that you can see how it has all been set up. Fantastic is a word I used a lot during the exhibition and the zoetrope fitted that description easily. You really need to see it in person but for a quick look at the animation in full swing go here, be patient though as it takes a while to load up. Or a longer version of it here but again the quality of the film is poor as its been done on a mobile phone, but you do see the whole cycle in this one.

If your in Edinburgh before or by next Monday (28th) then get yourself to the museum, if your not then you'll need to fly to Australia as the exhibition will be at the Australian Centre for The Moving Image, Melbourne.

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Expo Report

I had planned to write about the Bristol Comic Expo before now but it was pretty much straight back to work once I got back and I've never had the chance until now. So it was a week ago since the convention, and boy what a convention, it was super busy! I flew down with SqweasyJet on the Saturday morning and got to the show at about 10.45, the doors had opened at 10am and it was absolutely packed. It took me about ten minutes to locate the table that Dave and I where sharing and found that other exhibitors had stolen our chairs, dang :( Anyway, Dave had just arrived and was already sketching and selling his comics.

After tracking down some seats we quickly settled into the routine for the weekend of catching up with friends and colleagues, and selling comics and sketching. I seemed to have made a mark with some for doing Doctor Who sketches so the majority where for Daleks, K9 or the Doctor himself. Both days passed very quickly and one sad side of being behind a table is that you don't really get a chance to take a walk around and check out what is happening else where in the convention. Every year they put on talks and panels with other creators and they are always very well attended but I didn't manage to make even one of those this time around.

I did manage to get a couple of sketches from some of my favourite artists, Matt "D'Israeli" Brooker did me a sweet Mort Cinder sketch and the amazingly talented and super friendly Chris Weston took time out to do a Cannon Fodder sketch.

I took along my camera to the convention but as usual a mixture of forgetting to take photos and the memory card becoming faulty stopped me from taking as many pictures as I would have liked. I picked up some great comics while away too and have to put in a mention for AccentUK's latest anthology release 'Zombies'. Now I'm going to be biased about the book because my work features in it but its a great collection of work and it looks fantastic too. The print quality is great and at only £6 a book its a complete bargain. You should also check out their other new release 'Wolfmen' its another snazzy looking book with some consistently nice black and white artwork by Andy Bloor.

One of the best things about the weekend though is catching up with friends. Sitting beside me for the weekend was my good friend Dave Hitchcock who was on top form as usual and he's become a very busy man with no less than three potential graphic novels in the works. On my right was Carl Critchlow who was selling loads of his great comic 'Thrud the Barbarian' which I have mentioned to you in a previous post. Unfortunately he could only make it down for the Saturday but from the time he got there he was really busy but always had time for a chat, and thankfully also found his missing hat when he got home! On the Sunday we where joined by Tim Perkins and his wife. I had never met Tim before but I needn't have worried as he was very friendly and we had a chance to chat for a bit between selling and sketching. Tim has a very interesting graphic novel in the works and he was showing off his pencilled pages to all who passed, a very talented man.

Carl Critchlow and D'Israeli sketch for fans!

Well between the madness of the days, a great meal and catch up on the Saturday night, the torrential rain outside and the sad news from back home that Dunfermline (my football team) had been relegated on the Saturday the whole weekend passed in a blur. Before I knew it I was on a plane home and back to normality again. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello and to all those who made me feel so welcome. Cheers.

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Angus McBride

When I was about twelve I read Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' and loved it. I of course went on and read 'The Lord of the Rings' too but I always loved 'The Hobbit', in fact I've read it quite a few times, the last time was just last year. One of the things that brought to life the characters for me was seeing the illustrations that ran inside Iron Crown's roleplaying game Middle Earth Roleplaying (MERP) by the amazing artist Angus McBride. In particular I was hooked by his drawing of Sméagol.

I didn't even consider that I could draw until I was about this age, I never showed any real signs that I wanted to before then. But then the work of McBride and many more artists that I discovered changed that and his high standard of work was something I hoped I could reach for.

Angus McBride worked for many publications including the children's (or family's I should say) comic 'Look and Learn', where thousands of people become enthralled by his work. Many will have seen his work on the illustrative plates that accompany the Osprey reference books. And millions will know his work on MERP and so much more.

He died of a heart attack on the 15th of this month. I'd like to thank you Angus for inspiring me with your wonderful skill, I never met you but your work will live with so many that you pass from us like a dear lost friend.

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Blair Kitchen and The Possum

Sounds like the name to a new movie or band but Blair Kitchen is actually a wonderful cartoonist from Toronto, Canada and The Possum is his fantastic comic. As always I champion the self publisher in comics and so it would be remiss of me not to shout about Blair's work, its simply brilliant. If have ever read Mad magazine or perhaps Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragonés then you should definitely try this book.

Blair is actually an animator in his day job but like a lot comic self publishers spends his spare time away from friends and family locked in a room drawing his comics and through this lack of daylight he creates something very special. The Possum is the secret identity of one Stuart Spankly a would be comic artist who just happens to create a comic called The Possum, while attending a comic convention (you write what you know about don't you!) a very strange occurance happens (he eats a Tic Tac) that turns Stuart into a "ni-invulnerable walking sack of flesh!". What better time to don a costume and fight evil.

There are currently two issues of The Possum available, and number one is a massive 72 pages long. I laughed out loud a lot at this comic and it left me feeling very happy indeed. In issue two there is a cartoon on the inside back page that made me laugh for ages :) The level of work put into these comics shows through entirely and Blair makes his drawings seem effortless and very easy to follow, they flow across the page. He also uses a lot of Zip-a-Tone on his pages and its real nice to see (computer or cut out and stuck down Blair?), either way its cool.

As if getting some great comics isn't enough you also receive a great free sketch with all your orders and that's a great extra little touch. He must be a very busy guy at comic conventions I'll tell you. You can check out his website at http://possumpress.com/ although his Blog site seems to me more actively updated. And if your outside of Canada and want to get hold of these comics, which you will, then you can drop him an e-mail and he will be more than happy to figure out postage and get that bundle of goodies sent off to you.

Now to start e-mailing him about issue three...

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Bristol Comic Expo 12th & 13th May

At very late notice (its only a week away) I can announce that I will be attending the Bristol Comic Expo this year. I had to leave it this late really to see when Alex was born and how we where all coping before deciding if I would be going or not. But all is cool and I will be there for both days sharing a table with my very good friend David Hitchcock. If you are in the area please drop by and say hello and if your already going I'll see you there. I'll have some comics and artwork for sale so please help me pay for the hotel bill and buy something :)

http://www.comicexpo.net/

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