Recent competitions

Been busy teaching a bunch of courses recently, but found time for a couple of competition entries on the IFX forum.

This was a quick speedpaint for a brief called 'The Race':

This one I had a bit more time for. The brief: 'Death':

Watercolour sketch

A quick watercolour of my muse.

BTEC Games Development

Just started teaching on a BTEC IT - Games Development course at RACC in Richmond. I'm handling the half of the course relating to games design and digital graphics. The students seem enthusiastic about gaming, and we'll be covering a wide range of exercises using Photoshop and Illustrator CS5, and 3DS Max 2011.

In my other life as a keen seller on eBay, I'll also be teaching a bunch of courses related to buying and selling on everyone's favourite auction site.

Recent sketches

Did these recently at the Natural History Museum, so the subjects kept still. Ink and wash.

Teaching

I'll be teaching the Comic Book Art summer course at Chelsea College soon. Should be good, and I'm looking forward to see what crazy stories the students will come up with! It's nice to get back to basics, just working with pens, pencils and paper, and concentrating on telling a tale.

I will also be teaching some introductory Mac courses at SCOLA, in Sutton.

Sketches at the V&A

Frazetta homage

Illustration for a birthday card, inspired by a mix of Frazetta and Ta Prohm.

Quick watercolour

At the London Wetlands Centre:

Comic Book Art course returns!

I will be running the Comic Book Art course again starting October this year, and again in January 2012. Looking forward to it.

Teaching: Comic Book Art course at Chelsea College

Just finished teaching the Comic Book Art short course at Chelsea College of Art & Design.

The course ran for five Saturdays, with the objective of creating 1-2 pages of comic book artwork by the end. The students worked really hard, and in many case produced much more work than was asked for. They all finished with inked up linework, with a few having time to add colour. They should all be at the stage where they can finish off their work (adding lettering and so on), without too much trouble.

As five weeks is not a lot of time, I didn't focus too much on improving their basic drawing skills, concentrating more on storytelling. I gave the students a framework from going from a blank page or loose ideas, to developing a story, thumbnailing it and drawing out the full-size panels. I also asked them to consider the layout of the page(s) as a whole, to make sure they flowed properly, and the pacing fitted with the story.

It was my first experience teaching (though I've taken many adult education classes), so I'm pleased it went well overall. The student artwork was great, and I'm currently putting together a mini anthology of their work for them.

Sketches

Been out sketching recently and thought I'd share:

Tate Britain; watercolour.

Natural History Museum; "Peel & Sketch" charcoal stick.

Victoria & Albert Museum; P&S charcoal stick