Humphrey's corner by Sally Hunter is a mini business empire based around these little elephant characters she based on her own family. They started off as greetings cards and have been licensed into books, clothing, furniture and everything else imaginable. Quite an inspiring story for independent artists. Anyway I did these art tests for a portfolio submission to the company when they were hiring illustrators. I was unsucessful but I'm quite pleased with how the watercolours (above) and digital watercolours (below) came out.
www.dougwilson.co.uk has had a re-design recently. The site has been constantly evolving from the moment I launched it but this is the most substantial change I've made. I wanted to add a bit more personality to the design. I've made the menu bar quite playful and amusing and hopefully having that same link panel across the whole site makes navigation a little simpler.
The image above was done for a local graphic design agency, they were looking for some cartoony designs to pitch to their client. Unfortunately the client didn't really know what they were after so I put loads of work into something that I eventually didn't get a penny for. After they rejected the above image they gave the feedback for something more ICONIC. So I developed this next set of images:
Cartoon illustration using Photoshop, Illustrator, or good old Pen, Ink and Markers. I can also provide character design, and background design.
I have spent the last 2-3 years writing, drawing and self publishing independent comic stories.
That's right, Bloodwhat comic started exactly one year ago today! The very first post on the old wordpress site was 29th April '09 and I thought it would be a good idea to look back and see how far this strip has come.
Tommorow's update will be strip #150, and just this week I have finished writing the script to the final conclusion of the story. When I started out I was planning a series of animated shorts, but I soon decided to make a comic and never looked back.
Obviously the comic is based on a computer game and it is one that my brother and I would play over and over when we were younger. It still held it's appeal over the years and with PC emulators and PSP's we've always been drawn back into playing it again at some point. For some reason this game was just hugely immersive and addictive so I am very happy to have created this tribute in the form of parody. I would suggest anyone reading the comic should try to get a copy and play through it... although maybe it is one of those things that requires nostalgia.
This was the first ever strip
And this is the One Hundred and Forty Ninth!
I think my drawing has improved a lot, during the process of drawing the strip 3x a week I have simplified the characters and boiled down the designs to fewer and fewer lines. I think my storytelling has improved dramatically too. I am now building up longer storylines that will unfold over the next few weeks. It is a gag strip and I try to make it funny every update but sometimes I like to break up the pacing and try something different. In #149 for instance there isn't a punchline at all, but it is building up a recurring story with Murlack having found a walkthrough guide to the game. I think when I eventually compile all these strips into a book it will be a very satisfying read through and that has always been my end goal.
I have learned a lot from making this strip, I often hear the advice handed out to create something that you would want to see... This without doubt is purely something I am doing for my own amusement and it seems like a few people might be enjoying it with me.
If you would like to leave Bloodwhat a birthday wish by leaving a comment or sending me an email I would really appreciate the support. dougwilson83(at)hotmail(dot)com
I've been busy making mini-comics for Bristol spexpo. These Bloodwhat books contain 40 strips and are bound with a hand-drawn unique sketch on the cover. I'm hoping the original art aspect of these mini's will attract people, there are only going to be 16 copies of these so if you want one come early! Or not, I doubt I will sell out all weekend! Still if you're a fan of the comic this is a nice little collection and something to keep you quiet until I can sort out a proper book.
Look what just arrived in the post! K-9Lives ClueClucksClan. I'm very happy with how this second book has come out. The cover design looks much better than the first one, feels a more cohesive design and has a nice fake barcode on the back which I'm particularly proud of. I stole the idea from NobbyNobody at www.odd-fish.net but gave it my own twist. I'm feeling ready for my first convention now. I should have a lot of stuff on the table, including a few T-Shirts and Mugs (pic below). You can order the books from my online store http://www.dougwilson.co.uk/store.htm Or come see me at http://www.thefallenangel.co.uk/spexpo/exhibitors.php in Bristol May 22nd-23rd.
Here's the final designs for the free giveaway postcards I'm taking to the comic convention next month. I think it is a cool enough image that people will want to keep it and then it has two sample comics on the back which should appeal to everyone. I was very conscious of wanting to put the most accessible strips on the promo material. I ordered 100, I've no idea if that's enough but going to my first convention is all going to be a bit of a guessing game.
So with Bristol Small-Press Expo just around the corner, I decided to get crafty so i'll have something other than books on my table. After a wander around hobbycraft we found something called Shrinkles which are new to me... Basically you draw on them like a kind of paper sheet. Put it in the oven and they shrink/thicken/plasticise! So I stuck a whole in the top and robert's your father's brother we've got handdrawn, limited edition keyrings and add to that a little Fimo wrangling, we've also got desktop figurines!
This ones head fell off... rather unfortunate. Glued it back though.
K-9Lives: Episode 3
I must be streamlining my process of making these... this one took a day and a half less time than episode 2. So hopefully I can get Ep4+5 going soon and then I will put together an 8 minute film, cut together with Episodes 2,3,4+5. That's the plan at the moment anyway.
My previous experience of taking Episode 1 to film festivals was that it was too short a film to really grab people. I think the idea of K-9 takes a while to sink in with people. It is a bit weird and surreal so perhaps several episodes together will let them grasp the concept better. Also I think each of these films is improving as I go. So hopefully given the success of the first one I should get a good festival run out of the next film.
I am also busy with other comics work and preparing for a convention in May so we'll see how soon I can get going on the next episode...
