HOLIDAY GREETINGS

Hello all.

I've been quiet on the auld blog once more. I've been back in County Clare for the holiday season, working from my old room. It's been a nice mix of nostalgia with the slap-in-the-face realisation that i'm now a grown up. I've had no scanner or internet connection so no blogging. Prob won't post again til the new year. I haven't had time to do a festive image so instead, here's a peek at the first finished Eclectic Micks piece.




















So, til next time, i hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.

All the best,

Dec

DEEP SPACE NINE







































































I was talking to fellow irish arist Stephen Thompson a while back bout all the referance he has been doing for his new Star Trek book with IDW. The conversation totally re-awakened all the nerdy Trek information stored in my brain since childhood, so i thought i'd put all that information to good use and draw some Star Trek pages. I went with Deep Space Nine, as i haven't seen any DS9 comics of late, and if i had to pick a series to draw, it'd be DS9, cuz it was bad-ass. Man, i loved that show. Don't get me wrong, The Next Generation will always have a special place in my heart, as Captain Picard practically raised me, but DS9 had a darker tone, which is what really appealed to me as i went through my teens. Also, i think the darker setting of DS9 suits my work better.


Forgive the rant .......I'm such a nerd.

Dec.

MICKS

Started work on my first piece for the Eclectic Micks sketchbook, which is a collection of art by myself and the other irish comic artists. The idea came together while we all met up at the Dublin Comic Con.




















We've all chosen a character for the other artists to draw, this is the one Will Sliney chose for me. Don't want to say who this character is, but i reckon it's pretty clear.

Dec.

NEWSARAMA-RAMA

Two things of interest for me on newsarama in the last day or so;

First is an interview with fellow Irish-comic-artist Nick Roche bout his upcomming book Doctor Who. Read it here.

Also, there's an interview with Rick Leonardi bout pencilling and with Kevin Nowlan bout inikng Leonardi's pencils, along with his approach to inking other artists work. Anyone who knows me knows i'm a huge Kevin Nowlan fan, so foind this interview really interesting. On inking his own work he says;

"Penciling is the heavy lifting and inking is the celebration after the real work is done"

That's very much how i feel about inking my own work. For me, pencilling is the hard work and inking (although still a lot of work) is the fun part.

Read it all here

Dec.

INKS



















And finally, the inks.

The gig last night was brilliant by the way.

Dec.

PENCILS




















Here's the pencils of yesterday's page.

Off to see a Sons and Daughters gig tonight. Can't wait. It's been ages since i saw a live show from a group that i'm a fan of.

Dec.

LAYOUTS




















Here's the layouts for a recent Frankenstein page. A whole page, mind. Your patience during my quiet time has been rewarded with a whole page, rather than just a panel.

See how good i am to you?

Dec.

JIM LEE SKETCH

'A maaaan'

Been ages since my last post. If anyone's actually reading this, i apologise for the silence, but i was just too busy for the last week or so. The least i cud do was show off the Jim Lee sketch i got off ........well ........Jim Lee. I swear, i'm so happy with this. I saw lots of people get Batmans and Wolverines, but for me, it had to be Cyclops. I've always loved how he redesigned his costume, it was a great design (very nineties, but still cool), and Lee made him look badass. Not many have been able to pull that off since. John Cassaday is doing that right now in Astonishing X-Men, a decade later. Anyway, here's the sketch....




















Maybe i'll eventually put some of my own art up on this........

Dec.

DUBLIN CITY COMIC CON --REPORT

Hello all. Got back from Dublin yesterday. Lets just say i'm suffering now for all the fun i had this weekend.

Met up with Will Sliney on Friday night before the con for a good old catch-up session. He headed too the hotel bar, where organisers and guests of the show were all out. A surreal moment was when i saw John McCrea chase Jim Lee out of the room. It was funny to see all the old hands go nuts while us young newbies behaved ourselves.















After Will and i set up our table, we met Alan Nolan, who presented me with his new Sancho issue that a cover i had illustrated months ago, which was great. I'll post it during the week. I took a break from the table to attend the Breaking into Comics panel. The panelists were Stephen Mooney (CSI, Angel), Nick Roche (Transformers, Doctor Who), CB. Cebulski (Marvel's The Loners), and Stephen Thompson(Star Wars, Star Trek). It was a really interesting panel and everyone had some great points, especially C.B., who gave some great advice to artists/writers who are looking to make a name for themselves in the biz.
















C.B Cebulski and Nick Roche at Saturday's panel.

During the day i did some sketches, sold a few comics, and showed some Frankenstein preview pages to folk. I'm happy to say everyone seemed to like my work on the book so far.




















Stephen Mooney and Stephen Thompson seemed to get some well-deserved props over the weekend. Here's Mooney doing a sketch for a fan. Thompson was doing some kick-ass sketches as usual. Thompson. I hate that guy. Mooney too.

Got a Jim Lee sketch! That was not only a highlight of the weekend, but a highlight of my life. As i said in the Birminham post, i don't geek out over artists much anymore, but Jim Lee....? Geeking compulsory. I should rellay scan that sketch....


I don't have any photos of it, but i was a panelist on Sunday's Irish Comics panel, along with Will Sliney, Alan Nolan, Gar Cummins and Pádraig O Méalóid. Was really fun, although i was just crcking jokes the whole time. I don't think i had any insightful advice for anyone. I was happy to take part, as there really is a lot of irish comics coming out these days, and was worth discussing.





















Did some decent sketches myself, this being one of them.
















Jackie, Setphen Mooney, Lisa Jackson, Dave, Stephen Thompson, C.B. Cebulski, my empty chair, Jamie, Sinead, Marney and Will Sliney after the con on Sunday.




















Bespeckled Irish Comic Creators Nick Roche and Me.
















The ineviable face-off. It's been established that myself and Will are the Thompson/Mooney for a new generation, seeing as myself and Thompson are similar characters, as are Will and Mooney. Here, we face off. The winner? Undecided. I'm rooting for the Shalvey/Thompson team, but i may be biased.

















Thompson laughing when finding out that Mooney is a big fan of 'The big guy upstairs'. Thats Jesus, to you kids.
















The gang. Lisa Jackson, myself, Jackie, Mooney, Will, C.B., and two people i don't know.

Below: Thompson.
















Two more people i don't know, guest of the show Jock and organiser of the show, John Hendrick.





















Sound man! C.B. gets a round in.

















Myself and show organiser Dave Hendrick.


















C.B. Cebulski and myself. Note how we both look off-camera like in those crappy TV shows when a character takes a photo of other characters. I hate it when they do that! Anyway, i'm veering off the point. The point is ....uh ....C.B. was sound, or something.

In summary, it was a great con.. It was great to come home to the city of my birth and attend a really impressive show, inlike having to go to the UK for one, as i've always had to do in the past.

I guess i'd just like to say thanks to everyone who said hello, bought a comic or asked for a sketch over the weekend. I hope ye had a good a time as i did.


Dec.

DUBLIN CITY COMIC CON --THIS WEEKEND!

Well, it's finally here, this week is the big Dublin Con. Went last year and had a blast. It's strange to think that in only a year i've made some great friends from that one weekend.




















This year's con is a huge step up on last year's one, with the headline guest being Jim Lee, the biggest star ever to come out of comics. Probably the most popular artist the medium has ever produced. While my tastes veer to more indie styles these days, this is the man that made me want to draw comics. I remember picking up a reprint of X-Men issue 1 when i was 12 and i was hooked! Damn you Jim Lee!

Carlos Pacheco had a big effect on me too. He got me out of my Jim Lee/Andy Kubert phase and opened me up to a more dynamic style, that showed how much you could push your knowledge of anatomy.

Liam Sharp drew the first American comicbook i ever bought. Nuff said

I was practically raised on Hitman, created by John McCrea, 'Nuff said there also.

There's an incredible group of talent with more recent artists who've make a name for themselves such as Adi Granov, Ben Oliver, Steve McNiven, Dougie Braithwaite and Jock.

Let's not forget the writers.

Mark Millar is arguably the biggest writer in comics right now, and Paul Cornell is not only becoming well known for being a writer, but for being a very good writer.

But last, and certainly not least are the 'New Kids On The Block,' the Irish talent. Great guys one and all. I speak of course of Stephen Mooney, Stephen Thompson and Nick Roche. All these guys are at the top of their game, working on high-profile books in the States(Angel, Star Trek and Doctor Who, respectively). I'm insanely jealous of them all.

Of course, i'll be there, flogging my wares along with the ever-handsome Will Sliney. He'll have copies of Atomic Rocket Group 66, i'll have Freak Show, Your Round and some Hero Killers too. I'll also have a folder of some Frankenstein work, just to tease you all. I've also been asked to appear on a panel aboul Irish Comics on Sunday at 11AM, so be sure to come to that and heckle me.

So, if you don't make this con, you are officially a leper. There's never been a con with this many high profile guests in Ireland before. I just wish it was saturday right now.

For more details about guests, the venue and panels, check out the Dublin Comic Con Website or MySpace page.

See you Saturday!

Dec.

SHALEV

My editor at Classical Comics, Clive Bryant, was interviewed this week on Newsarama about Classical's first graphic novel, HENRY V. He also mentions upcomming books, such as mine, ie, Frankenstein. There's also mention of artists working on these books.

"Some of the established talent in the comic book industry involved include the wonderfully talented Gary Erskine, Eagle Award Winner Declan Shalev and Panini/Marvel UK’s Jon Haward"

.....sigh. First mention of my name on Newsarama and they get my name wrong. Still, it's a mention, and i sound more interesting ....italian or something. Maybe i should consider changing my name althogether.

You can read the whole article here

Dec.

LAYOUTS

Due to popular demand (well, at least from Mooney), here's a layout page for something else i'm tipping away on. Bad language censored, for you impressionable kids. I'm looking out you Luke and Tyler.





















In other news, i got the rest of the Tim Skinner script off my Hero Killers partner-in-crime, Andy Winter and i gotta say; i love it. I have 3 pages of it done, but i'm not sure when i can get back started on it. I really want to wrap up Book 2 of Freak Show, and there's some other stuff i wanna get out of the way. I'm gonna colour Tim Skinner too, so the sooner it's drawn the better. There's a LOT going on it though, it's gonna be quite a challenge to draw, never mind colour.

Dec

I'M STARTING WITH THE MAN IN THE MIRROR

I'm asking him to change his ways.

















More Frankenstein.

Dec.

JAMES




















Doing some much-needed Freak Show work. Two cons within a month meant i had to concentrate on Frankenstein in October, so trying to pick up the pace on Freak Show a bit.

Also, just saw a funny post on Bob Byrne's site about Rob Liefield. Check it out here.

Dec.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN



















Wanted to do a sketch, but didn't have the time. Instead, here's my first, proper take of the Frankenstein Monster that i did while trying out for the Frankenstein job. He's different in the book, but from this you can get an idea of what he looks like.

Dec.

BAT SKETCH

While at Birmingham i did this little Batman sketch. Nothing fancy, but i quite liked it.




















So, i thought for a larf i'd colour it up a little (this blog could do with a bit of colour from time to time). No need to point out how crap the colours are, i just thought i'd have a go at colouring something loosely, while trying to add a bit of texture to it.






















Dec.

MONSTER INKS



















Here's the inks to yesterdays panel. Getting to draw more scenes with the Monster now, which i'm enjoying a lot.

Dec.

MONSTER PENCILS





















I posted a section of this scene before, but it was from my layouts. This is from the pencilled page. Inks soon.

Dec.

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY




















Drooooool. This is the Kevin Nowlan piece i managed to get at Birmingham. Oh god, i'm so happy with it, i could mate with it.

Seriously.



Dec.

THE BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL COMICS SHOW (BICS)

Man, what a weekend. It started in Dublin at 6.30am waking up on my mates couch rushing to have a quick shower before my buddy Matt, his girlfriend Nara and myself had to catch a taxi to the airport. At the airport we met Mooney, Thompson, Lisa and one Mr. Fran Johnston.

We seperated once we landed in Birmingham, so we could all get settled in our respective hotels (or hostel in my case). I met the irish guys for a cup of tea (how irish)and left them so i could meet up again with Matt and Nara. We went to a bar we found last year and started drinking. This was around 2 o clock. We were soon joined my the patron saint of Brum, Ben McCool and who must be the patron saint of Croatia, Esad Ribic. There, i was drinking 8% cider! Thankfully i took a break to meet Will Sliney off the bus. We rejoined the irish crew for some grub and went back to the bar. Gotta say, it was great to be out in Brum with the irish crew. I've been going to British cons for years and at last year's Brum i had 2 or 3 irish mates at it. This time, it was more like 10. That was brilliant.

Friday night was the launch party, and boy, what a party it was. Met up with Andy Winter who i worked with on Hero Killers and David Baillie, who wrote me a story for Your Round. I may have had a bit to drink. I'm sure there were many witnesses to support this fact. Oh yeah, and these pictures do the same.....
















Nara and myself hamming it up for the camera.
















Another Croatian/Irish photo. This time Esad Ribic and me.















The Irish crowd. Stephen Mooney, Will Sliney, Stephen Thompson, Me and a very happy Lisa Jackson.















Good ol' boys Willy McSliney and Dec O'Shalvinator.















Things degenerate rapidly. Will, me, Niki Robinson, Leigh Gallagher, Andy Baker (servicing Matt Hollingsworth) and Matt servicing me.

The next day i had to get up early to meet and greet the clamtastic Bob Byrne. Safe to say, i was a bit rough, but after a greasy breakfast and some witty banter i was all set for the con. It was held in the very impressive Millenium Point building(sorry, no pictures). The Bristol conventions in May ars split between two buildings, and last years Birmingham convention had dealers and exhibitors divided into seperate rooms, so it was great that this year, everyone was all under one roof, with a seperate hall for talks/panels. Again, no photos. Why do i have no photos of the actual con, only the bars afterwards. My Saturday was spent sitting with Bob Byrne at my table, next to Si Spurrier, who was wonderful company. I met up with my employers, the good people at Classical Comics, and met and greeted lots of familiar faces. A friend of mine from Limerick, Alma O' Carroll had her first comic out, Redemption's Flame, and it's absolutely brilliant. I knew Alma had promise, but he's come on in huge strides in the last few months. See some of her work here. And here she is sketching....
















Saturday evening brought some more drinking, and some more posing...















Will, me, a cheeky Mooney, and a smiley Thompson.















Me and Bob Byrne.















A bottle of whiskey, Sir Michael of Wright, myself and Benny McCool (with a justifiably bemused looking Liam Sharp in the background).




















Team Anger; Guilia Brusco, Esad Ribic and me.















Team .....uh .......4 A.M. Bob Byrne, Lorcan McGrane, me (now with karate action), Lee O' Connor and Dom Reardon

I woke on Sunday, surprised that i had no hangover. More of the same on Sunday, which was great. I went to Matt's colouring panel, which was really interesting. Definately a highlight of the weekend. By the time it was over, i wanted to colour everything around me! Another highlight was when i managed to get a big A3 sketch off one of my favourite artists, Kevin Nowlan. I was so excited when i heard he was attending the show. I don't geek out much these days, but man, i had to when it came to Mr. Nowlan. Mike Mingnola was there too, but i got a sketch off him in San Diego last year, so i was happy. Very happy.



















Matt's colouring demo.

Sunday night was a much more relaxed affair. Saw Michael Wright's band SKELTER perform in a very surreal venue, and caught up with my good pal James Hodgkins and fellow organisers of the con, Andy Baker and Shane Chebsey.















The organisers Shane, James and Andy.















PILE-ON!!!!!! The organisers, and a Will and a Matt on top of them.


In the end, I had an absolute blast, even better than last year. Hopefully next year will be even better.

Thanks to everyone who said hi, and thanks to everyone who's photos i robbed for this blog post. I'm looking at you Bob.

Dec.

HOME

Ahhhh the green hills of county Clare....















After Sub-Con i decided to take a couple of days off to visit some family and friends. Spent a couple of days in Quin and Ennis in County Clare (above) and a few days with friends in Limerick (below)

























After that i did a couple of days work in Stephen Mooney's studio, he being a gracious host as ever. Here's Steve working away on his pages.......
















And the 'guest drawing-board' that i was using, with all my Frankenstein work crap on it....

















Once i'd enough work done, i picked up my mate Matt and his lovely girlfriend Nara from the airport. We spent a couple of days (walking and drinking) around Dublin. Mega thanks to John, Keith and Tony for putting us up for the couple of days.

One of the days we met up with the 'irish gang', ie, Mooney, Thompson, Bob Byrne and their respective partners for a trip to the Guinness brewery, dinner, and a couple of drinks after, which was great. I love meeting up with those guys.
















More drinks at the Porter House followed, and some Croatian Brandy as a nightcap. We all had to be up early for Birmingham......

Dec.