ECLECTIC MICKS SKETCHBOOK (Vol.2) IRISH LAUNCH


























Though we already launched Vol.2 at this year's New York Comic Con, this coming Friday sees the Irish launch of Vol.2 of the Eclectic Micks sketchbook in Forbidden Planet; Dublin. It's a great collection; I suggest you stop by and pick up a copy if you're in the Dublin area. You'll get a free sketch by either myself, Will Sliney or Stephen Mooney, who will be at hand on the day. If ye have any copies of Thunderbolts or the new 28 Days Later trade, i'll sign the crap outta 'em.

In other news, I've just finished my next project; a one-shot for Marvel. I believe the details will be announced in the next week or so. Next up; I'm FINALLY going to finish my long-delayed Sweeney Todd graphic novel for Classical Comics, and then back to Marvel for some really cool stuff that's in the works.

As a great man once said; "Moon ...Pie...? What a time to be alive..."

Dec.

MAGNETO SKETCH




















Tuesday means it's Tuesdec on the Micks blog. Did a little Magneto this week. I'm on a mad X-Men related drawing buzz. You can see the coloured piece here.

Dec.

CHOKER





















Did a piece to promote Choker, a comic written by a mate of mine, on the Micks blog. I think it turned out pretty well, mainly cuz the above inked greywash piece turned out well. Check out the coloured version here.

Dec.

28 DAYS LATER SCENES

I posted coloured versions of these images on the Eclectic Micks blog yesterday as part of the 'Infected Micks' theme week. They seemed to go down pretty well, so i thought i'd post the black and white versions of them, as i like how they look too.




















You can see the coloured versions on the Micks blog here.

Dec.

28 DAYS LATER #7 FINISHED +HAPPY NEW YEAR









Here's a sneak peek of 28 Days Later #7. Pretty much the only panel i could use that didn't suggest anything about the story!

Hope all had a Merry Christmas. With the end of the year fast approaching i thought i might take stock of my productivity for this year. At best count, in 2009 i pencilled and inked 213 sequential comic pages, 4 covers and produced over 40 original sketches for the Eclectic Micks blog. That's not too bad, but it's really bothering me that in the first half of the year i wasn't nearly as productive as i was in the latter part. I would like to think that i spent the early months of the year raising my skill-set and was then able to be more productive while working on that higher level. Whether that's true or not, who knows, but it'd be nice if it were. In any case; must be more productive in 2010. Should be a good year; Sweeney Todd should be out, the first hardback of 28 Days Later should be too, hell, maybe there'll even be another Micks collection. The most important thing is.... 2010 is a cool set of numbers and makes it sound like we're living in the future. Which i guess we are. I have an iPhone to prove it.

Happy New Year folks.

Dec.

OFF TO BIRMINGHAM

















Just getting ready for this year's British International Comics Show (BICS) in Brimingham. Off to Brum tomorrow. I'll be at the Eclectic Micks table with PJ Holden, Stephen Mooney and Will Sliney. I'll have original art from 28 Days Later, copies of #1 and the above Eclectic Micks sketchbook (which looks lov-er-ly as you can see above) all for sale. I'll most likely be at the Classical Comic table at some stage too.

Really looking forward to the con. I always have a blast at Brum.

Dec.

PS. I think i'll be charging (a little) for sketches this year, but if ye buy any of the above, i'll do one for free.

ECLECTIC MICKS SKETCHBOOK VOL. 1

















Arrived in time for BICS (British International Comics Show) this comiing weekend. Looks bloody great. Delighted with it.

Dec.

ECLECTIC MICKS SKETCHBOOK


















Don't that look nice?

I'm happy to report the Eclectic Micks sketchbook is on it's way.

Ages back at one of the Dublin cons, the idea was suggested that all us Irish lads working in comics should organize and put together a group sketchbook, since there was a decent group of us. Plans were made and of course, they fell by the wayside. Everyone was busy, and yet-another-project was a tough thing to add to an already busy plate for all. However, a few months ago we managed to organize ourselves into running a group blog, the Eclectic Micks blog, where we all contributed a sketch a week. Because of that output, we now have the material for the sketchbook we were originally planning on.

So, i'm delighted to say we've now compiled a 120 page sketchbook to be released in time for the British International Comics Show in October. Hopefully, then we'll organize an Irish launch soon after. Then, maybe be able to sell it online. I personally would love it if we had such a sketchbook every year, compiling the best of the material from the blog.

So, keep checking in here and on the Micks blog for news on the sketchbook. I personally can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Dec.

ROBERTO!

Anyone who regularly checks out the Eclectic Micks blog will know i recently did a piece with some of my favourite robots from Futurama (see here), one of which was the character Roberto.





















Well, i looked through some old files and found two drawings i did a few years back of Roberto. They were part of an exhibition i had in Limerick after i finished college. They were probably the first things i every coloured on computer (it wasn't even Photoshop; as i hadn't gotten the program at that stage).

























Anyhoo, i can't show any 28 Days Later stuff yet, so i thought i'd stick these two old pieces up today.

Dec.

'FOR THE LOVE OF' EXHIBITION THIS THURSDAY













Mentioned this last week, but just a reminder to any Dublin-heads who read this blog, that the Rocketeer drawing i did for the Eclectic Micks blog (that everyone likes so much) is included in a group exhibition this Thursday. The exhibition runs until the 16th of July, but the opening will be at 7pm this Thursday, in Mill Street Studios.

Any time i've said 'Mill Street' to anyone i hear "Where....?" so here's a map for your benefit.

Might see some of ye there.

































Dec.

2D FESTIVAL REPORT 2009

Well, here it is; my 2D report.

As opposed to the previous event i attended in 2008, this year i was asked to participate in some workshops on the days leading up to the actual Saturday. Safe to say i met some very talented kids (along with some teeny girls who had an unusual fascination with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine). We were all treated like royalty (which is a dramatic change from how i'm usually treated like a boxcar hobo)

Some of the 2D guests who were also participating in workshops; myself (w/deep-fried ice cream), Rufus Dayglo, D'Israeli, Bryan Talbot, Bridgeen Gillespie, Garry Leach and 2D organiser David Campbell. Photo by Bridgeen Gillespie.

On Friday morning Mike Collins and myself had a talk about our work for Classical Comics. Mike's A Christmas Carol has been gathering praise from all corners and it was very flattering to contribute to a talk with him. We covered many aspects of trying to adapt classical literature into a graphic novel format and we showed examples of pages and the process by which they come together (i ended up using a lot of the 'process' images from this very blog)

Mike showing his pencilled pages from 'A Christmas Carol'.

Mike discussing his work for Classical Comics


Myself, talking about my 'Frankenstein' graphic novel and the 'Sweeney Todd' project i'm currently in the middle of.

Mike and myself having a laugh. God only knows what about. Probably laughing at something i drew. Thanks to D'Israeli for the above photos

After more workshops, the event moved to Sandino's where a couple of panels were set up. Not really sure why, but i was asked to host both of them. Probably because of my talent for rambling nonsense. The first panel; The State of Comic Art' was something i was interested in discussing and hearing the other artist's opinion on how mainstream art has changed over the years, the impact of technology on art, etc, was all really interesting. To me, at least.

'The State of Comic Art' panel with myself, D'Israeli, Rufus Dayglo, Mike Collins and Andie Tong. Photo by Bridgeen Gillespie.


After that was an 'Eclectic Micks present Homegrown Heroes' panel. A ramshackle panel to match the ramshackle podcast we did a while back. Seriously though, it was a good laugh; myself and fellow Micks Mooney, Roche and Sliney got a say along with Phil Barrett, Bridgeen Gillespie and Deirdre de Barra. We covered all things Irish-comics related. As best as i can remember i was a bit pessimistic regarding an Irish comics 'industy' but there were plenty of folk there to argue with me, and do a good job too. It was nice to have a whole panel to discuss the comic scene in Ireland, so fair play to Dave for organizing it.

The full Eclectic Micks panel; Myself, Stephen Mooney, Will Sliney, Nick Roche, Deirdre de Barra, Bridgeen Gillespie and Phil Barrett.


More talking. And laughing, it seems.


Nick flexes his patented charm


Mooney and Moojoo (Mooney Jr) share a chuckle





















Mooney and myself debate serious life issues. And comics. All above photos by D'Isreali.



Of course, 2D isn't 2D without all the Open-Day shenanigans. Here are some photos robbed from Facebook. Most likely from Ciaran Flanagan or Bridgeen Gillespie.








I took some photos of sketches i did over the day; i'll post them during the week.

EDIT: How could i forget! A HUGE thanks to organiser David Campbell and all his crew who really took care of all of us who attended the festival. Thanks guys!
Dec.

2D FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND

















This weekend is the 2D Festival, but i've no images regarding it, so here's a detail from this weeks's Tuesdec drawing for the Eclectic Micks blog. Go look.

Yeah, there won't be any post for a few days as i'm off to this year's 2D Festival tomorrow to do some workshops ahead of the main day itself.

For those not in the know, 2D is a completely free event offering free admission to workshops and panels about comics and an open day with a host of comic book creator talent. I can't recommend it enough; and it's free dammit; FREE! Guests this year include seasoned pros like Bryan Talbot, David Lloyd, Liam Sharp, Glen Fabry and Will Simpson, along with some of the UKs best talent like Andie Tong, D'isreali, PJ Holden and Rufus Dayglo. Of course, The South will be well represented by Nick Roche, myself, Stephen Mooney and Will Sliney, who appears hot off the heels of his new Farscape series. Us Micks will actually have a panel of our own on Friday night; Homegrown Heroes at 8pm in Sandinos bar. Do come, and see how anything i have to say will be drowned out by all the other dicks. I mean.... Micks.

For lots more info, be sure to visit the 2D website here.

Hope to see ye all there.

Dec.

PICARD SKETCH

It's Tuesdec over on the Eclectic Micks blog today. This week i did a Captain Picard drawing as i'm really looking forward to the new STAR TREK film this weekend. I was originally intending on doing a really rough and stylized drawing but it ended up being quite clean as i concentrated more on the design-y-ness of the image. I really liked this rough sketch though, so i thought i'd put it up here. See the Micks blog for the finished version. I had to swap a few things around composition-wise, and it's not what i was originally going for, but i like how it came out.

Dec.

GAMBIT
























Anyone reading this blog probably knows by now that every Tuesday i post a new sketch up on the Eclectic Micks blog. Well, half of them have been moaning about how finished some of the drawings have been (not that there's complaints about any being too rough mind...).

Anyhoo, my sketches on the Micks blog have been described as finished pieces, which i suppose is true to a degree, but i've been trying out new things with the Micks sketches, and if i was do do a sketch at a convention, they would be of that quality, so to me they are sketches.

Still though, no harm in mixing it up a bit (or Micks-ing it up a bit ...eh ....eh?) so this week i decided i'd do a really loose drawing of Gambit, as i've been itching to draw an X-Man for a while. As i was working on it however, it felt like it needed more work, so while my aim was to do a really loose sketch, it ended up more laboured. It's still pretty rough, but it took more effort than i meant it to. So, having loosened up a bit, i tried a Batman and got the results i was looking for. Reckoned i might as well post the Gambit sketch here and the looser Batman sketch on the Micks blog.

Enjoy 'em both.

Dec.

PENCIL FIST
























Greetings. Today is Tuesdec on the Eclectic Micks blog, which means there's a brand new sketch from me up there. Go look. Before finishing it, i took a quick scan of the rough pencil construction lines. Here's a section of it. Finished piece on the Micks blog now.

Dec.

Greetings.

First of all, i know i mentioned it a while back, but the Eclectic Micks blog really seems to be picking up pace. If ye haven't checked it out yet, ye really should. Every day. I've done a couple of nice pieces for it myself so far, but the other lads are really knockin' it out of the park.

In other Eclectic Micks news, 6 of the 7 Micks took part in a roundtable discussion a while back (It was literally at a round table, i swear... though it's not much of a discussion). What followed was a rambly, talk-over-each-other travesty of epic proportions brought to you by the Comic Cast. If you're in a mood to punish your brain, give it a listen here.

Dec.

ECLECTIC MICKS

For who those who don't know, myself and some other Irish comic artists Stephen Thompson, Bob Byrne, Nick Roche, Will Sliney, PJ Holden and Stephen Mooney have set up a group sketch-blog.

Ages back, we all thought of doing a group sketchbook called Eclectic Micks (.....geddit?). A couple of pieces were done, but it seemed to fall by the wayside (i'm looking at YOU Mooney, Thompson, Roche....). Recent insanity has instead led us to start a sketch-blog. The blog is updated every day (seven days in a week, seven artists posting) with each artist posting an image on a certain day. I post on Tuesdays (today).

It should be a rule not to post a image on your own blog that's gonna be on the group one, but as an incentive to check it out, here's a few doodles i did to warm up for my weekly sketch.























We plan on doing some 'theme' sketches in the near future, and hopefully will get to do the pieces we originally planned on having in the original sketchbook.

So, check out the Eclectic Micks blog here. It's already got over a weeks worth of images, many much better than mine. But don't stop reading this blog... i can't stress that enough. Business will continue as usual here, at your most favourite blog ever.

Right.........?

Dec.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Greetings all, hope ye all had a good New Years.

Below is a panel from one of my Frankenstein layouts, i'll post the pencils tomorrow.










Also, there's an article on Newsarama revealing fellow Mick Stephen Thompson's new Star Trek book is in fact part of Peter David's New Frontier series, written by the man himself. You can read the feature here. Congrats Thompson! I'm dead jealous of yeh.

Speaking of Thompson, both he and i met up, along with some of the other Eclectic Micks, Stephen Mooney, Will Sliney and Nick Roche, for a little Christmas shindig at Mooney's place. Returning home for Christmas and seeing old friends was great, but the Micks-meet was a definite highlight of my time home. I realised that lots of my friends had Christmas work-parties, which i can't actually have, since i work for myself. So meeting up with the other Irish guys and talking shop for the night was an absolute pleasure. Joining in the festivities (and adding some much needed good-looks) were colourist extraordinaire Lisa Jackson and host extraordinaire, Jackie! For once, i have no photos as proof, but ask any of the others and i'm sure they'll say they enjoyed themselves.

Another high-point was the 12 Pubs of Christmas in Cork with my main man Will Sliney, and the annual Superman/Batman piece we did. Check it out on his blog

Smell ya later,


Dec.

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

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.