The Last Post

Some sketches done over December, with brush pen, Zig, Promarker, grey wash, Photoshop, and a little Chet Baker.

Here's All the Best for Chistmas!

This year, for Xmas, Tiscali left us without an Internet connection for 6 days, buggering up most of my plans for sending work off and blog-posting. Frustrating, annoying, maddening and just a general pain-in-the-arse. But, I'm letting the rage go, it's Xmas Eve, and i aim to enjoy it, since, it comes and goes so quick, it's easy to let work/problems swallow all the joy.

Tradition is the beating heart of Xmas, whether it's those you still practise, or those you remember dearly. For me, that pathway of memory to Xmas past is what adds the real kick and potency to the 'right now', makes it richer, more valid. My memories are set alight whenever i dust off a bunch of old English comics, most especially the Xmas editions. When they turned up on the hallway mat, they made the whole Festive thing 'official'.

So, ere's a selection of old Xmas comic covers for your enjoyment, and a complete Spellbinder strip - with the obligatory slap-up feast - from Lion(still one of the best strips of the time, and a character who was sadly misused and underused in Albion).

To Suzanne, friends, family, fellow bloggers and regular 'visitors', i wish you all a most splendid Christmas. Stay safe, be nice, and make it count.

Save, don't throw!

Like many of you, i collect stuff, i collect a LOT of stuff, always collected a lot of stuff, and always have trouble throwing things out. Some would say it's not good 'feng shui', some would say it's a fire hazard, some might even say i shouldn't live in a cocoon of memories, and that gazing back at the past isn't a healthy or progressive pastime..

I won't tell you what I'd say, cus it's the season of good will.

But here's a small selection of Xmas cards I've saved, a couple going back to the end of the 80's.
I do have quite a bunch, most i can't locate, which is a shame, since the earliest ones are ALL hand drawn. Maybe they'll turn up once i get around to that feng shui...

From Matt Brooker(D'israeli).

Gary Crutchley.

Mark Buckingham.

Ryan Hughes.

Alan Moore.

Be Golden and Light

We lost Oliver Postgate last week, writer, artist, animator, pioneer and dream-maker.

Along with Peter Firmin he gave us some of the best-loved children's programmes of the 60's and 70's; Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog, Ivor the Engine and The Clangers. All from a disused cow shed.

They broke new ground with their animation techniques, partly born from a need to work cheap and fast, and the results, however 'low-fi' compared to CGI wizardry, were - and still are - magical.

Growing up, my earliest memories are of watching Pogles Wood and Noggin, both different worlds, both instantly captivating. Simply told and beautifully constructed, they swept you up, soothed a troubled brow and flexed a hungry imagination. And to this day, when i hear his narration, that very distinctive voice, i get a shiver of joy.

See, and learn a lot more at; http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/

Thankyou, Oliver Postgate, my childhood would've been a duller one without you.

From the Grave

Cover art to Zombie Tales #11. Out in February.