Wednesday 31 October 2012

Grand Swedes

I'm in Sweden! Which you all knew already because you read my blogs with such fervent attention, don't you? Here are the Swedish grandparents of the family I drew last week. The one on the right feeds me treats and coffee, whilst the one on the left is an eccentric mechanic who helped repair, among other things, the long colourful train tourists ride around this little beach town. He's also saved three lives and, as a child, whacked a pig in the face with a shovel. I enjoy his stories.

Monday 22 October 2012

Swedes


I'm heading to Sweden this week! For the third time, and will again be staying with this family in their lovely house, eating their delicious food and wandering around their pretty country. A rich experience despite the fact that I am a poor man scraping by on pennies and charm. Charm or pity, I forget. Either way, I wanted to show my appreciation so I surprised them with this drawing. I also bought them booze, but I thought it best to draw them in their sober state.

I actually gave this drawing to them back in Spring, the first time I went. I cobbled it together from looking at photos of their faces and the kind of clothes they wear. It's difficult to surprise someone with a drawing if they have to spend a few hours posing for you.

The second time was in Summer, and now I'm going back there for... what is this, Autumn? Winter? It's cold and I'm sneezing, whichever it is. But I'm still determined to dip into that Swedish ocean. It's so BLUE. English sea water is filthy and green, uninviting even during a warm season. So in Sweden I am getting in that water, I don't care if my own skin turns blue.

I drew other things for them on my repeated trips (if you met me once, you'd want to invite me back too) so I might share them soon, too!

New blog post!

Friday 19 October 2012


This was originally gonna be the third strip, but after spending all week drawing it I concluded; it's too long.

Now the previous strips before were the same size, but it's this week's script that was the problem. I'd say the script-writer was an ass but he's me so instead I'll say I really like the joke but I don't think there's enough to it for the dialogue to be juggled around by five guys across 8 panels.

You can probably tell from the sketches, there was gonna be a lot of mentioning of the song, lots of singing and snark. Too much. Too much wait punchline. So I had to ditch all my work at the last minute and spent the night drawing out a much punchier strip.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Armilla
























I wanted to do something a little grander, so worked on this fantastical scene. It's based on 'Armilla', a city described in a book called 'Invisible Cities' written by Italo Calvino. I'll let him explain:

"Whether Armilla is like this because it is unfinished or because it has been demolished, whether the cause is some enchantment or only a whim, I do not know. The fact remains that it has no walls, no ceilings, no floors: it has nothing that makes it seem a city except the water pipes that rise vertically where the houses should be and spread out horizontally where the floors should be... Abandoned before or after it was inhabited, Armilla cannot be called deserted. At any hour, raising your eyes among the pipes, you are likely to glimpse a young woman, or many young women, slender, not tall of stature, luxuriating in the bathtubs..."

This was something of a personal achievement. As I mentioned in the beginning, I've spent most of my time practicing drawing, not all the other stuff such as inking. This was an inking challenge I hadn't done before. SO many curvy lines. But I did it. There's a lot to colour here and a background to work out, the other thing I need practice on, so this is still in progress, But we're halfway through the week now and I didn't want to leave the update any longer.

So enjoy for what it is! I'll try to finish this week and update the blog when it's done.

Friday 12 October 2012

Armstrong Ink



My comic updated today, head over to theinfamousfive.com to read it!

In the meantime, I've been wondering what this blog's role would be whilst every other blog of mine updated with a comic and I've settled on this. Here is where you can see it in it's base form, what I regard the most important part. The line-work.

I like the third panel. I feel it's an interesting angle.

Monday 8 October 2012

Investigation


L.A. Noire. I bought it this year. The atmosphere of the game is fantastic, the makers really put a lot of effort in. But I still thought it was hilarious when the main guy picked up random crap in the house and gave it the same scrutinising glare as he would a blood stained weapon or useful clue. This is basically me as I play the game, picking up every object in a room before the 'not all objects' message comes up on the screen, which is a gentle way of saying "For fuck sake, the victim was not stabbed to death with a box of soap powder."

I deliberately made no effort to get the character looking like Phelps, I just thought the screen message was so funny it'd make a good poster regardless of whether you've planned the game or not.

Because I was going for a 'poster' look this became my first graphic piece rather than a flat out drawing of a character on white background. I don't always want to draw posters but maybe I can use graphic elements in future stuff to make 'em more interesting. We'll see next week.

Friday 5 October 2012

Cards


So here it is. My baby. Very much a gentle introduction to everyone, with more jokes and stories coming as things get going. This may be the only time I post the comic here, it'll have it's own home over at www.theinfamousfive.com

Because the comic won't be the only thing I'm doing. I still want to draw other things; heroes, villains, monsters and all sorts, which will make their home here. A blog AND a comic. Life is good. Busy. But good.

Monday 1 October 2012

Infamous Poster


This means nothing to you. But for me, it's an unveiling.

I adore comics. And the internet is a goldstorm for that medium. They're all over the inter-webbington circuits and you can read them for FREE. You can MAKE them for free. Minus the hundreds of pounds for a computer and scanner and tablet and software and internet connection but SHUSH. The point is that I am an introverted but attention-seeking escapist scribbler, making this digital age of art and creation incredible. And I'm gonna have a punt at being a part of it. However small, for however long.

These guys? They drink, they make bad jokes and struggle with the world as much as it struggles with them. They've been in my head for a while. Time to let 'em out.

www.theinfamousfive.com