Recommendations – October 2020

Lot’s to talk about and recommend this month but here’s just some of my favs from the last few weeks.

Joe Palmer – Comic book artist

Joe Palmer posted this AWESOME Spider-man fanart at the start of the month on instagram, really like his take on the character!

Criminal: UK (2019- )

Criminal: UK (2019- ) available on netflix

Missed this brilliant anthology crime series when it was initially released in 2019, love the format and performances by the stellar cast.

Cory Walker

Cory’s scatchblag blog is sadly no more but occasionally, just occasionally he drops some of his sweet sweet art on instagram.

Chris O’Halloran – Comic book colourist

(A) Jesse Lonergan, Gavin Fullerton (C) Chris O’Halloran

LOVE these warmups by Chris, be sure to check out his colours on the recent X-Men Marvels Snapshot #1 as well, spectacular work!

Ghosts: Series 1 (2019- )

Just finished series 1… I know, I know, how did I miss this? it’s been out for ages!

Almost impossible to pick a favourite character from the terrific cast, this is a must watch for fans of Horrible Histories and Siblings.

Ghosts (2019- ) available on BBC iPlayer

Big thanks to Gavin Mitchell for posting this fanart of Ghosts at the start of the month, really piqued my interest in the show.

Gavin was also a guest on the Captain Fishbeard youtube channel in September, it’s a great chat with Tom Sparke about comics, process and Mike Tyson in spaaace, well worth a watch.

Joe Todd-Stanton – Children’s book illustrator

I’m lucky to see a lot of amazing new children’s books at work but these recent titles by Joe Todd-Stanton published by Flying Eye Books really caught my eye this month. Joe posts regular sketches and illustrations on his twitter and instagram.

Deftones – Ohms (2020)

I’ve been listening to Ohms on repeat, a stonking return to the 90s nu metal production style of the bands early work.

Marco Ferrari

Italian comic book artist Marco Ferrari has been blowing my mind this month, check out his work on instagram and twitter.

Big F#@k off Worms is back!!!

Big F#@ck off Worms was one of my recommendations back in May so I’m very excited to see what Matt Garvey and J Francis Totti have in store for Petey in issue 2!

Sketches 2020

I’ve put together a 16 page collection of drawings and illustrations from the last two years, check it out below or download the free pdf.

download

Darren-Reynolds-2020.pdf (approx 6.2 MB)

Recommendations – September 2020

Haven’t done one of these in a few months so thought I’d share some of the stuff I’ve been enjoying during September!

The Breadwinner (2017) Director – Nora Twomey

The Breadwinner (2017) available on netflix

Absolutely adored this beautifully animated film by Cartoon Saloon.

Parasyte – The Maxim (2014)

Parasyte – The Maxim (2014) available on netflix

I recently finished watching this series based on the science fiction horror manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki. It’s produced by Madhouse Inc. the studio behind the first season of one punch man.

Black Widow Vol. 1: S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Most Wanted – Marvel

Black Widow (2016) #1-6 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson and Joe Caramagna

Holy crap! This book grabs you from the first page at break neck speed and just doesn’t let go! Highly recommended for fans of Chris Samnee’s artwork, the fight choreography and explosive action sequences are something else!

Fire Power – Skybound

Fire Power (2020) by Robert Kirkman, Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson and Rus Wooton

One of my favourite ongoing series atm, I picked up the prelude OGN along with issues 1 & 2 and immediately added it to my pull list the next day.

Pan Nowak – Illustrator and graphic designer

Somewhere in the future (2019) by Krzysztof Nowak

Really love Krzysztof’s work, be sure to check out his instagram!

The Hater (2020) Director‎ – ‎Jan Komasa

The Hater (2020) available on netflix

An unnerving and tense Polish drama thriller, Maciej Musialowski is fantastic as the nihilistic Tomasz Giemzo.

Possessor (2020) – trailer

I’ve been avoiding the details about this film as much as possible before it’s release. If you’re not familiar with director Brandon Cronenberg I’d highly recommend watching Antiviral (2012).

The Mandalorian Season 2 (2020) – Disney+ trailer

I watched the first season during lockdown and LOVED IT! Really looking forward to the release of season 2… this is the way.

Making Comics with Matt Garvey

Matt’s infectious enthusiasm for comics and storytelling shines through as he breaks down the comic writing process into easily digestible chunks of sheer positivity. As a fan of BFOW it’s also been fun to hear him discuss some of the characters from the first issue and his future plans for the series with cocreator J Francis Totti.

OTOMO: A Global Tribute to the Mind Behind Akira – Published by Kodansha Comics

This is a gorgeous book featuring full colour high resolution reproductions of original art by more than 80 artists, illustrators, and comics creators. There’s a preview gallery here at publisher Kondasha Comics and also a great review by Vong Yonghow on his Halcyon Realms blog.

Glenarriff Forest Park

Glenariff forest park 06/09/20

Glenariff forest has become a regular weekend walking destination for me (I’ve been 3 times in the last month). I find it’s best to get there early to secure a parking space and avoid the afternoon crowds.

Pull List – September 2020

I’ve largely been reading digital comics in the last few years, only really picking up the occasional small press printed book from creators at comic markets or through their websites. It’s really a space thing for me, there’s only so much stuff I can keep and I’ve even been selling things online to reduce my collection. With lockdown though and everything else that’s going on (insert internal screaming) the urge to visit comic shops again has been reignited for me in a big way. Newsagents like WHSmith and Eason have already closed in Northern Ireland and some other small newsagents have paused their magazine sales entirely. Comic publishers and local comic shops are taking a HUGE hit right now and it really feels crucial to get behind them in whatever minuscule way I can. With that in mind, I’ve now got a regular pull list with a LCS and thought I’d post some of the stuff I’ve been reading the last few months… it’s all great btw.

15/07/20

  • NEGAN LIVES #1 (Jul 01, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Cliff Rathburn (CA) Dave McCaig (A/CA) Charlie Adlard (L) Rus Wooton
  • OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #25 CVR A DE FELICI (Jul 08, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Annalisa Leoni (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici (L) Rus Wooton
Negan Lives #1, Oblivion Song #25 by Image Comics (Skybound)

When I heard Cory Walker was returning to draw Science Dog again in Oblivion Song #25 I couldn’t wait to grab a copy, check out that cover!

Science Dog is back in Oblivion Song #25 by Image Comics (Skybound)

22/08/20

  • FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE TP VOL 01 PRELUDE (Jul 01, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
  • FIRE POWER #1 PROMO ED FORMERLY FCBD (Jul 01, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
  • FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #1 (Aug 05, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
  • FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #2 (Aug 05, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton

Absolutely loving Fire Power atm, the process pages from Kirkman & Samnee in issue 1 was an unexpected bonus!

Fire Power by Robert Kirkman, Chris Samnee with Matt Wilson and Rus Wooton
  • FCBD 2020 INVINCIBLE #1 (August 5, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Cory Walker (C) Bill Crabtree

So excited for the Invincible animated show, these designs by Cory Walker are awesome.

FCBD Invincible #1 by Image Comics (Skybound)
  • OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #26 (Aug 12, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Annalisa Leoni (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici (L) Rus Wooton
  • BIG GIRLS #1 (Aug 12, 2020) (W) Jason Howard (A/CA/C) Jason Howard (L) Fonografiks

Lorenzo’s fight sequences in Oblivion Song #26 are something else!

Oblivion Song #26, Big Girls #1 by Image Comics

12/09/20

  • FIRE POWER BY KIRKMAN & SAMNEE #3 (Sep 02, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A/CA) Chris Samnee, Matt Wilson (C) Matt Wilson (L) Rus Wooton
  • OBLIVION SONG BY KIRKMAN & DE FELICI #27 (Sep 09, 2020) (W) Robert Kirkman (A) Annalisa Leoni (A/CA) Lorenzo De Felici (L) Rus Wooton

17/09/20

  • STILLWATER BY ZDARSKY & PEREZ #1 (Sep 16, 2020) (W) Chip Zdarsky (C) Mike Spicer (A/CA) Ramon K. Perez (L) Rus Wooton

23/09/20

  • X-MEN MARVELS SNAPSHOT #1 (Sep 16, 2020) (W) Jay Edidin (A) Tom Reilly (CA) Alex Ross (C) Chris O’Halloran (L) Tom Orzechowski
  • SUPERMANS PAL JIMMY OLSEN #1 (OF 12) (Jul 17, 2019) (W) Matt Fraction (A/CA) Steve Lieber (C) Nathan Fairbairn (L) Clayton Cowles
Oblivion Song #27, Fire Power #3, Stillwater #1, X-men Marvels Snapshot #1, Supermans Pal Jimmy Olsen #1

Head shapes

Some inking practice in clip studio paint using the real g-pen (one of the default brushes supplied with the app). The aim of the exercise was essentially to improve my digital drawing by limiting myself to using only one brush. I love the default brushes in CSP and the real g-pen is one of my favourites. This page was completed over a couple of weeks by adding a few heads at a time usually for about 20 to 40 mins.

I had the urge to colour some of these and tried out a few palettes and added some rendering.

May 2020

I’m pretty pleased for the most part with my work from the last few weeks, I tried some new working methods and I gotta say I’m really enjoying inking at the moment.

Started off the month with a #MonsterMayhem art challenge prompt. I began inking without really figuring out the structure of the horns but the colouring was a lot of fun and I even added a little noise to the background for some texture.

Kermit turned 65! YAAAAAAAAY!!! The perfect opportunity to try out Matty B’s big wet set in procreate.

I LOVE this set! there’s sooo much variety and the included overlay layers are just amazing, a real quick and easy way to apply subtle textures.

I’ve also been using this inking brush set by Juan Albarran available now on gumroad for clip studio paint, favourites so far include the main brush, dry brush and rake brush.

Brush set for textured comic book inking in Clip Studio Paint by Juan Albarran

Here’s some quick tests using the set:

Big F@#k off Worms fan art sketches…

Fan art sketches of X-365 created by Neill Cameron.

Legacy of Kain sketches.

Current lockdown mood…

Recommendations – May 2020

Write it in Blood #1-4, Deficit one-shot, Long Rain one-shot, Big F#@k off Worms #1

First up is Write it in Blood by Rory McConville, Joe Palmer, Chris O’Halloran and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. A fantastic crime noir set in rural Texas about brothers Arthur and Cosmo, two hitmen on one last job before retirement. The colouring by O’Halloran really set’s the tone, a limited palette and subtle texture throughout really gives the book an iconic look. I loved this miniseries, definitely one of my favourite titles of the year so far, Write it in Blood #1-4 is available now on gumroad.

UPDATE 01/09/20 – Write it in Blood will be published by Image.

Deficit is a surreal martial arts comedy from Joe Palmer. If you’re not familiar with Joe’s other brilliant creator owned comics such as Grind I highly recommend visiting his website and gumroad. Joe also posts amazing artwork regularly on instagram, his daily warm up drawings are all kinds of awesome!

Long Rain by Artyom Topilin is a tense and compelling adaptation of the Ray Bradbury short story that lingers with you long after reading. Simply brilliant, I can’t recommend this comic enough, make sure you grab a copy from his gumroad.

If you haven’t been following Big F#@ck off Worms by Matt Garvey and J Francis Totti, you’ve been missing out on a fun and frenetic daily comics fix during lockdown, it’s clear that both creators are having a blast on this.

Also, be sure to check out these two great comics by Asaf Hanuka and Jesus Alonso Iglesias… essential reading right now:

Drink coffee and draw

Totti (J Francis Totti) & Forpe (Darrell Thorpe) have been streaming their work daily on Twitch:

If you’ve never seen it they chat about all things comics while working on their latest projects Big F@#k off Worms & Baron and the Kat.

Here’s some fan art of the guys drawn in clip studio paint.

April 2020

#AlienDay sketches drawn in CSP using mostly default inking tools to get those nice chunky inks and colours.. that xenomorph blood sure is acidic!

April sketchdump… swamp guy, mister deaaathhh, dental dude.

Finally watched Primal!

sixfanarts 2020

Jared of OK Comics list for the #SixFanArts challenge was too good to pass up, I mean c’mon… Marv and an extinct shark together on one page! Pretty awesome!

I roughed out the basic layouts in procreate before going straight to inks in clip studio paint. I initially added some screentone but later found that greyscale shading just seemed to work better.

I really enjoyed this, a much needed distraction during the last few days.