Slaying your green-eyed monster!

Here's an interesting feature for the latest Men's Health magazine. Giving men advice on how to control their jealousy... a fun project!

  

Mice for Dinner?

New art for a double page spread in a US children's magazine...

Tips Tricks & Bits!

Welcome all to the useful part of this blog! 


I'm always asked questions by young artists on the "how to" of my illustration stuff, or what I use to do this and that, how do I use my computer, what sort of paper do i use etc.
I'll be posting all sorts of advice regarding anything that I find useful, handy (low tech and high tech) or just plain inspiring for illustration, comics, design and beyond!
I've been helped along by so many generous creatives in my career that I'm hoping to "pay it forward"


Anyhow... as a warm up, here's some new tech from Wacom that looks really exciting!!

Optimus Prime

DON"T BELIEVE THE HYPE!
I bit of fun with Optimus Prime for the OZCOMICS challenge on Facebook.... I was thinking "Public Enemy" while I was looking at Russian avant-garde posters...

Zombie me!
By the talented Tom Bonin!

Jake Gyllenhaal and I share a GQ cover (LINE)!! Or my GQ comic adventure!

Well a cover line with Jake is better than nothing!

Anyhow.... this month I was lucky to get this great gig with GQ illustrating a main story "The Modern Guide to picking up" lots of fun. It included a 2 page comic and a bunch of spot illos, the ADs gave me a lot of room to move... thanks again! It's on the stands now, check it out!

X-men tattoo

Here's something I don't do much of! I was commissioned to do a Gambit "super hero squad" style for a tattoo...

Here's my original...

Thanks again to Sarah!

HARPY ACTION!

Another sneak peak of the Jason and the Argonauts comic...  more soon...

icloud piece for this months FHM
Interesting story about the next generation of computers...

"MAD" inspired cover fold for TIME OUT

Here's a very cool project that has just hit the news stands of Singapore.

The AD had a great idea for doing a MAD style folding cover... I was so excited I was gonna burst!

The idea was that the "Secret Museums" would be something worth finding.. and something worth keeping secret ...

I had no idea how difficult this would be... but I had a ball doing it!

MAD inspiration!! I use to love these as a kid!

Belated Supanova report or The day I met DAVE JOHNSON!

I know Sydney Supanova was a while ago now, but I've been supabusy and getting over the flu ... anyhow, this years show was massive! I decided not to get a table for the first time in years, and just cruise around getting the chance to catch up with alot of the local creators and friends, like Gee Hale, Stephen Ford, Doug Holgate, Anthony Calvert, Julie Ditrich, Jozef Szekeres, Tom Bonin and a bunch more talented peeps. 

Dave and me!

Hey, Dave must be a DIABLA fan!

I had my geek on in a big way, as I got the chance to meet and chat with comics/animation/design genius The Reverend Dave "Devil Pig" Johnson! I've been a HUGE fan of Dave's work since "Super Patriot" back in the early 90s, through to his awesome cover designs for Marvel, DC and Vertigo, especially his Batman Detective covers and his 100 Bullets covers (young reader may have heard of BEN 10... well Dave designed all that cool stuff too). 

He gave a very frank and funny talk about all sorts including meeting his comic idols in person... and how disappointing it can be...
Well lucky for me and all his fans - he did not disappoint, and was the one of the funniest chatty artist you could meet. I asked him to sign my copy of "Drink and Draw"... he did ten steps better!

BIG Thanks to good friend Frank Kennedy for taking these snaps!  (I was too giddy at the time to organize anything!)

AT THE MOVIES... with GQ

A small head shot of David Stratton for GQ magazine...

"Grotesque. Disgusting. You’re an animal!"

A cool project for Philadelphia magazine... and no, that's not me posing for the wolfman!

Jason and the Argonauts!

Flat out at the moment with covers, editorial, comics, and editorial comics (confused... you should be!)
Here's a tiny preview of Jason and the Argonauts!!
And Supanova news soon...

Just a little bit of wisdom!
A short interview with me, by my extremely creative friend Jodie!

Photo: Rachael Baez!

Adonis Complex FHM illustration

"The Adonis Complex isn't a multivitamin supplement but a pysch condition describing men's increasing obsession with their bodies and how we're value other traditional measures of self worth such as character and judgement less in preference for looking buff.

It's "A health crisis that is striking men in all ages," according to one Harvard professor, is backed up by experts in Australia and is being attributed to a boom in male body image issues/delusions health issues and messing up social calendars with obsessive trips to the gym."

Can you tell I spent a lot of time in front of the mirror to get the muscles right...

James (Little fish) and me! (Littlehammer)

MCA Zine Fair 2011 report

This is a little late as it's been a busy fortnight fighting deadlines and a cold arggh! Anyhow, this year's MCA Zine fair was another great show, with friendly crowds and a unseasonably warm but welcomed weekend (We usually freeze at these shows in Sydney).

Thanks go to the ever helpful Melinda Garcia at the MCA and a big congrats to my booth buddy James Shackle! He sold out of ALL his zines in less than half a day!! That's got to be a record! Thanks to all the people that stopped by our booth to chat and support the artist struggle.
I didn't get to see many other stalls in much detail but what I did get to see was extremely high quality and very creative stuff. If you get a chance to go to next years show I'm sure it won't disappoint!

Oh and of course BIG THANKS our supportive partners Rachael and Esther!! These photos courtesy of Esther.

My better and prettier half!

Super future part 2!
Super future classroom! I think class would be very entertaining... and educational!

Happy Sketchy Friday!!
Random stuff from my sketchbook this month ... mostly markers... practice, practice, practice!

ASA Comics Masterclass is coming!!
Australian Society of Authors has just announced its upcoming Comics Masterclass featuring the talented and celebrated US comics creator and graphic novelist Colleen Doran. This is gonna be so cool!!!

Super Future dining! part 1
I just love saying "super future"and typing it ...super future..super future super future super future super future...whoa!... glad I got that out of my system... anyhow... here's an educational spot for a US client... I've included the rough to show my process...

Men's Movement ???
This one seems a little strange to me...  I still think they're loony...

MCA Zine fair is coming!!
SUNDAY 22 MAY 2011, 11am – 5pm
As part of the Sydney Writers' Festival the MCA will be hosting the annual Zine Fair!
I'll be there selling my goods and sharing a table with the uber talented James Shackell!
and it's FREE admission!!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY YOU'RE INVITED!

Kinokuniya Sydney
This Saturday May 7th Kinokuniya has invited me and a bunch of other comic book creators to attend Free comic book day, I'll be selling prints and comics, I hope to see you all there!  Brings your friends!!
(Free comics...I love the sound of that....)
Kinokuniya
500 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000


Check the Free comic book day site for the list of free comics!!

Generation ALPHA

The latest illustration for FHM news page...
"As the children of older, wealthier parents with fewer siblings and more entertainment and technological options, it's likely they'll be the most materially supplied generation ever"

Men's Health illustration

Working on a cool comics project at the moment ... more on that later...
This piece for Men's Health, explains how to keep the love (& lust) alive while spending time away from your lover...

To boldly go where no girl has gone...

Just a bit of fun for my girl's birthday... I'm sure she wouldn't have minded being trapped on an M class planet with these two...

This month's FHM illo ..."Hip Will Eat Itself"

"Hipster too-cool-for-school loose trend is starting to turn on itself. Hipsters are decrying other hipsters and hipsterism. Now that they have been classified, they hate it, despite interests which primarily involve classifying everything else. They are their own punchline." 

Inspired loosely from this very funny music video... 

Art Jumble TOP TEN LIST!!

I made number 2 on Art Jumbles most popular posts! Yaaah for me!!

February's 10 Most popular posts

1. Rockstar
2. Astro Purple Ape
3. Hungry Hungry Galactus
4. Geek Love
5. Girls, Flowers, Love...
6. Kurt Cobain
7. LOVE
8. ♥ Love! ♥
9. Capricorn
10. The Dares

United Nations Super Friends!!
Sort of... I can't show the final piece till the magazine is published....more info then...

Collaborative Consumption illo for FHM

"Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid growth of traditional bartering, renting, lending, sharing, trading and swapping, facilitated by innovations in social networking technologies. Whilst it does not strictly imply an end to personal possessions – for example, swapping is merely an alternative way to ‘own’ new things - it does imagine a more fluid concept of ‘ownership’"

More Kids Publishing
This is the main illo from the previously posted job ... very fun project!

Children's publishing

For a US client... love a slobbering dog with big teeth!! 

Great figure drawing reference site!

My mate Craig alerted me to this great online resource ... I'll be using it!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!