Hello Everyone! I was doing hourly comic day yesterday, which is a a day where artists try and make a comic for each hour they’re awake. I’ve got to admit it was a bit of a struggle at parts but on the whole it was really fun and my 12 comics (yea I was only up for 12 hours) read a bit like a day-in-the-life-of.
Enjoy!
Whahey! Hope you liked them!
Until next time!
Neil
Well well well didn’t that fly in? Probably because we’ll all getting older and time moves faster for old people (it’s true an old person told me).
I think it’s pretty hard to not think back on the year on Hogmanay, my initial though was ‘okay, I worked pretty hard but could be better’ but the more I thought about it the more I was like ‘Yea, that was actually pretty awesome’ and one of the best yet for my art.
I’m just going to do a short round up of my work throughout the year, maybe you’ve seen it all, maybe you haven’t. I certainly forgot about a lot of it until I had a good think about it.
Okay! 2013 started out pretty quiet, Seven Days in Berlin had been out for a few months and I didn’t really know what to do next. Just before Christmas I’d met my now girlfriend Coralie, which you can read all about in my soppy comics short.
We’ve been dating for about a year now which is a new record for me. At the start of February I got a call from Kerrang magazine to do a strip for them about Oli Sykes and a dinosaur, I did my best and I reckon it turned out pretty well!
From February through to May I don’t really recall much, from the looks of my Tumblr and Twitter it seems I was just farting about drawing animals and stuff. Anyways, in May me and Coralie went to Bordeaux, I did start a travelogue about this but it’s yet to be finished. Here’s a page.
In truth, the whole time I was there I was writing out another comic in my head. One about space and Astronomy, so when I got home I locked myself up for a few weeks and produced this.
The Amateur Astronomer’s Journal. Of all the comics I’ve made myself I’d say I’m most proud of this one. I’m rarely happy with a finished piece but I feel I really hit what I was trying to get across with this.
The book went out to some really great reviews and before I knew it, it was July and I was doing Glasgow Comic Con. The book got nominated for 3 of the SICBA awards and a good time was had. Next was the Edinburgh book festival where I met a wealth of amazing creators. I even got to meet one of my heroes Chris Ware (sheepishly gave him a book) and took notes on his and Joe Sacco’s talk.
September rolled in and me and my long time pal Alan Campbell did an exhibition called ‘A Sinking Night’ at Little Ox gallery. My main piece was a comic about a girl falling asleep. You can see the whole thing here.
Throughout October me and Colin Bell (Jonbot vs Martha dream team) got hard at work on a new comics and in November launched this bad boy.
Dungeon Fun is one of the biggest things I’ve ever worked on, it’s full colour and 32 pages and took a lot of work and a few all nighters to get finished. But it was well worth it. It’s reception was fantastic, it got tons of fantastic reviews and recently got featured in Comic Book Resources top 100 comics of 2013!
We took Dungeon Fun to Thought Bubble in Leeds where it did super good but I reckon my highlight of TB was meeting so many like minded creators and individuals in the comic world which although at first was a bit daunting was overall inspiring and motivating.
Shortly after returning from Leeds me and Campbell Miller (How to be a Ghost dream team) Launched how to be Suave.
In the same vein as ‘How to be a Ghost’ it’s short and sweet with a few chuckles and a nice overall message to boot.
And that’s pretty much it! I’ve done loads of one-off pictures and mini strips which can be found on my Tumblr or Facebook but that’s all the main bodies of work covered.
looking back I think I did as well as I could have, 3 books in a year ain’t bad. And although I don’t really feel comfortable talking about money, it’s worth saying for the first time in a long time I feel comfortable (of course this could all change). I can remember some grim moments a few years ago of being a regular at Govan job centre and having to borrow money from my parents to pay for bus fares etc. Well now I’m doing okay, earlier in the year I cleared off my debts and I just bought my parents a lovely weekend away, amongst other things, for their christmas.
Next year I hope to make even more books although calm down a bit on the other kind of work I take in to spend more time with my friends and family and very understanding girlfriend.
Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a fantastic new year!
Neil
Hello everyone!
Hope you’re all well! I have some exiting news, I’ve made a new comic!
Here look at it! It’s about the wonders of falling asleep.
As it is a fairly short comic so it’s not being released in book form but rather a snazzy lithograph poster! It’s fairly big (A2) poster of fantastic quality and comes signed and numbered for £8. The edition is 250 and once they’re gone they’re gone forever :0.
Posters can be ordered from my shop right here!
Thanks for reading!
Neil
They are just the best. You’ll remember a while ago I was posting about tea, well now I’m back and I’m going to give you a run down of my favourite biscuits in no particular order(there’s no way I could make a decision on my favourite biscuit).
Right let’s get started. Bring out the biscuits!
The pink wafer is a classic addition to any biscuit tray although it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s sweetness and unusual colouring has been known to divide biscuit connoisseurs the world over. What I will say is DO NOT DUNK THIS BISCUIT it just wasn’t built for that.
The bourbon. A classic. A favourite. I’ve yet to meet someone who says no to a bourbon. It’s tasty, it’s chocolatey and it’s dunkable. Goes well with tea and coffee. Solid choice.
The jammie dodger is a delicacy. It’s basically a biscuit sandwich with jam in the middle. Highly dunkable and also quite filling! A rare treat.
The taste of childhood parties is the taste or a party ring. They’re bright and eye catching as well as sweet and surprisingly dunkable. On the other hand they can be fairly sickly after a couple. On the whole a nice nostalgic treat in moderation.
The chocolate digestive is a sturdy, reliable biscuit. It’s always there and will never let you down. It’s highly dunkable although don’t put it in your tea for too long (I suggest 1-2 seconds no more). Great with tea or coffee or even as a stand alone snack. This should be permanent feature in anyones biscuit selection.
Last but by no means least is the finger cream. It’s a bit like an elongated custard cream except with a vanilla filling. It’s nice and light as well dunkable, but only just.
Well I hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite biscuits!
Do you have a favourite biscuit? let me know in the comments!
Neil
Hello!
Just a short note today,
I recently finished illustrating a book called ‘A Student Abroad: The Ultimate Guide.’
I’m not making this up look.
The book itself is a lovely little guide to travelling/working or doing a placement abroad. I know it’s aimed at the student market but I’d say the information in there would be handy to anyone embarking on a big trip.
The book is available here or from most Glasgow universities.
Until next time!
Neil
I wouldn’t really call myself political. I mean, I have my views and opinions obviously but I don’t tend to voice them over the internet or put them into my pictures. But to contradict myself entirely I’m going to vent a wee opinion right now: I don’t like political cartooning. You know the one’s you find in newspapers with caricatures of politicians and celebrities? I have no love for them whatsoever. Although there is something I hate even more and that’s guns. I hate all the guns. Every single one, especially people behind guns that think it’s okay to shoot other people.
So I made a comic presenting a possible alternative.
Now, I should point out here that I don’t approve of violence towards animals. However, if I could choose between animals being shot or given a fair fight I’d much rather they were able to defend themselves.
Until next time!
Neil
Tea eh? Tea is just great.
I love tea so much I made a comic about it.
That right there is a prime illustrated example of the beneficial effects of having a nice cup of tea. Personally I like coming home, sticking the kettle on, getting that tea bag in there (with a sweetener as I am an old lady) putting the hot water in and squishing the hell out of that tea bag like there’s no tomorrow before putting in a wee bit of milk. Y’know sometimes a nice cup of tea just sorts you out. That’s what inspired the comic actually. Maybe it’s the effects of being somewhat a caffeine addict but after my first sip I tend to feel a lot more focused, relaxed and ready to do whatever work I’ve got on that day.
Jings I could bang on about tea all day, actually nah, I’ll just draw another picture. I actually used real tea to illustrate this.
Actually the other day I got an offer to exchange one of my pictures for a box full of tea from Chash Tea and as you can imagine I wasn’t going to pass that up JUST LOOK AT IT ALL.
I’ve sampled most of these and I have to say this is grade A tea which has been superbly made with care and attention.
Right I’m off to put the kettle on.
Next week: Biscuits.
Neil
It’s been a bad year for astronomy and space fans. It doesn’t seem that long ago I was blogging about Neil Armstrong and now I’m back to talk about Patrick Moore.
I guess it’s one of life’s great truisms that you don’t know what’s there till it’s gone. I grew up listening to this big wise owl of a man talking passionately and eccentrically about all things spacey. In my late teens I had bought a telescope. I devoured Sky at Night episodes and bought the magazine every month to see what planets were where and how to find galaxies or what meteor showers to look out for. I was also a big fan of Patrick’s articles, which at the same time were intriguing and informative but more importantly they were accessible.
Most of all he had a fantastic talent for inspiring people (probably every British astronomer for the past 50 years) and talking about space in a way that almost made it magical.
I just wanted to say thanks, in the only way I could.
Right I’m off to have a wee bubble.
Neil
Hey Everyone hope you’re all well!
Today we’re gonna have a wee art lesson, I’m going to show you how I make my watercolour illustrations! Now keep in mind, the way I do things is not gospel it’s just how I like to do things and it works for me. Today I’m going to be drawing my favourite X-man Gambit!
Now obviously in my style it’s not going to look anything like that but you’ve got to work with what you got and we’ll start by pencilling out our gambit.
It’s pretty rough but I quite like the pose so let’s stick with it. Next I’m going to ink over the pencils, I use fineliners (or sometimes brush ink) in this case I’m using a 0.1 pen. I sometimes also use a 0.3 for thicker lines. These guys are good pens.
Okay so I’ve penned over my Gambit and rubbed out the pencil from underneath with an eraser, he’s looking like this.
Now it’s painting time! I’m using mid range watercolours, Windsor and Newton Cotmans to be exact. Brush wise I’m using a small flat head for colouring in and a small round for finer bits.
Also for a palette I’m using a plate covered with tin foil, basically so I don’t have to clean it (when I’m done I just put the foil in the bin).
Now, with watercolours there is a strict rule of working from light to dark, following that rule I’m going to colour my Gambit in with the lightest shades possible. You can do this by really watering down your colours.
I should also mention I keep a scrap of paper handy to test my colours before they go on the page. I should also mention I’m using 300gsm watercolour paper.
Right, now it’s starting to take shape I’m going to start adding in darker tones. It’s very important at this stage to choose where the light might be coming from in this illustration, hypothetically the sun is to Gambits right hand side so his left hand side will be darker. While I’m doing this I sometimes use a damp brush to blend the dark and light tones.
He’s looking sweet! Now I’m gonna add a very thin and watery layer of pink around his cards for effect. I’m also gonna make him say something funny.
Now you might not be as funny as me but that’s totally cool, everything in time. It is also very important to SIGN YOUR WORK or it’ll turn up on reddit with 2 million views and no credit (true story). Right once it’s dry it’s time to scan it in.
In photoshop I might brighten it up with the levels adjustment and that’s it that’s how I do it!
Thanks for reading I hope someone out there found this helpful!
Take care!
Neil.
Hey Everyone hope you’re all well!
I’ve got some excited news! I’ve made a new book! AW YEA.
It’s called ‘Seven Days in Berlin’. It’s a journal style travelogue comic that follows on (or can be read on its own) from ‘Nine Lines of Metro’ my travelogue of Barcelona.
Let’s see what it looks like.
It details all the stuff I got up to while at the same time telling a nice story about exploring, friends and Berlin. There also might be a little romance but shhhh.
Just for you I’m going to show you a few pages, here ya go.
If you’d like to see what happens in the other 37 pages stop by my Etsy shop and get yourself a copy! It’s only £4($6) or you can buy the travelogue set for just £6($9). All copies come signed by me with a little message!
I worked super hard on these and it’s little things like buying a comic or some cards that keep me going as an artist and enable me to keep doing what I do so please have a look.
Thank you!
Neil.
Neil Slorance 