Pin Your Colours To The Mast

...Something had to give. More and more recently it's been dawning on me that there's no way that I can continue to produce the book at the pace I've set myself if I don't find a way to compromise somewhere along the production line. And since the entire series is already written, and there's no way I'd let anybody else actually draw any of the thing, it comes down to colours. The colouring process, while thoroughly enjoyable, has been really slowing me down. As mentioned in a different post, sometimes it's ending up taking me longer than the pencils and inks on a given page combined. Which is nutty.

So long story short: I panicked. Then I asked good friend and ridiculously-talented pro colourist Jordie Bellaire if she'd have any interest in coming aboard. Jordie had long assured me all throughout the first 8 months on HPD that if I needed any help with the colouring that she'd be there to bail me out. But I was always (A) utterly determined to do the whole thing myself, and (B) afraid that she was simply too busy to take on another project. Jordie's colouring skills are in massive demand at the minute throughout the entire American comics industry, having worked over the past 18 months for the five largest US comic labels; Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, IDW and Image.

They all want her, and I've got her.

As of the second issue, Jordie will be clambering  aboard the good ship HPD to apply her mad skillz to the colours. She's aiming to take what I did with the colours on issue 1, and give them her own twist (read: improve them no end) in issue 2, while maintaining consistency of mood and palette with  the colour direction I've already established for the project as a whole. The tone and feel of the story are right up Jordie's alley, and she seems delighted to be a part of it. Jordie loves all (well, most!) of the same movies and comics that inspired this series as I do, and we're certainly more than simpatico on the page.

This is undoubtedly a good thing for the book. Simply put, Jordie's one of the best.

Irish Comic News Article

Heres a link to an article I wrote a week or two back for the Irish Comics News website. It gives a little more insight to how the book came about, and breaks down how long I spent on each element of production so far.

LINK

Publisher Update

Two weeks ago I sent the PDF of issue 1 and the pitch material to the three most progressive publishers of creator-owned material out there (in my own opinion!). Have heard very positive noises back from the first two, and have yet to hear back from the third, although apparently these guys are known for taking their time due to enormous volume of submissions. So the book is in a good place right now. Everybody who's seen/read it has offered very favourable responses, which is certainly tremendously gratifying after all the hard work so far.

Turns out maybe this thing has legs.

I had a call with the publisher that I'd probably prefer yesterday, and it went really well. So maybe some good news very soon.

More to follow!

Issue 3 Cover Colours

...aaand finally, the colours.

Issue 3 Cover Inks

Inked this up today, pretty happy with it. Colours tomorrow I'd wager.

Incidentally, that's a Deinonychus that John is wrasslin', not the more ubiquitous Velociraptor. They're very similar beasts, being from the same family (dromaeosaurids), but the Deinonychus was a little bigger, with a broader skull and bigger eyes. So there.

Irish Comics Appreciation Week: Competition Prize

The good people over at the Irish Comics News website are running a week of competitions to promote their Irish Comics Awareness Week. This is my contribution to the cause, an upcoming variant cover for one of the issues of the book starring MI6 Agent Elizabeth Huntington-Moss.
If you'd like to win the piece, simply head over here to the site and answer the terribly difficult trivia question, to which I may or may not have just provided the answer in the previous line. The line about Elizabeth Huntington-Moss.

Irish Comics News is an invaluable asset to the burgeoning Irish comics industry, with bang up to date commentary, previews, news and opinion. I visit pretty much every day to keep abreast of the comings and the goings, the haves and the have nots. I'd seriously recommend that anybody reading this with even a passing interest in the Irish scene head over and take a gander.

Issue 3 Cover Pencils

Currently working on the cover for the third issue; pencils above. Trying not to get too nervous/excited about the fact that prospective publishers are running their critical eye over my book.
Struggling to maintain my calm exterior while sweating the proverbial bullets.

Updates as events warrant...