The girls are back in town

So, as the novel is careening towards it's end I've gone back and consistency check names, places, etc. One of the biggest gaps I noticed was that I hadn't named Gemmy's sisters. They were referred to simply as 'B' and 'L' which are my older sister's initials.

Much like Gemmy, I'd just carried on writing referring to their letter and as the characters began to take shape, so did their names. It's been a while since I did some character drawings for the book and I realised it would help bring things into focus to take the writing forward.

Bringing their faces into focus has really helped define and fully thresh out their personalities in writing as well. Here are the sketches of the girls next to their finished drawings.

I introduce Ilamatä (Ilä  for short - pronounced 'EE-ley'):

  

And Lauta (pronounced 'l-Ow-Ta'):

 

Ilä's name comes from the Aztec goodess, Ilamatecuhtli, who created the stars. But it is also a nod to her developing powers. Lauta is based on German for 'shout' as she's a very boisterous character. Also, she often speaks for Ilä who is mute.

I actually spent time drawing pictures of my wee niece to inspire the facial features for the girls. Ilä looks most like what I imagine she'll look like when she's ten. Though, I think, if she ever came home with a haircut like Ilä's her mother would scalp her, hop a plane to Scotland, then pummel me! The haircut was inspired by my youngest sister who always had a short cut (more function than fashion I think) as a little girl. Lauta is the wild child but that's why I wanted to keep her hair long - think, Summer Glau, prima ballerina meets action hero.

Enjoy!
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Associating with ducks

I like to think of myself as a digital Bansky* so designed a logo for a social group called 'The Laughing Duck Society'. The group is named for a former Edinburgh pub called... The Laughing Duck. What do we ducks stand for... well, it's a secret.

It was a giggle manipulating a duck to have a smile. I'd been experimenting with making comic book images of photographs for my Queen Elizabeth comics and thought it would work well since 'massaging' the features of the duck left it with a surreal look to begin with. I think the cartoonish finish works well combined with the 'clip art' belt. 

I used the font, 'Felix Titling', because it's reminiscent of the font used for one of my favourite films, 'Dead Poets' Society'.

The motto, 'Ridere cum mei frater est vitam' means 'To laugh with my brothers is life'... I hope. If not, I blame my high school education and Google translate!

Quack!
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* The logo was not commissioned for the group, they may not have liked it, probably didn't need or want it,  other people might find it strange and superfluous, so that's pretty much why I did it! Sadly, like Bansky, they seem to like it despite my anarchic intentions. Blast my conventional awesome!

Queen's PR

Everyone is raving about the Queen Elizabeth II's cameo in the Olympic opening ceremony with James Bond. However, before that, she AND Prince Phillip were happy to endorse my rugby team's 10th Anniversary Book launch. Liz is reputed to have a wicked sense of humour so I think she'd enjoy them...

Enjoy the launch posters.

My favour part was playing with photoshop affects to create a comic book images of photographs. That and editing in funny elements into the Prince Phillip photos. Although, I'm pretty sure J-Biebz and that NED are  actually in P-Phizzee's posse.

Enjoy!
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‽ Marks the spot

In addition to being an illustrator and writer I, a proud bibliophile, also bind books as a hobby. As my binding (and avid collection of papers and bookbinding cloth) has increased to a 'proficient' level I decided it was high time that I get my very own maker's mark. Remember the interrobang? Well, meet the themobang!

This beautiful brass handled letter is a finishing tool used to engrave letters and patterns into book covers and spines. I'm hoping to get a full set of handled letters at some point for customising the books that I make. I'm also itching to get my hands on some gold leaf!

The tool itself was created by Kevin Noakes of Bookbinding Designs. He's a crazy talented guy and I can't wait to get more tools from him. If you're looking for a custom tool get in touch with Kevin. Not only is it well-crafted he was soooooo quick and professional.

I studied binding at the Owl & Lion Gallery in Edinburgh under Isobel Ting. She is wicked cool and my books are not a patch on hers. If you're looking to learn a new skill, even just as a hobby, I highly recommend her courses. Or if you want a handmade journal, get thee to the Owl & Lion!

Enjoy!
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Walk on the wild side

Here are some sketches of Polin Gulsse one of Gemmy's classmates.

I actually did this drawing last November but was hemming and hawing about a name for him. His name originally was 'Marte Jemp' and then I realised I had about five characters with 'M' names. It wasn't until I was chatting with a mate (who we call Pol) that I realised Pol was actually the perfect name!

Pol in the book is one of Gemmy's classmates. He's incredibly enthusiastic, an excellent fighter and a bit of a class clown. He's obsessed with Rhe'zan culture and has adopted the haircut of Rhe'zan warriors (yes, he looks a bit like a jedi padiwan). Similar to how academics have hair and chin tufts, warriors sport a pony tail. Pol has also shaved his head so that he has a tuft of hair at the top similar to how a Rhe'zan mane naturally sprouts and an earring. He attends the military academy but is part of Gemmy's endo class.

You can see Pol in all of his butt-kicking awesomeness in my post 'New and Improved'.

Enjoy!
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New and improved

I've been on a writing spree and Chapter 13 is finishing up nicely so I've taken some time to update my blog - not just adding posts but tricking it out with a new look. I'd finished the 'chibi' drawing of the O-Peel characters a while back and I'm not sure why it took me so long to realise that this perfectly done landscape illustration would work well as the masthead of my blog.

Here you see the main characters in their colourful RGB splendour: (L to R) Pol, Mercy, Sem, Gemmy, Nareth, Gravander and Mhetli.


The image features the first finished drawing of one of the book's characters, Polin Gulsse (Pol for short). He actually crops up in the book a lot and is one of Gemmy's pals. I have some proper sketches of him that I'll post later on with a bit more detail about his character. 

Hope you enjoy the new look of the blog and stay tuned. I've lined up a few posts that have been hanging out in the back room of the site that I'd just not gotten around to finishing since I've been on my writing spree.

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