Age of Albion: Excalibur

I've finally written a polished draft of Age of Albion. Reading through the story and updating and editing it has turned out a draft where the characters are brighter and the story is richer. It's also given me a chance to produce a raft of exciting images, something that I usually do in the first draft.

Part of Ash and Ana's quest to find King Arthur and Merlin also means they need to track down their legendary weapons.

Excalibur is a solid golden bronze sword with a simple silver edge use for slaying mythical beast. The sword itself is blessed with other magical properties that you'll just have to read about.


It's described in the book as, "The two handed great sword was very plain. The hilt had a curved guard made of gold with a rectangular piece of silver at the middle. The handle, wrapped in leather, ended in a thick gold disk with a cross in the middle. Each point of the cross had a different colour stone on it. 


"The most amazing thing about Excalibur, though, was the blade. It was about a metre long, made of the shiniest and smoothest golden metal Ana had ever seen. One side of it was trimmed in silvery steel with runes carved in it that she knew said ‘Caliburn’, the sword's much older name."

The spear, Ron, belongs to Merlin. It has the ability to change between sword and spear form. In it's native form as a spear the golden bronze spear tip is comes out of the dragon's mouth like a belch of flames. In sword form it has an unbreakable dragon stone blade (a blade forged in dragon flame).


It is described in the book as, "The sword looked much older than Excalibur, more unpolished and natural – the most beautiful sword Ana ever seen. It’s blade was made of a smooth black stone, shorter and thinner than Excalibur. A thin strip of white-gold metal ran along the edge making it look needle sharp and dangerous somehow. Both the blade and handle were carved with Pictish swirls and leaf patterns. Its guard had a large purple stone in the centre with three smaller rubies creeping up the blade. A jagged quartz crystal burst out the end of the pommel like a rocky flame."


I think this method of blitzing a draft then going back and doing my drawings as part of the redraft has produced a much fuller (and quicker) story. It's meant that I got the story down, the characters aligned. And then I go back and improve the detail and really round out the characters and places in the story.


What do you think of my take on these mythical weapons?

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Arbea or Albion

It’s been a hectic summer and early autumn. I got my UK citizenship, started a new job and just finished the run of the show I directed, Sunshine on Leith! So, now that that's all over and done with there will be a large chunk of time where worrying about the future and the show used to be. So, it’s time to turn back to my worlds of fiction!

Sold out performances of Sunshine on Leith in Edinburgh

I’ve just finished polishing the outline for Emersus Project Book 3. I also have ideas for the second instalment of the Age of Albion series bumping around in my brain bin. But which do I pick up first? What is the decision making process version of writer’s block?

One of the best lessons that I got from write a novel month last November is that, when I put my mind to it, I can turn out a fairly decent draft in a short time. So, feasibly I could just blast out Emersus book 3 and keep going. There are so many characters in Arbea that I miss and I’m keen to see how they get to where they’re going, new characters and creatures to discover and even some returning faces that I can’t wait to meet again! I’ve managed a few sketches of one of the new feline friends we’ll see in Book 3.

But, after a lovely trip to the highlands in August, I feel the call of Arthur and Merlin again. The picturesque landscape of the highlands, the misty lochs and verdant glens themselves conjure up ghosts and phantasms as easily as a haar rolls out across the shore. There are pixies and giants and were-beasts tramping through my imagination and they’re fighting to get out. And of course, more trows!

So, who wins? Well, first things first. I need to finish the edit on the first Age of Albion book, King Arthur Returns. That will be my November. It will be a year since I churned out the first draft and I’ve only made it half way through a first edit. The story is great and the characters deserve a proper showing before I move on the next anything. Then I think changing up the process and blasting out a draft of the third Emersus Project book will be in order. After that I can go back and do the drawings and character designs in the rewrite. I’m also toying with the idea of doing a new edition of Black Star, the first Emersus Project book, with new illustrations and edits that will make the story richer.

Sometimes it’s hard having so many ideas kicking about in my head. They all want attention and I can’t do it all at once. But, now that I have an idea of the road ahead I’m feeling excited for the journey. Gemmy and Sem are ready for action again and I can’t wait to properly introduce you all to Ash and Ana our new heroes from Age of Albion!

Hope you enjoy!
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Directing "Sunshine on Leith"

This year I'll be working on a production of Sunshine on Leith with Allegro, a musical theatre company in Edinburgh. I've performed in a number of shows with the company and have done some design for them, redesigning the company logo and promotional design for Sweet Charity and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

"My passion and vision is to bring the colourful character of Edinburgh to life on stage"

Sunshine on Edinburgh Castle

This time my behind the scenes work will have more of an impact on stage as I'm the show's director! I'm super excited to be working on this show. I love Edinburgh! I moved here over 10 years ago and stayed because I love the city’s vibrancy, character and beauty. It’s an amazing, inspirational city. And Sunshine on Leith is an incredible show. It's not just an homage to The Proclaimers, but to the city of Edinburgh itself and to Scottish culture. My passion and vision is to bring the colourful character of this city to life on stage.

I won't give too many secrets away about the actual production because you'll have to come and see it (18 - 22 October, Church Hill Theatre, Edinburgh). This is more about my process and how I've started pulling it together.
So, where to start with directing a show? For me, the devil is in the details. And the best way to find that out is with one of my favourite pass-times: creating spreadsheets!

I literally have a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for my life! When I'm working to achieve any goal I need to have it all spelled out on paper - what I need to do, how I need to do it and when I need to do it by. I wish I could say I grew out of needing to get straight As but actually having a progress report is something that motivates me. So, go with what works.

Scene list

For the show it's no different. Just like a painter can't paint if their brushes aren't washed and paints aren't set up, in order for my creativity to show on stage, the pedantic details need to be in place at the start. To be able to get all of the great ideas I have for the show onto the stage, I need to understand what happens when and where. I start by skimming the script and taking note of who's on stage and as many details of what props we'll need, where things will be taking place on stage, who's coming on next, costumes, sound FX, etc. Just like creating an outline when you write or making sketches when you draw, this list is the skeleton for the show that the body of the production will be built on top of.

Now that my skeleton is started I need to put some meat on the bones!

"Why don't you do the storyboards in Lego‽"

Believe it or not, I actually took a class in storyboarding and it's served me well many times through the years.

I used to draw my storyboards by hand, sketching all the figures, placement and lighting that I wanted (left). I would then construct a model set and show the cast so they begin to get an idea of the space that they'll be moving in.

This time, for fun, I constructed the model set out of Lego. Once I'd done that a friend said, "Well, why don't you just do the storyboards in Lego as well?!" Talk about a lightbulb moment!

Lego people are people too!

Lego turned out to be the perfect medium for storyboards. You have physical people that you can move around and position in the space. There was no need to worry about perspective and proportions. You can make tables, chairs and pretty much any of the props you need. And with the large variety of Lego minifigures out there you have a wide range of costumes (I did have to stop myself from spending too much money on Lego 'costumes' just for the storyboards, hence the Storm troopers representing soldiers). And, if you make a mistake or want to change a scene, you just replace all the characters in five minutes instead of a whole drawing session.

Mood board

The only draw back of doing the storyboard in Lego is that each panel isn't drawn with the right lighting and 'mood'. But, for lighting I always do mood boards anyway for discussions with the lighting designer. I find them helpful when trying to convey the feeling that I want the lighting to evoke in a particular scene. So, it was just a matter of adding these mood boards into the storyboard. People will just have to use their imagination a bit more, but hey, it is Lego after all! Do you think if the show is successful Lego will do a special edition Sunshine on Leith set?

When we start rehearsing scenes I'll bring out the storyboards to give people a general idea of blocking. Doing this from the start means I have more time to spend on getting to the heart of a scene and really building up the relationship between characters. The boards are also really useful for the company who may not have a principal part, but need to know how the show is put together and how their scenes fit into the larger whole. Nothing worse than finding out at the last minute what your purpose and placement on stage is.


How we all work together from the get-go is really important. I find doing actual scene work and workshops to be the best method to get the cast working together and learning about each other. For our first rehearsal I developed our own version of Scottish pub story telling. In the show The Proclaimer's song 'Over and Done With' is dramatised as such a story telling session. I created a wheel of 'topics' (the themes taken directly from the show + some crowd favourites). This I dubbed "Allegro and Done With".

And now that our body is built up, the structure is supported with the accoutrements that will make the show look amazing, it's time for the people to bring it to life!

Auditions are a tough process. Everyone in the company is talented and they all have a special something that will dazzle any audience. But, having the right combination of dazzle often takes precedence over individual talent. From the cast on stage to the crew and costumers, it's about how well we all work together.

I used this as a chance to get members of the company out of their seats and performing for each other. The idea was not only to break the ice, but to get people used to performing and thinking on their feet. Spontaneity is something that is inevitably needed in live theatre. And, the sooner cast get used to the idea of performing for and respecting each other, the better prepared they'll be when it comes time to hit the real stage.

"Allegro and Done With" definitely broke the ice. In fact some people's stories broke the ice, melted it down, mixed in a bit of fruit squash and served it to the whole cast as a refreshing beverage!

Hope you enjoy!
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New tattoo - disembodied forearm

To commemorate the release of my second novel 'Spirit Shear' I got a new tattoo!!

 

I actually got it a few weeks ago when I returned from Barcelona. It was an impulse 'post-holiday' tattoo (you'll never see me on Tattoo Fixers!!!) But now it's finally healed and looking great (b-t-dubs, there is no way to take a good picture yourself of a disembodied forearm so the pictures don't quite do it justice). I'm absolutely in love with it!

All of my tattoos have a deep and personal meaning to me. Several people have already picked up some of the meaning behind it; the pen being mightier than the sword. But, on top of that, it's even more meaningful because the glyph at the top of the pen is from my books, the Emersus Project series (read a bit more about the meaning in my celtic tattoos post). I got it to help commemorate the event. I've published my first two novels! That's pretty hardcore.

Yes, yes, I know it looks a bit like the green lantern logo. But it's not. However, in the world of Arbea, it is a symbol of power. I'm thinking that, over time, I might turn it into a band, having all the symbols from my books circling my forearm. Hmm... too many new tattoo ideas, too little time!

The tattoo was done by Nik Costaz (check out Nik's art, it's freakin amazing!) at Tribe Tattoo. It was great working with a new tattoo artist who made some excellent adaptations to my original design. Mostly, adding in the more delicate lines along the body of the pen and doing the pen nib in outline instead of solid black. Nik's contribution has resulted in something much cleaner and light than the original solid black glyph style. It's finer lines lend themselves to the beauty and fineness of creating.

I was apprehensive about having a tattoo that was visible all the time (except when I'm wearing long sleeves). But now that I have it it feels like it's part of me. The only downside is I can't stop staring at it and touching it (especially when it was healing)! Well, that and the Green Lantern comparisons. But I suppose that's the price of showing your art to the world. What matters most is that I love it!

Hope you enjoy!
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Nothing like a good blogging - book launch

The book launch for Spirit Shear went off without a hitch and had an amazing turnout. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and also made donations to Book Aid International. We've already raised almost £150 thanks to sales on opening night, donations and silent auction bids. Remember, you can still buy Spirit Shear online and a percentage of all profits go to charity.

One of the silent auction items was an original drawing for the book. It was a scene from Spirit Shear that didn't quite make the cut for getting into the book. But, I'd been wanting to do a finished pencil drawing for ages. I'm super pleased with how it turned out and even more pleased that it found a good home at the auction.

I've spent the last week and a bit recovering from the excitement of the book launch, filling out my citizenship UK application and slowly getting back into my routine. I now need to start working on promoting the book more and a big part of that is doing this, blogging about my work. So, here for your enjoyment is a colour digital painting version of the drawing. 

First, I created a hand inked version using tracing paper and a lightbox (mm... fancy lightbox).

Next I scanned in the line drawing. Using photoshop I added colour to create the final product. I'm getting better at using my drawing tablet but am still quite handy with a mouse when it comes to photoshop digital painting. So I still create individual layers for painting in individual parts. 

What do you think? Doing this drawing reminded me of the many comic book covers I adore that made me want to become an illustrator in the first place. I think my next side project will be doing alternate, comic book style covers for books one and two.

Hope you enjoy!
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Celtic connection tattoos

So, I've finally come up with a design that I'm pretty happy with.

It's taken several iterations. I had particular trouble with the band that will sit at the bottom. It was more trouble trying to decide how much detail and what elements would be incorporated. But, I fell back on the old troupe, 'Less is more'. 

The thing that I really wanted to get in there was the wave patter that you see bordering the triskelion. I've seen it as part of larger tattoo motifs in the circle around the shoulder or the arm. But with the complexity of the eagle and unicorn it just made the band at the bottom look messy (see earlier drafts)

 

On the left hand version I've turned the figures inward to more closely resemble the Scottish crests I've seen with unicorns gallantly framing a shield. I'm undecided on which triskelion to get (the outline version or the knockout black version). I think the black version is a bit too much given there's a lot in the rest of the tattoo already. However, as a standalone tattoo I think the black is much more eye-catching and fits in more with others that I have. 

I also want to get a stylus tattooed on my right forearm. A stylus is an ancient writing tool but is also the symbol for the muse Calliope who is my muse (and also the name of my good friend's wee bairn! She can borrow my design when she's older.) I'm dithering between slghtly more complext designs and something simple.

 

I'm a bit worried. I don't really want a tattoo that will be visible when I'm wearing short sleeves. Plus, I don't want it to be mistaken for a knife (I also realise it looks a bit like a wand from Harry Potter). The more complex designs look less weapony. And I added a fountain pen nib to highlight its use as a writing utensil. I think the one on the right is what I'm going to go for. It also uses one of the runes from the Emersus Project series. It's the glyph of Arbedusitus - a being with the ultimate power to bring peace to the world. I guess the pen really is mightier than the sword! I'm going to let the idea sit for a while. But, I have a very strong feeling it's going to happen anyway!


Hope you enjoy!
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Buy Book 1, 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
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Spirit Shear unCovered

With the launch of 'Spirit Shear' less than six weeks away I realised it was time to get a move on and get book two's cover ready.

I wanted it to be in the same style as the first book, Black Star. I think the stark silohuette of Gemmy against a bright background was quite appealing still.

Original concept art for Book 2

Book 1's cover

I think this is a nice evolution from the first book's cover. The figure of Gemmy is much stronger in stance and looks, ready for action. One book 1, 'Black Star's', cover I deliberately wanted him to look startled by the lightning, frightened by the power that was coming to him. However, now the power is literally in Gemmy's hands. He's accepting himself and is braced for what's coming next.

On the new cover he's also dressed in the garb of Rheza, a hint at some of what's to come in this story. 'Spirit Shear' is definitely more of an adventure story than the first and the cover reflects that, a spear in Gemmy's hand and a crazy Rhe'zan cloak on his shoulders. Also, we're not just glimpsing the figure through the knock out of the rune for Spirit Shear (aka magic). Gemmy is bursting out of the frame, his spear sitting above the edges coming out at us. He's not prey any more.

However, I've never been totally happy with the how the title 'Emersus Project' looked. So, I've spent more time trying to get the affect of the titles and the contrast of the design right. The background is not a solid black making the title stand out more and ditching the need for a glow behind the lettering. I've also stylised the 'Emersus Project' lettering a bit more to help match the inksplatter look of the knockout shapes. I've been planning to do a 'Black Star 2.0' at some point and definitely think a revamping of the cover as well as the illustrations and text is in order.

I also worked on the frontispiece this week. I won't give it all away but I ended up using some imagery from my drafts of the first cover. Never throw out anything!! I love this original image because it's a drawn version of a picture that I absolutely love of me standing on top of Arthur Seat in Edinburgh. That moment standing above the city was a pivotal moment in my life and this version of the cover still makes me smile. So glad I'm able to use it in a new way.

Check out the 'Black Star' cover sketches and final concept art.

Hope you enjoy!
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Buy Book 1, 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
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Tattoo too

I'm back on the trail of my newest tattoo to come. As I stand ready to get my UK citizenship I thought a tattoo that pays homage to my new home, Scotland.

In keeping with the tribal theme that many of my tattoos are I decided to go with a Pictish motif for the new work. It's also fitting as I've just spent the last year researching Celtic and Brittonic myths for the Age of Albion series.

There's not a ton of Pictish work left these days. As far as we know they didn't have a written language. Eventually the Picts merged with Celtic and Gaelic peoples to form the Scots and their distinct identity was subsumed into the 'Scots' identity and much of their artefacts were destroyed as pagan artefacts. But there are some stone carving (Pictish stones) and metal work left of their art which is where much of the modern idea of Pictish art comes from. Check out the Historic Scotland 3D scans of stones!!

I want to eventually form the tattoos I have on my shoulder and chest to grow into a quarter sleeve. The bigger pieces all have their individual meanings and combined will form their own story. The Pictish design will fit in between the Mucha floral tattoo and the Adinkra symbols on my shoulder.

As I want the tattoo to relate to becoming UK citizen I wanted to use the national animals of my home country (the US) and Scotland. They are respectively an eagle and a unicorn! Easy, eh?

frontiersofzoology.blogspot.co.uk

Well, thankfully, there are examples of Pictish animals found on various stones. This made the job of stylising the eagle and unicorn (from a horse) straightforward - sort of. I was able to use the drawings of the eagle and the horse (which I think is actually meant to be a kelpie) and adapt them.

The eagle was the easiest. It's pretty identifiable as a bird and I just needed to add more detail to bring it up to a level that I would be happy to have etched into my skin for the rest of eternity. It still took me a while to get it right and I had to tool around with the shape and lines of the bird so that it read distinctly 'eagle' instead of 'sea gull' (I loathe seagulls).

some sketches

So I spent A LOT of time drawing bald eagles and getting the curvature of the neck and hook of the beak accurate. I also wanted to add a bit of zhoosh to it incorporating Pictish triskelions.

The unicorn was a bit trickier. I didn't want it to come off looking too soft (the last thing I want is for people to think I'm a brony). I also wanted to up the Scottish factor on it. So, I decided that the unicorn, while following the stylisation of the Pictish kelpie horse, would be rearing up (as it's usually seen on a coat of arms) and fashioned after a clydesdale horse. I've also done some knotwork in the tail to add in some detail. 

The eagle and unicorn will be placed on either side of my adinkra symbols tattoo and below it I want to place a band that will go around my arm. I chose a more geometric pictish pattern as I think it will sit nicely in contrast to the more flowing lines of the animals as well as the Alphonse Mucha tattoo (see above picture). I'm not 100% sold on the swirls but we'll see. Now it's just a matter of discussing the image with my tattoo artist and figuring out placement and sizes.

I also designed an awesome kraken tattoo for a mate. He's a naval architect and wanted a classic navy tattoo. I really enjoyed the chance to design something traditional with a scene with shading and the like. Also, it's like nothing I've ever done for myself but I think it will be an incredible tatt. I've replaced the traditional roses that come on the side of such anchor tattoos with the flower of York (as he's a Yorkshireman). Now I just need to convince him to hurry up and get it done so I can see! :D

Have a look at  my other tattoos

Hope you enjoy!
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Buy Book 1, 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
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Book 2 Chapter glyphs

Now that the edits are done and the book is away to be copy editied it's time I started work on the finer details of the book.

It's amazing how easy it's been to create glyphs for the chapter titles the second time around. I'd already created an ancient hieroglyphic writing system for Gemmy's world for the first book. I've had to create a few new ones as some of the more basic concepts weren't covered yet. At some point I'm going to do a proper compendium of the glyphs and their meanings.

So, here's a peak at the content of Book 2 in chapter headings. Book 2 is definitely much more action packed than the first!

Hope you enjoy!
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Buy Book 1, 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
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