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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Buy 'Black Star' or 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
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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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Buy 'Black Star' and 'Spirit Shear' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

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
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

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
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook

Year end Letter 2015

So, 2015 started out with bags of promise and hope and ended less than spectacularly. The reality is, the goals and ambitions I had for myself didn't come to fruition. I didn't get my book published, my grandmother died in March, another family friend died in October, I had about six job rejections and my current job is still stressful, I had lots of tonsillitis, I got stuck in an elevator on my birthday then John and I broke up the following week. Then the last four months of the year were exhausting after the break up, having to move and find a new flat mate, two more bouts of tonsillitis and then recovering from the subsequent tonsillectomy and post operative infection.

Thankfully a friend reminded me that achievements aren't the only good thing in my life (and the pay off sometimes takes ages). And, while I didn't get the things I wanted I still did lots of incredible fun things that I'm quite proud of. So, now that I've got the bad things out of the way, here is my quick and dirty end of year recap of what was good.

Things I did this year:

1. I did an awesome job in January looking after John when he hurt his back even though I was terrified.
2. I delivered lectures at Napier University.
3. Finally finished my website harrydozier.com 
4. I went to my first ComicCon in Newcastle with my mate Steve. It was epic!
5. I successfully threw TWO back-to-back surprise parties for a friend.
6. I went to my first silent disco and had an epic 'club kid' costume
7. I sang in the 25th Anniversary concert of Showcase on stage at King's Theatre for the first time (even though I had tonsillitis. BOOM!)
8. I got TWO solos in the Showcase fall concert and survived my worst nightmare of singing in front of the curtain with no back up!
9. I moved into a bigger flat.
10. I got taken to Harry Potter Studios in London for my birthday.
11. I rode lots of rollercoasters at Drayton Manor. 
12. I went to Birmingham for the first time.
13. I was elected to be on the board of the charity, Equality Network.
14. I presented an award at Scotland's first LGBTI Awards and gave Karen Dunbar an inhaler.
15. I met Lorraine Kelly and Nicola Sturgeon!
16. I started an LGBT Network at work and helped start the disability network.
17. I wrote TWO novels this year.
18. I fully illustrated one of those novels.
19. One of the novels was written in under 30 days for write a novel month. And it's quite possibly my new favourite.
20. I started learning German.
21. I got to attend my mate Lindsay's wedding.
22. I bound some books.
23. I discovered that the highland coo is my spirit animal.
24. I started working part-time at Barony Bar and I love it.
25. I'm tutoring part-time and my student is really talented and it's super rewarding.
26. I had the sweetest Halloween costume when I dressed up as Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy.
27. My favourite comic book character, Iceman, came out (I made that happen with my mind)
28. I got my tonsils out and recovered from it like a BOSS!
29. I learned to make lots of things with eggs and cooked lots of amazing food.
30. I learned to make eggnog and made it at least three times over the holidays.
31. I have lots of amazing loving friends who looked out for me when I was really down.
32. I had a really great Christmas.
33. I drunkenly bought a waffle maker.

So, 2015 wasn't everything I expected or wanted. But, it many ways it was better than I could have hoped for.

What do I want for 2016? I guess more of the same. Here's to an equally amazing 2016.

Harry


Hope you enjoy!
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Buy Book 1, 'Black Star' on Amazon in the UK and US
Check out Themo on Twitter and Facebook