Ben Newman Art

SHOP!

2012-01-31T05:11:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! I've finally got around to getting an actual shop where you can buy prints and stuff without having to have a long winded email exchange! Although you can still do it that way if you like.
The new shop is HERE! And on the sidebar.
To celebrate the grand opening I'm going to do a super limited print run of Pikaball.

I'm only doing ten A3s and one A2 so get them while you can. I wasn't planning on doing any, but I did a test print and it looked so damn nice I decided to do a few!

Unfortunately, as I warned at the end of last year, I've also had to jiggle the pricing around a bit. No massive increases, but it's still a shame; the cost of printing and posting was just going up and up!
In other news, the huge chunk of work I had to get done is starting to get a bit more manageable, so I should be back to posting more often in the not too distant future.
More art soon!

Hattie Watson

2012-01-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

Busy busy busy! Things are still mental at chez Newman, but I felt guilty about not having put anything new up here for aaaaages, so here's a quickie speedpaint of the lovely Hattie Watson. Drawn from photos by Mr. Glass.

More soon!

more sneaky peek

2012-01-12T14:31:00.000-08:00

Another painting I'm working on

I'll post some finished stuff up soon, promise!

Sneaky Peeks!

2012-01-03T04:31:00.001-08:00

To welcome in the new year, here are some sneaky teasers of the batch of paintings I'm currently working on for the Spring Fever 2 show in March. These were taken with a camera phone so sorry for the blurriness of some of them!

WAAAA!!

2011-12-23T05:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates recently; I know they've been few and far between. I haven't even had time this year to draw a proper Christmas pic! So I scribbled this rubbish quickie...

The upside to the lack of posting is that in the new year there will be a TON of new content going up! I'm working on a load of cool stuff at the minute; Stuff with Hustler, Belladonna, various galleries, Electric Pick, Girls and Corpses, more Cinema Sewer work and loads more, and the blog'll be the first place I post stuff as soon as I am able.
So, happy holidays to everyone and see you all next year!

Christmas

2011-12-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

I meant to draw a christmasy themed pic, but somehow it ended up turning into Bikini Bible Chan from the superb mecha fetus blog.

Also, just a slightly pushy reminder that prints and postcards make excellent presents and are available from my print site! Unfortunately, some time in the new year I'm going to have to raise the price of my prints; the cost of printing has been steadily increasing and I've been holding off a price hike as long as possible, but it's starting to get silly now.
The good news is that you've still got a chance to pick up some art at the still low low price before that happens!

I know I always say that I'm really busy, but at the minute I'm really REALLY busy, and here's why:

I'm taking part in the Spring Fever II exhibition at the Alternative Cafe Gallery next year, along with David Palumbo and Italia Ruotolo, which means getting six oil paintings finished and shipped to America asap. Exciting!
I've just finished all the underpainting; I leave my paintings to dry inside boxes, so that they don't end up caked in dust and dog hair from my filthy Labrador. I'll post more details about the show nearer the time.

Lastly, I've had a picture included in the excellent Erotic Fantasy Art vol 2.

Check it out if that's your bag (which I'm assuming it is if you're looking at my blog)
Ok, think that's it for now. More art soon. Merry Xmas!

2011-12-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie...

A proper update tomorrow hopefully.

Christina Hendricks

2011-11-09T05:51:00.000-08:00

Eww, that last picture was horrible! I couldn't stand having it staring at me from the top of the blog, so I've done another hopefully better pic to knock it down a couple of pegs.
I read recently that the lovely Christina Hendricks was interested in playing WonderWoman, and it sounded like a fine idea to me.

In other news, Cinema Sewer book three is finally out! I know I've gone on about CS before, but I really can't recommend these books highly enough, I love em! Go and buy CS3, and if you haven't got them already buy books 1 and 2 while you're there!

More art soon!

2011-11-04T07:10:00.001-07:00

doodle doodle doodle
I'm working on a few oil paintings at the minute which are eating up all my time, but I'll post quickie stuff up here whenever I can....

Maybe I'll post up some progress shots of the paintings; it's going to be a while before they are done!

2011-10-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Just a quickie to keep this thing rolling along...

Black Balloon

2011-10-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Mexico City! So no updates for a couple of weeks I'm afraid.
Here's a quick speedpaint of Gemma Ward from Australian film "Black Balloon" to keep you going till I get back!

Lots of cool things on the horizon which I should hopefully be able to post about soon!

2011-09-24T06:29:00.000-07:00

The new issue of Bizarre should be out on the 27th, featuring a five page article about MEEE!
If you're interested in reading any of my stupid ramblings go and check it out. It also has a full page image that I did for them which is now available as a limited run print from my print site.

The only downside is that they used a hideous photo of me in the article in which I look like a potato, so ignore that bit!
I'm working on a few different images at the minute, but none of them are anywhere near completion... I'll try and post some WIPs up soon though.

2011-09-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately; I've been a bit under the weather for the last couple of weeks.
Until I feel well enough to put pen to paper again, I've put together a couple more postcard sets for sale:

Available now from the print site!

busybusybusy

2011-08-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

I've been really rammed with work at the minute so I haven't got loads to put up this time.
First is a small detail from a bigger pic I finished recently for a feature in Bizarre mag; I can't show the whole thing yet though!
Second is a stupid little doodle that I liked initially but then when it came to colouring it I lost interest, hence the unfinishedness!

I should be able to do a more substantial update next time hopefully.

2011-08-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

Just a quicky speedpaint from excellent vintage slasher film Pieces

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have already noticed the new FB page link at the bottom of the sidebar. Go and like it if you feel the urge. Or not. Whatever.
More art soon!

Woop! Woop!

2011-08-01T06:00:00.001-07:00

It's the sound of the sex police!
Just a silly sketch I spent longer on than I should have on.

I got the test prints back from my printers (Oxford Giclee) for Civil Disobedience, and they look great! Even if I do say so myself...
I've learnt from experience that you really get what you pay for when it comes to printing, and these guys are top notch. Photo:

Finally, I found a few renders of characters for Timesplitters Future Perfect on an old computer. Here's one of JoBeth Casey. I might post more up in the future if the mood takes me...

Ornella Muti and Linnea Quigley

2011-07-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Two women who made a massive impression on me when I was a kid. First, Ornella Muti as Princess Aura in Flash Gordon. This pic isn't from Flash but from Oasis of Fear, but she is still gorgeous!

Second, Linnea Quigley. I blame this scene from Return of the Living Dead for my live-long obsession with thigh-high socks/leg warmers.

And some process comps:

::EDIT::
camwhoring alert!
I had to get a picture of me where I didn't look like a complete melon for a magazine feature I've got coming up, so I thought I may as well post it up here as well; even though doing it makes me feel a bit ill! I hate having to do promotion; I need a patron who'll just pay me to draw whatever I like no questions asked...

Polish (I think!) website JoeMonster stuck some pictures up of mine, so;
witam nowych zwolenników!
And here's an excellent example of Ornella Muti in action. It's 90% the voice I'm sure...

More art soon!

Civil Disobedience

2011-07-07T05:40:00.001-07:00

I finally got around to tidying up this old sketch "Civil Disobedience" I did a while ago ready for printing (I've been meaning to for ages!)
Now available in the print shop!

Also, a little sketch of a "War-Wagon" from The Sisterhood for Cinema Sewer

Geeky Girls

2011-06-25T10:20:00.001-07:00

Geeky girls are great.
Just a quick sketch...

Fallout and Front

2011-06-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Here's the final version of the Fallout pic. I spent far longer on this than I meant to!

Anyone who's been round to my house knows that nestled in my magazine rack next to Bizarre and the occasional New Scientist they can usually find the latest issue of Front. For the people who don't live in the UK, Front is sort of a lads mag, but instead of being filled with pictures of WAG wannabees and ex- big brother contestants in bikinis, it features loads of alt models covered in tats, features about music festivals and lots of articles/interviews with cool bands. So right up my street basically.
I might be being mental but look at these two pictures scanned in from the most recent issue, put side by side with some of my pics.

Weird right? Fronts interest in art seems to mostly be limited to things printed on T-shirts or skateboards so I doubt it's anything more than coincidence. Although if anyone reading this does happen to work at Front, drop me line!
More stuff from excellent photographer Zoe Mcconnell can be found here.

Lydia Darling

2011-06-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

I've just finished a piece for the multi-talented cabaret artist Lydia Darling.

The print will shortly be available in the print site, in the meantime why not go and check out her spanking new website and be amazed at her huge array of skills!

Fallout

2011-06-09T06:11:00.000-07:00

I may have been playing too much Fallout.
::edit:: update

looks crap at the minute, but it's still in progress...

Oil Painting Again . . .

2011-05-25T01:36:00.000-07:00

I've started trying to get back on track with my painting again; I did a quick one a while ago that was horrid, and it made me lose all motivation (easy to do when you've got a massive backlog of other cool stuff to get started on!). But I finally made myself pick up the brushes and try and get back into it. Here are a couple of pics, both done from photo reference.
This first one is just a warmup/practice done over a couple of days:

This one is a still unfinished attempt to get more realistic colours going on rather than the monotone approach I'd been doing previously. I'll post up the finished version when it's done.

Hope you like!

2011-05-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

Another pic for Cinema Sewer, this time of Megaforce.

Reader Matt kindly sent in a photo of a tattoo he had done of my Nina Kate pic:

This Is So Wrong!

2011-05-12T01:04:00.000-07:00

Some of my large framed pics have found a temporary home at the aptly titled "This Is So Wrong!" exhibition at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green. If you're a Londoner head on over, there is tons of stuff by other great artists as well!

Candy speedpaint

2011-05-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

A speedpaint from the largely forgotten 1968 film Candy. Given that it stars the stunning Ewa Aulin I'm not entirely sure how I ended up sketching Walter Matthau, but rest assured I'll rectify this shocking ommision at some point in the future!

2011-05-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

I did another little interview on the excellent carmenicadiaz.net (sort of NSFWish).
I'll try and make sure I get some more art up here soon as well rather than just loads of posts about info!

2011-05-04T01:40:00.000-07:00

Sweeeet!!!
Got an small writeup in Juxtapoz online, going by the title they've given it I imagine it came via HorrorSleazeTrash. Thanks BJS!

::edit::
Wooot!!
And a thing on Pinup and Cartoon Girls! I'm all over the interwebs today!

HorrorSleazeTrash

2011-04-26T02:53:00.000-07:00

I did an interview and a header pic for the good folks over at HorrorSleazeTrash.
Go and check it out!

2011-04-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

I was thinking to my myself today "you know what I haven't drawn in a while... A honking great robot!". This speedpaint is in no way derivative of Ashley Wood and I will take legal action against anyone who says it is.

Also, I very kindly got sent some photos of a huge tattoo of my pic of Missy Malone.
Cheers Nick!

2011-04-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I broke my leg and ended up stuck in hospital for a while, and my mum started bringing me copies of 2000ad to read. When I saw Simon Bisleys Slaine it was a revelation for me. I'd always liked to draw but hadn't really thought too deeply about where I was going with it or what the possibilities were, and here was a guy painting these ridiculously beautiful comics with guys turning into monsters, demons all over the place and gorgeous warrior women with giant boobs. Needless to say I started drawing a lot more from that point on.
The last thing I read of his (and Kevin Eastmans) was Fistful of Blood, a western about a mysterious naked woman fighting a load of vampires all rendered in pencil.
Speedy fanart ahead!

2011-04-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a little bit of prompting from xEmilx I've finally got round to finishing the squid king pic "Tales of the High Seas". Now available in the print shop!

And heres and animated process gif because they always seem to go down well. Let's see how long it'll be until photobucket removes it!

This following pic is one I finished at the end of last year but I've only just got round to putting it up. It's a bit more graphic stylee than i normally go for but I think it works pretty well in this context, even if I do say so myself! Also now in the print shop.

More soon!

2011-03-29T01:59:00.000-07:00

I recently did some artwork for blues/rockabilly/country band Burning Condors.
You can download the £3 EP here, but if you want to get the actual CD you'll have to go see them in person!

2011-03-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

Robin Bougie has posted up an review he wrote about "The Legend of the Orgasm Bike" featuring a couple of illustrations by yours truly. Go check it out here. (slighty nsfw)
And if you've got some spare change burning a hole in your pocket, go and buy some of his amazing products here, so he can afford to keep sending me cool films to draw pictures of!

2011-03-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

sketchy sketch sketch

angelz of anarchy!

2011-03-07T23:56:00.000-08:00

An old sketch that I reworked for local roller derby team Angelz of Anarchy

2011-03-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

The latest amazing issue of Cinema Sewer is out now! You can find out more here.
Here are a couple of my pics that should appear in some future issues:

And for a bit a colour; a speedpaint of the lovely Maga.

Thanks for all the nice comments in the previous post! Much appreciated.

Grrrr

2011-02-23T00:29:00.000-08:00

I'm afraid to say that you can expect to see less updates on my blog in the future; why? Because someone at my work looked over my shoulder while I was drawing at lunchtime, made an assumption about what they were looking at and complained to Human Resources that I was drawing "sexual violence".
It's an accusation I've had thrown against me before (and I'm sure I will again) and it never fails to annoy me for one simple reason; I don't draw sexual violence! I will hold my hands up proudly to drawing perverse, weird and occasionally twisted art, but all fictional parties involved in my pics are always doing so consensually; If anything it's normally the women being the instigators!
I personally think that some people (women AND men) have issues with women being portrayed as people who want weird sex and that only men have strange fantasies, which is patently not the case. When this type of person sees an image in which a woman is (for example) getting it on with a giant squid, they immediately cry "rape!" no matter how much the woman is obviously enjoying herself.
Anyway, just to prove my point, here is a collage of women crying, screaming, angry, sad and being abused...sigh :(
The upshot of this whole episode is that I can no longer draw at work, and because whoever complained did so anonymously rather than to my face I have to go around wondering who has such a twisted opinion of me.
But don't worry! I'll still be drawing and posting filthy femmes and perverted pics, just not at work :P

Rant over!
more art soon.

2011-02-18T06:03:00.000-08:00

lunchtime speedy of one of my favourite characters from one of my favourite films:

2011-02-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

Nearly finished this one after having it hanging over me for ages.
Little teaser:

The danger of playing too much silent hill

2011-02-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

Is that you end up doodling silly stuff like this...

::edit::
okay, I've bowed to popular pressure and taken down the alligator woman pic... instead, here's a detail of the still ongoing three pigs picture:

Also, I recently did some illustrations for Bizarre magazine for an article about a man (true story!) who had a "relationship" with a dolphin. The relevant issue should either be out now or in the next couple of days so go and buy yourself a copy to see the rest of the pictures.

Other news: I've been finding it a bit tricky to keep track of who's who in the comments because there are a few different people posting under "anonymous", so I'm going to disable the ability to post anonymously. Sorry if it causes you problems!

Teen Angels WIP

2011-01-28T06:08:00.000-08:00

::edit::
mini update...

My day job has been eating up all my time recently so I haven't had much chance to draw.
All I've got to show for the past couple of weeks is this Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels pic, but I can't decide if it's worth finishing or not. Any opinions will be considered!

Pam and Zlata speedpaints

2011-01-13T10:35:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of quick speedpaints this update. The first one is of the lovely Pam Grier and the second is of the astounding Zlata.
I could draw Zlata (and I have done) over and over and over again; she makes perfect reference material! You can check out her website here:
Zlatas amazing contortion website!

Here's a few grabs from the process of this speedpaint: I decided to start off with some fairly funky colours to hopefully give the final image a bit more punch. Whether it worked or not is dubious but it was fun to do.

2011-01-10T05:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite features of Blogspot (which I only discovered recently because I'm a bit of a technophobe) is that it has an inbuilt stats tracker which means I can follow some of the traffic which comes through here and see where it's come from.
I was having a little nose around a couple of days ago when I saw I was getting some traffic from a Timesplitters forum, where someone had posted up a link to my blog.

As some of the people who read this blog already know, I was the lead character artist on the three Timesplitters console games. I probably designed 80-90% of all the characters across the 3 games, built and textured around 60-70% of the models and gave approval on all the rest.
I thought I'd stick up a few old designs for any TS fanboys to have a gander at - These are all pretty old now mind, and I'd just barely begun to get to grips with digital painting so apologies for the poor quality.

oh yeah, and here are some of the lovely things they were saying about me on the forums :P

"my opinion on the 'artist' is that he's a bit of a nutter. The majority of his 'works of art' are nothing more than glorified graffiti, the likes of which school children have been drawing on the desks for years...they usually grow out of it when they're around 11 though, not try to add to it and label it art."

"[a] gothic, erotica artist who seems to have a fixation on female genitalia and rape."

"I don't care if he calls it "art" or not. Anyone who would spend their time making stuff like that, especially in that quantity...There's something deeply wrong with them."

"maybe he's just sexually frustrated"

Needless to say, me and my missus had quite a good laugh about all these.
More art soon.

2011-01-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

First post of the New Year!
And yeah, it's Leela... from Futurama...

I realise I'm not doing myself any favours in the "I'm not a massive geek" stakes, but what can I say, Leela's hot!

2010-12-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

last one before 2011...

2010-12-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

2010-12-21T05:35:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-06T01:56:00.000-08:00

I've decided to put together 5 sets of postcard sized prints, head over to my print site to check out the full set contents and prices etc.

They'll make excellent stocking fillers for any perverts you know!

2010-11-25T06:01:00.000-08:00

Another pic from a screen grab, this time of the gorgeous Ornella Muti in Oasis of Fear.

2010-11-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Robin Bougie of Cinema Sewer very kindly sent me some dvds and asked for some illustrations to go along with the reviews he's going to write of them. This one's for Miss Nude America, although to find out what hells going on in it you'll have to either watch the film or buy the next issue of Cinema Sewer when it comes out!

This is the first pen + ink only drawing I've finished in about 5 years!! Twas good fun.

Also, Robin is offering an excellent Xmas bonus pack of FOUR dirty comics for a low low price!
Check out the bumper deal on Sleazy Slice here. For an idea of what's in store for you in the comics have a look at Josh Simmons NSFW Cockbone.

ok, enough selling stuff, more art soon!

Church Property

2010-11-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

What do you get if you mix a nun, Nicole Coco Austin and Gemma Arterton?

I used more ref than I usually do with this image, and it turned out pretty well if I say so myself!

I'm trying something a bit different than normal with the sale of this print; there will only be TEN A3 prints available and one A2 AP print. They're going to go on a first-come first-served basis, and once they've gone, they've gone!
Check my print site for price info.

2010-11-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

Another quick sketch:

And a big plug:
I was recently lucky enough to get hold of a copy of Cinema Sewer book one by Robin Bougie, and I loved it so much I've been going on about it to everyone! Here's some blurb to give you an idea of what it's about...

"never-before-seen interviews, rants, comics, hard-to-find classic movie advertising, and graphic illustrations by myself and a host of my talented friends from both the comic book and animation industry. Regardless of whether you’re is just discovering the world of classic porn, horror, and exploitation movies, or a long time fan from the days when the drive-ins and grindhouses reigned, you’ll find plenty to get excited about, gleefully sloshing around in the filth of the Cinema Sewer!"
If you get it from Robins site he'll do you your very own hand-drawn image in the book!
Go buy it!

2010-11-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sketchy sketch sketch...

2010-10-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

Well, sketchathon turned out to be more drinking, eating pizza and chatathon, but some sketching was done, and it gave me a chance to look through picks awesome sketchbook which left me sick with envy and put my feeble underused sketchbook to shame! Although it has made me more determined to make better use of mine in the future...

And then; thursday morning completely plain boring old calf, Thursday night; Blam!

An epic battle of cheerleaders versus zombies taking place on my leg!
Pick did an awesome job and managed to get this whole thing done in 8 hours (ish)
Unfortunately that means no certificate for me :( I'm fairly certain I couldn't have lasted the required 11+ hours though!

London Sketch Meetup

2010-10-26T01:29:00.000-07:00

::edit::
sketch meet up is on! Meeting outside the main exit of Angel tube at 7pm before going onto an as yet undecided pub. If you can't make it for seven, check Picks blog for more up to date info nearer the time. Here's a handy Newman-spotting guide:

Hope to see you there!

:edit:
lunchtime sketchy:

A couple of bits of news for you:

Electric Pick is on one of his super-covert spy missions in London, and the plan is to have a meetup at some point this evening for sketching/drinking, so anyone who is interested can come along as well! just bring yourself and a sketchpad!
We haven't ironed out the details yet but it'll probably be somewhere near the Angel around sevenish; I'll post up more accurate info when I have it.

Secondly, I was asked by amazing tattoo artist Joe Capobianco to submit some pieces for his peepshow pinups at hope gallery.

The show's still running so if you live near there go and have a gander, loads of cool artwork on display!

2010-09-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

Hello again!
I recently got asked by Bizarre magazine to do some illustrations for an article about pony play.
The brief was "sexy but humourous", so just the kind of stuff I love doing! Here are a couple of example pics, but if you want to see the rest you'll have to buy the magazine (although you should be buying it anyway cos it's great!)

2010-09-15T02:12:00.000-07:00

Oil painting.
Techniques and skills passed down from master to apprentice over the course of centuries, encompassing some of the most beautiful, revered and inspiring art ever created.

Three paintings in, and I'm drawing dirty little minxes with a glint in their eyes.
There is no hope for me.

NSFW version when you click:

detail:

2010-09-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

I've finally managed to find some time to start trying to learn how to paint.
Just baby steps at the minute (hence the monochrome), I'm going to concentrate on just learning how to push paint around before I start in on colour mixing etc.
Here are a couple of oil paint sketches from photo ref:

From a photo in a fashion mag; my very first (ever!) finished oil paint sketch

This one is from a photo of the Swedish lovely Christina Lindberg. I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out. probably about 3 hours work.

Don't worry though, i'll be back to drawing pervy stuff soon!

2010-09-01T06:07:00.000-07:00

I've decided to try and get back into non-digital painting with actual paint and stuff, and as part of that process I'm reading the excellent Alla Prima by Richard Schmidt (thanks to Jake for the heads up)

One of the (many!) things he talks about it trying to get a painting right from the get go, painting each section correctly as you go along. One of the benefits of this (he says) is that you can stop at any point and you'll have a technically correct painting. As I normally work completely differently than this; scribbling about initially and then slowly building up and improving as I go I thought I'd give this method a try. I think it can only really apply when drawing from life/reference, as unless you can perfectly and correctly picture your final image in your head before you begin then you've got nothing to paint!

Obviously this is still digital, but I'm at work so what can I do!

::edit::
done a bit more work on this one:

2010-08-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

another quickie...

2010-08-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

I watched Drew Barrymores "Whip It" last night...
Tough girls are so badass!

2010-08-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

After a couple of hours spent mucking around with this film ref image, I think I've actually made it worse than it was before! Just so I don't feel like it was completely wasted time though I'm putting it up here anyway a lesson to myself not to over-fiddle.

2010-08-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

Another lunchtime speedie from film ref. I'm not too happy with this one so far, might play around with it a bit more if I get time.

2010-08-09T06:03:00.000-07:00

I've gone back to working on this one for a while...

2010-07-30T06:06:00.000-07:00

2010-07-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

secret garden party here I come!

2010-07-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

Here's an update on three pigs picture.
It's pretty much just straight rendering from here on out, so no more explanatory text I'm afraid! By this stage I'm doing things intuitively (but not always correctly!) so it's quite hard for me to break it down into useful info... sorry!
anyway, here's the art so far, still got a hell of a long way to go...

2010-07-16T02:22:00.000-07:00

Just had some work featured in the superb online magazine Carne.
It's a free downloadable image heavy mag with loads of cool work from artists and photographers.
Go and have a look!
carnemag.com

and another speedie:

2010-07-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

and another one....

2010-07-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

Lunchtime quickie from a screengrab. Just under an hour.

2010-07-01T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello again

STAGE 4 continued:
When I got to the stage where I was happy with the sketch of the four central characters I created a document with the dimensions I wanted (I normally paint on a canvas roughly 5000 x 3000 pixels in size) and pasted them in. Then I spent about an hour just moving and scaling them around the page until they were sat in a space I liked, which ended up being fairly central.

STAGE 5
I hate doing backgrounds, I find them really dull to paint compared to characters, but in some cases you just can't do without them. In this painting quite a lot of the "story" is going to be told by the background (house blown down, bath broken etc.) so I've got to put a bit of thought into it. Firstly I drew a load of rough and quick directional lines and circles over the image marking wear the viewers eye flows around the page, and some other lines where I WANT it to flow.
The picture below is a little bit misleading because it looks like I drew the outline of the buildings/furniture etc then shaded it in, when actually it was the other way around. I slapped in some very quick tone using just the direction lines as a guide, the aim being to define and emphasize the characters. Once that was done I went back in and scribbled some rough outlines of a broken house over the blocks of tone. The main thing to point out I suppose is light pigs = dark background dark wolf = light background; this was so neither faction was more prominent than the other but both stood out against their respective backgrounds.

Having got that out of the way (and because I find backgrounds so tedious!) I went back and started working up the outfit of the wolf. I wanted her to have a sort of military/ringmastery vibe. I internally debated for ages on wheter or not to go fully nude; I normally try and avoid it if possible for a number of different reasons which I can't be bothered going into right now. In this case however the wolf just didn't look right with pants on; I like the brazen-ness it gives her character to be (nearly!) fully dressed but still essentially naked.

Then I started throwing some quick and dirty colour in. At this point I nearly threw my wacom pen done in digust and washed my hands of the whole horrible mess. Sometimes things just don't go the way you want them to! I gave myself a bit of a break from the pic and worked on some other stuff for a couple of days.

A few days away gave me a better perspective of where I was going wrong, and I went back in and started tweaking colours. This is a bit too brown/purpley at the minute, but compared to the monstrosity above it's a masterpiece!

Most of the tweaks from now on will be fairly self-explanatory so that's pretty much the end of the written portion of this run through I think. So now when I say "I did a quick sketch and then started colouring it" this is an approximation of the process that goes on. Hope it was interesting!

This is the second pic I did for Bizarre magazines editors page of one of their staff members.

2010-06-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Just found out my Missy Malone pic made it to the cover of the excellent Milkcow Magazine!

2010-06-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I realised today that while I sometimes post process gifs and WIP shots, I always neglect the most important initial parts of a drawing. I've just started work on a new fairytale picture and I thought this would be an excellent oppurtunity to rectify that omission. So without further ado, here we go!

STAGE ONE: THE IDEA

I can't really give any pointers for how to get "the idea" in the first place, as it can come from any number of places; something you see in the street, something you read in a book or watch in a film, or something that just suddenly occurs to you. In this case, my missus said to me "why don't you do a picture of the three little pigs?" and immediately I got a couple of images in my head - a sure sign that it's a good idea!

The next bit unfortunately doesn't have a lot of documentation because most of it is going on my head; pondering situations, scenarios ,positions and compositions etc. I finally half settled on the idea of three "pigs" (cute pink curvy blonde women) who had just been having a lovely bath when the evil "wolf" (tall, athletic scary woman) blew their house down. I considered making the wolf both a big nasty Wolf or a scary man, but as the pigs were going to be really dominated I thought it would be a bit rapey, so went with a woman instead.
During this process I'll normally make a few scribbled notes and doodles on whatever paper I can find lying around. Here's one I scanned in:

All the writing (apart from "dinosaur", I've got no idea where that came from) is stuff that I thought might make good reference or prompts to remind of ideas so I don't forget.
At one point I was thinking of drawing one of the pigs still in the bath, but decided against it eventually. Here are the doodles:

STAGE TWO: INITIAL SKETCH

This is where I actually start the drawing proper. I liked the general composition of the doodle in the first sketch, so I scanned that into photoshop and redrew it in slighty more detail. If you look closely you can see the "cuts" in the image where I've grabbed a section of it in photoshop and pulled it around to a postion I like.

At this stage I'm still not entirely settled on anything, just doodling around the image trying to get shapes I'm happy with. It generally involves putting each character on a separate layer in photoshop and scaling them around, changing limb positions and so on. Once I've got a composition I think will work and an idea of how I want the final image to look I'll move onto the next stage.

STAGE THREE: REFERENCE GATHERING

I should say that I don't actually think about this process in stages, I'll just do it as I find necessary. I might get reference first, or not at all. Sometimes I go straight into drawing in Photoshop and skip the doodling stage altogether. I'm just writing it out this way because it's a general approximation of how I work and makes it easier to read. Okay, so, stage three.
This is the part where using all the ideas, sketches and notes I've got so far I'll start googling for images that might be useful. This can range from images that might be good for anatomy to stuff that might have the "look" I'm aiming at for the final finish. For this image I ended up with a ton of stuff ; old master paintings, disney images, pinup photos, nature photography and more. I probably won't use half of it but even just looking for it is useful because it helps solidify in my head exactly what I want the picture to look like. I normally keep all the images separate or paste groups of them together in one image (ie "wolf", "laying pig" etc) but for the purposes of demonstration I've pasted a few of them over the sketch so you can see the relevance.

STAGE FOUR: GETTING ON WITH IT!

Now's the time when I stop procrastinating and doing all the things I do to distract myself; "accidentally" looking at porn when I'm reference gathering, writing process essays that no-one will ever read and anything else I can and will do (unintentionally normally; I LIKE drawing!) to delay actually getting started. Just straight drawing from now on! Using all the initial ideas and all the reference I've gathered I'll start tightening the loose sketch up and trying to fix any composition and anatomy issues. For example you might notice that the previously standing pig is now kneeling. That was because I wanted her head at a certain height for the composition, but she just looked too short and stunted standing up so I got her on her knees. I also pulled out the laying pigs arm a little to balance the image and tweaked the pose of the wolf a little to make her appear more arrogant.

So that's where I'm up to so far. All this is still up in the air though, and I'll keep pulling the poses and composition around right through the whole process. One thing that really is invaluable and I do it A LOT is flipping the image horizontally. Seeing the picture the other way round will often make me notice mistakes that I hadn't otherwise seen.

Ok, that's it for now! I'll post more as I do it. Hope that was interesting enough and I didn't ramble too much!

2010-06-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

For a while now I've been working on a portrait of the stunning Nina Kate. She's a British clothing designer who runs her own company Jane Doe Latex and does modelling as well.

And some details...

Hope you like!

2010-06-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

Readers of Bizarre magazine may or may not have noticed that I've been doing some illustrations of various staff members over the last couple of months for the editors page. Once the relevant mags have been out for a while I'll post up the images so non-readers can have a look too.

Here's the first one, the evil Dr. Blackthorn!

2010-06-05T01:16:00.000-07:00

A bit late notice I know, but if anyone is in Bath on Sunday swing by the Fringe Arts Bath street market in Saw Road where I'm going to have a stall. Come and say hello; any blog readers will get a discount on purchases!

2010-05-17T05:56:00.000-07:00

"Okay April, so there were four turtles that fought crime, and they all learnt martial arts from a mouse? Oh, sorry April, I meant a rat of course. More Thorazine please nurse."

Poor April O' Neil...

other news this post: Violet Blue did me a very nice write up on her awesome blog. Thanks!

2010-04-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

2010-04-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

more B Movie sketching...

2010-03-29T05:22:00.000-07:00

Seems as though the annual Japanese rope bondage festival has rolled around again!
More info about the event can be found here. It's starts on Fri 2nd of April and runs until Mon.
Here's the piece I just finished for it:

And some detail shots

And then some in progress shots. I did this one a bit differently than normal simply because I was pushed for time, so I did a much more finished line version before moving onto the colour to speed up the process. I would post up an animated gif, but photobucket is being a pain at the minute so I guess it'll have to wait!

2010-03-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Whew, finally finished!
I've been working on this pic for burlesque performer extraordinaire Leyla Rose for what seems like forever! A bit of a departure for me this one; I don't normally use so much colour!
I really like how it came out though.
Now available for sale!

And some detail shots.

::edit::
fixed a couple of minor issues with the anatomy. Thanks to Matt Dixon for pointing them out!

2010-03-17T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I'm back from Antartica finally - I've got a load of pics I'm going to post up but I've got to organise them first. In the meantime here's a print that I did for my wife for Christmas. It's actually a redraw of a picture I did a couple of years ago that I thought could do with sprucing up a bit.
Now available for sale!

2010-02-12T05:05:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty busy this month, and I'm going to Antartica next week so I thought I'd better put something up even if I haven't got anything finished. I've been mostly doing work I can't show, like some more art for Belladonna and some concepts for Warren Speed, but here are a few work in progress bits and sketches that I can show:
1. A pinup I'm working on for the amazing Leyla Rose
2. I've been fiddling with this sailor image on and off for ages. Maybe one day it'll be finished!
3. Trying out colour schemes
4. The process gif of the engine driver piece; I did this one a little differently because it would have taken me too long to work out all the perspective on paper,so I built a rough 3D model of the train interior to draw over instead.

Lastly, the Aliens Vs. Predator game (which I did character work on) is coming out soon , and it's pretty good fun. If you're into games why not give it a go; there is a free demo download available at the minute.
See you when I return from the frozen tundra!

2010-02-02T05:01:00.000-08:00

I thought it was about time I spread the love a little and called out a few of the blogs that I really like and check regularly. If you've got a few minutes go and check them out! This won't be an exhaustive list because I'm too lazy, but I'll probably do another list soon mopping up all the blogs I miss this time...
In no particular order:

Tales From The Old Country
The art blog of Milenko Tunjic. Some great sketches with a lot of style.

Daily Peril
The art blog of Bill Presing. Fantastic pinup cartoons.

Free Planet
The news/information blog of Mike Philbin. You might not agree with everything he writes, but it's always pretty interesting.

Mathieu Reynes
Another mind-bogglingly good cartoonist.

Port Out Starboard Home
The art blog of Aly Fell. He doesn't update that often but when he does it's worth the wait.

Gorilla Artfare
An art blog feauturing a ton of amazing artists. Updates often with loads of variety.

Historietas Perversas
Possibly my favourite blog. The collected covers of Oscar Bazalduas Mexican comics.

Andy Council
The blog of Bristol artist Andy Council. Lots of cool stuff here.

Rebeca Puebla
Great art from Rebeca Puebla. She only seems to update every 4 months or so unfortunately :(

Electric Plog
A fantastic and prolific artist. Well worth a visit!

Ok I can't be arsed typing anymore bye.

2010-01-28T05:55:00.001-08:00

2010-01-20T05:56:00.000-08:00

A couple of WIP's...

2009-12-21T05:13:00.000-08:00

Last update before 2010!
I was sick of seeing that crappy christmas scribble at the top of the blog, so here are a few crappy sketches and unfinished stuff instead!

See you next year!

2009-12-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder; If you live in or around London and are about on Sunday, head over to the Resistance gallery (details in previous post) and say hello. I'm offering a discount for any blog readers that turn up; if you say to me that Titus sent you I'll give you £1 off any postcards (normally £4) and a WHOLE FIVER off any prints!
Pretty generous if you ask me...

If your not buying anything swing by anyway and say hello, entrance is free and they'll be some cool stuff around.

See you there!

2009-11-25T05:06:00.000-08:00

Resistance Rising returns with an awesome one day art market
Resistance Gallery is proud to announce 'Resistance Rising', underground art market & exhibition features over 20 international artists which starts at midday till midnight on Sunday 13th December 2009 at Resistance Gallery .

More updates and info on the facebook and myspace pages below:

Resistance Rising facebook page

Resistance Rising Myspace page

2009-11-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

Hello again!

I met burlesque superstar Missy Malone a few weeks ago at an event in Cheltenham, and here is what came out of it!
I'm actually really pleased with this picture, which is pretty rare for me. Hope you like it too.

2009-11-10T05:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, I think I'm going to call this one done!
I did this for the Bizarre competition coming up soon, but it's an idea I've been thinking about for an age.

::edit::
Looks like I was a bit premature; made of couple of small changes.

"Family Business"

And here's the process gif:

2009-11-05T15:04:00.001-08:00

woot, 100 followers!
thanks Flo, and everyone else who's following!
update coming soon.

2009-10-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

I'm working on two fairly big (time-wise) pieces at the minute, and I'm finding it really frustrating that I never seem to get finished. So I knocked out a quickie to cheer me up:

I always prefered Velma to Daphne . . . What that says about me I don't know!

2009-10-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

Chimeraworld #6 is now available!

"In the near future, the world awakens to the corporate threat of the New World Order: a leaderless resistance defeats the global elite. Stories from Alex Severin, Tina Starr, Paul Pinn, Andrew Hook, Danny O'Connor, James A. Stewart, Arley Sorg, Robert Guffey, Sheri Fresonke Harper, Justin Oldham, Thomas Henry Dylan, Mitchell Warren, C. C. Parker, Jeff Drake, Tim Lieder, Aaron Polson, Scott M. Sandridge, John Walters, Peter Diseth, Kevin James Miller, Richard Marsden, J.W. Ocker and You The People. Edited by Mike Philbin."

Head over to Lulu marketplace to snag yourself a copy.

2009-10-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

I've not got loads to show at the minute because I've been pretty busy, but I don't like leaving this blog too long without an update. So here is a W.I.P. detail of a pic I'm working on at the minute.
Hopefully it won't take me too long to finish!

2009-09-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

2009-09-15T05:57:00.001-07:00

2009-09-14T05:48:00.001-07:00

2009-09-06T01:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the two images I did for the horror film Sweatshop.
I enjoyed doing these A LOT, they were great fun and came out really effortlessly. Some drawings really fight me and can be frustrating till the end, but then others just seem to work almost without my involvement!
I love film, Horror and scifi in particular, so this really was a pleasure. I'm thinking I might do some more horror-themed stuff in the future, fake posters and the like.

anyway, here are the pics