Merry Johnmas one and all!

Ho Ho Ho

Snatter's Elves

The other day Dave Bulmer asked if I'd draw some suprised looking elves for his advent calendar.

I kinda got carried away...

Episode IV: A New Job

So, yeah, on Monday I had an interview for a job as Senior Science Tech at Cathedral School in Wakefield. It was not fun to prepare for (I had to give a 5 minute presentation on My Understanding of the Health and Safety Issues that need to be Considered in this Role, see NOT FUN) and I stumbled quite a bit when it came to the actual interview. However, somehow, they ended up offering me the job! I was in the process of taking one of our ratties to the vets with Kat at the time, so I told them I'd have to think about it because I had a lot on my mind right then, but after they offered me the same money as I'm on now, but term-time only, and with far less travelling I couldn't really turn it down.
We shall just have to wait and see what the new year brings, but until then there's always CHRISTMAS!
Criminy, only 10 days to go! I'd best get my arse in gear!

Cats and Dog

I'm glad my sister doesn't read my blog because otherwise I wouldn't be able to post these pictures I've done for her and her husband of their pets until after Christmas! She knows she's getting them (asked for them specifically, including the green backgrounds) but I still want to surprise her. Surprises are awesome.

I've tried to do something completely different from my usual affair using Open Canvas, not sure how well it's worked out, but it was fun to try :)

Panic Stations!

Oh man... I've been working on a bunch of pictures for Christmas presents and also a SECRET PROJECT recently, and time is getting a bit tight now, so I got up nice and early yesterday to get some digital painting done and DISASTER! My trusty Wacom Graphire 3(which I think I've had for about 6 years now) just would not work. I spent hours updating drivers and browsing for solutions to no avail, so I had to bite the bullet and got Kat to give me a lift to (the evil) PC World in search of a replacement.

After a bit of perusing I was torn between a cheap Bamboo Pen, for cost efficiency in this period of much spending, or an Intuos 4 S which had £20 off but at £179 was still not cheap...

Needless to say I plumped for the more expensive but ever so nice Intuos and all was well. I just have to let go of my dreams of a 3DS and Mariokart 7 for a while longer...

Steampunk Rabot

I've been working on some pictures of Rabot and Chad (who I've realised I haven't posted any drawings of on this here blog yet), based on an idea I had around this time 2 years ago. Man time flies...
Anyhoo, this hasn't got anything to do with that per say, but it is Rabot and with some quickly hashed out steampunk stylings to boot (well, he's made out of copper and brass and there's steam... plus GOGGLES. It must be steampunk if there are GOGGLES, right?)

Thought Bubble

Wow, what a crazy weekend. The Thought Bubble festival convention was back at Saviles hall and the Royal Armouries in Leeds again, so yesterday me, Kat (go and Give Yourself a Scone) and John "Jobby" Haworth all made the trip up from Wakefield on the 110 bus, at the ridiculously early time of 8:45AM. It was supposed to be 8:30, but buses being buses...

It's a great convention full of great people, and unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so I go NO PHOTOs, but we got to meet the delightful Timothy Winchester (or TIMCHESTER) again, and I bought some prints and things, including a kickass Link from the new Skyward Sword game by Abby Ryder.

Also, for the first time ever, the convention was over TWO days this year! Today was a bit weird because I went on my own as Kat had work, and Jobby was over in Sheffield. I'm absolutely full of cold, and I had massive social anxiety so apart from following the aforementioned Mr. Winchester around like a lost puppy for a bit I was on my own not really talking to many people/anyone (with the notable exceptions of Jon Lock and Nikki Stu)

Anyways, the main reason I made my way back there in the cold and fog this morning was because they were announcing the winners of the Northern Sequential Art Competition, which I managed to get an entry in for this year (just!)

Thanks for the title John

I really wasn't expecting anything, the field of entries was awesome, but I came away with 3rd place in the Over 18s category, winning me a bunch o' stuff and also my comic appearing in the Thought Bubble anthology next year! Excuse me whilst I do a little dance before collapsing.

The stuff I won

Right, now I'm off to draw Angela Lansbury for Angela Lansbury Week, and you should too. I'm sure The Timchester would be most appreciative.

More Halloween!

If my costume wasn't enough, here are a couple more pics! Woooo!

Zombie Katherine:

Brains...

 Totoro pumpkin:

Halloween!

Happy day late halloween everyone! Hope y'all had fun and got lots of sweets :)
Anyhoo, here's my costume from this year - from work in progress to finished. It took me about 3-4 weeks to get together, and must have totalled over £50-60 overall. So much for making it easier and cheaper this year...

Piranha!

Oh well, I'm pleased with how it turned out, even if the head is a bit oversized (I wouldn't have got it on otherwise!)

Totoro!

More D&D pictures

This time it's a bunch of NPCs the party have encountered (or at least were supposed to encounter) so far.

Erandil Zemoar (creeped out the ladies)

Malareth (now beheaded)

Faren Markelhay (didn't get to appear yet)

Traevus (shifty dwarf in a heap of trouble, also not supposed to be so stupid looking...)

I did them all in OpenCanvas5e, mainly to play about with the tools and to give the players something interesting to look at and help fire their imaginations. I'm quite happy with the sketchy-lookingness of it all.

Bonus Pic!

Wales, D&D and Elemental Cheese

Wow, it's been like... a couple of months? How are you doing?
Though I've not made my internet presence felt for a while, I have, at least, been fairly productive :)

I've finally got a game of D&D up and running with Kat, John, Helen, and Lee, and we've had a few sessions now, despite having had a few weeks off because I was away in Wales with Kat (more about that later).  It seems to be going well, I've got a lot to learn about being a good DM though, and I feel I need to engage some of the players a bit more. Lee seems to be getting right into it though, and his character, Rangu, has a tendency for the insane (setting fire to a table full of flasks of volatile liquids in a necromancer's lab and trying to leap 20 feet from a table onto a bookcase to name just a couple of instances)

ANYWAY, onto the productiveness! I've drawn some pictures of the characters in the group which I've used to make minis (laminated and stuck in little card stands) for use in the game. Which I will post pictures of when I actually get round to thinking about taking some.

These first three pictures we done as a colaboration with Lee, who came up with the rough sketches and designs, which I elaborated on:

Rangu, Human Mage

Ellie Halfpenny, Halfling Fighter Paladin

Fallon Nor'hi, Elf Warpriest

and the next one was an excercise in drawing Kat's character on my own:

Harriet Havenborn, Human Thief

She's supposed to be pressed up against a wall, about to look around the corner, but for the sake of clarity I decided against proper backgrounds (the texture was from a tutorial in making battle maps by Jonathan Roberts, which I found at http://www.newbiedm.com/, here)
I want to draw some proper scenes with them all in at some point when I have the time :)

As previously mentioned I also recently spent two weeks in Wales with Kat, which was awesome. Spent a week camping in Llanwchllyn just south of Lake Bala (or Llyn Tegid), which was really nice. Had a ride on a steam narrow gauge railway up the side of the lake, went for walks, had awesome food at a local pub, went on the lake in a deflating dinghy (and Kat swam in it) and rescued a sheep at one point.
The second week we spent in Pembrokeshire, in a cottage in village called Solva, with Kat's family. That was also fun, and the weather pretty much held out all week, so we got to go to the beach a lot. I got tonnes of photos (which I may post on flickr at some point when I get round to sorting them out) and did a couple of small watercolours:

Solva



Traeth Llyfn beach

 I wish I'd had the chance/willing to do more actually. I need the practice!

Also, on monday, I went to London with John and there we me up with Timothy Winchester! He bought us lunch and ice creams and a lovely day was had by all!
Here's a photo of those two stood in front of a giant M&Ms shop that was too scary to go inside

Fan-Art Friday #15: Kirby Sketches

I'm back, with a couple of Kirby sketches I've just doodled up because I really needed to post something!

Fighter Kirby is my favourite :)

In other news: I've become obsessed with D&D 4th Edition (despite not actually playing it properly yet...) and I've discovered I like dice!

Fan-Art Friday #14: Wizard Week!

Toda is a bit of a cheeky Fan-Art Friday because I didn't technically draw this for today, I drew it for Timothy Winchester's Wizard Week!

Embiggen Me!

In other news, Fan-Art Friday may be updated a bit sporadically for a few weeks because I'm working on a comic with my friend John

Fan-Art Friday #13: Samurai Jack

Long ago in a distant land, I, Ben, the shape-shifting master of darkness, spent 3 hours trying to sort out a wireless network bridge to get the comp in the bedroom connected to the internet...

I failed...

Here's a rubbish samurai jack watercolour!

It was a bit of an experiment because I thought I'd try and not pencil any outlines first! I'd done a rough sketch on a scrap of paper, but just went straight in and painted this. It's not turned out great, but I learned a bit from it :)

Fan-Art Friday #12: Ramona Flowers

Another last minute Fan-Art Friday! This week I have been busy doing sketches for a COMIC, that I'm working on with Jobby the Job :)

I wanted to draw a lady today, because I (generally) suck at drawing the fairer sex, especially trying to keep them in my style (which is hard enough to pin down at the best of times). Anyhoo, after a few failed attempts at drawing the lovely Amy Pond (suggested by my even lovlier girlfriend Kat ^_^), I sketched this pic of Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2

Brian Lee O'Malley has excellent skills at drawing characters of both sexes in a consistent, expressive style and (despite being a bit of a latecomer to the whole Scott Pilgrim thing) his books have been a massive influence on me.

Fan-Art Friday #11: Rincewind

Didn't think I'd make it in time today but Hah! Look!

Anyhoo... I'm too tired to write a post right now so I'll do that tomorrow (that's not against the rules!)

G'night!

:update:

It's Saturday Morning (who's gonna play with me?) and I'm feeling much more awake! Also, it's Free Comic Book Day today!

So, yesterday's Fan-Art Friday picture was everyone's favourite failed-wizzard Rincewind. I wasn't sure what to draw this week, but then I saw this posted on Timothy Winchester's blog, and I've been listening to a lot of Discworld radio series on BBC Radio Seven 4extra (cringe...), and so inspiration hit.

I would send this over to Mr. Winchester for Wizard Week, but I've had another idea for what to draw for that!

Fan-Art Friday #10: Totoro!

A bit of a quick sketch this week I'm afraid, as it's been rather busy round these parts recently (despite me being off work more than I've been there the past couple of weeks...)

Right, now I'm off camping in Leyburn for a couple of days! Au revoir!

Fan-Art Friday #9: Professor Layton and the Curious Spillage

This week I have been mostly playing Professor Layton on my DS and Portal 2 on the Xbox360 (which I picked up yesterday, and so far so awesome)

A true gentleman never gets involved with a psychotic A.I.

Now this would be an excellent crossover!

Fan-Art Friday #8: Brock Samson

Tadaa! A new Fan-Art Friday! I had drawn something else this week, but I left my sketch-pad at work and haven't been since Wednesday... :(
Anyhoo! Here's a pic based on a sketch I did last week when I got Venture Bros. Season 2 on DVD!

After the twist, you'll feel a snap and the body goes ragdoll on you

Go team venture!

Fan-Art Friday #7: I'ma Luigi, number one!

Bit of a quick, late Fan-Art today... Was planning on doing something yesterday but it all went horribly wrong, so here's a quick sketch of Luigi all coloured up.

Super Brother

Fan-Art Friday #6: Mothra

April Foo's Day, sucka! My head is cleanly attached! :)

Also, I did a picture, in celebration of Mothra's Day this Sunday

I'm going out for a curry with my Mothra tonight, and I baked her a cake! 

Fan-Art Friday # Cancelled!

There will be NO Fan-Art Friday today!

Also my head has dropped off.

Fan-Art Friday #5: You're in charge, Tepig!

This week I have been mostly playing Pokémon White.

I've always been one for Water-Type starting Pokémon, but after the debacle that was Piplup and it's evolutions from Diamond and Pearl I thought I'd give the cute firey pig a try!

Now, if I could just find a decent water pokemon somewhere...

Fan-Art Friday #4: M.O.D.O.K

Hopefully I won't put my foot in it big style again like I did last week...

It was my birthday yesterday! I'm now 29 of your Earth years old, and got a heap-ton of cool presents :)
One of which was Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (thank you Kat <3)
Anyhoo, seeing as it is March and all, here's a quick sketch of M.O.D.O.K I did yesterday (and inked on the bus)

I've not had chance to colour it, and his legs look kinda funky, but hey-whaddya want from an old man?

Japan Earthquake

What bad timing for a post with a fanart of godzilla.

This is crazy...

Fan-Art Friday #3

I've been been off work with a really bad cold the past couple of days, so my time has been spent productively watching old episodes of batman and DVDs, including Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla!

Speaking of which, I really need to get working on more UberJobby Vs. pictures...

Fan-Art Friday #2

It's Friday again (just barely) so time for some fan-art!

 First up we have Reginald and Beartato from nedroid.com, and also (for my girlfriend especially) Reginald's comic-strip cat Bartholomew!
Nedroid is drawn and created by the immensely talented Anthony Clark, who also happens to colour the awesome Adventures of Dr.McNinja.

Go check them out!

Uberjobby Vs. Fan-Art Friday!

Doo doo doo dooooo! It's Friday! And I have not one, but TWO new projects!
The first is a series of pictures called "Uberjobby Vs.", which pit the infamous Uberjobby against a variety of foes, and the second is what I like to call "Fan-Art Friday", where I do some fan-art and post it on a friday. Mainly to just try and keep me being productive.

Anyway, to kick both things off at once here's "Uberjobby Vs. People I Know"



(click to embiggen)


People I Know is a webcomic by the very talented Mr. Timothy Winchester, who I met last year at Thought Bubble, when the real Uberjobby insulted the aformentioned Mr. Timothy Winchester's lack of beard.

Go check it out!
(the webcomic that is... not people's beards or lack thereof. Unless you're that way inclined of course. 'Tis a free country)

Rabot 4565

New design of an old character! Done a few sketches of him this week, this is the first I've inked and coloured. Definitely be seeing more of him in the near future :)

What's up doc?

EDIT: Haha! I've just come back to this and realised that despite drawing it in Feb of 2011, I've signed it from 2010. I guess it takes a long time for the future to catch up with me!

Effin' A!

If this happens and they get it right, it could very well be The Best Thing Ever!

Pikachuuuu!

Thank You!

Ok, so I haven't uploaded anything yet this past week, however! I did do a picture of Sephiroth for my friend Anna's (belated) birthday, but it's sat on her mantle piece so no show. I'll get something drawn and uploaded this week though!
Anyhoo, to the title of this post, first I wanna say thanks to Anna for inviting me and Kat over to her flat in Birmingham for Karting and birthday stuff. I sucked at Karting, but it was an awesome weekend nonetheless.
Secondly I wanna thank whoever found my phone on the number 36 bus this morning and handed it in at Harrogate bus station! I know the chances of them reading this are about a billion to one but, hey, you never know.

Super Mario Kart!

First SNES game I ever bought! Unfortunately I no longer have the cartridge, but I've been playing it again on the Wii (whenever I'm not spending my time in New Vegas :P) and I'm going ACTUAL karting next weekend, IN REAL LIFE! w00t!