London Super Comic Con

Last weekend saw some 1st and 2nd year cartoon and comic at students attend the London Super Comic Con in the docklands area. Selling their 1st semesters work and getting a feel for the whole experience of selling stuff at conventions

Potty Anthology

Gareth Cowlin has edited together the best of a childrens comic called Potty (Over flowing) Here 2nd year students were asked to think about their intended audience (children aimed between 7 & 10) and to wrote and produce several short comic strips. Here are the best. Once again for sale at the London Super Comic Con in March.

Hot off the press

More work that will be available at the London Super Comic Con in March. This is William Vaughan's first comic for sale out side of university. Based on A Midsummer Night Dream, it is a fantasy based tale set in the cold north. Those of you who like Game of Thrones will particular like this type of story.

Hot off the press

Student work for sale at the London Super Comic Con in March. First delivery of prints arrived yesterday. We're really looking forward to attending, selling our work and meeting everyone and all the special guests.

More New Work for Sale at LSCC

 

More New Artwork

Here is another post with another 3 excellent pieces of artwork and comics by 3 different comic book artist/illustrators.

 

Becci Such is a talented Comic Art student who is influenced by Manga. She has taken the story of Much Ado About Nothing and placed it in the early era of Japanese Shoguns.

 

Daniel Ward is from Games Concept art and uses his Matte Painting technique to great effect in this Western take on the "Merry Wives of Windsor!"

 

Terrina Bibb is a talented Illustrator who has a knack for drawing Comedians. In her unique take of the "Taming of the Shrew" she teams up Miranda Richardson and Jimmy Carr as the 2 protagonist of the story. Sharp cutting jokes run amuck in this updated version of the classic.

New Work being Prepared for London Super Comic Con

Students work on Shakespeare

 

Last semester saw Students taking a Shakespeare play, deconstructing it and putting it back together in individual 12 page comics. These we are hoping will be on sale at the London Super Comic Con in March as well as around the university!

 

This year saw Illustration and also Game Concept designers coming together and working alongside comic students to produce some truly outstanding work. The selection has broad base appeal and they range from small children to adult content.

 

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting the front covers for some of the work that we are hoping to sell at the convention.

 

 

 

Above is Ryan Moss version of Henry IV part 1, set in the future on a different planet these warring factions battle it out for the bigger prize!

 

Conar Cross has taken his play Timon of Athens and made it into a 1950 Mafia based story of betrayal

 

Kieran Hayes has taken King Lear and updated it with lawyers and thieves.

 

 



Finally Drawing at Last

 

Getting back to drawing Comics!

Above work unfinished! Tempus Nobel Chapter 6

It seems like ages but I finally got back to putting pencil in hand, along with a bit of ink from my new Pentel Brush Pen, with scanner and computer at hand I've found an hour to sit down and draw. I've finally got the feel back for what I'm doing. At one point it all seemed paperwork and meetings with budgets and designing new modules and booking trips, it felt like it was a million miles away from what I wanted to do, draw! So I finally completed all the pencil sketches for Tempus Nobel Comic and come up with a conclusion. This all started so long ago when Prince William and Kate got married and at one point was very topical, Now the first Chapters seem a bit dated. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some of the comics printed for the London Super Comic Con in March. Fingers crossed.

London Super Comic Con

We came, we saw, we conquered!

Well its been a few weeks since the London Super Comic Con. I've been flu-ed up to the eye balls, but it is time to report back on what happened and if we were successful. 
The aim was to go to London to see if we could sell Comics. Having received a grant from the University to pay for the table etc, the aim was to recoup the money for the table. We brought an expensive one compared to the Artist tables which sat at £50. Having a publishers table at £150, we set our sights quiet high to try and recoup that amount of money!!

The trip down was exciting as we took a wooden cut out of the awards Mascot Stanley. It caused a moment of interest on the tube down to the Excel Centre

The stand 

was set up in the exhibition centre and it is fair to say we were quite happy.

 

Jack went missing so I had to take a picture of him on his own.... when he finally returned!
With our goal being £150 to clear the costs of the table I'm happy to write that we sold more than £160 worth of comics and we made a slight profit (From the table not counting printing costs) The biggest seller was the Anthology "Hitchcock" which was also the most expensive comic retailing at £5 a copy. We sold out of them. But we have more than enough other copies to be sold at the Pop Up Comic Shop as part of the End of Year Degree show. I'll also be doing a second run of the "Hitchcock Anthology" and there will be new work on sale as well. This year the students are also producing a promotional animation of their comic to make people aware of it and get the word out there! So stay tuned!

Getting Ready

Getting Ready. 

A check list for our London Trip 

New Art

So we are well on our way prepping for the London Super Comic Con. I thought it would be a great idea to take our Mascot for the award Stanley Staffordshire to the event!!! Then I thought ...How the hell are we going get him there. Anyway, Alice is back and she volunteered to give Stanley a splash of paint and he's looking good!

I also got the artist together for a photo shoot with their work, so if you've ever wanted to know what a bunch (Is that the right term, a panel, a gag, a page!!) of Cartoonist looks like, well feast your eyes on this bunch!

As ever we are adding things to the selection of work that we are taking to Comic Con. Claire Smith has started her own website iworkwithcats.com and is planning on promoting both herself and the website at the event. Its a must for people who like cats...... Or think that people who like cats are a bit weird!

Esme Baran has produced her long sought after project, "Mischief and Marauder!" a tale based on her trip to London in the 1st Semester in the First year of her studies at Staffs Uni. Well Done Esme! Actually joking apart it is a good read and it is well produced!

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni  London Super Comic Con

Claire Smith is an up and coming comic artist who has branced out into the world of web comics as well. Iworkwithcats.com shows this young artist work and sense of humour off to its full potential.

 Claire worked on her comic novel for Love or Money at Staffordshire University and it demonstrates that love can be found anywhere.

 Set during the Victorian ages, it tells a story of how a young thief helps a couple to come together.

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Nigel Morey or Cheshire Morey is a young and up and coming artist from the Isle of Wight. With a love of steam punk and the slight macabre, this is a story to send shivers down your spine. 

Cheshire Morey has a love of musicals and the comic "Monster Nature" opens up with the theatre company just finishing of their recital of a Gilbert and Sullivan play, The story is based around a young lad who has a desire to become the best reporter he can.

Unfortunately due to a working accident when he was very young, he lost both his legs and now thanks to his adopted father type figure, manages to get around using artificial implants. The story takes our young hero to discover what is happening to all the people who are disappearing in the smog. 

 Cheshire Morey "Monster Nature" is available at the London Super Comic Con 2013

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Keeping up with our previews of artist work, today we look at Verity Hall and her Journey Man Comic. Verity has started to develop her own unique style of illustration for this project and colours add to the overall effect.

Verity's story tells the tale of a young Irish man who is forced to leave his country to find fame and fortune in the boxing ring. 

Along the way he finds companionship in the form of a young pick pocket who knows an easy target and befriends the lone Irish man on his travels. A fantastic adventure with a twist at the end.
Verity Hall Journey man will be on sale at the London Super Comic Con 2013

Staffs uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Today's Cartoonist is a cartoonist in every sense of the word. If you like the world of Monty Python or outlandish stuff such as family Guy or American Dad then this is an artist who you can definitely get to grips with.

Millie Harrop produced a fully coloured Graphic Novel which deals with an unusual friendship between the driver and the locomotive. A comic which definitely is aimed at the more mature end of the Graphic novel market. This lovely and well produced story is one of bullying, misery and finally friendship in what can only be considered as an off the wall love story. 
Millie has a strange an unique sense of humour and she is definitely one to watch as her story has had the whole of cartoon and comic arts talking and it has already become a much wanted and desire comic. 

Millie Harrop "The Train Who Couldn't Fly!" will be on sale at the London Super Comic Con 2013

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con

Today we look at Esme Baran and her story called Locked in which basically tells us not to mess with the super natural.

Esme tells a story of a young boy and girl who dabble in the supernatural world and the consequences that happen to them both as a result of this. Esme uses some nice manga style images to help tell the story in a black and white format but her use of colour (as above) is very understated and used to great effect.

Esme Baran Book "Locked In!" is available at the London Super Comic Con 2013

London Super Comic Con

Staffs Uni London Super Comic Con.

Over the next few days I'll be posting some of the artwork from  Staffordshire University Cartoonist and Comic Arts Students who's work will be available at London Super Comic Con. the aim is to wet your appetite and also see a range of the art work that will be available at the convention.

First off we have Jack Baker who tells the story of Darwin's return to his Ship the Beagle with secret orders from Queen Victoria.

This is an underwater adventure that shows Darwin in a new light along side his previous captain Fitzroy
A great 12 page adventure that shows inventive steam punk world off and puts the Scientist to the the test as he fights a potential problem that is threatening the safety of the shores in the UK. The story takes place some years after Derwin's initial voyage where he wrote the "Origin of the Species" but sees him being called back to action as an underwater creature threatens the sea routes to the UK, depriving it of its export and imports links.  

Read his Adventure is Jack Bakers "Return to the Beagle" Available at the London Super Comic Con 2013

Experimenting with Colour

Experimenting with colour. 

Here is one of the comics that we are hoping to sell at the London Super Comic Con in February. This is the cover of Tom Stephens "Bloody Code" which is a political story of murder set within and around the Houses of Parliament. I particularly like the line work which gives the comic a more wood line cut feel to the work. Some of the attention to detail in the Parliament building is outstanding and it certainly is worth a read. Its fun just going back through the comic and trying to spot the main villain once you read it!

I had a go at rejigging the cover, Tom doesn't use colour much and I was trying to convince him that a splash of colour can add something to a picture and make it stand out. I'm not sure how successful I was in convincing him, but you can see my idea of what I think he should do with his cover to make it stand out more. 

I'd like to know if people have on opinion? One way or another?

London Super Comic Convention

Its all booked now, Staffordshire University is going to the London Super Comic Con and selling their work at the event. Over the next few days I'll be posting teasers on the blog to wet peoples appetite with what they can expect from the new award. It is mainly 2nd years work and they have been working on a Victorian project. So expect some love stories, high adventure on the seas, political shenanigans, and some wrapped sense of humour.  

End of Year 1

Year 1

Cartoon and Comic Arts finally made it through is first year as award and I must say that over all we are flying high. To celebrate the end of the year along with Graphic Design and Illustration students we had a little bit of an award ceremony.

The Cartoon and Comic Arts students met for a quick wine before proceddings atarted in teh Flaxman Foyer. Ther Main Event was in the Film Theatre along College Road.

There was quiet a good turn out all in all and the Masters of the ceremonies enjoy a drink and a little banter with the students gathered.

In fact one could say they enjoyed the refreshments a little too much.

By now the C&CA students were well lubricated and had found one of their favourite pass times. Sitting on the Sofa.

First up for award was the best excuse for not handing in work, Jamielea Jones, who was making a pasty for her project and when returened to the kitchen found "The Dog had eaten it Sir!" A likely story!!

The next prize was for person who least looks like their Thesis ID photo, Nathan Ingle.

Cartoon and Comic Arts Recieved thir certificates for successfully completing the 1st Year.

First out of the blocks in Esme Baran

Henrietta Looms

Lex Harford

Verity Hall

Nigel Morey accepts the prize for student least likely to out live their lecturers because of junk food and bad diet, that was won by Millie Harrop

Claire Smith picks up the award for "Above and Beyond" for walking around London crossed dress as a charcter from Napolean Dynimite

Tom Stephens picks up Dom Roberts award which was voted the best Animation by

by students at the Animation Bites Award night by an Option Student. 

Claire Smith accepts her certificate.

Tom Stephens

Alice Urbino



Alice picks up Jack "Stig of the Dump" Bakers Award for the person who kept the cleaners employed all year round.

And finally winners of teh best Award for 2011, the nominations are Cartoon & Comic Arts, Graphic Design and Illustration. Seeing as we wanted to get out in one peice, all teh awards won! Horay !!

And so the end is near, with the awrds given out we headed to the foyer to finish of the wine and then onto the ember lounge to finish us off there!