Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 27

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 26

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 25

I didn't mention it last week, but I spruced the blog up a bit. That's more like it.

I should mention that Tom Dell'Aringa's Marooned book is taking preorders, and encourage you to go and check out his grand work. You can only order before Dec 2nd, though....

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 24

Well, exam 1 out of the way, exam 2 coming soon... but still found a bit of time for this.

A short note- I love this cartoon.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 23

I thought I'd just draw your attention to Mouse Guard- Winter 1152, a marvelous book I read on holiday last week- there seriously needs to be more comics like this- all ages adventure, epic, dark, a serious tone- absolutely wonderful.

Exam time is upon me, so updates will most likely be intermittent. Back soon!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 22

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 21

Woohoo!

We're past the 20 episode stage!

It seems more substantial to be able to say that, that now it's passed the initial starting up stage and moving onto phase 2, growth, development, establishment- generally, it's on a roll. Woo!

And then you realise how many pages this would take up in print, but never mind. As my mum used to say, 'Slowly but surely wins the race'.

Celebrate with me now this minor achievement by going to your food cupboard and breaking into a chocolate bar (in my case a Wispa), and eat a toast to giving new ideas a chance to grow and improve, because at the end of the day, the best ideas are not developed with the thought of money in mind.

Not that I'm saying this is in those idea's hallowed company. Yet. I'm going to have a good go though.

Enough wittering.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 20

And just who are these mysterious fellows?

I recently finished reading the first story in Sean Wang's 'Runners' comic, and it's cracking stuff. It's a sci fi tale, with well developed characters, a good steady setup of the story's universe, and a lovely pay off on the action front, once you've got to know the cast. The comic timing is lovely, as is the banterous dialogue. The second story is being shown in instalments at the moment, so it's well worth the trip. It's just a shame it takes so long to craft something so good! More of this type of thing would be brilliant.

I should point out that exam time is looming for me, so Ziggy could be delayed in the near future. But not for too long. I have to get this storytelling thing out of my system some how, so it definitely won't be a long delay. In the meantime, enjoy and please pass this on to anyone you know who might like it. And drop me a line to say what you're liking. Or not. Gulp. Cheers!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 19

And so, the story broadens... and it all begins with beans.

As do lots of things...

One thing I want to do is go back to the earlier frames and tweak them. I've been trying a looser style which was a bit different to my usual more 'flowy' approach, the problem being that I started with the 'flowy' style then switched mid-way through. And I'd like to improve earlier frames anyway. So we'll see what to do about that. At the moment, I'm just going to draw fresh episodes and get a more spiffy website up later.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 18

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 17

I liked drawing this. And I think Kra-dooomm is a good expressive word. You obviously won't win a debate with it, but it could prove a good tactic to momentarily bewilder your opponent.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 16

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 15

Managing to grab some time at the end of my holiday to put the latest episode/frame up. As a wise cartoon character once said: 'There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want'.

Picked up a book while on a trip out with Sarah and Naomi called 'Mouse Guard', which I would absolutely suggest you see. It's beautifully drawn, and a wonderfully earthy, fresh story with a LOTR vibe, the kind of story with a clear universe and clear rules, so the writer can't find a handy plot device or some magic thing which gets their heroes out of scrapes.

I naturally like the kind of story where there are a limited cast of characters and resources, power plays, a sense of being just beyond reality, a contained world with an epic edge. This is summed up for me in Simon Furman's Transformers story 'Target 2006' which I also would recommend you check out.

Anyway, Mouse Guard reminds me a bit of my favourite aspect of LOTR: Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli's plot line in The Two Towers. It's now one of the small band of favourites. See it here.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 14

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 13

Ah, holiday approaches.... one more week to go...

It's enourmously popular and probably doesn't need my promotion, but Garen Ewing's Rainbow Orchid book is coming out soon too. It's quite something for a fresh comic to break the mould and actually get published as an album and be available in high street bookshops in this country, so very well done Garen, and I hope it does as stonkingly well as it deserves to.

Futurespoon pahrt wun

This was an idea I had from last year. Ultimately I settled on Ziggy to spend time on as it was more fun, and pressed the 'i like space' buttons more. This was meant to be more of a fantasy tale, even though I started in space land.

Still, here it is, I'll find part 2 sometime.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 12

I think by the time I get to the end of this story it's possible I'll be 70, and it'll have a dramatic finale including gardening and pottering and having a snooze.

Actually, I'd like to have something by a comic convention next year. That sounds better. Obviously not the whole story, but chapter 1.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 11

Tophat and Curly

This, truly, is a story for all generations and cultures.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 10

I like action.

Stuff

Another of my random drawing pages- there's nothing quite like doodling for the sheer fun of it!

Another comic I've recently come across is Marooned by Tom Dell'Aringa. True to my tastes, it's space based and a class act, starting off as one thing, then morphing into another....

New Pen Saga Cont'd

Yep, this was a while ago now, but I love drawing with this pen!

Episode 10 coming soon....

I've recently been following Steve Ogden's top class comic 'Moon Town' which looks slick and fantastic- I'm not a follower of many web comics, but this is really up my street! He's got some good character work in there, and it's currently starting to kick up a gear. Being a fan of Space Lego, Thunderbirds 2086, Droids and Transformers as a kid, this is definitely one I'll continue to follow.

Still Love the Pen: Animated Style Gimli

Apologies for the lack of posting, but frankly I've been on paternity leave, so my beautiful little girl takes priority!

I'm not sure what this will mean for future posting, as time will be very limited (I provisionally have an exam in a month's time as well), only that I will always have the 'I need to be silly and draw something weird' itch to scratch, and I hope you come back to see the slow burning Ziggy story unfold, and see what other oddities emerge.

Anyhow, here's a go at at a LOTR Gimli, in an animated style.....

And of course, if you like it, please let others know....

Cheers!

I Went to the Art Shop at the Weekend and Got a Cool New Pen

I felt the need to buy a dip pen at the weekend, to get a more spontaneous feel to my outlining. I picked one, and some nibs, but I've really been liking this sketching pen I picked up as well. I can be faster, messier, and have more FUN.

Anyway, I also thought it'd be cool to draw some Lord of the Rings characters in an 'animated' style-- the Aragorn pic above looked better than another one I spent longer on later.

It'd be cool to draw some Silmarillion characters.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 09

I've been able to get drawing on this a bit more recently...

I really should post more from the sketchbooks. Last night I was drawing more villains for Ziggy to face off against, and its great letting yourself just follow an idea, and seeing what develops.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 08

Once again I've been busy on other things, and am now starting to catch up on some inking. However, I've now put up a Ziggy archive to the right hand side so if you're wondering what this Ziggy malarkey is, you can easily read from the start. Such a novel idea, I'm glad I thought of it before anyone else (ahem).

Saw last night the classy Lord of the Rings film 'The Hunt for Gollum'. It's been made by fans, and is superb. You can see it here, and it's well worth it. There's another LOTR serious fan film (as in not a spoof or amateur looking) due in the autumn called 'Born of Hope' and I'm looking forward to it.

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 07

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 06

Here's the last of the old frames inked, now I can begin putting up some newness....

Hope you have a grand easter, it's an awe inspiring time of year when you get to the root of it!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 05

Ah, the speed of progress!

COME ON!

I want to recommend Mike Maihack's marvellous comic strip Cow and Buffalo, a comic I catch every week. My comic taste has mostly been things such as The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Batman: The Animated Series, the odd Star Wars, the DFC and the Rainbow Orchid, and this is one of the ones, like those, that really appeals to me. It's it's own thing, it's not obeying cliche'd rules, it's whimsical, fun, self deprecating....

Yes, he's got a new book out, and yes, I've got a comic in it and want you to get it, but yes, it's class, and I want to see more comics like it in future, and if you read it, you might just want that too...

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 03 and 04

Curse of the Fried Eggulon

At their most terrifying they mush each other up, put each other in sandwiches, and emit a disgusting reek.

It's quite grim so I'm told.

The Evildoing 5000

A truly terrifying machine, used by the tomato's arch enemies....

because all vegetables and fruit have arch enemies

Ziggycart

Quite obviously this is inspired from a classic... er... expressionist painting and in no way derived from a certain nintendo game. So there.

Jabba the Slush

In keeping with the recent climate....

The Pulper

I Can't Hear You!

A quick note to let you know you my last animated short can be seen (and bought) here!

Woo!

Ziggy the Space Tomato: Part 07

Hi there, and Happy New Year and all that.

There should be an increase in activity on this blog, as you may have noticed I've been doing frames for a comic based on the adventures of a space-faring tomato (what else).

Last year had got a bit busy, so the 'bite-size drip-feed' approach (if that makes sense) is definitely the way to go! I'm looking forward to building a whole fruity universe! How daft does that sound?

A couple of things I'd been working on last year can now be bought at www.taylormation.co.uk: The first was a short film for an educational DVD, and the other was a leaflet explaining exactly what Christianity's about. Both were challenging, and we were pleased with the results. Which is always nice. Go see them! Comment!

I'm hoping to add a picture most days, hope you like it!