Something a little different

A quick sticker sketch for whenever I do a pack for someone offshore next. I was sick of doing the colour markers in skin tone. I wanted to try something different. I decided a night time sketch could be cool. This is how it came out.

It's winter in Auckland right now, and it has been very cold of late. Not fun. However there are a few things coming up to get excited about. The Film festival has almost arrived, and what better way to spend a winters evening than watching a kick ass movie or two on the big screen.

If you have any recommendations let me know. Ha ha!

Cheers

Fin

Eventually finished up Friday morning and sent it to the person who requested it. I'm only getting it posted now because I have spent a good portion of the weekend playing Lego Star Wars as reward for finishing up.

Cool.

www.amacomics.blogspot.com

Drawing Day 2008

Hey All,

It's Drawing Day 2008. If you haven't yet. Go draw a picture and upload it to a pool on either Myspace, Facebook, Flickr, or whatever.

Check the website. http://www.drawingday.org/

Here is one I did. I'll be sure to add another today too.

Marc

Double splash page

So this right here is the middle of a story I've been working on entitled dance dance. I have inked 4 pages of it so far I think, and I have one page left to pencil, and three left to ink. I'm digging drawing it.

The double splash page was something I had never done before, hell, I'd never even done a single splash page. It was cool to try and make it interesting and yet still flow.

I actually took this photo at the Takapuna library, which was my "studio" for the day. I was waiting on my car to get fixed, so while stranded on Auckland's North Shore City, thought I might as well do, what I had been planning on doing which was get some more art done. I took the second page in as well in case I was super keen, but it turns out I only had time for one page. Which I then eventually re-inked anyway, because the ink I grabbed off my desk that morning was just crap.

Stick with what works I guess.

Marc

Custom Stickers

My friend PodgyPanda and I are planning on going out on a stickering mission together. He gave me the idea to make some custom stickers on some label paper. As that is how he makes all of his stickers.

This ones I just drew directly onto the paper. Then inked, and finally coloured with some markers.

Enjoy!
Marc

www.amacomics.blogspot.com

Store!

Hello all,

I finally got around to doing an Etsy store. Now, if you've found my sticker somewhere, or someone passed this website along to you. Or even by some dumb luck you managed to stumble across it and you'd like to know more.

Well now I have a place to sell all my ActionMan Adam goodies to anyone, anywhere. If you'd like to purchase anything, you can visit the store link by clicking here.

I added the link to the side bar on the page too. Easy as that. Right now there are just comics and stickers, but I hope to increase that with screen printed tee shirts, posters and whatever else I might be able to think up. Also you can hit me up there for a commission too.

If you wanna side track the store, you can always email me direct.

Cheers
Marc

Life in March

Above is an excerpt from the latest page I inked. I hope this shows that I moving on with the book.

2008 is just moving man!

It's all been pretty good so far though. I'm finally getting a good roll on with the comic stuff again. The last month or so has been insane. I've been taking a night class here in town for screen printing. Which has been great. I had a rough idea on the whole process. As I did do it about 10 years ago, but mainly the course has taught me about all the subtleties involved. It's been really good. Hopefully this experience will allow me to get some good results, and some new art work which I'll be able to sell on at shows or whatever.

Speaking of shows. Armageddon Wellington and Christchurch are both coming up really fast. Unfortunately this year I won't be making either like I was intending to. The reason is good though. I'm getting married to my lovely partner. I'll be thinking of you all though, and make sure if you are in one of those two cities, that you go down. Enjoy the show. Maybe throw a little love the way of the other NZ comic creators who will be there.

I'll be looking at the Auckland show for my next appearance. I'm aiming to have the comic done by then, and I think I am on track to get it done too.



Henry Rollins is coming. This guy is funny, smart and entertaining. I am so looking forward to seeing another talk by Mr Rollins. He is a good speaker, his delivery is so enthusiastic and his knowledge about music is amazing. I saw him a couple of years ago when he was at the Big Day Out festival, but it wasn't nearly enough, by the time his set was up, you'd really only just begun to settle into the proceedings. A proper headline show is long overdue. Excited about that.

I have a few more things on the go too, but I'll blog about them down the track.

Hope the year is treating you well too.

Marc
www.amacomics.blogspot.com

Walking around taking in the sights

Did some walking around the inner city today. I like walking. You get to take in so much more than you would in a car, bus or train. You get to people watch. You get to check out gig posters, or art on the streets. You get exercise. What's not to like?

Today I walked from Newton into the inner city. Lots of sirens today. The police, fire and ambulance divisions were all active in the two or so hours of my walking around.

I noticed one of my older stickers, someone had given Adam a moko. I thought that was pretty funny. I would have left it, but Adam being Canadian and all that, it doesn't feel right. I thought about it for a bit, and revisited the spot later in the day to slap another sticker over the top. The artist isn't completely out of luck though. I preserved the original with a crappy phone pic. Which is here:



Quickly it was slapped with a new sticker:



And what is up with Auckland city and its love affair for shitty apartment buildings. Seriously...? Why do we keep putting up these type of buildings. Where the residents get boxes, and a view of their neighbour who lives in the same apartment mirrored. I'm down with apartment dwelling, and its cool for Auckland to have apartments. It's just depressing seeing more and more of these buildings ugly up our city because we're cheap.



Ugh! Maybe this is one of the reasons people are leaving to live in Australia or the UK?

Marc
www.amacomics.blogspot.com

New ActionMan Adam Sticker

Hello Hello.

What is up? It's Sunday afternoon. Beautiful day outside. Tragically I am not outside. Things to do as per usual. I'm OK with it though. Don't feel sorry for me.

Some new ActionMan Adam stickers are in. I have some smaller ones of the same design due soon. As always, hit me up with an email if you'd like a couple and I'll send for free.

Isn't summer great?

Awesome.
Marc

Still here

Looks like I have neglected my blogging duties again. I felt like a break from writing. 2008 has been a crazy busy year already. Is everyone enjoying it? Summer has been pretty good. This week just past it was a little cooler than it has been. A nice break to be honest.

I had the last couple of weeks off work. Since I worked through Christmas, it was nice to get a break later on. Felt good to get some things done around the place.

What to report on? I have some new stickers due soon. They should be here in about 2 weeks time. New design and all. Check it out.



I put some art up around town. These were quite a process to make, but were also incredibly fun. Hopefully some people around Auckland saw them. When I have some more time at some stage I hope to make some more. It's an incredibly arduous task though. I had to have patience. The worst of course is, getting it right on every colour and then messing it up on the last colour (black). It's enough to make you want to throw in the towel. The one in this photo has now been painted over. That is whats cool about putting art like this up though. When you put it out there, you're open to criticism. People will have their opinion, because its their space too. Like it or not, it won't last too long. If the clean up crews don't get to it, the elements will.


This week I worked on a CD cover for my friend Adam's band. Yes, the same Adam who I'm using as the basis for ActionMan Adam. They're a punk/hardcore band based in Calgary, AB, Canada. If you're curious, check out their stuff at:

http://www.myspace.com/downtownprophets

To save them costs, I made the CD cover grayscale. You'd be amazed how much a 4 colour process job will cost over one colour. The finished result.


Apologies about the late post here. Lets hope it won't be too long between this post and the next. Hope you're well if you're reading this!

Marc

Stars

Hi, Did you have a good Christmas?

I did.

Here is some new art. Talk to you in the New Year. 2008. That's crazy talk son!

Marc

Smile

Just something quick I threw together. This could end up being used some different ways. I'm not sure yet. Alright. See you at Armageddon hopefully.

Otherwise...enjoy your Labour weekend!

Marc!

This Weekend

Hey all.

Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo is on this Labour Weekend. Saturday through to Monday, in Auckland. The event is being held at the Aotea Centre. Just a reminder. I will be there. Selling some wares. I don't have much, but what I do have will be quality.

I'm looking forward to the show. Looking forward to seeing anyone and everyone. Billy West would be cool to meet, so hopefully I can find some time to hit him up and say "hello".

Other than that. I'll be up to the usual amount of stuff. Which is standing behind a table and saying hello to anyone who might just accidentally happen to glance in my direction.

Oh. New print too. I made a super limited run of this stencil print. As you'll see above. There are only 5 of these suckers. I have not yet decided on the cost, but they're original art.

I hope you like. If you want one. I'll be at the show. Hopefully I will see you there!

Peace
Marc

Putting it all together

Once I have my story worked out, I then piece together the shots I want on the page, and put the background details in using the aforementioned visual reference photos I took.

This is a new panel I have still yet to ink up. From the latest story. I took a lot of photos around Victoria Street in Christchurch, as I knew where I wanted this scene to take place.

Oh yeah. Comics kick ass.

Marc
ActionMan Adam
www.amacomics.blogspot.com

Armageddon is coming (apocalypse now?)

Labour weekend is next month. Which means it is time again for the Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo in Auckland.

I'm going to be attending same as usual, up in the NZ Comics section. Shamefully I'll be selling the same book, although I do have some new merchandise apart from that. Anyone who is sticking around Auckland, or travelling to Auckland, please, come say hi. The show is generally a lot of fun, and who wouldn't want to see Adam West (TV's original Batman, with Shark repellent in the utility belt!)?

Anyway, swing by, I'll be there.
Peace

Marc!

Large Vinyl in Stock

These are the two large format vinyl stickers I am having made. They should arrive in the country in about a months time. These suckers will be huge. About 4.25 inches by 5.5 inches. They're nice and bold. So should stand out no matter where they're put up.

Going to see the Bourne Ultimatum tomorrow. I'm down with those films. Might walk round town for a bit afterwards and check out whats in the music store or whatever. Has anyone heard the new Public Enemy album? I think it sounds pretty cool. I need to give it a few more listens. Also, if you are a fan of the Beastie Boys, their instrumental album is great for some nice tunes while working away. Other than that, I have lots of art to keep me busy.

Peace
Marc!

Hey all!

Damn! It's been a while huh? I don't really have any decent excuses. You probably wouldn't want to read about my excuses anyway. You've probably all read enough of those. Instead, I'll just type about what has been happening since I last typed.

Well, I had to move house again. This time the landlord on the last place I was in wanted the property back into his possession. Seemingly my life is meant to be continuous house hunting? After the amount of times I have done it since moving to Auckland, you think I'd be hardened up about it. Noooooo. Not me. I hate moving on. Such a huge pain in the ass. You have to organise so many things. Then spend the time doing the actual move, and of course pay for it all.

Still. When the situation is out of your hands, you just have to roll with the punches I guess.

Lately I've been checking out a lot of other artists, and investing in their works. I like to have stuff that inspires me on the walls. Who doesn't though? It's cool to look up above my desk and see something, that someone else put their heart into. Cool to try and work out the process of how a particular piece was made, or figure out how certain things were pulled off.

Working on the seventh and last page of the Krypto-mite story. This one really dragged out. Since I started it, I have lived at three different addresses, and nearly a year has passed. I wonder where all the time went. How did I waste nearly a whole year and only get seven pages out in that time? Idiot.

With so many other stories I want to get around to telling. That really spurred me on to trying to wrap this one up, so I can get to drawing these other stories I want to tell. Usually I have a particular visual, or gag that I can't wait to draw, and a story will grow out of it.

For the next show I am making three new sticker designs. The top of this post will have one of the new designs in there. Check it out. If you want to get hooked up with one of these new stickers, they should be done before Labour weekend (the next Armageddon Pulp Culture Expo). So make sure you cruise past the NZ comic creators section and pick some merch up.

Hope everything is cool in your respective world.
Peace
Marc!

Hello.

It's been a while since I last posted. Mostly due to the fact that I've been working hard on finishing my next story. Hence I haven't really been able to upload some new images. Plus with the onset of winter. I'm not going out as much and there is less to report about as far as happenings in my world go.


I'm nearly done with the story I am working on. One more page should wrap it up nicely. It'll be a total of seven pages. Which is the longest I have done so far. I guess that doesn't say much about my abilities as a writer. Short and sweet is usually how I play it, as I work everything around a punchline that I think is funny. Ideally I'd like to do another 3 or 4 stories before the year is out. I doubt I'll get everything done before the next Armageddon expo. So I'm not sure if I should attend. As selling the same book with out something new on offer might be lame?


Though in saying that I might reach more people who have no idea what I am doing? I'll sit on it for a bit.


Always wanting to put out a quality product is in the forefront of my mind. About a week ago I bought a screen printing kit. Hopefully with some practice, I can do my own t-shirts, and not have to rely on a supplier. That should cut down some costs, and make it more affordable for anyone who wants I tee. They'll have to be basic designs. Though that keeps it interesting from a graphic point of view.

This is a panel from the page I finished a couple of nights ago. It's of Munter. Adam's flatmate. Hope you like.All for now.
Peace.

Marc!

It's great to see stickers lasting somewhere. I found one i put up a couple of months ago on Morningside drive still there. Also found one of my friends on Victoria street, which was cool.

Speaking of stickers. The new vinyl ones are in. Drop me an email at amacomics@gmail.com if you'd like one. Here is a pic of what the new design looks like.

How are things?

Marc