Monday 20 June 2011

"All I want is a place to call my own, to mend the hearts of everyone who feels alone..."

Bonjour, I thought I'd open with a picture of myself (not to be vain) but because I think its one of the only decent ones I've ever been had taken of me alone. I'm not a poser but heyho you've got to have a laugh every now and again.
So yeah, here we are again, another day and another post. Just you're basic whats been happening and a little comic post again so you know, the usual... I'm rambling again aren't I? Probably, so yeah, I'm planning on adding a little more information to this blog about adventures and stuff because it basically seems to be me rambling about my issues and stuff but we all have to have an outlet for that don't we...
So, yeah the job quest has begun, I'm applying all over the place, determined to get a job in the next two months, be that in London, Scotland or Yorkshire... I'll keep you up to speed on that but so far I've had two rejections and lots more please try again later to compete with.
On top of that, I'm redrafting my collection of short stories, the original Apotheosis quad-trilogy and hoping to send the first one out within the next two weeks to short story publishers and magazines to see if they like it. So hopefully my mind-boggling alternate historic, fantasy or sci-fi stories will be liked by the editors as much as I've enjoyed writing them. For anyone who hasn't heard me talk about them, I shall summarise for you the main plot of the four short stories. "An orphan as a child, our hero leaves behind his village in search of a better way of life only to become a gun for hire. Years later, he takes a job for a former mentor Father Julius to find his daughter. Upon finding her, he returns to uncover a series of event that will lead him through a prophecy he once dimissed and must embrace the gift he is given to fight The Order and the ever present threat of Tartarus whilst uncovering the secret of the Black Bible." Basically thats the story.

Sorry for this but I just wanted to say, I'm now 100% in love with Taylor Momsen. As well as Taylor Swift...
Anyway... As promised it is time for another short comic. Another one featuring Sarah and as it is her birthday today, I reckon we should all shout happy birthday to her... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH... ok maybe that was just me, but yeah. So this comic sees Sarah and I adventuring in the T.A.R.D.I.S. and I'm in a Matt Smith outfit because lets face it, its cool. And well here it is (dialogue written below)
Panel 1:
Paul- So I hear today is a special day...
Sarah- Yeah, it's my birthday
Panel 2:
Paul- Well I have a suprise
Sarah- Yay, what is it?
Paul- Spoilers
Panel 3:
T.A.R.D.I.S. lands outside next to a lamppost
Panel 4:
Paul leaves shouting "This Way"
Panel 5:
Walks into a lamppost... ow =/
Panel 6:
Sarah discovers she is at the first BMTH gig ever.
Sarah- YAYYYY!!!!
Paul (off panel)- My Bowtie...
Anyway there we have it another little comic done and dusted, next one will be another "Reasons to listen to Heather" Ft two extra characters, so something to look forward too. And potentially another suprise. So I bid you all a farewell for the now. And I leave you with these songs to enjoy. So peace and love ^_^
Katy Perry: Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) [the video is hilarious]
D.R.U.G.S: If you think this song is about you, it probably is
All Time Low: A Daydream Away
A Day to Remember: If I Leave
Lady Gaga: The Edge of Glory (My gosh I like a Lady Gaga song... must be a misprint)

Friday 3 June 2011

Remember me when you're the one who always dreamed, remember me

Bonjour my lovely readers, I hope you are all well and happy.
I've been up to lots of lovely exciting things lately, but all the details of that will be following in another post/update in the next few days, as this is one of those days where i give you more of my artwork for you to look at. Plus a very special short comic for one extra special young lady.
Right so first up, I will explain that these characters drawn below are for my new comic, a steam punk comic which is based on short stories I've written over the last couple of months. It's set after the conclusion of the final short story and answers all the questions I left unanswered in the quadrilogy of short stories. I'm still scripting and toying with the ideas so these are just a couple of little ideas below. I hope you enjoy them.

First up is the character Lily, a female lead to the story who has become entwinned in the fates of the central protagonist as he continues to struggle with the powers he is burdened with. I wanted to create a strong female lead therefore I've attempted to give her an outfit that would match her determination, as well as her own unique style. I liked drawing the leather jacket for her and pretty much all her outfit. However this outfit is very likely to change to something much authorative.

Second is the protagonist in the opening for the comic as I've decided to drop it straight into the action with the Battle of Bredon which occurs half way through the story. A short war which has a high casualty count for its length. Bredon has never been more important to the future and for one person in particular it is a matter of life and death.

Finally here is the concept art for the protagonist in his full outfit at the moment. Very likely to change. But I'm pleased with the idea of his power shown on his hand at present.
Now here is the moment I've been working all day towards, the next short comic in my collection. This is NOT a reasons to listen to Heather comic, but it is done in the same style. It is for a friend I have made on twitter and she has always made me smile. Her name is Sarah and I've never been happier to have someone so amazing and inspiring to talk to me. Her youtube videos are amazing and she's beautiful (even if she denies it), so here it is... (transcript below)

Panel One:
Paul: Ok, I'm at the end now... where's my gold

Panel Two:
Sarah: Hi!

Panel Three:
Paul: Wow! Aren't you the cutest rainbow genie

Panel Four:
Sarah: Thank you, I bring you a gift. A magic rainbow cupcake

Panel five-eight:
Caramelldansen time ^_^
... And then I fall down a hole

Panel Nine:
Sarah: Are you ok?
Paul: No... get the T.A.R.D.I.S
Sarah: Can I come travelling
Paul: Yes... you're awesome, now please help... oh a penny

Ok so that brings this to a close. I hope you enjoy. Comment share and stuff. If you want to borrow some of the art, please ask or tweet me. You all know the details, they're on here somewhere.
Oh and the songs for this post are:
Avril lavigne- Smile
Asking Alexandria- The Final Episode
Artist Vs Poet- Bad Romance
Enter Shikari- Quelle Suprise

Tuesday 3 May 2011

'Cause we are who we are, lovers lost in space, searching for our saving grace...

Bonjour my wonderful and astonishing followers, I have treats for you all today. Not only is there pictures, but also yet another little short comic I drew a few days ago and forgot to put up for you. So yes lots of wonderful treats for everyone today.

I suppose I'll begin with the news. It's that time of year again where we hand in our final assignments and prepare for exams that we all loath, yet i'm not bothered by them this year. I've adopted a new attitude to them, which basically is "fuck it, might as well close ya eyes and hope for the best!" I know that is not the best attitude but heyho what else do we have aside from a little something called hope? Not much and I like to live in the hope somedays. Anyway above are two pictures from a art exhibition I ended up at on a shopping trip in Liverpool today. I don't know who the artist was but I found his work intriguing and rather thought proking as his title for this collection was "Wonders and Meaning of the Universe" (or at least I think it was... something along those lines... if you are looking for an imformative blog, you are sadly reading the wrong blog as I just rant on this to keep myself sane)

... Ahem... anyway yes, I found the first piece "Fission or Fussion?" particularly interesting as a comment on Nuclear weapons as well as nuclear power... and the whole idea of the Children of the Bomb, or if you live in the Marvel universe and are a member of the x-men then you are probably going to refer to this as Children of the Atom. The second piece, a sculture was called "Flying or Falling?" another piece I quite liked, obviously modelled upon the Greek tale of Icarus: The Boy Who Flew Too Close to the Sun. But never the less, it is throughly well presented and I might print a copy of the image and put it on my wall.

Onwards, as I am sure you will be aware, with Easter falling so late this year, classes have been affected, so I ended up attending my last seminars prior to the Easter Holiday which is a shame because I've made some amazing friends who I hope to keep close forever. Below is a picture of my friends, many of whom are inspirations for my comic and if you look at them carefully, you may recognize one or two of them from their cartoon images, if you don't it doesn't matter because my artwork is really terrible in 95% of my pictures. =/ But heyho, it's not about the quality but the crazy little stories I put into them.






Above is a picture of the Avengers, from left to right we are: Me, Heather, Sam, Hayley, Kirsty and Nikki. Together we fight crime and injustice to fiction... and are now combatting our most powerful and deadly enemy, our arch enemy if you will. Stephanie Mayer!!! The Moriarty to our Sherlock Holmes! I joke but in all seriousness, these guys keep my head in the clouds but my feet on the ground.



And here is one of my favourite pictures, one of Heather and I during the photo blitzkreig that occured during the pre lecture celebrations and afterwards in the bar. I understand I look bewildered but be under no illusions, I love this girl, she makes me smile so much and I always sing her praises and wish her the best of luck for everything she does in the future. =)



And now the final picture... the third short comic for "Reasons to listen to Heather!" This one shot is called "Reasons to not become obsessed!" and you see what obsession does to someone. I have a few more being sketched out and I'll keep them going for you guys as long as you enjoy them, so speak up and be heard, I want to hear from you! I feel like doing a picture in the style of Lord Kitchener with the tagline "YOUR BLOG-COMICS NEED YOU!" But I won't so fear not.
Right so that draws to a close this lengthy post, I do apologise, but you know heyho when you have things to say, you have things to say. So to conclude I shall present you three songs to listen to that I have recently heard and enjoyed so I am sharing the love her. Hopefully you will enjoy them. so here they are:



1) The Maine: Saving Grace



2) Francesqa:Years



3) All Time Low: I Feel Like Dancing!



Ok Enjoy and I'll speak soon =)

Sunday 3 April 2011

We are Kings and Queens of the land we built where the monsters of a Valley can no longer hurt us...

Howdy, how are we all today? Well I thought today seen as I haven't posted for a while I would share something random I did on Friday during a Poetry lesson. This was done instead of doing my actual work because I was bored, no offence to my teacher or anything but it's Friday afternoon and the end of a long and crap week so I really wasn't up for philosophical context of poetics or anything like that. Thus came my two little comics "Reasons to Listen to Heather!" Starring Heather who I have sung many a praise for and continue to do so because she is fantastical and simply amazing, and Myself. Now these are rough sketchy drawings, not as neat or tidy or polished as my other works because I drew them in ink and in lesson and coloured with a purple highlighter. But I think its fun to have a none serious art style for short little things like this. So anyway without babbling, here they are:
Reasons to Listen to Heather #1
And the second- Reasons to Listen to Heather#2

Now let me know if you guys want more of these little shorts on the blog cause they don't take a lot of time to sketch out, in fact I rather enjoyed doing these ones because it's literally slapstick comedy on paper. Can't beat it. And if you want to find out more about my cool friend Heather, here is a link to her blog too: tolaughortocry.blogspot.com


So yeah check it out. Leave me some comments and I'll be speaking soon. Although before the usual ending I would like to leave you with a small bit of advice. When looking at past exam papers and your teacher is reading out the questions, do not think noone can hear you when saying a sarcastic comment/answer to your mates, regardless of how funny it is. Here is the question and my answer:

Q) Why was Malcolm X such an inspirational figure to leaders of the Black Power movement in the late 1960's and early 1970's. My Answer) They liked him because he knew where his towel was!

As you can imagine, my teacher was not amused at me. However my friends were. So i'm a bit torn between whether or not it was a clever comment... Anyway moving onwards. The song for this post is by a lovely band that I've started listening to called The Maine. The song I've chosen is "Inside of You"

So yeah, this brings an end to this post for the day. I'll speak soon, let me know what you think about the comics and if you want to see more of them.

Peace, Love and a happy Monkey to you all.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

I used to mean something to you, but now i'm tired and alone...

So far this week,
I’ve managed to find myself on a return to the pathway to my own self-destruction. It’s a path I know all too well and I’m still not immune to the twists on the pathway. Personally I feel life is a cruel twisted game to me. It’s not about how good or how bad a person is, according to whoever runs this show it’s about how much torment, pain and anguish you can inflict on a person. Normally I don’t like to freak out like this because it will make people worry, but I do feel like this a lot of the time, but I don’t show it because I’m a fucking good actor, and I don’t want to hurt the people around me, because I have destroyed one too many relationships already. But if you’re reading this and thinking “He’s writing this for attention” as I’m sure many a person in the world will think, then I have to say that you are cruel and judge me on one post. The truth is that no-one can know what goes on in my mind or anyone else’s mind at any given moment, so think before you judge or open your mouth.

One way, I’ve tried to release this depression and aggression that I suppress so often is through my lyrics and often my poetry for my assignments. Unfortunately, the teachers seem to think that when I get too personal with my poems that I write crap. One poem I wrote last year was called Shinji Ikari and I wrote it about a character in my favourite Anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion particularly around the final two episodes found on the End of Evangelion DVD where his mind is put to the test and fractures his sanity. When writing this poem, I inadvertently wrote myself into the poem with my personal feelings at the time, creating an unintentional relationship with the character. This poem, I was proud of because I managed to get my feelings onto paper. However my teachers disagreed because it was far too personal as well as disliking my use of everything in the poem. So it’s a knock back for poetry that is supposed to reflect how one feels, not in the classic romantic/gothic/war every other kind of poetic form way but the way I write my poems. Here, why not have a read, it’s a little depressing but it’s something I’m proud of and the only poem I’ve managed to express myself in.

Shinji Ikari
It is cold in here,
Well I can hide behind my breath,
So I’ll breathe in…
Too much!

And with a gunshot
They all fall down
Behind false smiles
… Yes it feels nice

It’s over;
These angels dehumanise!
Yet,
It feels nice…

Damn it!
Damn it!
DAMN IT!

The fate of destruction…
The joy of rebirth…
Then what is your hand for?

You laid me down to sleep
In the wake…


So this semester, I’ve begun to re-try and make my poems personal because it’s not about what the teachers what in the long run. It should be about what I want to write and if my work is not what they want, it doesn’t matter because it means something to me. Therefore I’ve been using my depression mood to write my poems and take have pictures of the lines I’ve written on various items and in various ways. The idea is to be shocking and not happy. I want to so these people who I am and how I feel so they understand what plagues me internally. Thus was born the idea for the tomato ketchup writing to mimic blood. Please before you judge me, know this, if anyone feels this is sick or wrong then get a life. I don’t judge you for your works, art is about reflecting the moment and capturing the image. Look at Van Gogh for goodness sake. He was a bi-polar artist who struggled to make a living and was judged by everyone around him, but his art speaks for itself and shows us all his view of the world. His command of colour, the style he draws in and his ability to find the true beauty of a particular moment is astonishing.

Anyway so, here are a few pictures of what I’ve been up to. Courtesy of my housemate, who just about manages to keep me remotely sane.








Now I would like to assure you all that it is ketchup on my hands and not real blood. I’m also planning to create a few images of a girl or guy putting lipstick on in the shape of a Chelsea smile. It’s all about the truth of poetry these days. And all this was done to the sounds of Funeral For A Friend’s brilliant new album which effectively saved my life on Monday. I have so much gratitude for that band because they have effectively stopped me from doing things that I would regret. Music saves lives. You would be surprised by how much it has helped me and continues to.

So in closing, and cause I’m on the topic of Funeral For A Friend, I’m going to list my favourite songs by the most amazing Welsh band of a generation. So here are ten FFAF brilliant songs for you, and I’ll speak again soon. I apologize for the long post and emotional nature of this particular post but it needed to be written and I thank you if you are reading this because it’s nice to know that someone out there is listening to the ramblings of another student.
• History (found on the album “Hours”)
• The Art of American Football (Found on the “Seven ways to scream your name” E.P.)
• To Die Like Mouchette (found on the album “Memory & Humanity”)
• The Diary (found on the album “Tales don’t tell themselves”)
• You Want Romance? (B-side to “Escape Artist’s…” single)
• Medicated (found on the album “Welcome Home Armageddon”)
• Moments Forever Faded (found on the album “Casually dressed and deep in conversation”)
• Hospitality (found on the album “Hours”)
• Roses for the Dead (found on the album “Hours”)
• Old Hymns (found on the album “Welcome Home Armageddon”)

Tuesday 8 March 2011

We all know friends like these, friends like these are the greatest and keep my feet on the ground. Nothing worse than growing up

Hello my followers, surprise for you all today, I've got a couple of character sketches for you all to have a look at for my Scott Pilgrim inspired comic. So here we go, no point beating around the bush is there.
This is Hails. She likes vampires and can summon them if she really, really wants. Also she is easily aggravated by video games when she fails to complete challenges.
Special Ability: SUMMON VAMPIRES- DRACULA 999mp, LESTAT 666mp, SELENE 333mp, EDWARD CULLEN 1mp (useless summon, like the chocobo summon in FF4 =/)
Next up is Kirsty, she is a fond of music and has a strange obsession with stars. She would normally be wearing contact lenses, but if she sees something she really likes her eyes light up and turn into stars. It's actually a little worrying. =/
Special Ability: STAR POWER- utilize the power of any star item upon her person to launch a devastating attack with the power of a sun. The more stars the better =)
Third up is Abi, our resident Biologist. She likes nothing more than investigating plants and running around in fields acting like a big child. (is it me or is this all of a sudden turning into a dating profile!!!) She also has the ability to remain completely calm, in fact I believe her temper is completely non-existent.
Special Ability: COMMAND PLANT-LIFE- Command plants in the nearby area to attack enemies or aid party. Differs from plant type to plant type.

Forth is Heather, every one's favourite singer. She loves to sing out loud at random moments and is actively involved with a band. She is enthusiastic and always has random conversations involving trips to Paris and iPod silent discos with Paul.
Special Ability: SING- uses songs to give various status elements to enemies. Ranges from heavy damage to elemental damage and status afflictions.

Finally Paul (IE. My character) He is sarcastic and often opens his mouth without thinking what he is saying. Occasionally he will make the suggestion to Heather they should run away to Paris but to no avail. His jokes often fall flat and he tends to sneak hug his friends.
Special Ability: ARMY OF ONE- launches a devastating one-man chain attack upon a selected enemy. Very unlikely to miss and may also inflict status afflictions depending on the enemy.

Anyway that is all for now. Just wanted to share them with you all. More to come soon. And I'd like to thank all of my friends who are out there in the world. Without them, none of these characters would really be possible because our random exploits, conversations and lives bring us all endless hours of enjoyment. Even when things look bleak, I can always count on them. And this is one way I'm saying thank-you because they deserve to be recognized by the world and not just me. (P.S. Heather is amazing and has been the funnist character to draw because of her vibrant personality. Actually everyone has been fun to draw but I wanted to mention her again because her excitement about everything gave me the inspiration to begin work on this comic. She's awesome and I love her haha.)
Right so, onwards and upwards I guess. The songs for this post are:
Dave Melillo- For the Sake of Remembering
This Will Destroy You- This World is our ___
All Time Low- Time Bomb
Right so enjoy. I'll speak soon =)

Saturday 5 March 2011

Enjoy yourself, take only what you need to what the world regains its place in the stars

Hello my noble followers,

It's been an interesting few weeks these last couple. To which few people have escaped unscathed, following the wave of news that hit us as we try to keep moving through life in the best possible way. But I'm not here to try depress the world, no sir, I'm not going to do that today... well maybe later but you never know.



Recently I got my assignment back for my Palestinian essay on the British Government's relationship with the Zionist before 1914. I'll admit its an interesting topic and I do enjoy studying history, because whether you like it or not, it is historians who will save the world at some point. Except we observe first then act. Kind of like Time Lords with the rule of no direct interference with fixed points in time. It's actually quite a good comparison that to be fair. Anyway, so I got my essay back and my tutor was really surprised that I got 60%, with in fairness is quite surprising because of the amount of blunders and monumental cock-ups I made in that essay. But instead of the congratulations that one normally receives, we were all greeted with an air of "I think you could have done better" and then "Here is my four page list of everything that you can improve upon and what you did wrong and things/habits I generally disapprove of in any assignment that I receive!"... The looks on our faces from this point on can only be best described as...

Now don't get me wrong, I like nothing more than feedback so I can improve on my work but in fairness, I can only describe this as a giant kick in the teeth. It was one of those moments where you feel like you've entirely let yourself down and I know my good friend on my course felt the same as we met up after and decided the only logical thing to do next was retail therapy... so I bought some Doctor Who DVDs... yes the classic Tom Baker ones =). But aside from the point, on no part of the actually coursework discussion in our timetable did our tutor actually specify a certain criteria for the presentation, sources and every other bit of jargon he pulled us up on. Much to the amusement of my history Arch-Nemesis. I seem to have a lot of super-villain wannabes after me clearly... =/ Interesting.

Anyway on with other news. My Scott Pilgrim inspired comic is very near completion, in fact I shall be doing the last couple of panels in the next few days and hopefully uploading it to this blog at some point in the very near future. I would have liked it to be up last month but the amount of work that I've had to do recently has been ridiculous. Its really quite de-moralising these days when you're trying to make the world aware of your wish to be in the industry. Or at least that's how it feels to me. Maybe a new plan is in order... one that involved monkey's would be preferable.

Also in the world of news around me, is poetry also known as the long 3 hours on a Friday afternoon where we learn nor do nothing. Again the world is close to its death when we enter that room. I had a coursework assignment where I had to do four poems on class exercises but how can we do four poems on class exercises when we do not actually do them in class? hmm I wonder what problems that could cause... answer- Alot... =/ I don't really want to portray myself across the globe and to whoever reads this as a moaner or a moaning kind of person, I'm normally an OK kind of guy and ask my friends they'll back me up on this, keep myself to myself not burdening them with my problems. But you have to agree with me on this one that if we don't practice writing in the class then it is pretty hard to do the assignment and all the add on bits when we have nothing to work with. You see what I'm saying. It's a little contradictory if you catch my drift. Also every week we nearly fall asleep in that lesson so either I am falling asleep and missing it or we just are not doing any work worth a damn. I don't know really but it's too late to procrastinate on it now.

So that is what has been going on in my world at the moment, granted it's not the most pressing issues that can ever be discuss, I mean when we look at places in the Middle East that are tearing themselves to pieces, it does give a little perspective considering how bad we believe out government are. I completely understand the reasons for the cuts made in our country but the way and the unfairness they were handed out is only for the benefit of several members of the upper class community. Therefore as it has been suggested the new party motto for the conservative party should be- "Putting the 'N' into Cuts!" I actually would love to see that. Politics and assignments aside, I am in the middle of planning a trip to the Zooniverse, also known as Chester Zoo because secretly we are all big kids and the Zoo is amazing. I shalt say no more on that topic. Hopefully I'll be putting some pictures up of that when I get them and hopefully a comic or two before then. The fun never stops does it.

And so in closing, Cameron is evil, Gaddafi is mis-guided, Poetry tutors can not teach and the monkey is loose in the closet again... hmm I must fix the world. So the songs for this post are The Naked & Famous- Young Blood and Architects- An open letter to myself. Enjoy and I'll check in soon.

Peace and Love as always.
PS stay out of the Middle East.

Sunday 6 February 2011

We're chasing memories we used to own... Don't let them succumb to the nightmares that dictate future days

Hi, me again. Twice in one day, I know its all go in my world today. Well i'm going to spoil you guys and gals again with another pair of sketches. These are from the part of me that wants to make a comment or show something different about the world. I know its hard to explain to be honest. But never the less, here is number one... I've titled this, (I may go back and edit the background etc later) "Is the only beauty in the World what we see in the moments before we die?" Don't ask about the title. I liked the idea of a person who has cut their wrist touching water and all of a sudden this magical event happens and fish begin to swim in the air. It would be beautiful would it not.


And Number 2 for this post is... Apologies if it's a little faint. The image didn't transfer as well as I'd hoped. But never the less, the title for this is "In sacrifice, do we deserve any freedom that we have not earned through Blood?" This is a comment on the government and the way society is changing rapidly, soon they will be monitering every last one of us. I chose to show this through a bar-code in a young womens eye. Weird I know but art doesn't have to always be pretty these days.

Anyway, that is all for the day. Hope you like these different attempts at art from me. Please let me know what you thing be that in a comment or through twitter etc. You'll find someway to get hold of me I'm sure. So as always Peace and Love, enjoy the rest of the evening.

You're the colour, you're the moment in this revolution, just leave me paralysed...

Good afternoon, it's wet and windy over here which is very typical in Britain is it not. So I have made promises of comics and artwork on this blog for a long time now and I intend to follow through with the promise in this post but first I would like to stick a couple of pictures that I've been meaning to stick up for a few weeks. I've had so much work on my tiny dinner plate it was actually overflowing. But I guess we have to learn lessons when it comes to work, namely if you can't understand Palestine then why are you even trying anymore. Actually that just applies to me really but you know what I'm saying when you get to the point you can not actually remember what in the world possessed you to take the course in the first case. But I digress. Anyway here are some pictures (some admittedly from last year) that I've taken.
This is a pic from when I went to see a certain Ms Diana Vickers last year and I would like to just say that she is amazingly live and it was one of the best concerts I went to last year. Well the only exception would be these guys...
Yes, that is Jared Leto from 30 Seconds to Mars (and probably one of the films in your DVD collection that you never realised that he was in). I am sure that in a previous post I talked about the amazing performance from these guys and how it was like an early christmas present etc etc etc. Again I'd like to thank one of my best friends Kirsty for securing the tickets to that gig.
Anyway after a couple of pics from concerts, I think its time to get to the main event. (no dramatic music please, it's not that exciting). Here are the first official character design for one of the characters in my comic and a small sketch of one of the more... urm shall we say horrific scenes that will occur in the comic. I hope you like them
I kinda took these pictures through my phone camera because I ain't got access to a scanner right now so please excuse the quality of them. But the Scott Pilgrim inspired comic (not related to the pictures above) will be released in the next two weeks on this blog page so keep your eyes and ears about you as I will be celebrating with a special first release including sketches of the characters and other little goodies that you can all enjoy until nightfall.
Anyway, I must leave you now and return to the drawing board and writers journal to process more ideas. So the song for this post is by Pendulum and is there very latest single Crush, trust me when I say this, it's a wee bit addictive and then again so is the song Witchcraft. Oh look at that a two for one sale on songs haha. Well anyway as always peace and love and don't do anything that I wouldn't do...

Oh yeah and before I go. The other week I invested in a new green energy T.A.R.D.I.S in the hope of protecting the enviroment during time travel and... well... erm here we are ready to depart on our maiden voyage...
And here's what happened when we landed...Yes... that is me after a failed attempt at landing a T.A.R.D.I.S (actually it was a failed attempt at putting a sofa bed back into the sofa. Don't ask how it happened I don't remember, I just remember there being a lot of swearing and pain... mostly my fault but you know. Whoever says pyshical comedy is old clearly has not met me yet.)

Right now then I'm signing off. As always Peace and Love.

Friday 28 January 2011

Politics of humour can drive our souls

Hey Hey my wonderful and cheery followers. I'm just dropping a quick post here for those of you who are interested. My house mate Sam has started another blog and has allowed me to add my own comic styles to the first post, so check it out if you want some political based comedy. Yes I am aware that most of the world will be doing similar thing, but here in the good ol' UK I like to think we had the idea first. So the link is http://distantvibes.samspinmedia.com/ check it and let him know if you like what he does. It will definitely make him happy, like this guy



Nothing like a Happy President. Anyway I will leave you with a song for the moment. Today the song is The Naked & Famous- Punching in a Dream. Enjoy and let my friend know what you guys think of his new blog and our joint post. Peace and Love as always.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Are you alive? The simple answer is your are alive because you can ask that question... we are all sons and daughters of humanity!

Echoes of a Distant Star 2.0 has arrived my loyal followers. I've re-booted and revamped this blog to make it all fresh and new for the new year. I hope you like this revamped format. Let me know if you do. Answers on in a comment or a postcard please. So with a new blog for a new year comes new treats and goodies that will begin this month.

First is that once I find a scanner, I will be uploading the first of my short comics for you all to have a read of. It's done in a Scott Pilgrim style, i.e very comical and not in my normal style of artwork. But I've tried to maintain as much of my traditional style as I possibly could without making it look messy. This short features a large collection of my friends (and references to others who didn't make it into this comic, but don't worry they shall appear in other comic shorts to come) I had the most entertaining time drawing cartoon versions of my friends and had a giggle with their characters. Nothing like having a friend attempt to summon vampires in a Final Fantasy style manner to defeat a console that is proving to be annoying. It is quite amusing to draw out, as well as a battle scene against a sofa-bed... my housemates know how that one turned out in reality.

In other creative news, I have recently submitted my first short story to a magazine. So i'm hoping this one will get somewhere and I'll have some very excited tweets and blogs in the future. It might make things slightly more entertaining in the months to come and be a step in the right direction for me. Considering I have very few career plans aside from idlic dreams of the future, it would be nice to get somewhere for once. Oh the joys of dreams and hope... *seriously the sarcasm police will be onto me again if I continue with this sarcastic tone*

Anyways thats all for now. The song for this post is Bruno Mars- Grenade... actually seen as this is the first post in 2.0 format, I'm going to give you another song to keep you all happy and cheery. Song 2 for this post is Alexisonfire- The Northern. It's a good one.

Monday 3 January 2011

The birth and death of a year occurs on the eve of our renewal.

Well the New Year has come and past, there was much amusement and entertainment which I hope we all had. The fun never ends on a New Year’s Eve, well it does technically, but that’s not important. So with this post I’m going to look back over the year and share with you my thoughts and musings with regards to music, film etc and my own personal experiences that are fun to talk about.

Firstly I would like to begin with music, as we all know it is the life and blood of society today. A strange lifeline for the youth of today, but we all love it. So once again we have all had to endure mass torture from so artists and been pleasantly surprised by others. Before I begin with this, one rule must apply here. On no account must anyone mention the music of Glee or the prodigy of Satan, a certain Mr Beiber in my presence or in comments or you shall suffer a mass amount of video game related violence! Similar to Scott Pilgrim style!

So onwards, I feel that two new artists have made a lasting impression on me this year. Firstly is winner of the BBC sound competition Ellie Goulding with her album Lights (or the re-release, Bright Lights) and her style of electro-folkish music. It has kept me singing along for many days, train journeys and 3am iPod listenings. Yes I do that when I cannot sleep. My personal favourite track is below entitled “Your Biggest Mistake”


The second new artist that has made an impression on me is Lights, a Canadian electro-pop artist. I first discovered her on YouTube (oh mighty YouTube) and watched some music videos and blogs that she made which made her seem even more amazing than before. Her album, “The Listening” isn’t 100% perfect but nethertheless it is a good listen for the days you want something mindlessly upbeat and cheery. The song that I’ve selected is “My Boots” and is a bit of a wintery jam without the cheesy festiveness of the last few weeks.


Also this year, I have rediscovered my love of the Gaslight Anthem who have returned this year with a splendid follow-up to the album the ’59 Sound, called “American Slang”. They never fail to surprise me. My favourite track on this album is “Old Haunts”.


Guilty pleasure tracks have been few but annoyingly addictive this year. The two that have stuck with me to the years end have been Leona Lewis “My Hands” due to its association with Final Fantasy XIII and the Saturdays “Higher” due to its catch chorus and the girls in the band aren’t too bad on the eyes. Oh dear that’s a bad reason to listen to music is it not.


Ahem onwards… Finally my favourite album of 2010 is a tie this year. First in the top spot is Bring Me The Horizon- “There is a hell believe me I’ve seen it. There is a heaven lets keep it a secret!” Despite there heavy sound and screamo music, the lyrics and music have so much depth and emotion to them. A personal album for Oli Sykes I feel as it expresses own feelings towards incidents of his childhood as well as his relationship to Amanda Hendrix. My favourite track is actually one of the softest tracks on the album, “Blessed with a Curse”


And the second album that has made it into my favourite album list is “Speak Now”, the latest offering from Taylor Swift. Another fantastic album from the country-pop musician which features songs relating to more heartbreak, forgiveness and gratitude to the fans. My personal favourite track on the album is “Enchanted” although on this album there is no easy choice.


Moving onwards, after the music must come the films of the year. Personally I’m still mortified to enter a cinema after the horrific film “Avatar” was released and the general public of teenage girl’s monstrous obsession with that goddamn “Twilight Saga”. Both should be forgotten and burned with films such as “The Last Airbender”, “Grown Ups” and “Salt”, the worst films I ever saw this year. These films personally made me feel unclean and mentally, wait… mentally and physically violated. The pure horror of those films, pointless characters, terrible jokes and Angelia Jolie… (I shudder)

Anyway, out with the band and in with the top five films this year. No analysis needed, these are no doubt the high points of the cinematic year. And guess what, only one of these films has been released in 3D and it’s the one of the two 3D films that have been worth seeing this year.
5. Heartless
4. Toy Story 3 (yes the only 3D film of the year I saw.)
3. Inception (I know most people will think this is higher but I personally feel that Nolan has not surpassed his best movie yet i.e. The Dark Knight)
2. Kick-Ass (Comic book mastery and a foul-mouth 11 year old who kills nearly everyone…)
1. Scott Pilgrim Vs the World (It’s my life long fantasy on screen!)

Although in the year of horrific 3D pointless films and stupid attempts at franchises that should never have appeared on the screen, there have been a couple of guilty pleasures. So my three guilty pleasures of the year have been:
1. Camp Rock 2 (Disney, music and Demi Lovato. I am easily pleased)
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street (re-make without Johnny Depp, but they manage to keep it slightly fresh)
3. Prince of Persia (enjoyable and a remotely decent videogame adaptation)

Video games have been declining again, much to the amusement of the bosses at Nintendo, due to their sinful product, the Wii. And has Xbox/Mircosoft/PS3 attempted similar stuff, yes they have now. Personally it’s a downfall of the computer game industry if everyone is buying pointless games like Wii sports resort, which in fairness are no where near as fun as Guitar Hero is, even when drunk!!!!

But less of the bad, more of the good, or to be fair the greats of the year. My two favourite games of the year which have kept me smiling and entertained for months and not just six hours (Sorry Halo Reach, you have not made the list, due to your dependency on multiplayer, however that doesn’t change the fact you are highly entertaining but not list worthy)
1. Final Fantasy XIII (beautiful animation and brilliant story to boot)
2. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (It’s time to come up with more new and inventive ways to kill the guards and templar’s)