My Interview with Your Harlow

I was interviewed by online local newspaper Your Harlow last week, and the interview and article are now live on their site!

Among the questions, I gave special mentions to four of my artist friends who inspired me to pursue my art further in the first place-Jess Bradley-Bove, John-Paul Bove, James Stayte and Mark Pearce, and my Dad, who inspired me to draw, and still does.

Click here to read the article.

Watch the video below:

Thank you to Your Harlow for the feature! 

My Study Inspiration Wall

I finally got round to sticking up all my art pieces I have collected from various artists throughout the years on the wall above my desk. 

I call it my 'Inspiration Wall', as many of these artists inspired me to pursue my art professionally. 

Here you can see art from the likes of Jess Bradley-Bove, John-Paul Bove, Mark Pearce, James Stayte, Andy Clift, Pauscorpi, Deakin Brook, Naniiebim, Nikki Stu, Matt Rooke, Alexis Alseymoure, Jenni Bryan, William Turner and my Dad. 

I have also included some of my own work I am most proud of.

The wall and my work space in all its glory! 

Deakin Brook's Guinea Pig art also makes an appearance.

More of my desk, featuring various pieces of my own art, a glimpse of Jess Bradley's art, Pauscorpi, James Stayte, Nikki Stu, Jennie Bryan's pug stickers, and my dad's work. 

A close up of my desk, featuring two of my framed paintings-one digital and one very impressionistic acrylic piece. Above the TV (complete with a Resident Evil Licker and Jennie Bryan pug stickers!) are Naniiebim and James Stayte pieces. The Joker artwork (left of TV) was drawn by my father-the first person to ever inspire me to start drawing in the first place. 

The MCM Comic Con Weekend!

Conventions always come and go in a blur of laughter, fun, and busy-ness. This past weekend's MCM Expo at the ExCel Centre in London was by far the busiest con I've ever been a part of. Apparently they broke last years attendance figures by a mile!

Despite the stuffiness, heat and bad smells (it always happens), being in a completely packed convention hall for a whole weekend had plenty of advantages. I got to speak to a whole host of lovely comic artists in Comic Village, spent plenty of time with mine and my Fiancées con artist buddies, and doubled my con profit record in the first day! By the end of the con, I'd not only made a huge success on my table (my large canvas sold, I sold out of several of my prints and others also performed well), but I also had a blast!

Here's some photos from the weekend. I should hopefully next be at the London Film & Comic Con in July, and then the MCM once again in October. Bring it on! (more photos available via Pages and Panels).

Set-up time on Saturday. My table, all ready to go!

My new print stand, the step-by-step of how I do my art at the bottom, business cards, Pages and Panels plugging, my 'The Nightmare Canvas', art book and comic!

People loved flicking through the large print box and smaller print boxes over the weekend, which I was pleased about!

Post con meal with my con buddies on Saturday. Here I am (cheesy grin is a must!) with John-Paul Bove and Jess Bradley.

They've only been married a week, and I think the madness is already setting in...

Con buddies Marisa & Deakin Brook of Newfangled Press and James Stayte, post con celebrations at the chinese restaurant.

Mark Pearce (Ronin Dogs) disappears for a bit. James Stayte and John-Paul Bove sought the company of an invisible friend instead.

My Fiancée and co-table manner Kayleigh Powis (Pages and Panels, 8-Bit Girl) with Marisa Brook.

The photo seems to have corrupted on uploading sadly, but here's myself and my Fiancée (cheesy grin time).

Mr and Mrs Brook of Newfangled Press!

"Hi Guuuuys!" Jess behind her table of arty goodness.

Nikki Stu with her Kickstarter flyer. Support her project here!  

The ever-charming John-Paul Bove.

Mark Pearce (Ronin Dogs) & James Stayte (Big Jimmy) put their best poses to work.

Jon Lock (Afterlife Inc) with his girlfriend Lucy. Lovely people!

Marisa & Deakin Brook at their Newfangled Press table.

Cristian Ortiz of 'Golden Campaign'. 

Changed the layout around of my table on Saturday afternoon as things were sold (post canvas purchase and the selling out of some of my prints!)

Thank you to everyone who took the time to take a look at my table, pick up a print, book or canvas, or just stopped by for a chat! As always, the con was made extra fun by the appearance of mine and my Fiancée's regular con artist crew, who I decided to feature in the photos above. 

Bring on the next one!

Lewis

London MCM Comic Con: Artists To Look Out For!

I shall be exhibiting my comics and prints at the London MCM Comic Con this weekend. Whilst I'd love it if you would all pop along to check out my work, pick up a copy of 'Royal' and stay for a chat, there are some excellent artists that I'd highly recommend checking out too. Find them all in Comic Village!

Kayleigh Powis (Pages and Panels/8-Bit Girl)
Co-handling my table is my Fiancée Kayleigh, a freelance journalist, copywriter and blogger for comics blog Pages and Panels and games blog 8-Bit Girl.

In between manning the stall, Kayleigh shall be wandering the Comic Village section to pick up brand new comics to review on Pages and Panels, and attending all the game-related goodness to blog about later on 8-Bit Girl.

Come over to my table at E8 if you want to come and say hi. Don't be afraid to share your comic with her!

Find Kayleigh at table E8
Twitter: @8_BitGirl & @PagesandPanels

Pauscorpi
Pauscorpi has great unique, fantasy style artwork that is definitely worth looking at. A friendly and approachable artist, make sure to check her out!

Find Pauscorpi at table AE12
Twitter: @Pauscorpi

Fiver Arts (Nathan Ashworth)
Ink and colourist for Jon Lock's Afterlife Inc., under the Fiver Arts name is also the highly recommended Tag series. Issue three is launching at MCM this weekend!

Find Fiver Arts at table E6.
Twitter: @FiverArts

Crom- Cristian Ortiz
Illustrator and creator of a great indie comic Golden Campaign. I love his art style, so please pay him a visit!

Find Crom at table F4
Twitter: @BITSOFCROM

Newfangled Press
Married duo Marisa and Deakin Brook pair up under the Newfangled Press name to offer you plenty of cute and quirky illustrations, comics, crafts and more. I personally recommend Marisa's The Armadillo's Tale small press book, and Deakin's Pet Peeves. 

Find Newfangled Press at table F9
Twitter: @DeakinBrook & @MarisaCherry

Failboat Press
Comprising of Naniiebim, Chamonkee and Nikki-Stu, Failboat Press sees a fantastic brand new comic collaboration. Check out the Birdsong/Songbird Anthology-the artwork is fantastic! They've also all proven to have success on their own too. I highly recommend giving them a browse online before you head on over to MCM!

Find Failboat Press at table G10-11
Twitter: @naniiebim, @chamonkee & @submarinecoat

Dead Universe Publishing
Home to a whole variety of great titles (Bertie Bear for instance), I recommend heading over to their table and browsing through their wares. You won't regret it!

Find DUP at table H7
Twitter: @DUPublishingUK

Jon Lock Comics
My con neighbour for the London Super Comic Con back in February, Jon Lock is responsible for the fantastic Afterlife, Inc series and The Six. If you want to have a great chat and peruse a quality comic, then Jon's your man!

Find Jon Lock at table H9
Twitter: @jonlockcomics

Mark Pierce & James Stayte
Two fantastic artists and all-round nice guys, Mark Pearce will be selling his Ronin Dogs comics (number three has only just been released!), whilst James Stayte has Big Jimmy to offer. Both are also expected to show off their prints and other works, so please check them out!

Find Mark & James at table K9
Twitter: @jamesstayte @markpearce82

Jess Bradley (now Bove!)
One of my earliest convention artist friends, Jess has been a regular at conventions for quite some time now. She'll be showing off her range of cute, quirky, weird and damn-right amusing wares. I'd definitely recommend checking out her ever-growing collection of small-press books. The Cute & The Weird 3 is her latest one!

Find Jess at table M1
Twitter: @VenkmanProject

John-Paul Bove
Colourist for a whole host of respected and well-established comic series (Judge Dredd and Transformers to name a few!), JP has also ventured into the writing world too with the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. 

JP will be showing off his fantastic colouring skills on his table, with a variety of prints to buy or peruse. As always, he'll also be colouring your sketches!

Find John-Paul Bove at table M2
Twitter: @wordmongerer

Nichangell Comix
Nich Angell has plenty of excellent comics under his belt. Look out for 7STRING and 7STRING/Afterlife Inc crossover The Heavenly Chord!

Find Nich Angell at table M7
Twitter: @nichangell

So there you have it! Check out these fantastic artists, and I look forward to meeting plenty of you too!

Lewis 

London Super Comic Con Summary

Hello all,

Well the London Super Comic Con flew by this past weekend. I had the pleasure of having Deakin & Marisa Brook and Jon Lock and his girlfriend Lucy as con neighbours for the weekend. Thanks for making the weekend that extra bit enjoyable!

Whilst the convention itself was a little quiet, I had plenty of people compliment my comic, and snap up a copy for themselves. I also did plenty of comic swaps with the fellow Artist Alley artists on the other tables. I came home with a huge swag bag full of small press comics, all of which I've really enjoyed flicking through and reading so far!

I'd like to take this opportunity to give special mentions to Jon Lock and his girlfriend Lucy, Pauscorpi, and of course my usual 'Con Gang' that comprises of Marisa & Deakin Brook (Inanimate Objectives), Jess Bradley, John-Paul Bove, and my girlfriend Kayleigh Powis. Constant con companions, they make the whole experience worthwhile! 

Here's a few of the photos I took at the con:

Me with Deakin Brook of Inanimate Objectives

JP fooling around. :P

Me with my comic, 'Royal'!

Me with my girlfriend and fellow stall-manner. 

Jess Bradley doing her "Hey guys!" pose.

Marisa, Jess and JP. One of the many times all of us laughed whilst out for a curry after closing time on Saturday! Love all of these guys!

My store, set up and ready to go at the beginning of the day!

My Royal comic, and collection of prints for people to rummage through.

My A4 prints, a preview of Royal and my future book 'The Art of Royal'. I was also doing a Lucky Dip Raffle, with a prize everytime! People seemed to love doing that. :)

Another picture of my whole table. 

I'm At The London Super Comic Con in Feb!

I'm pleased to announce that I will be taking a table in the Artist Alley section of the London Super Comic Convention on the 23rd and 24th of February 2013.

As well as displaying and selling a collection of my prints (some older pieces, some brand new), I'll also be showcasing my comic which I have been working on for the past few months.

The comic is due to be pressed early January, in time for the convention!

So if you can make it down, I'd really love you to swing by my stall to check out my art. 

Not only will I be manning the stall, but I'll be joined by 8-BitGirl, and some artist friends are also exhibiting-Jess Bradley, John-Paul Bove, Marisa Brook and Deakin Brook. 

Last years LSCC was brilliant, so I have no doubts that this will be another winner. Hope to see you all there!

Lewis