Messages

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General / Re: Favourite CLASSIC art droid Round 2 - Brett Ewins or David Gibbons

« on: 21 January, 2021, 03:26:51 PM »

I prefer Gibbons out of these two. I believe it's pronounced Gibbons.

I pronounced it Boll-and when I met him briefly at UKCAC '88, as in "are you Brian Bolland?".  The look on his face spoke volumes and I think he still remembers this one.  Ah, the folly of youth! 

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General / Re: Prog drought!

« on: 21 January, 2021, 08:10:09 AM »

2213 showed up yesterday (2212 came just after New Year); still no 2211 or 2214 or 2215 but I'll give it a few weeks before bugging subs about it as it's down to the postal service and I imagine the issues are just floating around there somewhere. 

Aquila came through a few days ago, luckily but we haven't had The Phoenix for weeks and the boys are getting a bit impatient about that; just one of those things and not exactly the end of the world (yet).

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Creative Common / Re: Does my Art look big in this?

« on: 20 January, 2021, 01:40:23 PM »

Thanks, Colin - they're fun to do and, being as objective as possible, I definitely feel I've improved since I started these (the first things I did are okay though and I quite liked the designs so I might revisit them in future).  Still trying to figure out where my strengths lie with this stuff but the main thing is enjoying the process really.

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Creative Common / Re: Does my Art look big in this?

« on: 20 January, 2021, 01:31:47 PM »

As posted in the ‘activities of the trapped’ thread, I’ve spent a fair bit of time in the last year doing some linocuts.  Still relatively new to the process but it’s an enjoyable one.  I’m still figuring out what I can do and what I need to work on but I’m getting there, kind of - at least I don’t hate everything about the finished articles.  I committed to this back in 2019 when I bought a 100 year old book press - a giant beast of a thing; 50 x 50 cm plate and weighs 300 - 400 kg+.  Anyway, a few examples below - a few others are done and a some other stuff in the pipeline…  Anyone else doing this kind of thing?  There’s so much to explore in terms of the method (paper alone is a huge area to get into) and I’m still at the bottom of a lengthy learning curve.  However, it’s nice to spend some time doing something arty as I spend next to no time drawing these days, other than birthday cards for the boys.  Ho hum.

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General / Re: Favourite CURRENT art droid Round 2 - Phil Winslade or Chris Weston

« on: 20 January, 2021, 08:25:50 AM »

A finely matched pair, very hard to choose between the two but I'm going for Phil Winslade I think.  Ask me again and I'll just switch back and forth between these two until doomsday, though.

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General / Re: Favourite CLASSIC art droid Round 2 - Alan Davis or Simon Harrison

« on: 20 January, 2021, 08:24:18 AM »

Love Simon Harrison's work but it's Alan Davis that gets my vote here.

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Off Topic / Re: activities of the trapped

« on: 19 January, 2021, 03:28:49 PM »

The snail took quite a while but is by far from the most time consuming one I've done - I don't really have a clue how long but maybe 8 hours or so to cut?  It takes time to get the design prepped to cut and there's definitely patience involved but it's a very relaxing process all in all - a good one for the weird times we're living in.  The one below took a while and really isn't very well suited to linocut which is why I've now done it twice (at least it improved a bit) and have three others planned along these lines.  Hmm.

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Off Topic / Re: activities of the trapped

« on: 19 January, 2021, 02:49:43 PM »

Apart from chipping away at that loony Lego Torque-armada last year I spent a fair few hours doing some linocuts.  Not something I'd done before but I really like the process.  I did a couple in 2019 but had a lot to learn so it's only recently I've been (fairly) happy with how these turn out.  From doodling to the final design and the cutting, inking and printing, it's a nice way to spend a few hours.  The printing is my least favourite part of the process, mind, since then I start to focus on the bits I did wrong.  Anyway, here's a few from last year...  (These are all test print pics; tweaked and cleaned up a bit afterwards but they give a good idea of how they ended up looking.)

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General / Re: Favourite CLASSIC art droid Round 2 - Massimo Belardinelli or Brian Bolland

« on: 19 January, 2021, 09:27:25 AM »

Unfair!  Again!  Still, at least I don't find this one as difficult as I thought I might - Massimo for me!  There's no question that Brian Bolland is one of my favourite 2000AD artists but when I compare his contributions to those of Massimo, it's an easy choice.  Bolland's amazing covers and legendary work on Dredd vs. Ace Trucking, Meltdown Man, Black Hawk (and the rest) and the endless, fizzing energy of Belardinelli.  Both meticulous craftsmen but in terms of artistic output and the resultant hours of enjoyment, Massimo has the edge.

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General / Re: Favourite CURRENT art droid Round 2 - Simon Coleby or Simon Fraser

« on: 19 January, 2021, 09:20:28 AM »

Simon gets my vote; no hesitation whatsoever!  Bleurgh - like the decision between Brett and Dave Gibbons, this one's horrible.  I absolutely love Simon Coleby's work these days and he's one of my favourite artists; I didn't really take to his work early on but the evolution of his style from the big-guns-'n-muscles era is astonishing.  Simon Fraser gets my vote, though - just (seemingly) effortless, dynamic, fluid artwork, in amazing quantity over decades (Dante started back in 1997 which can't be right but is).

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General / Re: Favourite CLASSIC art droid Round 2 - Brett Ewins or David Gibbons

« on: 18 January, 2021, 02:48:50 PM »

Cyboons
The Terra-meks
Rogue Trooper
Chrono Cops.

Cummon people... it’s Gibbons.

That was pretty much what was going through my mind but it was still a really difficult one.  There's a LOT of great stuff on Brett's side of things but it wasn't quite enough to tip things in his favour over Dave Gibbons.

A minor influencing factor was knowing that one of my childhood-favourite Future Shocks (The Last Man) was pretty much lifted panel-for-panel by Brett (see the Swipe File thread: https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?action=post;quote=816706;topic=39512.135;last_msg=1049199).

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General / Re: Favourite CLASSIC art droid Round 2 - Brett Ewins or David Gibbons

« on: 18 January, 2021, 08:47:13 AM »

A very tough one... Brett's Bad Company, Haunting of Sector House 9 and Rogue Trooper work carry a lot of weight for me but I think I'll have to opt for Dave of Gibbons for this round.

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General / Re: Favourite CURRENT art droid Round 2 - Patrick Goddard or Simon Davis

« on: 18 January, 2021, 08:45:03 AM »

Simon Davis for me, please!

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General / Re: Favourite CLASSIC art droid Round 2 - Cam Kennedy or Simon Bisley

« on: 15 January, 2021, 08:16:20 AM »

Yup - another vote for Cam here

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General / Re: Favourite CURRENT art droid Round 2 - Leigh Gallager or Steve Yeowell

« on: 15 January, 2021, 08:15:55 AM »

Leigh Gallagher is awesome but Zenith is Zenith so Steve Yeowell gets my vote.  That era-defining strip is the perfect partnering of story and artist and one for which I can't imaging anyone other than Stevie Owl filling the role.  Zenith casts a long shadow but Yeowell is far from a one-trick pony.