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I drew this:

Yep a great shame as 2D was the sort of place Cam Kennedy would be sitting by himself happy to talk war comics with you for an hour. Far more relaxed and open than any other event and always with a minimum of ten 2000AD droids.

Agreed. 2DFest has to be one of the best genuine comic cons in Ireland, along with DICE. I had that great conversation with Cam Kennedy too. What a gentleman.
Its such a pity that they seem to have had the rug pulled from under them by the Arts Council. Hopefully they'll be back next year.

Most embarrassing 2DFest fanboy story:
Me (to pauljholden): "I love your work PJ. You're one of the best Dredd artists"
PJ Holden: "Well you obviously haven't read much Dredd then"
Me (thinks): "F*@k you Holden".

Ah, man, I feel like a right git now. I can assure you I was joshing out of slightly uncomfortable embarrassment - I'm glad you like my work, I've got more and more comfortable drawing dredd over the years, but don't consider myself able to touch the hem of many of the really great dredd artists. Sorry if your first run in with me was awful for you, make yourself known to me the next time you see me and there's a free dredd sketch in it for you.
(Updated to say: as my wife and some friends will gleefully point out: that sounds like my aspergers - (they've diagnosed me.))

-PJ

I love 'em - you can buy them via ebay for about £5 for 5, so not even that expensive. The zebra is finer, I think than the pentel.

To fill in the gaps, agree with just about everyone on the Terror Tale art... Very fine.
Shame about the script, is all.

Hey all, I wanted to come (needlessly, I'm sure) to kek-w's defence. I've seen a lot of praise about the art (thank you) and criticism about the story - BUT what most are missing, I think, is that it's my storytelling that's turned up short here. I thought it was a great little short horror story, but I don't think I sold what was happening as well as I could have (there were narrative tricks required that I've never managed to do well in the past).

The gloss and glamour of the rendering (which I'm pleased you all liked) has for better or worse - hidden some of my mistakes and made them appear to be kek-w's.

I'll try and not let that happen again...

-pj

When I used to go to cons while working in IT, I used to refer to it as being "weekend-famous". It's great fun and cool to be asked to sign things and then go back in to a day job where no-one gives a hoot about you...

-pj

http://instagram.com/p/lXzW3NxHGU/


Apologies for the blurry photo, but it is the entire next Monsterology thing in finished b&w art...

Can't say for sure (as I've neither been invited nor have I booked a table yet) but I think I'll be MCM Belfast in some capacity or other.

Whatever happens with the con-formally-known-as-2d I hope it can also go ahead and I'll definitely get to it-they're likely to be very different events.

"DOMINOES PIZZA"

-pj

Nothing more formative in my early life than second hand sci-fi/comics. Good luck with it!

-pj

Hi, I'm afraid deadlines have conspired to stop me getting to cork (deadlines and the fact I start Jury Service on the Monday...)

-pj

Yes, Virginia, there will be more Dept of Monsterology. http://www.renegadeartsentertainment.com/_blog/News/post/more-monsterology/

This is because I lettered a friends strip, isn't it? You realise, of course, that this means war...

It's interesting and graphic and bold. Feel like it's not quite comics though, more a series of illustrations. They're a little too spartan too - there's no sense of place, inside and outside locations are identical limboesque white rooms- and often the lighting doesn't match up (which isn't that big a deal, but when you're leaning so heavily on dramatic lighting when it conflicts it looks very wrong - the shadow of the old guy with the hat [last panel page 2], for example, appears to be from light cast behind him, yet the shadow on him and the other figure seems to be coming from the far right).

Where you've left a piece of art open to have the reader fill in the rest (a good strategy!) you've left out the background [page 5, tier 3 last panel for example]-which means they've got to do a lot of work to picture what it is they're looking. The effect is that the art looks incomplete. The diamond rectangle on this page further hightens that - it looks like a panel that's missing, rather than the window they're looking out of?

So, my advice (for what it's worth) is: more backgrounds, remove lines where you feel the reader can make the leap and maybe don't lean so heavy on photo ref (I may be wrong, but page 5 third tier panel 1 looks like Sylvester McCoy, but he doesn't look like Sylvester McCoy anywhere else...)

-pj

What do you play it on ? Clay tablets? Snarf!

you see the thread title says "game out late 1014" which, for the sake of comedy, I've decided to misconstrue your obvious typo as a deliberate date.

Oh forget it.

-PJ
(It does look brill, but as I was petrified by the game alone in the dark back in the early 90s I can do any tummy wobbly scary games...)

https://www.facebook.com/events/1407168846195778/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular

So, Will Sliney's new comic book (written by Rob Williams, I think) will be launching at Oliver Plunkett in Cork. Me, Stephen Mooney and Ruth Redmond will be there as a support act, but think of it as a mini con.

It's being organised by Dublin's The Big Bang comic shop, and so we should have, by then, all four issues of Dept Of Monsterology with us. Come get 'em! (I ay even have a couple of hard back numbercrunchers, which appear to have sold out)


I'll be sketching on the day, but to be sure of getting a commission, you'd be better asking me BEFORE the event and I can do it and bring it with me.

Convention sketch pricing:

Prices €20 for pencil (midshot/headshot)
or €35 for water colour (same drawing with watercolour applied to it, they do look pretty...)

(here's one I like http://instagram.com/p/f59TDvxHHl/ here's a Dredd head http://instagram.com/p/e2SV15RHK1/ )

I'd hope to open up commissions this year, but I start Jury service on the monday following this signing and have NO idea what I'll be doing...

-pj