PJ Holden blogs

PJ Holden is a freelance comic artist. If that job title doesn't terrify you, then you've never been a freelance comic artist. He blogs at http://www.pauljholden.com/blog his website is at http://www.pauljholden.com and you can follow him on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/pauljholden

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2011 (20)
2010 (56)
2009 (63)
Obox Signature Series

Post-posterous

Hey All! 

In trying to simplify my online life, I've managed to cock up and have a number of blogs to maintain. I'm gonna be phasing all of them out in favour of the blog on my own website (http://www.pauljholden.com) where I'm always 100% sure I own the actual content (*No idea of Posterous T&C - I assume they're perfectly reasonable, but, like many people, I'm sure, I barely read T&Cs and, if I do, it's when someone has paniced and assumed they're giving away all their work to twitpic or something).

Posterous is a brilliant way to pass content onto my wordpress blog, but I find that I have two seperate blogs to keep up to date and check for typos! Well, no more!

Thanks for subscribing, and I hope you join me over at http://www.pauljholden.com

Dr Bizarre, MD

I've done a pin up for Andy Suriano's Doc Bizarre, MD. While doing it, I posted updates on twitter. Here they are:

There's a little too much going on- but as it's a sketch that just means I have options ... 
2a230e4b5f1549398bcbbb36d8a8b2

Pinup-also: possibly the tightest pencils I've ever drawn, ever-worried may have sucked life out of it /cc  

Inking with a nib 
Inking with a nib

I love rubbing pencils out from underneath ink - and watching a clean ink drawing 'emerge' -it's kind of magical 

I love rubbing pencils out from underneath ink - and watching a clean ink drawing 'emerge' -it's kind of magical

Filling in blacks using a brush pen filled with Indian ink. I live in dread that my art will fade after a week 
Filling in blacks using a brush pen filled with Indian ink. I live in dread that my art will fade after a week

Doctor, leg. ((for Brits of a certain age)) 
Doctor, leg. ((for Brits of a certain age))

The other shoe has dropped 
The other shoe has dropped

Inking from the bottom prevents pencil smear but creates the continual lurking ink smear danger! 
Inking from the bottom prevents pencil smear but creates the continual lurking ink smear danger!

Rocks

Added a bit of thickness to the outline of the chains.

Added a bit of thickness to the outline of the chains.

Gonna ink the face next. Wish me luck (Alan Davis famously said that as long as face and hands were inked right it didn't matter about the rest - I'm paraphrasing)
Gonna ink the face next. Wish me luck (Alan Davies famously said that as long as face and hands were inked right

Cocked up the left (his right) eyebrow-easily fixed with whiteout or in the computer. 
Cocked up the left (his right) eyebrow-easily fixed with whiteout or in the computer.

Getting Near the end... 
Getting Near the end...

Mostly done. lightning to add and I'll leave the background White for colour. 

Mostly done. lightning to add and I'll leave the background White for colour.

Compass with doohickey for using with pens. Took me years before I realised what that doohickey was for. 
Compass with doohickey for using with pens. Took me years before I realised what that doohickey was for.

Done! will add some splatter in mangastudio and that's it for the b&w! Thanks for watching! 
Done! will add some splatter in mangastudio and that's it for the b&w! Thanks for watching!

Numbercruncher

Well, that's that then.

I've just uploaded the final page of Numbercruncher, episode 10 - 80pages in total. If you want to find out what happens to mathematician, Richard Thyme, The Devine Calculator's hardest nut, Bastard Zane, and the crazy bureaucracy of the afterlife that our hero (and anti-hero) find themselves in then, then it all plays out in next two issues of the Judge Dredd Megazine. If you missed it, or fancy reading the meg, it's available online from the 2000AD shop here's the issues:

http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_306http://shop.200...
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_308
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_309
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_310
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_311
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_313
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_314
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_315
http://shop.2000adonline.com/products/judge_dredd_megazine_316

(At the time of writing, only issues 306-310 are available to buy digitally, but, if you're coming to this post late, they should all be there).

Thanks for joining me and Si on this fine adventure, we hope you liked it, and, fingers crossed, you'll see Zane and Thyme again. And again. And again.*

(*That's a joke, because it's about reincarnation ...)

-pj

(Images are:1. A Greyscale test, we weren't sure exactly how we wanted things to look. Si wanted something a little more 'organic' then the greywash effect achieved here.
2. Black & White of the same page.3. Ultimately, I ended up adding greywash directly to the page, rather than doing lineart and adding it in photoshop.
4. Bastard Zane, the original design - I SOOO wanted the hitler moustache . Oh well.5. More clunky looking designs.
6-9. First four pages. Still really like those pages.
10. Cover designs, there was only one real choice (in fact the others were thrown in there as a 'well, I should really give a couple of options')
11. B&W Lineart. Unlike the interior pages, I knew this would be in full colour, so decided to add texture in the computer.
12. Colour Cover - sadly the meg logo covered up much of the background. Still really like this cover though, and, hopefully... if we get a collection...

(download)

State of the Onion

I have been most remiss in my blogging. I am ashamed.

But not too much.

Here's what's up:

++ITEM++
I quit facebook. I have no regrets. Just a compulsive itch to see what exactly I'm missing. Like leaving a party that's obviously ended, but, because a bunch of people stayed (not even people you like, just people) you keep thinking you're missing ... SOMETHING. (Especially gossip about you).

On the whole though, I think life is that little bit sunnier for not having the set of commitments that, somehow, accrued around managing a facebook account.

++ITEM++

Robocop/Terminator hit the stands. Issue 1 out now fact finders! I hope you like it (though, if you don't that's ok too - EVEN THOUGH I TOTALLY DIDN'T SEE MY WIFE AND KIDS CUS I WAS LOCKED IN MY ROOM DRAWING STUPID ROBOTS SHOOTING AT OTHER STUPID ROBOTS! WHY DO YOU HATE ME?)

++ITEM++

NUMBERCRUNCHER winding down... I'm about to start episode 10! The end! Hope you like how it all turns out. I'll let you know when we find a publisher for a collection. I really think it'll reward a good solid read in one sitting.

++ITEM++

THE COMPLETE BATTLEFIELDS *HARDBACK* is out now! Blimey, I wish all my comics came out in hardback, this thing is frickin' lovely. it's LOVELY. (Plus they're some good stories Garth writes, but you didn't need me to tell you that...)

++ITEM++

There are no more items.

See you next month!

Blogging

So, here's the thing, this space is now my professional home. No more stuff and nonsense, just all news (when there is any) and, maybe, some sketches. But, as a rule, I'm just not an artist who sketches - I draw comics, all my drawing is focused on that. So, I figured it's time I started some sketching, but what to do...
So here's what I did: I created a new blog called http://drawingundertheinfluence.posterous.com where I try and draw /sketch an image that's been deliberately influenced by one or more artists - it's an exercise in wearing your influence on your sleeve. And, as well as that, I then explain why I drew what I drew - the thinking behind that sketch, along with whatever details I can dredge up from memory about the artist in question.

My favourite, thus far, is the Arthur Rackham one. Go have a look. It's still early days and so I haven't yet needed to start cycling back to the start again, but I probably will - unless you nice people can leave me comments, either suggesting artists or telling what I should be looking at. I want to learn more about the long, long flow of amazing illustrators, cartoonists, painters and all round creative types that have come before me.

Cheers

-pj

Getting things in perspective

I knew, as I was making it, that I'd end up cocking it up. And I think I did. I've no real formal art training, so, stuff like this is me teaching myself and figuring things out all on my own.

Anyhue, here's the first pass at a simple trick for making grids in perspective - IMPORTANT: This is wrong (I think) it works for one point perspective BUT not two point. (Actually, turns out, I think, to be simpler to do in two point perspective than how I mangled it here). Still, may be of use to you:

Portfolio Bristol 2011

(download)

Here's the work that I'm bringing with me to Bristol to sell. It's made up of a bunch of stuff (all of which I either like or think someone will like). The Tales from the Black Museum is a complete strip (9 pages) as is the Judge Dredd Aldous Mayou (though it's only 6). I will sell individual pages, but I'd quite like those to stick together.

There's also a few covers and a pin up from the Boys.

I'll price them on the day, though, if you'd like to make sure I hold one over for you, you can email me at pjholden at gmail dot com, and I can give you a price and arrange pickup.

I'll also be sketching on the day - armed with some nice prismacolour markers, greys and light colours, so fancy pants sketching.

Hope to see you there!

 

Spies Like Us - big pic

Spieslikeus

Spies Like Us

A sketch. Prelim drawing in blueline pencil, then pencilled with 2H, then inked with brush and some acrylic red added.

If I were doing it again, I'd not put her boob in shadow and I'd maybe not have her head turned so far round it looks like it's broken. Still, happy with it. Everyone loves Elvis.

(download)

Bloggy Update

Blimey, I've been most remiss at keeping this place up to date. Most of my day to day nonsense happens on the twitter (http://www.twitter.com/pauljholden). Anyhue, here's a fill in:

Numbercruncher is barrelling towards the end - still a few episodes to draw, but all scripts completed by Si Spurrier (him what wrote it) and it's up to ep 5 in print, iirc.

Started a four part mini series for a publisher I've worked with before, can't say what it is (let's call it Project T), but it's written by a friend of mine and someone I've been itching to work with for some time. Also: it's a cool gig.

Also started Monsterology - four part mini series by Gordon Rennie. That'll come after Project T.

And, after that? It's time I started writing something of my own. I've a couple of ideas filed away (truth be told, I've a bunch of ideas that have never moved beyond and embryonic stage, but I would like to do them).

But that's a while out in the distance, if Monsterology proves popular, I'd love to be doing that for a long, long time. We'll have to see.

Regarding Conventions: haven't made any plans this year at all for cons. BUT, I think I'll try and get to at least a couple - flying has become more and more a pain in the backside over the years, and it's starting to creep up in price, but I'd love to hit Bristol (which I've missed for a few years) and then there's Q-Con and 2D both in Northern Ireland.

That's it, that's your update. 

-pj
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