"These City Walls..."

Comic Now Available!

2010-06-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

The city walls project finished in December 09 and since has gone on sale in the Black Books market Belfast , Bristol Comic Expo 2010, Gosh! comics London, Mission Hall Quilts Derry, and the 2D Festival 2010 . It's also available by mail order from koniption at hotmail . com

You can also see me discussing the project in this short documentary by Craig Smith -CLICK TO PLAY 'Fractured Visions'

Live Arts!

2009-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

A combination of digital and hand drawn techniques have been used throughout this strip. In this picture the background is digital and the characters hand drawn and composited in later. Can you recognise which of Derry's famous arts venues Mr Maximo and Rabbit are dancing by?

All along the watch tower...

2009-10-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

A comparison of military watchtowers on the walls over the years

Arts on the Walls

2009-09-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Only a truely gorgeous sunny day I took some photos of evidence of the Arts alive and well on the Walls....

LONDON -DERRY

2009-09-09T14:02:00.001-07:00

What's in a Name? The 'London' cross appears on the 'Derry' Crest. (An interesting note is that no one seems to know for sure who or what the skeleton represents....)

Starting the walk -

2009-06-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

The railings in the background are at St Augustines... I had thought this might be the first image of the comic, but I have since gone on to do two more that come before it....

3 churches

2009-06-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

One of the first things Mr Maximo and Rabbit notice are the 3 different churches within a short space of each other on the walls

Digital drawings

2009-06-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

I decided that the walls themselves would be the key feature of this comic and that I would focus in on buildings directly in and around them. This seemed like a good opportunity to showcase the digital work I have been developinging, working closely from my own photo reference. I added colour to a few of these to make promotional postcards for sale at 2D and other conventions....

These city walls

2009-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've always been fond of the city walls. They had been closed to the public for a number of years but in the mid-1990's, with the peace process in full swing they were reopened. The teenagers of the city reclaimed them as their own. Now they are at the centre of a budding tourist industry.
Mr Maximo and Rabbit have allowed me to take a closer look at the familiar. But have you ever though you have bitten off more than you could chew? There is no doubt that the walls history is contentious, but they are also a thing of beauty, and part of a shared history. My aim is to present a potted history as neutrally as possible. This blog will allow me to share somethings that both will and won't make it into the final comic.....

Photo References

2009-06-08T12:23:00.001-07:00

Some of my reference photography

2009-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00