Influences on this quickie? Take a wild guess...

Some frames for Smithwicks beer. Again - the idea was that we followed an errant beer barrel as, followed by a sheepdog it bucketed through the countryside and went through history.

An idea where the camera was supposed to be a part of the crowd as it followed armies, explorers, pilgrims and the like through the ages and on into the shining future. There were originally about 20 frames on this but these were all I could recover.

Think we can get Yoda to do an ad for Curry's?? Of course we can...

Some boards and concepts done for what was the then-new Smiler ride at Thorpe Park. It was a lot of fun to do as the ideas for the ads were quite edgy and unnerving!

A little board done for a small-scale student film. They only had the camera equipment for one night so it was vital all the shots were down on paper before they started. Film turned out nicely too!

This very loose board was for a charity that cared for and rehabilitated abused dogs. As a dog-lover, obviously very close to my heart but still actually quite harrowing to draw. Quite how anyone can ever do harm to these poor creatures I'll never know.

And here are a few colour pieces just to make things a little more visually varied! Hope you enjoy them.

Three fun little boards for Kenco, Samsung and Rimmel respectively - all pretty loose and with the Samsung one done in a particularly comic-book style.

Some fun visuals culled from the files. Everything from zombies in the Grand Union Canal to drug-mule girl scouts.

Here's a few more storyboard samples, folks...

After some considerable time away from this blog, and as an interim measure while I set up a more comprehensive website, here are a few extra samples of my work for those who have proved intrigued enough to pop in.

Many thanks!

Damn dirty apes.

This frame is all that remains from an animatic done a few years back for SKY tv, and it was all featuring wildlife shot in night-vision, but my memory is (guess what?) hazy on the details. Did enjoy drawing the chimps though - took me back to doodling Maurice Evans and Roddy McDowall all over my exercise books at school. Oh, how I loved Planet of the Apes. I even went to see the "Apes Roadshow" in Leeds' Roundhay Park, during that wonderful summer of 76, when I was at Uni there (well, Poly...). Sadly it turned out to be just a bunch of stuntmen dressed like characters in the tv series riding around the park, shooting at astronauts and eating bananas. Very disappointing.

CARL DUGGAN- Especially for you.......

To my mate Carl, and his lovely girlfriend Mrs Carl, I dedicate this latest little set of scribbles in the hope that they will keep popping back in and saying nice things about me. I need all the approbation I can get as the Diazepam wears off and my body falls victim to the pain wrought by 40-plus years of drawing and ennui.

And don't forget to floss

Seriously - don't! These rotating toothbrushes are all very well, but if you don't floss afterwards, you may as well not bother. Due to the inevitable gum-recession that comes with age, my lower set are looking like Christopher Lee's gob these days - lots of three-inch-long teeth!!!! As I've been typing this I have suddenly realised what the phrase "long in the tooth" means. How funny. God - I live in fear of dentures. My dad had all his teeth out when he was demobbed in '47 and he wasn't yet thirty. That childhood vision of the teeth in the glass on the parents' bedside table is a lasting and terrible reminder of what old age can mean if you 're not orally diligent. Vicar.

Credit Crunch

A few quickie frames on a script about a soppy tw@ who has lost his voice and wants to draw out some wonga from a bank. Cue hilarious misunderstanding and a SWAT team. My memory is hazy on this one ...

Petrolheaded buffoonery

A five-page comic strip done for the Big Book Of Top Gear 2010, featuring our hapless trio of petrolheads in yet more W.E Johns-esque shenanigans. I did few pages in 2009's book and I thought I did a bit of a weak job, but they liked the idea of the comic strips enough to offer me another bash. The bugger was that I was briefed just before Penny and I flew off to Paxos for our only week away all year, and I had to spend several afternoons of my holiday thumbnailing the damn script at the quayside whilst drinking coffee and supposedly having a relaxing break - knowing that on our return home, I would have 8 days to turn 3 pages of closely-typed script into 5 pages of loosely-inked mediocrity. I feel fairly happy with the result, and the deadline wasn't really the problem - it was having to adjust to using a nib-pen and black ink again, after so many years just using pencils and markers, doing storyboards and visuals. I really did enjoy using them, and wished I could get one of these jobs every week, as I'd become more fluid with the materials and inevitably the work would improve.

Just a coupla Tusssscan views, Brian

Just a couple of pretty marker visuals from some animatics featuring the ever-popular Tuscan countryside. They could always choose to film these ads in Hull or Romford, but art directors look for any chance of a jolly in the sun when it comes to shooting the latest 30-second blockbuster epic for bloody supermarket olive oil or somesuch! Damn their avarice!!

Aping the great Roy Wilson

Traces of some panels from an animatic done a while ago now. These were title cards in the style of Roy Wilson - one of the true giants of 20th century cartooning in this country. I knew and loved his work when I got the job, but what fun it was to ape his figurework and create a few new compositions (hopefully) in his style. The finished coloured-up versions are long-since lost as they "disappeared" (onto some art director's wall, I was told) before I was able to scan them, which was a shame as they came out rather well. But then with Wilson's art as a template, you can't really go wrong! If you don't know his stuff, check out The Comic Art Of Roy Wilson - a marvellous book by Alan Clark and David "Crown Court" Ashford, two hugely enthusiastic and knowledgable UK comic historians and collectors.

Freezation.

A dramatic little board done for an Insurance company a few years back, this one.
Cannot remember the storyline - it was basically just an opportunity to have a good time drawing moody storms and crashing waves!

Listerine Tooth Fairies.

I was fond of this campaign. It was about ten years ago now, and the Listerine boys were very keen on the idea of this bad-tempered Tooth Fairy getting frustrated at every turn by people insisting on Oral hygiene courtesy of the Green Gargle. It's hard to make a living when there are no rotten teeth to yank out, etc etc.... For the main character they were thinking of a Leonard Rossiter-as-Rigsby type, but with an even seedier edge, if you can imagine. I think they eventually cast Keith Allen.
Anyway, they went through loads of ideas and this was the most enjoyable to do. It was just a shame that the concept barely made it past a series of dull print ads, and one brief tv spot. Maybe Listerine just didn't want to be associated in the public's mind with such a scrofulous little git, but I notice that the Australians have recently revisited the theme, using a cheeky female tooth fairy doing a bit of car-jacking in the name of oral fluffiness.