COMMISSIONS, COMMISSIONS, COMMISSIONS...

Been pretty busy with work stuff so been away from the personal work for a while. Luckily for me (and for you!), there's these to tide me over. Two wonderful pieces of art from two trailblazing and highly influential artists, humbly requested by myself and pretty much encompassing everything cool.

First, there's Mick McMahon revisiting an iconic 2000AD cover of old. Look at this thing. No ambiguity in the shading or execution. It's bold and vibrant and thrilling. Loved it so much I asked Mick if he'd ink the piece separately so I could keep the pencils, which are just as fucking beautiful.

And then there's this: 2000AD and Mad Max 2 pretty much melted my head when I first experienced them. There are people who think shit like The Godfather and Citizen Kane are the greatest movies ever made. Here's $10. Go buy a clue. It's not even a debate. MM2 fucking rules. The end.

Then Brendan McCarthy spews this puppy out into the world, just for me. Brendan McCarthy - he of Dredd, Rogan Gosh, Spider-Man: Fever, Zaucer Of Zilk and currently warping my mind with The Deleted in Dark Horse Presents - but by a wonderful coincidence ALSO the co-writer and designer of the upcoming NEW Mad Max movie. Come on, what the fuck else was I going to ask him to draw...? Badass. All it needs is Lemmy and we'll be laughing...

Lookit those mutiemen behind Dredd. Awesome. So happy. If I ever have 200 million dollars burning a hole in my pocket, this is what it'll be getting spent on...

ZARJAZ #20 COVER

Was asked at the last minute if I could provide a cover to the almighty ZARJAZ. Was more than happy to jump in. Kano and BAD Company are WAY too much fun to draw. It's the free gigs that end up being the most rewarding. There's a moral here somewhere. As usual, click the link to enlarge the image.

ZARJAZ traditionally uses wraparound covers so it's tricky coming up with a composition that works. You want something eye-catching for the front cover but don't want to waste the back cover so I took as much imagery from the story inside and made a retelling of it. Dave Johnson's covers for 100 Bullets were great inspiration.

First, some sketches. I knew I wanted Kano's monocle to be the centerpiece so I riffed off that idea...

 ...until I settled on something that might work.

 

Thought I'd try something different with the color instead of the usual flat rendering. Wanted to make it look a little more painterly and rough within the inked lines.

 

ZARJAZ #20 is for sale - both digitally and on good old-fashioned paper and ink - HERE and for the ridiculously low price of 3 English pounds.