07-01-09 is a PRIME Number!

July 1st marks more than Canada Day this year. It also marks the release of "Prime", the new book by Stoker award nominated author Nate Kenyon. What makes this a landmark day for me is the fact that "Prime" is illustrated by none other than yours truly.

This short novel contains four black and white illustrations produced specially for this first edition from Apex (Note: The cover's not mine, but rather the work of the clearly talented Katja Faith). I'm not just blowing smoke when I say I had a great time creating them; this book was as enjoyable to read as it was to illustrate, and that always helps fire the imagination.

"Prime" is a dark science fiction story with ideas that recall some of the better urban science fiction novels, such as Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", William Gibson's cyberpunk novels, and Neal Stephenson's "Snowcrash". It's a futuristic murder mystery that skilfully avoids most of the cliches of other genre-crossing detective fiction to take an insightful look at where our use of technology may be headed and consider some of the unexpected consequences that may be the result. It is satisfying both in terms of entertainment and intelligence and although it is a relatively quick read, it is definitely time well spent.

As for the quality of the illustrations, I'll let you judge for yourself. Below is one of the four pages produced for this book. (Quick side note: I had originally intended to upload a color version of this page, but either Windows Vista or The Gimp lost its mind while I was saving, and dumped all of my color work. I'll update with a color version as soon as I can).

Be sure to check out "Prime" at Apex Books website. It's available to order now for $13.95 US, and even if you're not a fan of my work, I think you'll find that it will be money well spent.

Many Years From Now...

This week, LiveJournal user Phil McAndrew is running a contest based around the idea of drawing yourself as you think you'll be at age 100. My own entry is below.
In short, I see myself as somewhere between Sid James and Yoda. I figure once I hit 65 all bets are off, and an orgy of hedonism unknown since the reign of Caligula will commence. Of course, it will help that I'll be rich beyond the dreams of avarice by that point, and will be able to afford a steady supply of Jack Daniels whiskey, imported cigars and Vargas girls in nurse costumes with butts just a made for slappin'.
Please note the artificial leg; I figure I'll have at least one limb replaced by a plastic polymer prosthetic (say THAT fast five times!), probably manufactured by Apple. Also note the wetwired earbud implants, inspired by Lobo, which will deliver a constant feed of Tom Waits and Danzig directly into my cerebellum...just for mood.

Also, in the future, everyone will be required to wear fuzzy Cthulhu slippers.


Yes, I know that background is crappy. I dithered over it for about an hour before finally going with what I call the "Bloom County" solution...."Just wing that mother!"

Hunting the Alien

Here's the latest from the Whitechapel Remake/Remodel thread, this time a spin on the Arthur K. Barnes character Gerry Carylyle.

The thing I love most about posting to these weekly threads is that I get to play around with a variety of styles and try out new techniques. I make it a point to make each week's submission an experiment with a different yet recognizable style.
In this case, I wanted to do something in the vein of the modern crop of kids' comics like "Alison Dare" or "Amelia Rules". In past weeks, I have done mockups of Cartoon Network DVD's, 70's mystery novels, 40's pulp novels, and recently, an homage to Moore and Gebbie's "Lost Girls".
I find that it really helps spark the creative fire to take a chance on something artistically and not have to worry about the consequences if it doesn't work out. It really brings back the fun that often gets lost in concerns of deadlines and client demands. Sometimes my postings get positive responses from the other forum members (a talented bunch; praise from them is high praise indeed), sometimes they get no comment at all. Either way, the best reward for me is the moment when the piece is complete and somewhere close to what I pictured when I started out. I know then that I've learned something valuable and had fun along the way.