Annual fun

Although both the Dandy and Beano Annuals were published in August I know a lot of you save them until Christmas, or give them to your kids at presents, so I hope you've received them by now. For The Dandy Annual 2023 I wrote and drew Keyhole Kate and Postman Prat, and for Beano Annual 2023 I wrote/drew Biffo the Bear.

I thought you might like to see part of one of the Biffo strips comparing my rough pencil sketches to my finished artwork (above). I usually draw "traditionally" (pencil and ink on paper) but I did this one digitally with Clip Studio Paint and then coloured it in Photoshop. I still prefer the traditional method though so will continue using paper and ink for the forseeable future (but coloured in Photoshop as per my usual practice). 

For next year's annuals (the ones cover dated 2024) I wasn't asked to do anything for the Beano one unfortunately but for The Dandy Annual 2024 I was commissioned to script and draw four full page strips bringing back a couple of old characters. Kid Cops are returning! Dandytown's infant police officers Nick and Bobby first appeared in The Dandy in 2010 and have popped up a few times in the annual since but it's been a few years. The pages were drawn months ago but it's a bit too early to show any previews just yet. Here's the logo for one of the pages though (yes, it'll be a snow-themed story)...

It made a nice change to revisit these two characters. The style I was using at the time I created their look in 2010 was slightly different to my usual style so I had to adjust a little but I was pleased with how they turned out. The Dandy Annual 2024 will be out in August 2023 so you'll have a long wait yet, but I thought you might appreciate this snippet of advance news. 

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Biffo: sketch and finished art comparison

I thought you might like to see a comparision of the pencil rough to the finished art on one of my Biffo the Bear strips. Actually this was one of only two that I drew digitally, trying out Clip Studio Paint. (Colours were done in Photoshop though as usual.) 

It turned out OK but I still prefer drawing traditionally, pencil and ink on paper, rather than using a pad and stylus so I'll be sticking to the old methods for now at least. It actually took me far longer to do it digitally, mainly because I was learning on the job, but even so it felt too detatched and unnatural for me personally. I'm pleased with the result but I prefer paper.

You can see the full mini-strip in Beano Annual 2023, out now, along with seven other Biffo strips I did (six of which were done the "old fashioned way").  

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I might not be online much over the next couple of weeks. After Covid and other ailments and setbacks I'm now trying to catch up with work I should have done ages ago, plus a few new bits and bobs to do. Not a lot of ongoing work, but several one-offs for various people. I'm still not feeling 100% and get tired during the day so it's taking more effort than it used to. But... deadlines are looming so if I don't draw I don't get paid and I can't survive. Things haven't been great the past few years so I'm now trying to rebuild my health and my career. 

I will be putting another piece or two of my original art on eBay, (no, not Beano stuff), probably tomorrow (Sunday), so I'll be posting about that soon.

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The 2023 Annuals are out now!

My order for the Dandy and Beano 2023 Annuals arrived today and once again they're great books for young and old. Each hardback annual has 112 full colour pages packed with brand new strips including many of the usual favourites with art by Laura Howell, Nigel Parkinson, Hunt Emerson, Nigel Aucterlounie, Steve Bright and many more...

...including a few strips by me. For Beano Annual 2023 I've written/drawn 8 Biffo the Bear mini-strips and really enjoyed working on that classic character. Yes, I made sure to put his best pal Buster in there too, meaning that I've now drawn both the D.C. Thomson 'Buster' and the Rebellion (IPC) 'Buster' characters in an official capacity. 

For The Dandy Annual 2023 I've written/drawn 4 full page Keyhole Kate strips, plus 8 Postman Prat mini-strips. Kate is one of the oldest characters in comics, originating from The Dandy No.1 back in 1937. Prat is more modern, and first appeared in the new-look Dandy in 2010. Both are back in all-new stories.

I know a lot of people think annuals weren't published until December years ago but, nope, they've always been published this time of year. Most of the books are given as Christmas presents though so I've made sure to do Christmas episodes of all my strips in these editions.

Each book has a R.R.P. of £9.99. If your local bookshops haven't displayed the annuals yet you can order them directly from the publisher as I did. Here's the link...

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/books/annuals

Dandy and Beano Annuals ready for pre-order

A reminder that the 2023 annuals will be published this August but you can pre-order them now directly from D.C. Thomson at this link:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/books/annuals 

As I've mentioned before, I did work for both The Dandy Annual 2023 and Beano Annual 2023. Specifically Keyhole Kate and Postman Prat for the Dandy, and Biffo the Bear for the Beano book. All characters that I enjoyed working on and hope that one day I will again. Here are some preview images...

 

Biffo is coming back!

Here's a tiny preview of part of a panel from one of the Biffo the Bear strips I've done for Beano Annual 2023 which will be published this August.

I was asked to write and draw eight Biffo mini-strips in all and they'll appear throughout the book. It was fantastic to work on a character that was such a familiar part of my childhood. The iconic bear first appeared in The Beano in 1948, replacing Big Eggo as a cover star (Big Eggo being another character I've worked on, for the weekly Beano a few years ago). 

Biffo is an interesting character to create stories for because he can do anything; gardener, plumber, clown, athlete... and they're just some of the topics I didn't use. As you can see, I've also revived Biffo's best pal, Buster, which means I've now drawn both the D.C. Thomson Buster and the Fleetway / Rebellion version. (No, they're not related.)

As I said above, Beano Annual 2023 will be out on August but you can pre-order it now from the publisher's webshop at this link:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/the-beano-annual 

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Dandy and Beano Annuals revealed for 2023

Over on his comics news blog, Down the Tubes, John Freeman has shown the cover images for the 2023 dated annual that D.C. Thomson will be publishing. As always, the books are dated a year ahead but they'll be out in late summer; usually August. (For example the 2022 annuals were published on August 1st last year.)

Here are the covers of The Dandy Annual 2023 and Beano Annual 2023 to look out for later this year:

Both books will contain all new content as usual. For The Dandy Annual I've written and drawn 4 full page Keyhole Kate stories, and 8 Postman Prat mini-strips. For Beano Annual I've written and drawn 8 Biffo the Bear mini-strips. 

It's a bit too early to show any proper samples but I thought I'd post some photos of close ups of my original art before it was completed. These are the pencil/ink stages before I scanned them into Photoshop to fill in the solid blacks, made corrections, and coloured them.  

The publisher's own online shop will have the books listed for pre-order soon so bookmark this link for quick access:

https://www.dcthomsonshop.co.uk/ 

See the Down The Tubes news item at this link for more annual covers: 

https://downthetubes.net/beano-dandy-2023-annual-covers-revealed/

Thoughts on Biffo the Bear

I really enjoyed doing the Biffo the Bear strips for Beano Annual 2023. They won't be published until August 2022 of course so I can't show any more yet than this glimpse of my original art here. 

When I was commissioned to do eight Biffo mini strips I was a bit apprehensive how I'd tackle it, but then I realised that Biffo can fit into any situation. That was always the strength of the old strips that Dudley Watkins drew in the 1950s and 1960s. Biffo could be a sailor one week, a barber the next, or he could have domestic slapstick doing some wallpapering, or embark on a marathon! Biffo is an everyman, or every bear if you like, albeit with a busier life than most, and a life with limitless possibilities! Through it all he's generally affable, sometimes clumsy, sometimes reckless, but he's mainly a good spirited, well meaning bear.  

Although I got the handle of writing the character, drawing him was another matter. It took me a while to fashion my take on him, whilst also keeping him looking traditionally "Biffo". Doing my research with old copies of The Beano I noticed that even Dudley Watkins and his sucessor David Sutherland made slight changes to the look of the character from week to week. His snout grew longer, his ears shifted from close togerher to further apart, and that sort of thing. All comic characters evolve and change, even in the space of months. 

I was pleased with my results in the end though, and I really hope I get more opportunities to create more new Biffo the Bear strips either for the annual or, hopefully, for the weekly Beano.

Digital Biffo

Way-in-advance preview time. I've drawn eight Biffo the Bear mini-strips for Beano Annual 2023 which will be out in August 2022! That's a long way off so I can't show any panels from it yet but I thought you might like to see a section of one panel when it was in progress.

Earlier this year I decided to take advantage of a cheap offer for Clip Studio Paint software and try my hand at digital drawing. I bought a graphic tablet at a reasonable price too, and set to work. 

Frankly, it's all new to me, and it took me longer to draw digitally than it would with pen and ink. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually though, but I was pleased with the results of what I've accomplished so far. I drew two of the Biffo strips entirely digitally, and it took me a while as I'm still learning the techniques, but they turned out well. You can judge for yourselves next Autumn when they're published!

At the moment I've gone back to drawing traditionally, with pencil and ink on Bristol Board. I still colour digitally though (with Photoshop) and have been for about 20 years. I prefer colouring digitally far more than colouring with inks. 

Anyway, at the top of this post you can see part of a panel I've zoomed in on, and my digital vector "inks". I'll use Clip Studio Paint again when I have more time to get used to how everything works! I don't think I'll switch to digital entirely though. I've always enjoyed drawing with daylight on my board, rather than staring intensely at a screen all day, but learning to draw digitally will definitely come in handy! 

Busy times!

I've sent off my first two strips for the 2023 annuals, with lots more ahead to do over the coming weeks. I can't show anything properly for a long time yet but there's a glimpse of a couple of Biffo the Bear strips above. 

I also have two other big commissions to draw over the coming days, then there'll be the next Sgt.Shouty to do for The77, and The Daft Dimension for Doctor Who Magazine, so it's suddenly a very busy time!

Such is the nature of freelancing. It's always a roller coaster but you just hope it'll never get stuck at the bottom. Being self-employed is always highly risky, and the effects of the pandemic really had a knock on effect, but you just hope for the best. 

If I'm not blogging much over the next few weeks you'll know why. I'll either be chained to my drawing board or, if time allows, having an hours break in the sunshine. Stay safe, and please keep following my blog for more updates whenever I can post them.

Stocking Stuffers

If you still have a few presents to buy, don't forget that The Dandy Annual and The Beano Annual are still in the shops (if you're lucky). Both contain all-new full-colour strips of the familiar favourites. For my own small contribution I drew Biffo the Bear for the Beano book, and The Smasher and Keyhole Kate for the Dandy Annual. I really enjoyed drawing those classic characters. 

If you're looking for a comic annual for an older reader, and one who doesn't mind a bit of swearing and social comment, then Viz: The Camel's Toe is right up your street. 160 pages collecting strips and features from Viz Nos. 202 to 211. 

The Dandy Annual and The Beano Annual are £7.99 each, whilst the Viz book is £10.99, but you'll easily find them discounted in shops or online.  

The Dandy, - back on the shelves!

There's an all-new Dandy out right now, featuring Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, Winker Watson and all your favourites. Well, in book form at least, as The Dandy Annual 2014 has just been published, along with The Beano Annual 2014. 

I have six pages in The Dandy Annual this year; three Smasher strips and three Keyhole Kate pages (the latter being written by David Mason who wrote some of the Postman Prat scripts for the weekly). 

For The Beano Annual I drew a two page Biffo the Bear story, written by Iain McLaughlin. It was an honour to draw such a notable Beano character for the comic's 75th anniversary volume. 

There's also tons of other strips in the books too of course by the UK's top comic artists including work by Nigel Parkinson, Laura Howell, Paul Palmer, Jamie Smart, David Sutherland and many more! 

The R.R.P. for the books is £7.99 each but you'll easily find them cheaper online and no doubt they'll be discounted in bookshops too. Yep, the annuals are out now! What are you waiting for, Christmas? 

It's Biffo!

Believe it or not the 2014 cover-dated annuals will start appearing in bookshops from next month. For The Beano Annual 2014 I've drawn a classic character that I've never done before, - Biffo the Bear! This two page strip was fun to do and I hope I did a good job on the character. Decide for yourselves in July when the book hits the shops. You can pre-order it now from Amazon.

I've also drawn six pages for The Dandy Annual 2014. Which characters? I'll reveal more at a later date.