Ripley, Newt and the Alien Queen

Illustration

In celebration of this year’s #AlienDay on 24th April I shared the completed colours on my recently finished Alien’s commission.

I’m really happy with how this piece came out.  Ripley is perhaps the most heroic of all the great characters from that incredible period of film-making. While I was drawing it, I was filled with real emotion for her. She embodies all that so many real women are: Strong and driven while still maternal and caring. She inspires me!

If you’d like an art commission, please contact me through this link: NICK’S BIG CARTEL

Cheers all!

ripley

 

STAR WARS ADVENTURES

Star Wars, Star Wars Adventures, Uncategorized

Well, hi everyone! I am super pleased to announce that I have written and drawn my first STAR WARS story for IDW Publishing’s STAR WARS ADVENTURES Issue 9, which comes out in April. Those of you that know me will realise that this is something of a high point for me as I’m an ENORMOUS Star Wars fan. Please feel free to check out the Previews or ask at your local comic shop about ordering a copy! If you’re in the UK you can order it here at Forbidden Planet.

If you love IG-88 and Star Wars Bounty Hunters as well as groovy creatures, you’re going to love this story! Exciting! STAR WARS ADVENTURES is also available on Comixology so you’ll be able to read these stories digitally. If you like this kind of fun, please share with anyone that you think might also enjoy it!

Until next time, my lovely chums, ciao for now!

Cover

What Floats My Boat #2

Comix, Robert Crumb, Uncategorized, What Floats My Boat

Over recent years, I’ve explored various approaches to cartooning. Some have been somewhat against the grain for me and difficult to pull off, while others have seemed to be as natural to me as breathing. Drawing in my sketchbooks and just letting ideas fall out onto the page is probably the closest thing to the cartoonist I see myself as in my own head, than anything else I’ve done. I suspect that most artists taste-levels are far above their ability and for me, having started cartooning somewhat late to the game, I feel I’ve been playing catch up with my own mind! Does that make sense? I feel I’ve made some significant leaps forward recently though, and that feels good.

One of the things that I’ve been striving to do is bring that looseness that I put into my sketchbooks into my main work. Not easy at all! I like to see that liveliness in a cartoonists line and the sense that the pen is connected as directly as possible to the true psyche of the artist. For me, the artist who embodies this sense above all is Robert Crumb – one of my very favourite artists.

Crumb’s work feels like it’s been spewed directly from his fevered brain and I love it for that reason. His technique is simultaneously loose as hell while being incredibly clear. His wobbly line and dense hatching aren’t the product of needless doodling or hiding behind noise. No, each pen stroke is absolutely necessary to get his painfully self reflective and often hilariously crude points across.

Anyone interested in the counter culture of America during the 60s and 70s (and onwards) would do well to explore Crumb and his underground comix. He and his art embody the true outsider looking in on the madness of modern life. I’ve always related to his surreal, sidelong look at the world and its stupid people (including myself). He explores his own sexuality on the page in a way that is fearless while still self mocking and grotesquely titillating. And of course he loves old timey Blues music, as do I. For me, flavour-wise, Crumb goes hand in hand with Zappa, Burroughs and Smith. Tasty, more-ish but slightly bitter. Altogether wonderful.

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2018 is here! What Floats My Boat #1

Uncategorized

Here we go! There is a lot to do this year. I’m working on a project with Mister Ellis Bojar which is a wonderful story that won’t see the light of day for quite a while. In the meantime I have a few things to share with you all, my lovely chums. I figured it’d be groovy to show you the kinds of things that inspire me to be better or work harder, so here is the first instalment of:

WHAT FLOATS MY BOAT?

For your delectation, we have the master himself, Will Eisner, about whom much has been written by far better folk than me. Suffice it to say that I adore his line. I like that we can see the waver in it that indicates very human movement of the brush across the paper. I’m not an enormous fan of super clean artwork. I like to sense the person behind the ink, y’ken?

Also we have Jorge Zaffino, the Argentinian power-house! If you haven’t experienced this man’s work, let me recommend WINTERWORLD, a graphic novel available from IDW Publishing. Beautiful textural ink work and a fearless approach to using spot blacks. Those of you that draw know the – often debilitating – fear that laying down spot blacks can induce! Zaffino was a superb draughtsman with flair for naturalistic movement. A true wonder. Sadly he is no longer with us, but please do seek out his work. It will reward you with many delights!

Finally, I’m including the sublime Jaime Hernandez. I fell in love with this man’s mind and skill a long time ago. I’m not sure what I’d do if I met him. Probably pass out… Despite saying that I’m not a fan of super clean artwork, I do make an exception for Mister Hernandez. And in any case, he doesn’t use rulers to draw his edges and I love him for that. His work needs to be clean because it focuses so much on the subtlety of character. I also love that he doesn’t need to clutter his stories with constantly shifting angles. Everything is depicted mid-height with the occasional distance shot. Economical story-telling is the key in Jaime’s work. Again, a master of the use of spot-blacks but in a more graphical sense than Zaffino. Love this man.

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Enough from me. Go seek out these fine folk. See thee soon!

Thought Bubble 2017

Amelia Cole, Comics, Dark Horse comics, Judge Dredd, Leeds, Once & Future Queen, The Once And Future Queen, Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival, Uncategorized

Hey all, the big T-Bubs is is nearly upon us. For those that don’t know what that is check this out:

Thought Bubble 2017

I shall be there with the new Amelia Cole Omnibus from IDW and the Once And Future Queen stuff too! I shall be doing sketches but if you fancy a commission like the ones below, please contact me through my Facebook:

Nick Brokenshire Comics & Illustration

WhiteWalkercolour Cheers all!

11 O’Clock Comics Interview

11 O'Clock Comics, Amelia Cole, Blues Harvest, Cartoons, Comics, Dark Horse comics, David A Price, Illustration, Once & Future Queen, The Once And Future Queen, Uncategorized

11oclockbanner1The 11 O’Clock Comics podcast has a special place in my heart and I am thrilled to have been interviewed by the throbbing hunk of man that is David A Price. Please follow the link below and give it a read. It gives a few insights into the inner working of THE ONCE AND FUTURE QUEEN.

Thanks 11 O’Clock chaps!

Nick Brokenshire Interview

Walking in Portland

Comics, Dark Horse comics, Illustration, The Once And Future Queen, Uncategorized

Here’s a panel from issue 3 of The Once And Future Queen. It’s of an intersection in Portland, Oregon where some of the story is set. It’s tricky drawing real places, particularly real city or town scenes. There’s the temptation to focus on getting every little shopfront and telegraph pole spot on. I try to avoid that, though, and get the impression of the street – use broader strokes, so to speak.

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Once And Future Queen – Process Panel #1

Comics, Music, The Once And Future Queen, Uncategorized

Here’s me inking a panel from Issue 3 of The Once And Future Queen from Dark Horse Comics.

Tools: Tachikawa G-Nib, Koh-i-Noor Handle. Speedball Super Black Ink.

Music by yours truly. A little tune about Amelia and Lemmy.

Rick And Morty

Cartoons, Illustration

I know, I know. I’m late to the game but holy frijoles! This is the greatest thing since sliced arepas! I won’t lie. I want to do story about them. Just putting it out there into the Multiverse. Have a look at the colour process video below the picture! Ciao babies.

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