UNCLE SILAS

UNCLE SILAS WEBSITE IS UP!

2012-02-01T12:06:00.000+11:00

Finally, the website for Uncle Silas is up and running!
I may tweek the content a little over the coming weeks, and the animated trailer is finished(!) but I'm just waiting on the soundtrack to complete it- it's being created presently; VERY exciting- so it should be uploaded sometime in the next several weeks, too.
Also yet to get around to creating the Teacher's Notes, but they're in the pipeline.
I'll also be adding little extras here and there over the year, like wallpapers and other downloads.
Be sure to check on it again at the end of the month for the trailer!!

WRITER'S RADIO INTERVIEW

2012-02-01T11:59:00.001+11:00

Here's a nice little interview done last year with Cath Kenneally's 'Writer's Radio' on her Arts Breakfast Show on Radio Adelaide.
Nice little chat, slightly edited, but it's mostly there :)

UNCLE SILAS WEBSITE COMING SOON...

2011-11-16T15:42:00.001+11:00

www.unclesilas.com.au

There'll be news, info, reviews, character descriptions, synopsis, downloads and the

ANIMATED TRAILER for Uncle Silas: Genetis!

Stay tuned...

STANLEY AWARD WIN FOR UNCLE SILAS: GENETIS

2011-11-14T11:01:00.001+11:00

All those years of hard work slaving away on Uncle Silas: Genetis in my lonely artist's garret (ok, so maybe not, I was slaving away in the Watermark studio in Sydney) won me a Stanley Award for Comic Book Artist on Saturday night at the 27th annual Australian Cartoonists Association awards dinner in Sydney.
And what a night! Well, what a weekend, really...

The ACA run a conference the whole weekend with guest speakers and events and I was lucky enough to be invited to chat on a talking panel with Tim McEwen and Jozef Szekeres about Australian comics and graphic novels and the industry. Tim gave a great introduction showcasing Australian creators and artists that gave those uninitiated some idea of the talent out there, Jozef talked about his fantastic work and what a labour of love it is, and I babbled about my own gear for newspapers and my graphic novel.

This was followed up by questions from MC Jules and the audience and we gave our thoughts and impressions on the amazing talent pool in Oz and how damn hard it is to keep up with the volume of work being produced. The issue of being able to hunt them all down considering the disparity of the DIY minicomic movement and the lack of an Australian based distributor of comics was touched on, as was the accessibility of so many comics and graphic novels thanks to the internet.

Australian publishers such as Black House Comics, Gestalt and Allen & Unwin were discussed as were their agendas. I recommended to the ACA that they get these people in next year to have their own panel forum discussion- that would be terrific to listen to.

Ron Cobb was the headlining guest speaker over the 2 days and he gave wonderful anecdotes on his experiences both in cartooning for newspapers as well as his production design work for movies such as Conan, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Alien and more.

Nat Karmichael gave a very unique talk on Jon Dixon's incredibly popular newspaper strip Airhawk; Reg Mombassa was another guest speaker and Jordan Verzar gave an illuminating talk on his work with GRAPHIC, the comic book festival/event held every year at the Sydney Opera House. Jordan told of the whole Robert Crumb vs Jesse Phillips case and the incredibly devious libelous lengths the News Ltd hack went to for the sake of selling some newspapers that led to Crumb cancelling his trip to Australia where he was to be interviewed by Gary Groth on stage. Not helped by news people repeatedly harassing Crumb and his family over the phone for the sake of comment. No surprises he didn't come to Australia. There were plenty of other guest speakers and talks but I wasn't able to make them all unfortunately (sorry Anton and Eric!)

The Awards dinner was a fun affair and it was great catching up with buddies. Good mate Anton Emdin won 2 stanleys on the night, not surprisingly one of them was the gold Stanley for Cartoonist of the Year. He'd also picked up a Reuben Award in America earlier in the year (the first Australian to do so) and it was a safe bet he'd get some Stanley lovin' back home.

The Comic Book Art category is in its second year in the ACA and being able to submit Uncle Silas into it was a treat. Australia's got some killer talent in the comic creating field and I feel pretty lucky to get a gong this year. Once the rest of Australia's comics crowd catches up with this particular Stanley award the competition is just going to keep getting tougher and tougher, so I feel pretty bloody fortunate to get this one while I could!

A huge thank you to all the ACA peoples who made the weekend happen. Next years Stanley Awards promises to have Gerald Scarfe as a headlining guest speaker, so that should be worth going to.
Unless Jesse Phillips gets wind of it and manages to get him to cancel as well...

UNCLE SILAS: EARTH begins...

2011-07-30T14:12:00.000+10:00

Arts SA are a lovely, generous bunch. They've given me a grant to produce the first draft of the sequel graphic novel Uncle Silas: Earth. I'll be working on that over the next several months, collating my research, writing and storyboarding simultaneously approximately 160 pages of action, drama and sci-fi fun.

I won't be hindered by the Sunday Newspaper format for this one, so I'm going to let rip with the page layouts and design. Scenes will breathe on the page and fill out as their needs require, which is something I'm very much looking forward to doing. I can't wait to finish this book!!

As for what's going to happen in this story? You'll just have to wait and see, but I can tell you this much: The only constant in this universe is change. Oh, and there'll be more monsters than in book 1, you can be sure of that!

TALENTED PEOPLE

2011-04-29T16:45:00.000+10:00

I couldn't have finished Uncle Silas: Genetis before the deadline without the huge help from Tony Giles and Tom Brown. They were my work for hire friends who flatted all the colours in the book.
For those who don't speak the parlance, 'flatting' is the preparation process of taking a black and white image, and in Photoshop adding flat blobs of colour underneath, matching up with the shapes of the characters, speech balloons etc to then make the second stage of colouring that much easier to do.
By selecting these blobs the fancy part of colouring with all the tones, shadows, highlights and special effects etc, is incredibly faster. Flatting is really a monotonous 'paint by numbers' process that nevertheless requires good Photoshop skills and an artistic eye. Two things these boys have in spades.

Tom's a web designer who's previous experience with Anifex behind the scenes in the computer dept. meant he was in control of a lot of complex cinematography involving stop motion animation, video editing and more.

Tony's just outright talented, and proves it with an intensely prolific output of his stylised oil paintings. Check out his portfolio, you won't be disappointed.

UNCLE SILAS FOR YOUR iPAD AND iPHONE

2011-04-28T15:17:00.001+10:00

Uncle Silas: Genetis is finally available to buy as a downloadable graphic novel from Dark Horse Digital!
Simply click the link and create an account, or download the Dark Horse Comics app from iTunes and then buy the book. For Australian readers it's $3.99.

I haven't seen it yet on an iPad, but considering how good it looks on my iPhone I'm sure it looks even better. I found the best way to read the pages were up close and rotating the iPhone to a landscape format. The navigation controls are super simple to use which is a huge bonus.
A welcome surprise was discovering the various 'reveals' as the panels popped up. Some of the panels read so well in this medium.
DH are also offering a HUGE range of free comics to tempt the curious so what are you waiting for? Check it out already!

WIRED UP

2011-04-11T10:42:00.001+10:00

WIRED's GeekDad gives a reasonable review of my book here.
It sounds like I confused GeekDad by not making it clear just who is the good guy or bad guy in the story, but it was always my intention not to. What interests me is that despite the high levels of interconnectivity in the forest, communication between species doesn't make it easier to translate. Especially when usually passive plants start being proactive and sentient at different rates. I also didn't want to make a book where every new species speaks english fluently. This leaves Uncle Silas and the kids reacting to events more than preempting them and this reflects life more honestly- adapting to change. Besides- I like making things difficult for them.

A lot of the other points that reviewers are bringing up is in part due to the size of the artwork in the book and the hangover of making it originally for newspapers.
Originally the book was meant to be A5 landscape, with a single weekly installment on each page, so the flow of the Sunday newspaper strip would be intact, and more importantly the artwork would be reproduced much larger.
As it was, halfway through me working on it DH went with a portrait dimension and stacked 2 installments per page (which makes a double page spread a whole month's worth!) which is fine and would have been great if the book was then A4 or thereabouts, but as it stands readers are missing the details I put in. There are some pages with 15 panels of action which at A5 is ridiculously busy.
Should the book go into a second printing (touch wood) I'll also add some splash page panels to really take advantage of the space, and to make clear some of the action sequences and to let some scenes breath and relax. I'll even add some extra talky panels to help readers catch up ;)

I'm taking all this experience on board for the sequel Uncle Silas: Earth, where I'll not be restricted by the Sunday newspaper format at all. I'll be able to really sink my teeth into the page layout and design and let the action really sing and fill out.

TIDES OF HOPE

2011-04-01T12:35:00.000+11:00

Here's my submission for Tides of Hope, an anthology produced by Supanova to help raise money for the Queensland flood victims. Tim McEwen's one of the driving forces behind this worthwhile comic, and Supanova's donating ALL publishing costs, and ALL MONEY RAISED from the sale of the comic at the Supanova events in Brisbane will go straight to the Premier's Relief Fund.

MORE GREAT REVIEWS...

2011-03-24T20:44:00.000+11:00

A couple of great reviews, this time from the REVIEW liftout from The Weekend Australian, Australia's national weekend paper, and InDaily, Adelaide's free eNewspaper.

All this has me itching to get started into the sequel Uncle Silas: Earth.
I can't wait to draw me some monsters!!

It's all about comic timing

Cefn Ridout
From: The Australian
March 19, 2011 12:00AM

COMICS aren't just for grown-ups. Though until very recently you wouldn't know it as English-language publishers became perhaps a little too eager to rehabilitate the comic book's long-suffering status as an exclusively juvenile pastime by appealing to a more mature, affluent readership.
In so doing they seemed to lose sight of what more established, cradle-to-grave markets in Europe and Japan have known for decades: young readers are essential for the survival of the medium. Recognising this, in the past few years some publishers began belatedly embracing comic books for all ages, such as Uncle Silas: Genetis, by Adelaide-based David Follett. Originally conceived in 2005 as an Australian newspaper comic strip, Uncle Silas went on to win US publisher Dark Horse's New Recruits program, finally seeing publication late last year.
The long gestation period appears to have paid off in this wry, inventive and assured graphic novel debut that sets the scene for a proposed series of eco-conscious science fiction escapades starring the aptly named Mulch family. When their uncle Silas Mortimer Mulch, a tree-hugging mad scientist with requisite, if well-meaning, delusions of grandeur, goes missing in his mysterious greenhouse turned rainforest, quarrelsome pre-teen siblings Selena and Tommy set out to find him, with help from S.O.F.I.A, Silas's secretive, organic supercomputer.

Clad in modish hi-tech pod suits and armed only with their wits and digital savvy, not to mention high-velocity plant tranquillisers, the bright, feisty Selena and her impetuous, headstrong brother encounter all manner of delights and dangers in their uncle's rapidly evolving bio-tech garden of Eden. From fungi-based networks and holographic databases to killer carp and malicious tree sprites, from sentient weeds to zombie fish, the intrepid duo learns the hard way about self-reliance, teamwork and the inherently symbiotic relationship between humankind and nature . . . while Australia's fate hangs in the balance.
For all its techno trappings and environmental caveats, Uncle Silas: Genetis is an enjoyably old-fashioned adventure romp that nonetheless feels fresh, smart and unpredictable, while retaining a larrikin sensibility that wouldn't be out of place in a Ginger Meggs yarn. Befitting his background in animation, Follett's kinetic cartooning style, spiced with a dash of Japanese anime, lush colouring and confident draughtsmanship, perfectly conveys his action and idea-packed story.
Unfortunately, the blistering pace and continuous flurry of discoveries gives the characters, let alone the readers, little time to reflect on their predicament or the wonders they are witnessing. This is compounded by the episodic, two-tiered newspaper comic strip structure and the book's unsuitably compact size, which constrain the artwork and storytelling, resulting in some clunky exposition and an occasionally jerky narrative. That said, Follett has cunningly put so much into play in this first volume and hinted at even more that I, for one, am keen to find out what happens next. Let's hope exploits of the family Mulch will have more room to manoeuvre in an appropriately expanded format.
Cefn Ridout is a Sydney-based comic-book writer and editor.

COMIC: Uncle Silas: Genetis

Posted: February 25, 2011 | Author: indaily By David Follett
Dark Horse Books, $15
DASH TAYLOR

BLAP. BLOOP. BAM. This graphic novel, written and illustrated by Adelaide’s David Follett, is a bio-tech action adventure to be experienced.
Dense frames fill the 72 pocket-book pages as niece and nephew Selena and Tommy discover Uncle Silas has gone missing and they are his only hope. Apart from SOFIA, an organic computer, POD suits and a greenhouse which has come aggressively to life (all in the first four pages), these siblings are confronted by cognisant garden fungi seemingly intent on taking over anything and everything in its path.
In this genetics/genesis hybrid, graphics are vibrant. All the characters (the garden as a pulsating setting is so much more) are animated with colour, speech bubbles and sound effects, segueing from frame to frame at a frantic pace. The visual energy is high, with little respite as the search extends further among Silas Mortimer Mulch’s ecological astonishments; some of the new creatures are simply mind-boggling.
As an educational text, Follett is on the right track. Computing terms/jargon is prevalent; from internet to interconnectivity, a broad sweep of ages and experience can be engaged. Mythology, Man v Nature and the influence of technology all combine to build a platform for future episodes with this budding dynamic duo, their dangerously brilliant uncle and his Frankenstein-like creations.
The Adventures of the Wishing Chair meets Little Shop of Horrors. THE END … FOR NOW!

USG PENCILS NOW UP ON FLICKR

2011-02-18T10:30:00.000+11:00

You can now check out the whole Uncle Silas: Genetis book in early inks and pencil stages ONLINE!
That's right, people! You can sit there with your copy of the book and flick through the pencils to do a page by page comparison to see what I was thinking and scribbling.
Sound like fun?
YOU BET!

HUMANS AS BACTERIA?

2011-02-13T10:53:00.000+11:00

This TED talk by Bonnie Bassler gives one reason to pause for thought...
How does this biological perspective reflect on human overpopulation, cultures, religions, societies and behaviours?

COMPULSIVE READER INTERVIEW NOW ONLINE.

2011-02-10T12:19:00.003+11:00

The very smart and engaging Maggie Ball, from Compulsive Reader, interviewed me about Uncle Silas: Genetis on Blog Talk Radio. Maggie interviews so many interesting writers it's well worth your while checking out the back log of interviews on iTunes.
Enjoy!

VOTE 1 FOR SILAS!

2011-02-10T11:41:00.000+11:00

The annual UK Eagle Awards for comic books and graphic novels are now open for voting, so now's your chance to support Uncle Silas: Genetis!
I've submitted into these categories below to save you the hassle of looking for my name every time:

Favourite Newcomer Artist: David Follett
Favourite Artist: Fully-Painted Artwork: David Follett
Favourite Writer/Artist: David Follett
Favourite Artist: Inks: David Follett
Favourite Colourist: David Follett
Favourite 2010 Cover: Uncle Silas: Genetis
Favourite 2010 Original Graphic Novel: Uncle Silas: Genetis

Please vote!
Every vote counts as this is a numbers game, and it would be amazing to even get into the nomination rounds for any one of these categories.
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Dave

SCIENCE IS CATCHING UP TO UNCLE SILAS...

2011-01-22T11:32:00.002+11:00

Science is catching up to me!

A group of students at Hong Kong's Chinese University have developed a way to store complex information in bacteria.

Sounds crazy, right? Yup.

This one's even freakier:

It's probably the nastiest, slimiest computer in the world. Powered by oat flakes instead of electricity, scientists in the UK have developed a rudimentary computer using a slime mold they have affectionately named Plasmobot.

LET'S GET DIGITAL... DIGITAL...

2011-01-22T11:18:00.002+11:00

Uncle Silas looks set to be available via Dark Horse Digital in April 2011!
While nothing beats holding the book in your hot little hands and smelling that ink on the butter stained and well thumbed glossy page, readers will now have the chance to carry USG around in their hot little iPad and iPhone with all the Hellboy and Star Wars they can possibly download!
Why does this excite me? Because you'll be able to ZOOM IN and check out all the brain-bending background detail UP CLOSE!!
I'll keep you posted with release dates and pricing when I know more myself.

THE WEEK REVIEW

2011-01-22T11:05:00.001+11:00

The good folk at The Week magazine reviewed the reviews of Uncle Silas: Genetis in their latest issue. A great little piece of publicity as the magazine is available nationally.

ANTON's REVIEW for INKSPOT

2011-01-22T10:46:00.002+11:00

The ever-talented and genuinely great guy Anton Emdin has done me a good turn and reviewed Uncle Silas: Genetis for the Australian Cartoonist's Association's Inkspot magazine.
Thanks Anton! I'll release your puppy now, don't worry- she's fine.

Uncle Silas: Genetis

Technicolour mushrooms, carnivorous plants, holographic apparitions and a giant rotting fish carcass. No, it’s not the contents of the Inkspot bar fridge, but a new graphic novel by David Follett.

Uncle Silas: Genetis hits the ground running as two kids (Selena and Tommy) visit their uncle (scientist and “ecological supergenius”, Silas Mortimer Mulch) only to discover him missing, with some bizarre plant activity occurring in his laboratory. They prove themselves to be pretty smart, tough kids. Instead of soiling their pants (as I would have done) when an overgrown cauliflower explains the situation, they take up the adventure with gusto – and set out to save Silas!

Tommy and Selena’s search for their uncle introduces them to an ever-changing, endless greenhouse of super-organisms; shrubs that spring up in seconds, fungal hard drives, frog cameras, smart pod suits with organic weaponry and a network of plants that make the your new Mac seem pretty dull. It’s environment meets technology, and watch out! The action comes thick and fast – almost giddying at times – in this book for kids of all ages.

Follett’s mastery of linework and form bring the artwork to life with a ton of energy and movement. The forest and its inhabitants are dense and intricately rendered, in stark comparison to the main characters, which are simpler and stylised. This contrast allows the reader to not only focus on the characters quickly, but to relate more easily to them. As the characters bounce around the page, one can sense deep roots of comic tradition in Follett’s flowering style – from the Manga-inspired action to European ‘Band Dessinee’, and a healthy dose of classic American adventure strips. Unfortunately, Dark Horse has printed the book fairly small (A5 sized), making the detail harder to appreciate in this edition.

Dave has been working on Uncle Silas: Genetis for around eight years. In its original incarnation, Silas was a weekly interactive half-page Sunday strip for News Limited, but the project kicked into gear after winning US comic publisher Dark Horse‘s New Recruits competition in 2008. Since then Mr. Follett has written, pencilled, inked and coloured the book in-between his busy freelance career, with publication by Dark Horse in October of this year.

And if his wife, Christie, thought she was getting Dave back on nights and weekends, she might be mistaken! There are five more sequels planned, all to be set in and around South Australia, and according to the Follett, leading to “a massive earth-shattering climax!”. I need a Bex and a lie-down already!

Uncle Silas: Genetis is available from all good comic stores and darkhorse.com

–

Anton Emdin

COMPULSIVE READER REVIEW

2010-12-24T09:32:00.002+11:00

Maggie Ball gives a very tidy review of Uncle Silas: Genetis on her book review website Compulsive Reader.

Copied and pasted here:

A review of Uncle Silas: Genetis by David Follett

Reviewed by Magdalena Ball

I’m not, generally speaking, a huge fan of the graphic novel. Being more verbal than visual by nature, I prefer to imagine my characters, but I can’t deny the draw for children – especially those who are emergent readers. Anything that gets kids making the link between story and books has got to be good, and David Follett’s Uncle Silas: Genetis is about as fun, lighthearted, and sumptuously illustrated as it gets.

Selena and Tommy are siblings who are close to their slightly loopy scientist uncle Silas Mortimer Mulch. When they respond to his call to come and see a surprise, they are greeted by his organic computer Sofia, who tells them that their uncle is in danger and that they must save him. As they get be-suited and sucked into the greenhouse, they find a welter of self-propagating plants and other fascinating life forms that raise a number of scientific questions about how we define life, how we determine individuality, and what humanity's relationship is with the natural world. The kids also find new strength within themselves as they grow into the challenge (in more ways than one) and save both their uncle and the computer.

There’s a definite Avatar feeling to the greenhouse, as the suits that Selena and Tommy wear protect and support them, while connecting with Sofia. In order to find out critical information about the environment they find themselves in, the siblings have to go to the fungi for a reading of to find out more about the greenhouse and their uncle. Silas's work involves splicing DNA with electrometers and nanotechnology in order to speed up the growth factors of his plants, but there's plenty in there that he doesn't understand. From a Science Fiction perspective, Follett has quite a few threads running through this about humanities relationship with the environment and Uncle Silas himself is an interesting and evocative character that hints at more than is revealed in this book. Where will it end up? What will happen to the greenhouse? What about Sofia? (the whole notion of an ‘organic’ computer is intruiging). Obviously there will have to be a sequel.

Uncle Silas: Genetis moves very quickly through the story – perhaps a little too quickly, though children won’t mind the pace, and is illustrated throughout with fantastic, vivid colours, dramatic images, and powerful, superhero styled characterisation. I particularly like the cute little ‘green man’ styled son – there are definitely some philosophical questions that he raises, and I’ll be waiting anxiously for the sequel to find out what happens with him, and whether the paternal instinct can override the natural sense of difference/separateness between man and plant. Young children will read it quickly, taking it at face value and enjoying the suspense, the adventure, and the gorgeous illustrations. Older children and adults may well ponder the questions it raises.

TRAILER SHOT 2 ROUGH PASS...

2010-12-20T20:15:00.002+11:00

And here's shot 2, unfinished.
Again- huge thanks to Mike Boyes for his work so far...

4 STAR REVIEWS

2010-12-20T12:28:00.003+11:00

Things From Another World gives Uncle Silas: Genetis 4 out of 5 stars!
AndreiB gives a fantastic 4 star review on Amazon as well!

Here's AndreiB's review:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Deep Green Unknown, November 29, 2010

By AndreiB
-In a global comic market where the old hands and industry watchmen plead for creators to make something fresh and engaging to all ages (*especially children*), it's a great experience to walk down to a comic store and pick up the first volume of a new series that's got so much to offer.

Our adventure begins as two quarreling siblings, Selena and Tommy, visit their mad old uncle Silas's house to see what he's been up to in his greenhouse full of plant experiments. When they arrive, they discover he has gone missing in his vastly overgrown greenhouse, and it's up to them to rescue him. They get geared up in some wonderfully chunky Megaman-esque hard suits, complete with radars, pod-shooting plant-tranquilisers and head into the overgrown forest to find out what's happened.

This new series by South Australian author and artist David Follett has been widely described as a title for kids, but that's selling it short. Without giving too many spoilers away, Tommy and Selena find the forest of Silas's greenhouse is a lot more complex than just being a place full of giant flytraps and mischevious sprites. Follett begins to introduce a meta narrative very early into the series with Tommy and Selena learning that they're "a part of the forest" and all elements of life are, in some way or another, connected. Follett's creative reworking of the forest internet system is a great way to get tech-savvy kids to think in original ways about the linking of all ecosystems. The best part is he manages to insert this message without diluting the fun of two kids having an action-adventure in a fantastically illustrated forest.

And my god, it is well illustrated. The colouring is amazingly lush and detailed - far *too* detailed for this print size. If Dark Horse do another print in a A4 gloss paperback, I'd recommend this even more, because the level of detail in the panels is incredible. To give you an idea, the opener stretches one panel for two full pages without any issues whatsoever, but when we reach this panel in the story it's about 4cm by 5cm. Crazy!

It's hard to pick faults, but if there is one, it is the pacing. Being an action adventure with a lot of discoveries along the way, Selena and Tommy are not given the chance to stop and take a breath. There's no 'cooldown' panels - as soon as the kids are in the greenhouse it's full steam ahead. Hopefully the second volume gives the kids a chance to slow down and learn more about their newly found links to the deep green unknown.

TRAILER SHOT 1 ROUGH PASS

2010-12-20T11:22:00.001+11:00

Shot 1. Rough cut.

UNCLE SILAS AVAILABILITY IN ADELAIDE...

2010-12-17T13:32:00.003+11:00

After some fancy footwork around town I've managed to get Uncle Silas into some local bookshops.
Here's a tally in case you're wondering:
Pulp Fiction Comics
Adelaide Comic Centre
Dymocks, Rundle Mall
Mary Martins
and Dillons Books on the Parade in Norwood.

SELENA RUN CYCLE

2010-11-24T08:34:00.002+11:00

For the upcoming Uncle Silas trailer. All drawn up in potatoshop.
Animated by Mike Boyes.

SUNDAY MAIL REVIEW

2010-11-22T12:41:00.003+11:00

A great little review in Adelaide's Sunday Mail newspaper (21-11-10) by Vicki Edwards:

Four years in the making, this visually delicious graphic novel is a sci-fi action adventure set in Adelaide.
But don't expect to recognise familiar landmarks.
Local author and artist Follett has chosen to base his story in a greenhouse.
When scientific genius Uncle Silas disappears in it, his niece and nephew are summoned by his organic computer to find him.
Highly imaginative, it's a great read and the detailed illustrations grab your attention.
It's ideal for reluctant readers as it's not too text heavy.

THE COMIC SPOT INTERVIEW

2010-11-22T12:22:00.002+11:00

I was interviewed a little while back on The Comic Spot radio show on Melbourne's 3CR community radio station, a fortnightly chat show every Thursday as part of the DIY Arts show, hosted by John Retallick, Bernard Caleo and Jo Waite.
A quick chat about the origins of Uncle Silas and how it came to be, after an interesting interview with Judy Horacek.
I unfortunately neglected to mention Dark Horse's New Recruits Program that the book was entered into, but you can always read more about that on this blog.
Thanks, John, Bernard and Jo for the chance to chat!
I had great fun!
The above link is on the 3CR site for a limited time, then it'll be archived on thecomicspot podcasts on iTunes.

UNCLE SILAS REVIEWED

2010-11-19T14:37:00.003+11:00

Uncle Silas gets a rave review from 9 year old Joseph on The Comic Spot radio show (fortnightly show as part of the DIY Arts show every Thursday night 5pm) on 3CR Melbourne community radio.

http://podcast.3cr.org.au/pod/3CRCast-2010-11-04-60380.mp3

Notable quotes:
"It's very strange..."
"Love to read another episode."

...and my favourite:
"One of the most amazing comics I've read ever so far; I like it! Awesome!"

DYMOCKS ADELAIDE APPEARANCE

2010-11-14T11:40:00.003+11:00

EKIDNAS is the SA Children's Book Authors and Illustrators group and they're having a Reading afternoon at Dymocks Adelaide in the Rundle Mall store on Sunday 21st November from 2-5pm.
I'll be there as will Greg Holfeld and 19 other authors and illustrators, talking about their books, the process, and doing some readings and signing books.
For those that missed the book launch come on along!
Kids, bring your parents!

ADELAIDE MATTERS

2010-11-11T16:34:00.003+11:00

Here's a promo article in the October 2010 issue of the local monthly community magazine Adelaide Matters (Thanks, Catherine!!)
That's me on the right, in case you were wondering.
I blame my tired, sickly look on actually being tired and sick, but I wasn't going to tell the photographer that.

UNCLE SILAS PROMO IN CHILL

2010-11-10T11:02:00.002+11:00

Here's the full page promo that appeared in Adelaide's Sunday Mail newspaper's CHILL comic section.
Ironic that a page finally gets printed in the very medium the strip was created for!
It came up a treat. Big Thanks to Lynn for running the article.

BOOK LAUNCH!

2010-10-18T12:32:00.006+11:00

Pulp Fiction Comics
7pm Tuesday 19th October 2010
34a King William St
Adelaide

I'll be signing books, there'll be original art on display, and there'll be drinks!
What more could you want?!

CARTOONIST COLOURS THE STATE GREEN

2010-10-18T12:17:00.003+11:00

I had an article in the local newspaper recently. Great publicity! Thanks to the Advertiser for that one.
It's short and sweet, I would have loved more gritty info about the story, the whole process and the medium, but hey, they at least mention the book launch.
Yes, there was an accompanying photo, but considering it's the absolute cliché of me wearing 'something cartoony' for the benefit of the editor (ie: a superman t-shirt) holding a pencil to an already printed poster sitting in foliage, I thought better of posting that up as well.
At least the photo wasn't me at my drawing desk.

Article follows:

CARTOONIST COLOURS THE STATE GREEN

LOCAL artist David Follett is
shattering misconceptions
about our state with a KAPOW!
The former newspaper cartoonist
is to release a graphic
novel, Uncle Silas: Genetis
through international publisher
Dark Horse Comics.
While his work is going global,
Mr Follett is committed to
visually representing his
hometown, via ecological
supergenius Uncle Silas.
SA, the driest state in the
driest nation, was the setting
for the tale, but, in his pictorial
irony, Mr Follett created the
backdrop of a rainforest.
‘‘The story is based in Adelaide,
mainly because I grew up
here and I know this place so
well and can reference so much
in future books,’’ Mr Follett
said. ‘‘But also because I liked
how I could write against the
misconceptions (that the rest of
Australia has) that nothing interesting
ever happens here.
‘‘The five sequels I have planned
will be set in and around
SA, leading to hopefully a massive
earth-shattering climax.’’
Mr Follett scored the Dark
Horse opportunity when the
publisher ran a global New
Recruits program in 2005 to
find an up-and-coming talent.
‘‘It wasn’t until over a year
later they told me I’d won and
offered me the contract,’’ he
said. Mr Follett launches Uncle
Silas: Genetis at Pulp Fiction
Comics on the evening of October
19.

IN FOR THE KRILL

2010-09-07T09:34:00.001+10:00

Greg Holfeld (PANIC PRODUCTIONS) is a busy, talented man. Not only does he do a page a week for his supercool IN FOR THE KRILL comic book penguin-noir, he's also working solid on his 3rd CAPTAIN CONGO adventure. I've had the distinct pleasure of seeing his pencils for CC book 3 and it looks fantastic! This man can draw adventure--WITH GORILLAS!!
Check out his websites and thank me later.

TRAILER SHOT 4

2010-08-14T21:01:00.003+10:00

Now things are starting to get interesting....
I won't be posting any of the animation tests--I'll upload the finished animation only once it's ready for public consumption!
Quiz time: just how much of this shot isn't recycled from a previous one?

TRAILER SHOT 3

2010-08-14T20:53:00.002+10:00

Finally getting somewhere...

FUNGI FACTS

2010-07-23T08:50:00.002+10:00

Paul Stamets on TED.com gives a great talk on mushrooms and how he believes they can save the world in 6 ways. Sounds far fetched, but he makes a pretty strong case! I found this video after the bulk of Genetis was written and pencilled but his arguments for the nature of fungi definitely ring true with how I present them in my book. TED.com is worth searching for more inspiring and truly interesting talks.

TRAILER SHOT 1

2010-06-24T09:11:00.000+10:00

Here's the first shot in the animated Uncle Silas trailer-- setting the mood. This one took longer than I thought it would. MUCH longer.... but at least there's less to animate for Mike.

TRAILER SHOT 2...

2010-06-04T22:21:00.002+10:00

Well, I've finished the main background artwork for shot 2, which I've also turned into the title banner for the blog. Looks nice enough, but not everything is as it seems....

UNCLE SILAS GETS FACEBOOKED!

2010-05-27T08:45:00.005+10:00

Uncle Silas: Genetis gets it's own fb page!

Link it! Like it! Load it!

UNCLE SILAS AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

2010-05-17T18:01:00.003+10:00

Uncle Silas: Genetis is now available for pre-order from Dark Horse Comics!

I'm very excited to see it up on the Dark Horse website, so excited in fact, I had to get a new chair today.

October 13th is the (American?) date of release, but it should be hitting the Australian shops soon after. Stay tuned for more updates!

WHERE THE BIRDIES IS

2010-05-16T11:43:00.002+10:00

WHERE THE BIRDIES IS by talented UK illustrator Michael Renouf arrived in my letterbox last week and I love it.

MR of his Non-Stick Plans blog posts fantastic little visual puns on all manner of things, for which he titles with very clever portmanteaus, puns, single/double and yes, even triple entendres.

Being rather enamored of a good pun, I eagerly await his next installments with 'girlish anticipation' which I keep close to me in a jar on my desk for such special occasions.

I'd never bought from Lulu.com before but I'm won over- fast delivery, quality packaging meant the book arrived safe and sound and the digital printing is pretty damn high!

MR's currently working on a larger volume of his vast collection of other 'puntoons' and I'll be cracking open the girly jar for that one too!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

2010-04-25T08:44:00.004+10:00

Saturday May 1st is Free Comic Book Day, and Pulp Fiction Comics in Adelaide have a bunch of my Uncle Silas promo comics to hand out, so make sure you get in quick and ask for one if you don't already have it!

ARTFORMS OR NATURE

2010-03-24T10:41:00.003+11:00

Unbelievable stuff. Hand drawn.

MORE MANDELBULB!

2010-03-24T10:37:00.000+11:00

Mandelbulb zoom from subBlue on Vimeo.

MANDELBULB!

2010-03-24T10:29:00.003+11:00

This stuff is brilliant.

I'll be incorporating some of this into a later Uncle Silas book, you can be certain.

COVER ART

2010-03-19T18:50:00.005+11:00

Here's my cover art for Uncle Silas: Genetis.

After several uninspiring sketches where the action was too far away to be of any good, I finally came to the idea of having one of the kids stepping forward toward the viewer- better connection with the reader, and we get to see some sweat beads! Also uses the trick of placing us firmly in the forest growth as well- you can almost feel the leaves and plants brushing against you, the soft earth beneath your feet, smell the dank wood and foliage and feel the humidity... (well, hopefully!)

The title design is being taken care of by Dark Horse, and they're going by my idea here, which was modeled after their initial concept (bit of to-ing and fro-ing of ideas is always good). Hopefully they make my scribble look better than what you see here!

Now, THIS image would make a great postcard and poster....

FINISHED!!

2010-03-16T12:11:00.002+11:00

It's official, I've finally finished all 126 pages of Uncle Silas: Genetis.

I sent all the primed and prepped artwork to Dark Horse last night/early this morning so it's all in their hands now.

Hopefully I didn't make any serious stuff ups!!

I did a vague tally and it's taken me well over 1000 hours of my life to do it. Possibly into the 1200s if you think about the early incarnations and scribbley ideas and notes and character sketches etc... maybe more, I don't know. This has been brewing since 2002 after all.

Can't wait to see the finished product!! I'll see if I can post the cover artwork up here or not...

What now? Well, I'll be enjoying my weekends again, that's for sure!! No longer will I be slaving and toiling away while others cavort and play in the sun. I'll be catching up on sleep, that's a certainty.

....though maybe I should start plotting out book 2... the first one does end on a cliff hanger after all....

...hmm....

STANLEY

2009-11-16T11:21:00.001+11:00

I won me a bronze Stanley award from the Australian Cartoonists Association on the weekend in the Graphic Media Artist category for my Paddington bear editorial illustration for the Daily Telegraph, and also for my Week magazine cover of the Ruddmobile driving over Turnbull.

My hangover's finally receding, just in time for some odd flashbacks of the night to start emerging... !!

BETTER READ THAN DEAD

2009-11-10T09:03:00.003+11:00

My comics are now available in Better Read Than Dead in Newtown, Sydney.

They're appearing on the front counter and all copies there are signed!

A cool shop with cool people (and a non too shabby graphic novel section), BRTD is dead centre in the funky part of the King St strip. If you've not been there yet, now you have the perfect excuse!

COLOURING...

2009-10-20T11:04:00.001+11:00

I'm a quarter of the way through now...

just thought someone out there would like to know.

COLOURING HAS COMMENCED...

2009-09-27T14:54:00.002+10:00

Yep. I've started colouring Uncle Silas in earnest and thanks to Tom Brown and Tony Giles it's going to be a hell of a lot faster than if I was doing it solo. I've just figured out on a couple of pages (17, 18 + 19) that they average out to taking me about an hour to finish.

By my calculations at this rate I should just get this monster done by christmas, and that's including a full sunday every week of pure Silas colouring.

This makes me happy.

PULP FICTION COMICS

2009-09-18T12:06:00.003+10:00

Pulp Fiction Comics in Adelaide, South Australia are now stocking my collected Kookabarry, BeanBoy and Uncle Silas promo comic, so if you live in the city of churches and want to check out my printed wares, head on down and check out the local talent shelf in Peter's snazzy new digs on the ground floor. Only fitting it's stocked in Adelaide- it's where Uncle Silas is set, after all.

BERKELOUW BOOKS

2009-09-10T17:42:00.004+10:00

Berkelouw Books here in Syndey are now stocking my Uncle Silas promo comic and the collected Kookabarry!

Hunt them down in their Leichhardt, Newtown and Paddington shops and if they've sold out- be sure to ask them to restock!

IT JUST GOT EASIER...

2009-09-04T12:06:00.001+10:00

...to buy my stuff!

I've added PayPal to both my blogs so now you have slightly less excuses to not buy my comics, posters and postcards. Global Fiscal Connundrum be damned.

Heck- I'll sign the comics and I'll even draw a little scribble on one of the postcards for you for nuthin'!

Go on... you know you want to...

INKS ARE DONE!!

2009-08-19T12:08:00.002+10:00

Finally, I've finished the ink linework on Uncle Silas Book 1! All 126 pages worth.

I'm off to the pub for a gin and soda and a hearty steak...

and then it's onto the colours.

Thankfully Tom's working on the flatting and it looks like I've got a couple of other magic elves to help, so this stage should really scream ahead.

Santé!

INSPIRATION

2009-08-07T10:47:00.003+10:00

Inspirations for Uncle Silas.

I've been absorbing all sorts of stuff over the years in terms of character design and adventure stories: V.T. Hamlin's Alley Oop, E.C. Segar's Popeye, Osamu Tezuka, Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse, E.P. Jacobs' Blake & Mortimer, Tintin, Roy Crane's Captain Easy, Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon... I'm sure there are more that I've forgotten right now...

For the most part what attracts me is the ability to tell an adventure comic story really bloody well. The fact that all these strips were syndicated as either daily 3 panels, 2 tiered strips in sunday papers, or full page spreads on sundays or in magazines and the each ended with a cliff hanger that left you wanting more is shining testament to the narrative skills of each artist/writer behind them.

More often than not, the artwork in each is brilliant as well.

I was introduced to a lot of the old american strips thanks to my 21st birthday present of the Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics.

A brilliant book.

I should shut up now and finish inking...

INKING... NEARLY... DONE...

2009-08-07T10:28:00.002+10:00

Currently on page 118 with the inks... so close to finishing this I can almost taste it! Ack!!

ARTIST'S DILEMMA

2009-07-31T09:53:00.003+10:00

Inspired by M.C. Escher and done during my university days. I remember lots of angst at the time. Artists are usually self reflective... some end up crawling up their own @rse... It's a fine balance, truth be told. The subject(s) here have gained enlightenment... of a sorts.

BEANBOY KIRBY HOLFELD!

2009-07-31T09:47:00.003+10:00

In a quiet moment at Supanova, Greg and I doodled away. This is his version of Beanboy. Obviously he's being radiated with cosmic rays and is about to discover his new superpowers... Stay tuned, true believers! Exelsior! 'Nuff said.

POSTER PROCESS FINISHED!

2009-07-27T11:24:00.003+10:00

....and here's the finished pic. I seem to recall this took several days work in total, amongst other little commitments I had going on at the time.

Phew! Was I glad to lay this to bed considering the early pencils had been floating around for years... Then again, this whole graphic novel has been floating around in my head since 2002, so this is peanuts. What am I complaining about??

POSTER PROCESS 2

2009-07-27T11:14:00.003+10:00

These ones show I started colouring this beast up. I don't show it here but I have a background flat colour of dark blue or something like it so my eyes don't melt from staring at the big expansive white screen for over 8 hours a day. The linework for the kids were on separate layers as well, so I could conveniently move them around as well.

UNCLE SILAS POSTER PROCESS

2009-07-27T11:11:00.001+10:00

Here's the process for my second Uncle Silas screensaver (that reminds me, I'll have to get Tomto upload it to my website!). The original pencils were done a couple of years ago- you can tell from the crappy proportions of Uncle Silas himself- he's all wrong. To be honest, even Selena is a bit wonky. I'm sorry, but you'll have to read this process post backwards to see it grow. I can't be bothered trying to second guess the chronological system this blog has.

I figured this would be good to finish up and have as a screensaver and poster for publicity sake, so I had to revise the pencil sketch and work it up. Again, you can see just how unfussed I've become with doing the forest background at this point when I'm inking straight into photoshop.

Then of course, the inking came second. I've shown the different stages of layer build up to give you an idea of how many layers I end up having with the complex pictures when there's heaps of detail and overlapping forest filaments and foliage etc... You can also see where I erase underlying layers when I end up drawing over the top. This way, I keep those big smooth arcs of brush lines. Previously when I inked on paper, I'd have to mimic them and it would be so time consuming and laborious.

UNCLE SILAS PENCILS...

2009-07-26T16:01:00.003+10:00

I've decided to upload a couple of pencil sketches for some early pages so you can see the difference in my approach. The earlier pencils from when I was inking with traditional brush and ink onto schoellers hammer paper crouched over a lightbox were tighter and more thought out. The linework was well considered and composition was often chosen after quite a lot of mental gymnastics and visual play in my head. I couldn't very well decide later on while I was inking to change things or add or heaven forbid, subtract anything out of the panel.

However, when I started inking up straight into photoshop, I realised I could just lay down the basic bones of the pencils and over my roughs start to improvise a little with details. Especially when it came to foliage and backgrounds. With linework for my characters on separate layers to my backgrounds, I could really start to muck around with things, as well as begin to get some great details with foreground foliage and action sequences. Erasing underlying linework really started to open up the possibilities.

While I won't show you pencils of later pages (why ruin the read for you?) I can show you a couple from what I've printed up in the b+w mini comic.

BEANBOY ERRATA

2009-07-24T11:39:00.004+10:00

Well, the printer was in such a rush to fill my Beanboy comic order that he accidentally stuffed up. The inside covers are missing the introduction text and pics, so here is my errata for those who are already receiving their signed copies and will be wondering just why I neglected to use all the blank space you first see...

This should set things straight!

Welcome to the Big Book of Bean!

Finally, the completed Beanboy pages collected in one book! Yes, the story just stops short for no apparent reason and unfortunately, I never got around to finishing it. Life happened.

I was just warming up to big and grand

extended narratives with these characters when I started developing my

newspaper comic strip ideas instead. Beanboy was to have explored

underwater realms and subterranean vistas and begun communicating

somewhat unwillingly with the (un)dead thanks to the Doctor’s experiments. He may well do so one day, if I ever have the time.

A 2 minute animated pilot was even done with the talented Mr Greg Holfeld and with the assistance of the South Australian Film Commission for a planned series of interstitial cartoons. Alas, there have been no takers and the Bean was canned.

The primal tropical forest world eventually became the basis for my

newspaper comic strip idea Uncle Silas. In fact, if you look closely in the graphic novel, you may just see Beanboy and the Doctor make an appearance somewhere...

Entire contents, Beanboy and related characters © David Follett 2009.

Printed by Jeffries Printing Services www.jeffriesprinting.com.au

Printed on 100% recycled paper.

I should add here, that all 3 of my comics and several postcards are printed on 100% recycled paper.

GOODIES FOR SALE!

2009-07-21T10:31:00.004+10:00

Want to know what your money gets you? Here's a photo of the gear:

Postcards galore! Posters aplenty! Comics cornucopia!

You can't get this anywhere else.... yet.

I've been too busy with my own workload to even shop this stuff around Sydney!

I'll post when it is available somewhere you can count on that.

So what are you waiting for?!?

Check out the info in the column on the right and get thee to a Post Office post haste!

LOKI

2009-07-21T09:27:00.003+10:00

Here's an early version of Loki. He's changed a little since this was made but his character hasn't...

...you just know he's going to cause trouble...

UNCLE SILAS UPDATE

2009-07-16T14:42:00.003+10:00

Ok, so I've been busy with freelance. Reeeaaaal busy.

I've just got the last 16 pages to ink and then it's colouring all the way!! I may need to hibernate for a little while to finish this thing...

Here's a concept piece of nighttime in the forest I did a while back to keep you happy.

WEEK COVERS

2009-07-16T10:14:00.004+10:00

Yeah, I know, these aren't Silas related either... but what the hell.

They're for The Week Magazine (the Oz edition)- a weekly round up of the world's current affairs and politics from an Australian perspective.

I'm usually given 24 hours notice to come up with the goods (as are the other illustrators who also get this gig), so it's all go-go-go!

A lot of fun to do.

The Shanghaied cover is about Australia's Rio Tinto Australian-Chinese employee Stert Hu and his ousting as a 'spy' for China. The second cover is about Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd and the kerfuffle over the email scandal about Rudd's mobile office (ute). Turnbull came out of it the worse for wear, obviously, after it turned out the emails used as the basis for his argument about Rudd getting the ute in kind in order to act favourably for a car dealer turned out to be fake.

TREE!

2009-07-09T14:17:00.001+10:00

need I say more?

BOSS MAGAZINE

2009-07-09T14:07:00.003+10:00

Here are some pics I did for Bass Magazine- a monthly mag about business, funnily enough.

Again with this photographic textural mixed with silhouette...

NEWS ILLOS...

2009-07-09T13:59:00.003+10:00

Thought it was high time I post some artwork I've done for the Weekend Australian newspaper- Australia's only nationwide paper. This style in particular I've been developing for the Review section- a mix of silhouette and photographic elements mushed up.

YELLOW

2009-07-09T13:52:00.003+10:00

This is a piece I did for watermark self promo stuff. Each illustrator was briefed to illustrate a colour. When I think of yellow I associate the vibrant yellow used in indian religious festivals and poured over sacred objects, statues, cows, people etc... like a sacrificial offering.

And the goblins? Well... they're characters I'll develop when I have the time...

I have big plans for them...

MORE HARRY STRIPS...

2009-07-06T10:56:00.003+10:00

Here are some other Harry strips so you get a feel for it. For more, check out my website in the comics section for more...

HARRY STRIP- SUPANOVA THEMED

2009-07-06T10:14:00.002+10:00

Here's a harry strip with a Supanova theme I did for the Funday Telegraph. 'Harry the Dog- News Hound' is a strip I do every week for the comic section in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph. I'll add some others so you get a feel for the strip...

UNCLE SILAS HEAD ROTATION

2009-07-03T09:38:00.003+10:00

Here's a head rotation Courtney did up in preparation for the 3D poster image.

LOUISE A LA COURTNEY

2009-07-02T17:27:00.004+10:00

These are more pics from Courtney of Louise from my comic strip Kookabarry.

Love it!

SUPANOVA PICS!

2009-07-02T16:36:00.005+10:00

Rorsharchini. Too cool for words. Honestly- he should have won best dressed.
Pacman. Also superb.
The Phantom walks. She couldn't believe someone was taking her photo. It was simply too good an opportunity to pass up!!
The Doctor's next companion is Velma?? I'd watch that!
L to R: Me, Greg and Pawel.
I can now say I've done Supanova. Here are some pics to prove it!

Had a great time- people ignored us in droves as they hoofed it to the cosplay shows but they occasionally stopped to chat or peruse and even buy stuff. Nice! Some Funday Telegraph fans recognised my Harry the Dog- NewsHound posters which was great ( I even sold 1 of the 2 which was better!) A good experience all told! I sure as heck know what to do and what not to do for the next time (if there is one, mind you). I now have far too much stock just waiting for people to throw me money. This time next year I should have Uncle Silas the completed graphic novel in my hot little hands to sell to the slavering masses which will be better.

I do however, have lots of promotional material which I'll be getting out into the public arena soon enough... bwa ha haaa.

3D POSTER SKETCHES

2009-07-02T10:25:00.005+10:00

Here are the two sketches I did up for Courtney to work on. The first option just didn't have the dynamism it deserved, so I did up the second one quick smart!

If we'd had time, I'd have had Courtney suffer on seriously rendering up one of the creatures in the forest... but he'd probably never speak to me again.

ANOTHER UNCLE SILAS IMAGE

2009-07-02T10:20:00.002+10:00

This one I'm not even going to explain. Why ruin the surprise?

UNCLE SILAS POSTERS!

2009-07-02T10:05:00.003+10:00

My good watermark friend Courtney Hopkinson has done up a kick arse poster image of Uncle Silas for me based on a quick sketch I churned out late one night. Supercool!! I had a whole lot printed up A3 size for Supanova as well as postcards to hand out. Brilliant stuff!! He's also been working on some 3D character versions of Louise from my Kookabarry strips.

sweeeet. This first poster image I did up- showing something that may or may not happen in the book... you'll just have to wait and see.

more digging...

2009-06-22T14:54:00.001+10:00

will get you stuff like this! circa 2002?

BIRDPOO!

2009-06-22T14:43:00.000+10:00

I discovered this one in my hard drive and figure it needs a bit of fresh air...

looks like this was a precursor to Pirello, who is yet to be launched into the world fully formed... sigh.

MODERN KOOKABARRY

2009-06-22T13:10:00.000+10:00

...and this is how the strip looks these days:

EARLY KOOKABARRY

2009-06-22T12:56:00.000+10:00

In collating all my run of kookabarry for a collected volume for supanova expo, I found a bunch of early versions of the characters in a story I never got around to finishing. Highly influenced by pogo, I eventually pared it down after realising that comics are often reproduced in newspapers at about the same size as two fingers. Looking back, these strips look incredibly baroque and rococo in detail. I seriously tried to cram as much into each panel as I could. What was I thinking?!?

Supanova!

2009-06-04T18:42:00.000+10:00

I'm getting a table in Artists Alley at this year's Supanova comic expo in Sydney at the end of this month- it'll be my first showing there(!). I'll be sharing it with the talented Mr Greg Holfeld and Pawel where I'll be selling mini comics galore and promo stuff to go with. I'm printing up the collected run of my newspaper 3 panel funny Kookabarry, a promo mini comic of Uncle Silas and the complete Beanboy- all the completed comics I've ever done as well as background art, model sheets, sketches, and whatever other dross I can possibly find without boring anyone to tears.

The Uncle Silas mini comic promo I'm printing up to help pay my colourist Tom Brown who's helping me on the graphic novel I'm doing for Dark Horse. Tom's working like a slave horse making my life easier! The mini has the first 24 pages in eye searing black and white, is printed on 100% recycled paper and weighs in at a featherlight $5 Aus.

I dare anyone to flick through those pages and tell me at what page exactly I stopped inking on paper and began inking straight into Photoshop.

I've just today received the postcards and posters from the printers and they've come up a treat. Full colour eye candy that makes me want to read the finished graphic novel. If only I was more considerate on myself and actually have finished the bloody thing by now, and I could.

Here's a bizarre cmyk pic struggling with the internet...

sketchbook stuffs

2009-06-04T18:31:00.000+10:00

Here are some backgrounds I drew up for the 2 minute Beanboy animation pilot done with Greg Holfeld many moons ago... for some reason nobody wanted to fund it any further for a series of interstitials so it remains a tempting 'what if' in the Beanboy world. Greg did pages and pages of storyboards incorporating ideas in the short stories and comics I'd already done or was developing, and I still get a chuckle out of reading them. Greg may well post the clip up on the 'net one day...

more Beanboy stuff...

2009-06-04T18:22:00.000+10:00

Beanboy sketches

2009-06-04T18:13:00.000+10:00

I was flicking through all my sketchbooks trying to find any Beanboy sketches that might be good enough to add to the complete Beanboy comic I'm printing up ahead of Supanova this June.... and I found a whole bunch of old page layout thumbnails and scribbles.

enjoy!

More BeanBoy art...

2009-05-11T10:15:00.000+10:00

I was using 00 brushes on this thing!! WTF?!? The first pages of Uncle Silas I was doing something similar... These days of course I just ink straight into Photoshop so I can really zoom in and make sure I get all those details I want, so I'm fortunate on that note.

I also HATED the thought of needing to scrape back any ink or use white gouache on the top of the black inks, so I was meticulous in the pencils.

Not any more...

BeanBoy art..

2009-05-11T10:13:00.000+10:00

The original pages for BeanBoy I drew and inked up on A5 pieces of cold press Bristol Board. I look at them now and can't believe how I haven't gone blind or needed glasses yet...

here's another page to burn your retinas...

getting there....

2009-05-11T09:56:00.001+10:00

Well, I've clocked the 100 page mark for inking! I'm currently on page 103.

My friend Tom Brown is helping me colour up the flat colours and prepping the pages for Dark Horse, which is a huge help. I'll then be going in over the top of his work adding shadows and highlights and all the freakin' details in the forest...

What the heck was I thinking?!?

At least I can see the end for the inking coming sloooowly into view.

Small mercies.

I'm attending this year's Supanova comic fair in Sydney (June 27th, 28th) 2009, and I've done up a mini comic teaser of Uncle Silas. It's collecting the first 28 pages in black and white (that's double what you can currently see on my website!) and I'll be selling them as well as my collected Kookabarry strips. If I can get it designed up in time, I'll also print up all the collected Bean Boy strips that I've ever done. That should be a doozy. They were first printed up in Stephen Dodd's Mixed Grill Comics way back. What the @$#$ has Dodds done lately, anyone know?!?

All the long form pages of BeanBoy are viewable on my website, but I'll be adding all the extra strips that have never been seen out of a select bunch of lucky people who probably don't even remember the experience. I was looking over my notes and ideas for BeanBoy and I'm almost sad it never got any further than where it did. I had some pretty cool ideas for a HUGE book!

I might draw up some one off splash poster pages to suggest where it was going to go... if I get the time(!)

But as per usual, I may just end up pillaging the ideas for the future books/stories of Uncle Silas... We shall see....

daintree tropical rainforest

2008-08-04T09:00:00.001+10:00

Here some pics from our recent trip up to the Daintree rainforest in north queensland. Inspiration for Uncle Silas if ever there was one. I'd been previously to New Zealand's south island 10 years ago which really kicked off my obsession with this kind of natural setting, and the Daintree was a brilliant refresher to everything I love about it. The feeling of being absolutely surrounded by nature in all it's thick, fertile, uncontrollable lushness is very humbling and primal. Loggers once raped this forest for it's 'Red Gold' gum trees- at one point worth more on the international stock exchange (ounce for ounce) than pure gold. Considering the rate of logging occurring in the Amazon I'd say it's value is beyond compare now.

Not that this pressing need to keep our priceless old growth forests from destruction stops loggers in Australia...

Of course, just off the coast of the Daintree is the Great Barrier Reef. More than likely, the setting for the 3rd Uncle Silas story. Again- absolutely beautiful.

pencils finished!

2008-08-04T08:41:00.000+10:00

... kind of. I've finally got them all down, but there are a couple of patches that I need to go over and tweek a bit, and a couple of frame sequences that I'm not happy with so they'll need revision too. I'll do them when I catch up to them in the inking part, which is now! I'm inking straight into photoshop with my wacom tablet and trying to replicate the brush style I started with on paper all those years ago. I don't have any special brush I just use the default one in the brushes pallet and try to get a quick and lush line. If anything- command+Z is my friend, my lover, my wise uncle, my conscience, my harsh critic... Especially with all those smooth bloody lines... what was I thinking?!? I wonder if I wasn't better off inking it like I do with Kookabarry...

screen saver

2008-06-04T11:22:00.001+10:00

This is a screen saver I did a couple of years ago. I'm halfway through a second one so once that's done I'll post that too. You can get the size to suit your desktop from my site- just click on the wallpapers in the side menu bar.

What the strip looks like now...

2008-06-02T12:18:00.000+10:00

feel free to check out my personal site for the first 14 pages of the comic!

The first interactive strip concepts...

2008-06-02T11:28:00.001+10:00

...as you can see- rough as guts. Simple as hell. The thought of that deadline had me freaking out. I'm seriously relieved that never went anywhere. Also, never name a character after a girlfriend at the time. Stupid move. Selena makes much more sense to the scheme of the comic and where it's going, being a science fiction story and all that... Tommy also works well. I had already chosen the name Silas before even bothering to look up the meaning. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it's a shortened version of the latin Silvanus.

and more..

2008-06-02T11:26:00.000+10:00

early character designs...

2008-06-02T11:24:00.001+10:00

These were early sketches. They suck.

Selena's character is based on my niece (who was maybe 8 at the time of these drawings - she's now 13(!). I wanted to draw a comic she'd be keen on reading in the newspapers rather than all the old necrophilia comics (prince valiant, phantom, etc..) and most of the dross that's out there currently.

Selena, Tommy and Silas.

2008-06-02T11:15:00.001+10:00

the man himself.

2008-06-02T11:06:00.000+10:00

Here's the man himself.

Scientist, biologist and geneticist. He knows more than I do, which makes him tougher to write for. Thankfully he's always explaining things to the two kids Selena and Tommy in language that even I can understand. I'd be buggered if he didn't. I don't know how old he is yet, but he's probably around his mid to late 40's...