January and February are over… March forward!

So, what have I been up to colouring-wise that’s now been published? Let’s take a walk down a very short Memory Lane. Well, it’s more Memory Drive really… but I digress.

The end of January saw Titan’s TF UK issue 9 hit the stands. With a “Scorponok” story by Simon Furman, it heralded the return of Marvel TF G1 legend Staz Johnson on the pencilling duties. I was absolutely thrilled to get to colour this, and it was quite a difference having to work only with the pencils. The art was never inked, so it involved a little bit of clean-up and processing before I could whack the colours on. fantastic experience, and I think it’s fair to say the deadline envelope was well and truly pushed on this one!

February saw IDW’s Devastation #5 roll into the shops, and I was lucky enough to snag 3 pages (20, 21 & 22) of the issue alongside IDW mainstays Zac Atkinson and Josh Burcham. EJ Su’s beautifully precise lineart was a joy to colour, and trying to make sure my style meshed well with Zac’s was a fantastic challenge, I loved it. Josh was working on page 19 as I was finishing up my 3 pages, so I had no idea if my page 20 would mesh well with his, but I think we were in the same sort of mindset for the colouring, and the final issue blends very nicely.

Following swiftly afterwards was Spotlight: Arcee, featuring the massively detailed art of Alex Milne. I’ve yet to get my hands on a printed copy yet, but that was another issue where I had to match the style of another colourist – Alex’s partner in crime, Josh Perez. Josh’s style was very intense, a real tough one to match, but I gave it a good shot. I’ve always felt that Perez’s colours were a little too dark, so I was mindful with my pages (9-16, 18, 20-22) to try and find a middle ground that was true to his pages, but maybe a bit less dark. I’ve heard that the issue printed quite darkly anyway, so I’m looking forward to seeing how dark it actually turned out. Hopefully, it’s ok… but hey, sometimes you can’t win ‘em all…

Toward the end of February, Titan’s TF UK issue 9 hit the stands, featuring an alternate reality story by Simon Furman, with art by fellow Welsh TF maniac Simon Williams. I got to provide the colours for this issue, and that was a blast! I was pretty happy with how the whole thing turned out. I must admit to being a little disappointed with not getting to colour the next installment, but still, I was glad to get this one!

Onto some upcoming TF stuff… I got to try my hand at some front covers too, which was great (but quite a responsibility too, so I hope I did a good job)! Out in March sometime I believe, is IDW’s reprint of Marvel’s Space Pirates, and I got to lay some colouring down on Nick Roche’s lineart. I was really looking forward to working with Nick, who I’d met at a signing in London a while back. The Oirish has immaculate taste in t-shirts. By an odd twist of fate, I got to colour another Nick Roche cover, this time for Transformers UK issue 10. That’ll be out at the end of March, and should be a good’un!

It’s been a great start to the year, getting to colour professionally on a franchise that I’ve loved since way back in 1984. It really is a dream come true, and I hope to push it even further. In the next blog I’m hoping to put up some piccies of the non-Transformer stuff I’ve been lucky enough to get to colour – a few issues of Teenaage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Torchwood, and a little IDW number called Zombies: Hunters… with art by a certain Don Figueroa…. Oh yeah. I’m psyched!

Now if I can keep the colouring work coming, maybe I can move out of the day job… I find selling secured loans far less entertaining for some ker-razy reason….

More soon! Feel free to drop me a comment!