Visual Treats

Brush-pen drawings by Shane Oakley from his blog. © 2007 Shane Oakley

Had my old mate Shane Oakley over the other week as part of my ongoing programme to assimilate all my mates into The Borg. Yes, Shane's taking his first steps into the wacky world of technology at the moment, and the results can be seen on his blog - http://shaneoakley.blogspot.com. When you see his stuff, you'd never believe he's only been using Photoshop for a few months; proof positive that technology is only as good as the talent behind it.

Shane Oakley from last week; as you can see from his reaction, I always welcome visitors to The Cupboard Of Doom by getting my nob out.

Shane was telling me he's looking to take his work in new directions, using a looser inking style influenced by 50's animation and cartoons (see top). The first results look terrific, and reflect the sponteneity of his rough sketches, something that's sometimes been lost in his earlier, more controlled work (and if you thinking that Shane's work isn't short of sponteneity, you're right, but man, you should see his doodles.)

The Beast from The HANDbook of the Marvel Universe.
The Beast © and ® Marvel Entertainment Group Inc.
The Beast created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
This image © Martin Hand

Another treat is a new online project by national treasure Martin Hand. If you were part of the London comics scene in the 80's and 90's (or a CAPTION regular in its first decade) you'll remember Martin and his atomic-powered man-monster The Flimsy (who turns into puny scientist Bob Block when placed under stress).
After a few years devoted to moderating online forums, Martin's back with a regular art project; a comprehensive series of delightfully bouncy drawings of Marvel Comics heroes and villains, produced in alphabetical order. Point your RSS feed at http://worldofagwu.livejournal.com/, True Believer!

The Beast by Steve Whitaker, from his Blog.
The Beast © and ® Marvel Entertainment Group Inc.
The Beast created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
This image © Steve Whitaker

Another old pal, mighty talent (and former V For Vendetta colourist) Steve Whitaker had begun posting his own marvellously Junoesque renderings of superheroes on his Flickr stream over a year ago (in fact, I mentioned them as I'd used them as inspiration for some illustrations I did last year: Batman Wonder Woman).

Check them out on Steve's blog here.

The Scarlet Witch by Steve Whitaker, from his Blog.
The Scarlet Witch © and ® Marvel Entertainment Group Inc.
The Scarlet Witch created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
This image © Steve Whitaker