I've done it again!!!

I've nearly missed August! It's like July all over again! I've actually been quite creative this month, but mainly in ways not conducive to blogging! But here is a work-in-progress Crimson Iris cover idea... not sure where I'm going with it at this stage, I think it could do with being more sinister somehow. Regardless, I submit it for your attention and as ever your valued input! x Oh! By the way! Gratitude to Enchanted Doll and Sky Doll for the inspiration! xxx

The latest from the Crimson Iris...

Happy Easter from the Crimson Iris!

Crimson Iris cover thoughts...

This is the cover for one of my Crimson Iris stories, although I'm not sure which yet. I really love the typefaces I used on this, but since getting them my computer had a big old breakdown, so I don't have them any more, and can't remember where I got them! Grrrr. The image itself worked exactly as I wanted it to, a mix of comic drawing and photography that stops it being too 'super-hero-y' and, I think, is suggestive of the moral grey area occupied by the protagonist. As far as using this piece goes, I think it will suit the first CI story well - in it we do not see Iris in her costume until at least halfway through, and the anticipation is built by occasional glimpses of a gloved hand or a spiky boot. To have a plain picture of her on the cover would seem to undermine the reveal page at the story's climax. Let me know what you think of this image, I always love feedback, good or bad!

Crimson Iris 2

The first page of my second Crimson Iris tale... A snatch-and-grab job has gone badly awry for the Crimson Iris, leaving her at the mercy of an East London gangster. The whole story is drawn in stark black and white and is deliberately rougher than the the first story... she's a long way from the elegance of the Riviera now.

I always intended to blog at least once a month...

...so I am posting another page from my Crimson Iris strip, this one leading on directly from the last.

What I've been up to...

I've really enjoyed doing this drawing, mainly that of the Crimson Iris herself, and the colouring has been a real self-teaching thing - I've been doing it more professionally with the help of The DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics, which is absolutely excellent and I think will be crucial to my work in future! You'll notice that there isn't any dialog yet... this is for two reasons - because the Lettering section of the book requires far more precision and care, and because the dialog is to be in Italian, which I do not speak! Anyway, I hope you like it, its still a work in progress so please tell me what you think!

More from The Crimson Iris!

I did this sort-of Lautrec inspired poster image this evening... I really like it, and I think I'd like it as a poster in my house! I hope you like it too! x

The Crimson Iris

This is somebody I thought up whilst driving back from Newquay t'other day. She's called the Crimson Iris and she is dedicated to ending organized crime, whatever the cost.
When I was growing up we had a swing set that faced a flower bed of these tall, deep red Irises, and for some reason they made me uneasy. They struck me as very fleshy flowers, and their colour was almost bloody. It may be that, or anything else, that gave me the creeps.
I thought for this character - which I have absolutely no use for - I would recycle that vague fear from childhood, so that she might seem more real to me. Whoever she is, I have decided that she too grew up afraid of Irises. x