Nelson Evergreen Gets Sketchy

Book Cover for Penguin

2011-11-11T02:23:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to mention the name of the book, or the bestselling author who wrote it, as this isn't the image that's going to be adorning it when it emerges. Unfortunately it wasn't something that Penguin's sales and marketing department felt they could work with.

Short term disappointment aside, it was a hugely fun job, and having made a few friends within such a prestigious publisher in the process, I'm not complaining!

As an aside, I got the job thanks to this old portfolio piece:

The art team liked the wham-bam dynamics and perspective, and asked for it to form the basis of the new image. So it's basically a remix. Always good fun to re-visit olden efforts and see what else you can do with them!

"Man About The House"

2011-11-11T01:53:00.001-08:00

A pleasant break from all the recent spookiness, from a teen drama for A&C Black/Bloomsbury.

Currently working on a series of books set in a haunted old scottish manor house-cum-hotel for Pearson Education, and a book about a private investigator hired to fix the fallout of a massive father/daughter row for Oxford University Press.

Once Upon A Time Machine

2011-10-07T01:55:00.000-07:00

Ah, it's happening! Check out this lovely looking comics anthology, a selection of classic folk and fairytales re-routed through a sci-fi filter, all wrapped up in packaging by the great Farel Dalrymple - see title page above. I did my own bit for it (artwork for a delightful re-telling of 1001 Nights by Tara Alexander) a good eighteen months back, so it's great to now see the entire collection very nearly finished and officially on the lookout for a potential publisher.

Naturally there's a big online promotional push going on, via the likes of Bleeding Cool and Facebook; do please stop by and have a peek for further info and artwork previews.

Horses

2011-09-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

A behind the scenes peek at some development work I'm doing for Templar Publishing. The drawing and shading is all done on various hue/saturation layers, which informs how the colours, when they eventually arrive, will appear underneath.

The Evergreen Archive - "Shocking Yarns"

2011-09-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

These were part of a delusional, market-oblivious attempt to pitch myself as a greetings card artist many, many years ago. Must have been 1997 or thereabouts - I'd not long moved down to Brighton and was feeling all energetic and enthusiastic about, ooh, everything, if not remotely clued-up about any of it. One of my many doomed schemes from the time was a huge batch of 'funnies', all carefully rendered in pen & ink with zero colour, because, well, badly drawn, colourful greeting cards seemed to be incredibly popular, so obviously what people must really have wanted was some well drawn black and white ones. Erm, heh heh. They didn't have the desired effect, of course, but god it was fun doing them. Most were surreal, silly gags - for these three I wandered off down a more specific side road (the title being a big obvious tip of the hat to Michael Palin and Terry Jones's 'Ripping Yarns').

4.2.3 Poster

2011-09-05T04:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the determinedly monochrome version of my poster for 4.2.3, a short film by Ryan Colucci.

A few colours were added "in-house" for the final image. I'd had a few cracks at it myself, but hated the sight of them, and gladly handed it over to be finished elsewhere. I still think the 'pure' one work better, to be honest. It's a bit classier, to my eyes. You have to be careful about adding yellow and brown to white... it can be somewhat suggestive of a bed of snow that someone's done their business in!

Evil Vampirical Thing (Again)

2011-09-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Just had a good tinker with this long neglected portfolio piece, which I'd thought was finished until looking back at it this afternoon. Lordy, what was going on with her head? Serious cranium issues there! I think sometimes I forget whether I'm supposed to be doing cartoony or realistic, and end up with these characters who are just plain misshapen. Anyway, everyone at least appears to be roughly the right shape now, and hopefully the style's a little richer than it was.

A Tale Dark & Grimm - Process

2011-09-01T03:43:00.000-07:00

Great experience, this. And a firm reminder of an illustration basic that can all too easily go astray in the heat of a job requiring a fast turnaround, ie: get the pencils at least 80% right before proceeding to the finals! You'll see what I mean...

The client wanted something quirky and Coraline-ish, nothing too realistic; exaggerated proportions with a dark, bloody atmosphere. But not too dark and bloody. So I just thought: Stylistic Big Head. Instant gentle cartoonishness. Trouble is, if you're not careful, this can make the characters look younger than they should be...

Hansel and Gretel do actually age a good few years throughout the book (which, in a neat sort of way, is reflected in how they evolve from the rough at the top there to the finished piece down at the bottom). But do you depict them as the unfortunate babes in peril they are at the start of the book, or the much more rounded, life-or-death-decision making young adults they've become by the end..? Or somewhere inbetween? Unconsciously, I think I went for somewhere inbetween. Best of both worlds, you know?

Ooh it's a minefield...

Anyway, the initial rough was approved with the proviso that the characters needed to look older and exude plenty of extra attitude...

This being a bit of a rush job, as well as my first proper book cover, my brain was totally focussed on the finish. It has to look great. No room for ineptness anywhere...

So although H & G's faces have evolved somewhat from the rough...

...maybe I've been getting sidetracked by the rendering.

It's certainly not floating the client's boat just yet. Too young? Lacking in quirk and attitude? Let's try this...

No? Ah.

Gretel's not bad, but Hansel looks like Morten Harket's evil younger brother. I'm somehow just not getting it, which doesn't often happen. It's starting to feel like stage fright.

Swap them around. Give Hansel the sword and Gretel a dagger. Make him look more aspirational...

No..? Okay...

Let's abandon the computer for an hour, pick up a pencil, grab a piece of paper and draw...

Yes...? Excellent.

And there we have it. Looking back, I really like all the different takes; it feels like there's an appropriate version for each section of the story.

Anyway, 'hope this made for an interesting insight into the rollercoaster world of cover illustration! As mentioned previously, on this blog and in reviews all over the universe, this book is a blinding read, so if lashings of blacker-than-black humour and dark, breathless adventure are your thing...

A Tale Dark & Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz, published in the UK by Andersen Press.

Adam's site.

Eerie Graveyards, Demonic Playing Cards and Crazy Cats

2011-08-31T10:09:00.001-07:00

A few more highlights from the 'Jason Strange' series for Stone Arch Books...

'The Graveyard Plot'

'The Demon Card'

'Strays'

23 Crow's Perch

2011-08-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what constitutes a hefty chunk of my Big Fat Year Of Greyscaley Goodness: interior illustration duties for the 'Jason Strange' series, for my old friends at Stone Arch Books (see John Henry and Tom Thumb previously). Four books, ten illustrations in each. A great opportunity to try out some new working methods, and refine and develop others along the way.

Scholastic Time Machine Poster

2011-07-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

2011 is undeniably shaping up to be The Big Fat Year Of Greyscaley Goodness for me. It's brilliant it is. I love greyscale. It's a lovely cosmos of Woo Hoo. I could float about in it forever.

But! A spot of colour here and there doesn't hurt, does it?

The thing here was making sure not to distract from the books, which are very much the main attraction. Not too difficult, really. I mean, look at the books. Look at the names. Kids' publishing royalty! I feel like I'm rubbing shoulders with the stars at some impossibly glitzy red carpet shindig. My god, I do type some rubbish.

Normal 'Big Fat Year Of Greyscaley Goodness' service will be resumed after the break.

"Is There Anybody There?"

2011-07-05T07:47:00.001-07:00

Illustrations for A&C Black/Bloomsbury, a creepy 'seance gone weird' tale. We've all had one of those. Brrrrr.

A Tale Dark and Grimm

2011-06-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

Here's my cover for the UK release of Adam Gidwitz's 'A Tale Dark and Grimm', due out on August 4th. Much raved about when it appeared in the US last year, and rightly so - it's a terrific read. Will clue you in on the process behind the image (quite epic and hopefully quite interesting) once the book's out on the shelves.

Right now, I'm buried under a glorious pile of creepy/ghostly greyscale interior illustration jobs, which is more than doing it's bit to help evolve and refine my way of working, and maybe even my style in general. Will see if I can post a page or two soon-ish. 'Hate leaving the blog all unloved and neglected like I have been of late... :-(

Wild West Pop Up Action

2011-04-19T03:54:00.000-07:00

"Sounds Of The Past - Wild West"
Templar Publishing (UK)/ Silver Dolphin (US)

This was the weirdest job. Not weird as in weird; weird as in... well... not the sort of thing I'd ever expect to have been offered. It's completely devoid of grotesques, cartoony shenanigans or unearthly atmospherics. My big box of comp copies arrived last week, which is always the best part of any job, but even more so with this one. It pops up! It makes noises! It's ace!

Due out August 1st - you can pre order it from Amazon UK.

Evil Vampirical Thing

2011-03-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

Knowing me this'll get tampered with again in a week or so, but it's pretty much finished. It's called "Vampire". That's right. "Vampire". "Wow Nelson," says you, the reader, "You surely went on an epic mental journey to arrive at that one".

After years of mucking about in Photoshop, I'm finally getting cosy with a defined set of techniques which feel just right, and that means the production of this stuff seems to be speeding up and up. Not before bloody time!

Vampire Cover / New British Comics 3

2011-03-11T02:02:00.000-08:00

My agency suggested it might be an idea to knock up some "pretend" book covers to go in my portfolio. They're absolutely right. I really should have been doing this sort of thing - young protagonist having a to-do with very bad thing, or things (with space for letters at the top) - for ages. Here's the beginnings of a vampire themed one, vampires being good subject matter because they quite simply refuse to go out of fashion.

Speaking of covers, how about this utter beauty by Lawrence Elwick?

Can't wait to see this. Check out the NBC blog for the "tracklisting".

Lunar Yetis Catching Frisky Facefluffs

2011-03-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

Working on covers for Penguin US and Andersen Press at the moment, which is all very secret - so to keep this here blog rolling here's a sample page from a picture book idea my girlfriend and I are quietly knocking together. I roughed out a tentative first draft of the whole thing in pencil recently, and figured one or two pages worked well enough to make for decent portfolio pieces. Draft no 2 will be underway before too long, hopefully...

Sci-Fi Art Now Interview

2011-03-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

I mentioned Sci-Fi Art Now a few months back, just prior to it's release, but never followed it up with a post about what a bloody gorgeous book it is. I was blown away when I got my copy. It's full of pure cream - top of the range creamy sci-fi cream. The maddest thing was turning the page to see my own work in there, prompting a huge double take followed by a reassuring feeling of relevance. It was like, "Gosh, is my stuff really valid? Crack open the champers darling!"

The editor, UK comics veteran John Freeman, has been running a great series of interviews with some of the contributors over on the book's blog - mine has just gone live, so, you know, if you want to read me waffling about drawing and 2000AD and stuff...

Oh, and buy the book! It's fantastic! UK and US editions.

UK Edition

Tumbleweeds Begone

2011-02-22T01:40:00.000-08:00

So, "Get's Sketchy" takes it's first belated breath of 2011. It's not been a case of outright negligence on my part, honestly - I've actually been pretty busy with jobs and projects, many of which I'll babble excitedly about soon-ish, but for now (and having remembered that this blog is supposed to have, you know, sketches and stuff on it) here are some random scribbles from the archive...

Edgar Allen Poe's "Berenice"

2010-12-15T02:44:00.000-08:00

Just finished this job for Graphic Classics' second collection of Poe adaptations, due out on August 1st 2011. Needless to say, it's the kind of source material I've been dying to be let loose on, this particular tale concerning a monomaniacal French aristocrat becoming morbidly obsessed with his ill fiancée's teeth.

On reading the section of the script illustrated above, I'll admit to succumbing to a good giggle. The guy's haunted by visions of The Teeth, see. He covets and clutches at them. There's a big potential pitfall here, because it's all a bit silly, but needs to be dark and somewhat horrific as well (or preferably instead). Whether I've nailed it is up to you, excellent, lovely and discerning human being that you are ;-)

The actual drawing of the story was a game of two halves. I've been long beholden to Bernie Wrightson's luscious inkwork on comics such as this, and have been enjoying a long running re-primer in his back catalogue courtesy of Peter Richardson's fab Cloud 109 blog, so it's little wonder that this started out as an unconscious homage. A poor man's homage, admittedly - a couple of weeks into the job I realised what was happening, and overhauled the look to more genuinely reflect the direction in which my work's heading these days. So it's ended up as a combination of me on a good day and Wrightson on a bad day. Does it work? Again, that's for you to decide, you brilliant thing you, etc etc etc.

Christmas with Lovecraft and Friends

2010-12-08T01:53:00.001-08:00

CHRISTMAS
by H.P. Lovecraft (1920)

The cottage hearth beams warm and bright,
The candles gaily glow:
The stars emit a kinder light
Above the drifted snow.

Down from the sky a magic steals,
To glad the passing year,
And belfries shake with joyous peals
For Christmastide is here!

(Promotional xmas card for Graphic Classics)

Pipkins Comic - Glimpse No 1

2010-11-02T06:26:00.001-07:00

Ah, Hartley Hare. So wrong and yet so right. Pipkins was a kids TV show that ran through the 1970s, and the little me lapped up pretty much every episode - my tiny child brain had Hartley down as an icon before I even knew what an icon was. Looking back on the show as an adult, I could see just how bleak and odd it had been: grey, threadbare, sometimes slightly sinister. How could those eerie looking puppets have been considered in any way appealing..? I don't know, but I spent many happy hours with them. Hartley in particular rocked. He was like a plummy, petulant, middle-aged luvvie trapped in the body of a re-animated animal cadaver - how's that for a role model? Like much of what I watched back then, Pipkins almost certainly re-wired my brain for the better, opening it up to a notion I still hold dear, that there's much to love in the subtly/openly/certifiably unhinged.

Anyway, Paul O'Connell and I have just cooked up this three page tribute, re-imagining the puppets of Pipkins as a failed therapeutic community, for upcoming small press release "Look Out" (other children of the 70s may well get that particular reference). Loads of top comic folk will be celebrating/perverting the TV of their childhood in its pages, so it should be something special. More news soon.

Iggy

2010-11-02T03:19:00.001-07:00

From The Stool Pigeon - words by Paul O'Connell.

Sci-Fi Art Now

2010-10-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

Delighted to announce that I've had a couple of illustrations included in this gorgeous new book, edited by John Freeman of Down The Tubes fame. Above is the US edition; here's the UK edition:

Check out the Sci-Fi Art Now blog for interviews with the book's illustrators.

Out now from ILEX/Collins.

Dreams are the Genus: Nightmares the Species

2010-10-19T00:43:00.000-07:00

'Dreams Are The Genus' is a new collaborative project edited by alternative photographer and illustrator Tigz Rice. Featuring 7 dark artists and one truly terrifying writer, this book is bound to give you the chills! Featuring...

Audrey Newhouse:

Matt Grundy:

Tigz Rice:

Peter Tinkler
Kirsty Greenwood
Natsuki Otani

And me:

Story:Helen Calcutt
Cover Art: Matt Grundy

Update 22/11/10: Orders are closed for now! 50 copies of the limited edition first print will be winging their way to everyone who ordered one soon, and the book will be available again before too long. Watch this space x

1001 Nights

2010-08-26T01:40:00.001-07:00

I'm supposed to not be doing unpaid/exposure jobs anymore. It gets me in big trouble with my girlfriend. I'm a hopeless addict, seized by a furtive need to put pictures to other peoples' scripts. She's seen me do dozens of these things over the last ten years, and heard me wheeling out the same (increasingly hollow) justifications: "it'll be good experience...", "You never know, someone might see it and offer me some paid work..." etc etc. I'm aware that I have a problem. Truly I am. Although the fear of my beloved's withering gaze is enough to keep me on the straight and narrow most of the time, when I do crumble, and crumble I always do, it's mainly down to my absurd inability to remember just how long it takes me to actually do the damn things.

Anyway, so there's this 'fairytales in the future' comics anthology that's been in the works for a year or so, marshalled by Chris Stevens over on Digital Webbing. That's right: fairytales in the future. Straight away you sense that the abstinence/participation battle in Nelson's poor brain was only ever going to go one way. And then Chris (evil pusherman that he is) delivered the killer blow: an invitation to illustrate the update of 1001 Nights, pencilled in as the opening strip in the book.

My resistance went majorly kaput due to Tara Alexander's lovely script, which is an out and out love letter to the joys of comics (and by extension the timeless clout of good storytelling in general). Especially appealing was the sweet, subtle human love story running throughout; I knew I was going to relish trying to nail something of the weird, delirious awkwardness that ripples through your head, heart and gut when Crush at First Sight occurs.

If the script wasn't enough, Farel Dalrymple, one of my favourite (and no doubt everyone else's favourite) comic artists is doing the cover.

I even got to go a bit mental in the middle:

It sounds like it's going to be a pretty massive affair: 300+ pages, loaded with strips and pin-ups, all massively varied in style and tone. One to watch? Absolutely. Is this the very last unpaid/exposure comic I ever do, straight up, no messing, honest to god..?

Absolutely. I'm finally CLEAN!

Ozzy

2010-07-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

Poor old Ozzy. Poor old cats. From the new Stool Pigeon.

Tom Thumb

2010-07-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heels of last year's John Henry - Hammerin' Hero, a few preview pages from a new book for the same series.

Axl

2010-05-11T04:35:00.001-07:00

Busy days. Working on another kids' graphic novella for the fine folks at Stone Arch Books (Tom Thumb this time), which is ridiculously enjoyable, and an unpaid (but just as much fun) strip for a 'Folk and fairytales transplanted into Sci-fi' anthology being marshalled over at Digital Webbing. Got some other bits of interesting news which I really need to sit down and post proper at some point, but for now here's mine and Paul O'Connell's latest skit for The Stool Pigeon.

"War: The Human Cost"

2010-04-25T09:16:00.001-07:00

A big mention for this brilliant and inspiring project, currently in the works at Paper Tiger Comix.

"WAR: THE HUMAN COST" IS TO BE A PERFECT BOUND COMIX/ART ANTHOLOGY WITH AN 75 MINUTE MUSIC COMPILATION. £1 OF EVERY BOOK SOLD WILL GO TO CAAT(CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE ARMS TRADE),THE REST OF THE PROCEEDS WILL HELP FUND COMMUNITY ARTS PROJECT'S FUTURE FREE ACTIVITIES, EVENTS & COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

Paper Tiger's Sean Duffield has been working like a demon to get this thing out there, not least because funding/grants have been in short supply. Having raised £3000 of the £3800 needed to get it into print, he's looking to see if it might be possible to make up the remainder via IndieGoGo.

Further reading/sample pages.

The Ogre Reflects (A Bit More Colourfully This Time Around...)

2010-03-26T00:16:00.001-07:00

(The original b&w version...)

Colourwockies

2010-03-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

Pending one last lick of paint/polish, I expect, but these were dashed off just in the nick of time for my agent to show around at Bologna this year...

Troy

2010-03-12T01:20:00.000-08:00

Character designs and a sample spread for a project I'm now, sadly, no longer part of. Ah well. 'Tis the breaks, and all that, isn't it?

Jabberwocky Again

2010-03-11T01:32:00.000-08:00

Never being one to leave well enough alone, I revisited this image the other day with the intention of colouring it, but the pre-prep got out of control and accelerated into a hefty b&w remix instead. I've got a thing right now about developing and mastering a few techniques which will allow me to produce etchings (of sorts) within Photoshop. I've always loved the textures and detail possible within that area of printmaking, and have spent plenty of time struggling manfully to recreate them using other media - a pretty curious thing to do when there's an actual printing workshop just down the road (shame it costs money - ah, maybe one day...) But yes, with judicious use of texture brushes and line, I reckon it's all very attainable on the monitor.

Anyway, now I really do have to go and do a colour version.

Roofmonsters Concept Illustrations 2 - The Great Nemesis

2010-03-08T06:47:00.001-08:00

The Idiot Trolls

2010-03-08T06:44:00.000-08:00

All done.

Roofmonsters Concept Illustrations 1

2010-03-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

Finished versions of the pieces in the last post, with an all new (and unspeakably cooler) hairstyle for the young heroine.

March Update

2010-03-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

Wow, here's me actually remembering to post something.

Been busy with character designs and a sample spread for a very exciting job, as well as the work-in-progress portfolio pieces you can see here. They're doubling up nicely as character design/concept illustrations for Roof Monsters, which is coming along pretty well. One of the trickiest bits has been getting it's child stars right, both as written personalities and visually (the Roof Monsters themselves are a doddle).

My other half/writing partner is not at all happy with the girl's current hairstyle, or indeed the shape of her head in general. I know better than to argue, so a makeover is surely imminent...

More about Roof Monsters some other time. I'll leave you with these process shots of The Idiot Trolls. I'm sure there's a picture book brewing in there...

Birthday Hero

2010-01-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

Aside from that comedy Batman a few posts back, this must be the first superhero pic I've drawn in ages. It was a lot of fun, so much so that I'm wondering if my long, self-imposed exile in the Indie Comics Ghetto hasn't been one big, horrible mistake.

(Private commission for a birthday gift. If anyone out there wants their partner - or themselves, or their pet - you name it - drawn as a caped crusader, do give me a shout!)

Bowie and Rolf

2010-01-27T06:33:00.000-08:00

Lots of stylophones around here lately. I borrowed one off a friend a few years ago, plugged it into a Marshall amp, whacked up the gain and played the bastard for days. Ahem. Anyway. This is in the new issue of The Stool Pigeon, words and concept by Mr Paul O'Connell (give it a click so you can read it proper).

The Book Of Apertures

2010-01-15T01:12:00.000-08:00

Book Launch

Lazy Gramophone Press presents the release of their fourth publication, 'The Book of Apertures'.

The Dylan Thomas Prize-nominated collective will bring you a whole day of music and celebration for the book. The event conveniently takes place on a Sunday, from 1pm till 10pm at The Betsey Trotwood (nearest station Farringdon, map above).

The main room is FREE entry. Entry to the upstairs room (where all the action is at) - features tunes from DJs Cuckoo Pan, EMBLAK & Tugnut & exhibited extracts & artwork from the artist & writers AND 6 short readings from 6 of the writers from the book - therein - will cost £9.99, and includes a FREE copy of the book once you step through the door (retail price £14.99), due to be officially launched 5th April 2010.

The venue will also be serving food during lunch time.

****

The book is a collection of original short stories inspired by myth and folklore. I provided illustrations for Sam Rawlings' The Tale of Hunter Stoke and Rusty Blue, which is ripe with strange magic:

I should be picking up my comp copy on the day, so if you're about do drop in and say hello!

(Edited 22/01 to include this:

I'm enough of a Philip Pullman fan to be thrilled to know he owns a book which contains a few of my doodles!)

I Was Built With A Smile On My Face

2010-01-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

Finally put paid to this ancient work-in-progress. I like the scrappy bits best. It was pretty tempting to start over from scratch and turn it into a glorified gung-ho sketch...

Actually, I've had it with labouring endlessly over this shit! New Year's Resolution for 2010 = Loosen Up!

Christmas Yetis

2009-12-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

• Before I forget, a hefty shout out to comics veteran Terry Hooper for the mention on his excellent site Comic Bits Online, and a big HELLO! to those of you who may have found your way here via his gracious words.

The furry devils above are from my Big Project For The New Year: a kids' tale spun by Mrs Evergreen and me, from the story suggested by this illustration. It was initially supposed to be a one-off, inspired by the gorgeous colours and shapes the sunset was casting on the rooftops that evening (with some monsters thrown in, obviously), but quickly began to look suspiciously like the visual equivalent of a one line synopsis for a whole book...

Of course, everybody wants to write a novel, or a childrens' book, but most of us quickly realise it's easier said than written. I'd like to think I'm not too bad at coming up with interesting ideas, and possess just about enough creative writing clout to be able to pen individual scenes with some success, but previous attempts at stringing these elements together into an actual narrative have tended to crash quickly into direction-free chaos.

Things might actually be clicking into place this time around, touch wood. I've got a fantastic writing partner who's a dab hand at filling in the blanks, and the two of us are feeling a lot more focussed on the job at hand having made plenty of useful mistakes, big and small, while working on our pitch for The DFC. You can never be too adept at spotting the fact that you've accidentally tied your story's shoelaces together. And Roz Morris's Nail Your Novel (discovered via her husband Dave's excellent blog) has been a huge help - full of inspiring, practical advice that's worked wonders in making my stupid brain feel almost organised.

Anyway, there's a terrifying possibility that this blog will get hijacked over the coming months to document the process. At worst, I hope it'll be of vague interest to other writers/illustrators. At best, assuming Roof Monsters miraculously turns out to be the modern classic our evil little minds desperately imagine it to be, then maybe these posts will one day be hailed as SEMINAL HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS HA HA HA HAHAHAHA or maybe not.

By the way: as it's Christmas, the aforementioned Dave Morris has unleashed a rather creepy ghostly comic by the name of 'A Wrong Turning'; it's illustrated by Martin McKenna, and is well worth checking out.

Happy Christmas!

Jabberwocky

2009-11-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

I'm having huge fun with Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky. This take on the titular beast may well be a cover version of John Tenniel's frankly quite fearsome original, but I've tried throwing in a bit of extra whiffle and burble to highlight the absurd comedy lurking alongside the weird terror.

Musical Batman

2009-11-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

I'm not entirely sure what this is all about, but a friend asked if I fancied submitting something, and the answer was never going to be "no", was it?

Shadowquake & Shnookie Ep.3

2009-11-10T03:52:00.001-08:00

Huge Website Update!

2009-11-06T09:46:00.000-08:00

'Just finished burdening nelson-evergreen.com with roughly twelve month's worth of illustrations and comic strips. It's the longest I've ever gone without updating the site, which is purely down to the existence of this blog. It's so much easier to just shove new work up on here as and when it happens.

So as you'd expect, most of the "new" stuff has already been showcased 'round these parts... although happily there are a few exceptions:

'Damienne Hobbs Reflects'
This appeared in New British Comics #1 earlier this year. I was pretty happy with how it turned out, but had to admit that I'd bitten off more than I could chew in regards to juggling the rendering with the deadline. So it made good sense to hurl some spit and polish at it for it's online debut. Think of it as the director's cut...

'John Henry - Hammerin' Hero'
A kids' graphic novel for Stone Arch Books. I posted the cover recently, but you can now see a selection of the interior pages too.

'Burn Zombie Burn'
A five page comic to promote the PS3 game of the same name.

'Dishcloth Of The Damned'
Another collaboration with Mr Paul O'Connell; we knocked out this demented one-pager for the second (zombie themed) issue of Slave Labor Graphics' "Fat Chunk" anthology.

Elsewhere, the childrens' illustration section has received a particularly hefty boost to it's line-up - it's just about trebled in size! Feel free to have a good rummage.

And finally, there'll be a particularly revolting new episode of Shadowquake & Shnookie appearing in the next few days...

New British Comics #2

2009-10-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Just out (sporting a cover from yours truly) is New British Comics #2.

Among the gifted folk returning after successful stints on the first volume are Dan White, Paul O'Connell and Lawrence Elwick, along with new contributors such as my current faves WJC, Iain Laurie and Craig Collins. The first two episodes of Shadowquake & Shnookie, my all-ages deformed romance comic, are in there too.

English or Polish versions are available, depending on your fancy/mother tongue. Be warned: you might urgently need to own a copy after you've browsed the sample pages at the new NBC website, so pop to Bad Press to order yourself one.

Kudos to editor Karol Wisniewski for making it all happen.

Sid Meets Abba

2009-10-21T01:17:00.000-07:00

A couple of years back, Paul O'Connell and I knocked out this page for issue 11 of his splendid comic The Sound Of Drowning. It was to be the first of many, but we kind of, well, forgot to do any more. Good news: the concept has been re-named and snapped up to appear in the pages of quarterly music magazine The Stool Pigeon, beginning with a reworking of the above episode before moving on to such bizarre yet apparently true musical curios as, well... that would be telling, wouldn't it?

His Latest Flame - Process 3

2009-10-13T04:43:00.000-07:00

I started on this one... let's see... there's an early version in a post dated August 2008, so it's hardly been speeding hungrily towards the finish line, has it? Still, all the better for being able to rethink and refine it as I go along. Ideally, I'd never finish an illustration. You're always learning new tricks.

Satan's Hens

2009-10-13T04:19:00.001-07:00

The colour palette for this piece is going to have more than a hint of fire and brimstone to it, but for now it's depicting a fairly straightforward evening of sozzled pre-nuptial tomfoolery.

Troll vs Goat - Process 2

2009-10-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

Laid some more detail down on this one, although at least one of the troll's arms looks a little awkward; an afternoon's tweaking looks likely. It doesn't help that I've given him noticeably different proportions in the opening shot of the sequence...

... so yeah, time to start bringing them together.

Airwalk - Process 1

2009-10-01T09:35:00.001-07:00

First stages here. A rudimentary sunset and seaside townscape sketched in behind and below. I'm trying to make it look vaguely Brightonesque, although elevated/overhead pics of my adopted hometown seems pretty scant even on the trusty old internet. The holding sketch was cribbed pretty much wholesale from a shot on Flickr - will have to rework it big time so as not to be overly cheeky.

Jenny Everywhere

2009-09-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

For an imminent caption competition over on the Shifter Archive.

3 Billies Prelims...

2009-09-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

I quite like the dumb looking troll at the top, he might have to get his own illustration...

Troll vs Goat - Process 1

2009-09-26T01:56:00.001-07:00

The Three Billy Goats Gruff has always been one of my favourite fairy tales, thanks in no small part to Robert Lumley's delicious illustrations for Ladybird's Well Loved Tales edition. Lumley's troll, scary yet weirdly cuddly, has lurked in some primal cranny of my skull ever since. Plus it's got goats in it, and goats are superb.

I'm working on a short sequence to illustrate the story's climax. 1: Troll confronts goat. 2: Goat charges at troll. 3: Troll rues the day.

"I Was Built With A Smile On My Face" - Process 3

2009-09-26T01:11:00.000-07:00

After a lengthy hiatus, I'm back on the case with this jolly robo-fest. Since starting it late last year we've traded in our trusty, tiny old laptop for a shiny new iMac. The difference in screen size, not to mention processing clout, is just incredible; every last inch of an illustration can now be seen on the display, at it's actual size, simultaneously. It's been like moving into a bright, airy penthouse studio after working for years in a cupboard under the stairs.

So this one's been expanded from an A3 portrait into an A2 landscape, and had a couple of banished 'bots reinstated and repositioned while I rethink the colour scheme.

Medusa - Process 4 (Final)

2009-09-20T07:56:00.001-07:00

Slapped on a blue-ish overlay to offset some of that orange, tightened up a few outlines, and did some general tinkering. Done!

Flight Of The Cosmics - Process 5

2009-09-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

I accidentally jettisoned most of of the "spaceyness" in the previous installment, they looked like they were in a volcano or something. Which was all very well. But spaceyness is better.
It's as good as finished, anyway. Hurrah! Hang on, maybe the fluffy dice need a touch more rendering...

Medusa - Process 3

2009-09-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

Allllmost there...

Process shots here.

Flight Of The Cosmics - Process 4

2009-09-16T15:21:00.001-07:00

After a long, long delay I finally got 'round to snatching a day's work on this one.

It's either getting thoroughly out of control or it's very nearly finished! Answers on a postcard please. No doubt my poor melting eyeballs will be less addled after a good night's kip and I'll be fit to attack it afresh.

(NB: it looked like this twelve hours ago, so it's definitely going somewhere:)

John Henry

2009-08-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

This here's the cover of an upcoming edition of the Graphic Spin series of graphic novellas for young readers, published by US publisher Stone Arch Books. The series deals with the re-telling of popular folk and fairytales; previous highlights include Luke Feldman's (a.k.a. Skaffs) vectorious take on Beauty & The Beast.

The tale of John Henry was completely new to me (this is probably the case for most folk outside the United States), and it's a fascinating yarn, partly because the source period of the story is relatively recent: post civil war America. I'm hard pressed to think of many folk tales/myths which are derived from a time during which people were actually walking around with cameras. So naturally I've done a demented amount of research, just because the lovely, lovely internet made it all so easy: steamboats, 19th century railroad construction, the colour and atmosphere of the West Virginian countryside etc.

Anyway, all that googling is getting translated into the finished pages right now. Here's a few process shots of the cover from rough to completion...

(That leg on the left had a particularly thrilling journey, didn't it? Aaaand relax...)

Medusa - Process 2

2009-08-03T08:32:00.001-07:00

More process! More colour! I thought it was about time to get back to this fearsome madam. My techniques are moving a little to the left (or maybe the right) at the moment, so going back to an older work-in-progress managed to confuse me quite profoundly for, gosh, a good day or so. Incredible, isn't it? I do worry about my brain sometimes. Quite keen to get this done today/tomorrow, as I'll likely be back on the comic job v. soon.

"New British Comics 2" Cover - Process 4

2009-07-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

I hope I've quietly perverted the idea of "Britishness" here, what with the tea drinkers, bowler hatted gent and ominous skies rendered in a vaguely European sort of style and topped off with a decidedly shopsoiled union jack.

"New British Comics 2" Cover - Process 3

2009-07-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

Ooh, that robot challenged me. I'm not convinced that he's quite right yet, but next up: get the titles sorted, slap them on and see how it all looks...

"New British Comics 2" Cover - Process 2

2009-07-27T23:13:00.000-07:00

It's maybe a little too drenched in texture brush action at this stage, but after seven years of using Photoshop I've only just discovered the joys of utilising the buggers and am thus going quite perfectly bananas with them.

"New British Comics 2" Cover - Process 1

2009-07-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

The pencils are done, along with a ghostly suggestion of the title logo at the top right, ready for some vector action. It's been a while since this blog's seen any colour work, so that's what's coming next...

Woman and Goat

2009-07-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

Strange Sorts

2009-07-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

For a blog that bills itself as "Nelson Evergreen Gets Sketchy", this place has been a bit low on, well, sketches of late. So! I present to you a bunch of doodly characters, some of whom may well end up on cover of New British Comics Vol 2 later this year. Oh and The Joker.

The Evergreen Archive: The Little Beast

2009-07-20T04:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of years back writer Jason Louv and I were busy pitching a comic biography of one Aleister Crowley. You know the chap: occultist, mountaineer, poet, perennial frequenter of Madame Infamy's boudoir. A bit of an arse, but a fascinating, colourful arse nonetheless.

You can see the opening two pages of that initial pitch right here.

Bits and Bobs...

2009-07-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

Been busy of late illustrating a short "graphic novel" rendition of a popular US folktale, so haven't got masses of extra-curricular stuff to post just now - if the client's okay with it I might look into sharing character designs and sketches at some stage.

Anyway! This just hit the shelves:

Says editor Jamie Smart:

Fat Chunk collects together artists from all over the world, from well-known comics titans to fresh new webcomic talent to urban toy designers, and everything in between, and it slaps them all together in a tidy little digest-size anthology! Volume Two - Zombies adds a little rotting flesh to the mix as a variety of artists do their take on the bumbling undead. With over SIXTY artists filling just under 140 pages, you’re sure to find some of the artists you love and discover new ones!

Artists involved in this issue include Aaron Alexovitch, Pete Underhill, Jon Burgerman, Marc Ellerby, Thomas Boatwright, Sarah McIntyre, Nelson Evergreen, and oh fuck FAR more than I can mention here.

Published by SLG Publishing, available to buy from your local comic shop (Diamond code APR090632), book shop, or from amazon etc! We’re only a humble book trying to promote people’s art, PLEASE spread the word and support Fat Chunk! (check out all the details at www.fatchunkcomic.com)

It looks damn good, so do please check it out and shout about it if you like what you see. By way of a preview, here's the toppermost tier of "Dishcloth of the Damned", written by Paul O'Connell, pictures by me:

What else? Well, my friend Felix Clement Parker has been busy drafting and re-drafting his first novel; this here's my cover for an impending limited edition 1st print run. More details when I get them.

Draw Serge!

2009-07-02T08:23:00.001-07:00

My humble donation to me ol' mucker Jonathan Edwards' endlessly browsable Draw Serge!

GOD!

2009-07-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

Pogo on that, Dawkins.

The Cosmics

2009-06-18T08:28:00.001-07:00

The Cosmics in disguise...

... and as Old Mother Cosmos intended them. Apart from the wigs, that is.

More Zombies Vs Spooks

2009-06-13T02:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a modest expansion on what's happening with these zombified kids from a page or so back.

The style's lurched sideways a tad, for sure. The first few were incredibly black, which was fine, but this time around I thought I'd try and suggest the nocturnal nature of things with texture and shading rather than huge impenetrable slabs of digital ink.

The characters don't even have names yet, but I'm rather enjoying working/finding out where they're heading...

Flight Of The Cosmics - Process 3

2009-06-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

Grrr, pesky muted jpeg colours...

The Photoshop file is a damn sight more vibrant, but never mind, it's all heading the right way.

The Feather Boss

2009-06-03T04:54:00.000-07:00

Leader of the feather giants.

The Ogre Reflects

2009-06-03T03:23:00.001-07:00

Medusa - Process 1

2009-06-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here's my take on the mythic snakehaired petrifier, which owes a fairly whopping debt to Ray Harryhausen's wonderful version from the imminently remade Clash Of The Titans. Gosh, what a great film that is when you're nine... Anyway, I thought I'd pencil this one out first, so as to reintroduce some nice wholesome analogue textures into what has, of late, been a staunchly digital melting pot.

More colour and whatnot to come as and when... I've got about a dozen+ new illustrations on the go at the moment, all using different styles and techniques, and I'm hopping back and forth between them like a giddy fool.

Flight Of The Cosmics - Process 2

2009-05-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest with this one. Getting the foreground sorted first, and then I expect I'll go fairly gaga on all that spacey business behind them.

Flight Of The Cosmics

2009-05-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Cosmics...? Condor...? Conchords...?

So what's all this about? Let's see.... A girl (Cassie? Carrie?) finds out that her best friend and her best friend's family are actually aliens and subsequently gets swept up in all sorts of intergalactic shenanigans. Probably. That'll do for starters. Adding some colour to the mix now...

Burn Zombie Burn

2009-05-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

A recent job to promote Doublesix Games' comedic gung-ho slaughterfest on the PS3. There's a page or two on display at Ever Creative's website (click to the right for the goodies)

As a smart little bonus, I'm proper chuffed to have had it included in Pixel Hail 1, an exhibition of videogame inspired art kicking off on Friday 22nd May as part of the Brighton Festival:

Public opening:
23rd May 2009 09:00-18:00
24th May 2009 at 09:00-18:00

Brighton Fishing Museum
Kings Road Arches
Brighton, United Kingdom

For three days, the annex of Brighton’s Fishing Museum will be taken over by a multimedia exhibition of art from, and inspired by, videogames. Award-winning videogames artists will exhibit alongside artists who’s creations are inspired in someway by the world’s largest entertainment industry: videogames.

I love how it's in a fishing museum. Should be good; check it out if you're in the vicinity!

Shadowquake & Shnookie Part 2

2009-05-11T08:17:00.001-07:00

New British Comics

2009-05-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

A quick plug for New British Comics , a very nicely produced anthology of underground-ish UK comics shipping in English and Polish language versions. I've got me a noir-psychedelic nine-pager by the name of "Damienne Hobbs Reflects" in there...

...alongside great stuff from the likes of Paul O'Connell, Lawrence Elwick, Daniel Locke and Dan White. You can get a copy via Smallzone, and check out a page or two while you're at it. A snip at £4.49.

Bloody Godawful Bands

2009-05-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

A quick plug for my other blog: Bloody Godawful Bands, in which I'm working through a list (as long as Mr Fantastic's arm, and ever stretching) of band names amassed through the years, illustrating the specimens that those names might suggest.

Above are: Fight! Deathmen! Fight!
...and below: The Crimson Wrists.

Zombies Vs Spooks

2009-04-30T02:48:00.000-07:00

Portfolio pieces illustrating scenes from a story that doesn't yet exist. Coming up with vague notions is so much easier than actually writing stuff.

The Feather Giants/Red Etin

2009-04-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

From the top:
The Feather Giants (looming, lanky offworlders who live in my head)
Red Etin (obscure tri-headed ne'er-do-well from Scottish folklore)

Digital inking (on the left) from loose analogue sketches (on the right). I spent ages trying out different techniques on these two and, feeling quite confident and robust for having done so, am launching straight into some new 'uns...

Cellmates and The DFC

2009-03-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

So The DFC's gone. The news that Random House had been forced to pull the plug was deflating, but not entirely unexpected given the state of, well, just about everything. I'm keeping my optimism goggles strapped on in the assumption it's just hibernating 'til sunnier economic times kick in...

Cue Super Comics Adventure Squad. It's great to see the comic's contributors banding together to keep its spirit alive on the blogosphere. Being a nosy swine as well as a former aspiring 'next generation' DFC creator, I've been especially lapping up the details of pitches in progress and strips that never were...

Which have duly inspired me to witter on for a paragraph or two about my own: 'Cellmates', a tale of one boy and the billions of oddballs who inhabit him (I say "my" own - it was my beloved's idea. She continues to brainstorm, co-write, and stop me from trying to mangle her original notions too badly).

It details the daily routine of ten year old Jake - school, holidays, friends, family, enemies, etc - who is as blissfully unaware of the psychedelic cartoon universe buzzing away inside him as its inhabitants are of him. Now, we may not be the first to take wanton artistic license with biological comings and goings at a microscopic level, but hopefully no-one's doing it in quite the way that we are. I keep trying to imagine the environment we're building (ie: The Bodyverse) as Springfield crossed with Mega City One, which may be aiming stupidly, stupidly high, but still.

Before Will at The DFC sent the magic email inviting us to pitch a strip, 'Cellmates' was little more than a few thinly sketched characters and plotlines, and would likely have stayed that way, on account of... well... who'd publish it? A year and a half later, thanks to the twin wind-in-the-sails factors of a potential home and sage feedback, it's evolved into a considerably more confident, fleshed out entity.

Ach, it's not quite there yet. It's undergoing (at least) one more overhaul to nail a few loitering weak links, but the point is that without the DFC's existence - not to mention the encouragement and enthusiasm from it's editorial team - it wouldn't even be here.

Thanks, chaps.

Meanwhile the finished sample pages to date are doubling as portfolio fodder/concept artwork - you can see a few of them here.

Little Red & Big Bad In the Colourful Woods

2009-03-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Coloured in briskly today. Not a bad effort considering I have a post St Patrick's Day "head".

Little Red & Big Bad In the Woods

2009-03-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

(Wacom tablet in Photoshop)

A companion piece to this illustration from last year. Here we see Mr Wolf getting to know his lunch...

Cinderella - Process 2

2009-03-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

Is it finished? Gawsh, probably. Maybe.

Cinderella - Process 1

2009-03-13T20:19:00.001-07:00

Beavering away to get this finished for Monday. There are actually a fair few colour layers in there already, but I've hidden them so as not to let them distract me from getting the drawing right. Too much colour too soon softens the brain, say I.

"I Was Built With A Smile On My Face" - Process 2

2009-02-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

A bit of colour thrown on, and a couple of robots sent packing so the composition can breathe a bit...

"I Was Built With A Smile On My Face" - Process 1

2009-02-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

The original plan for this one was to render it tightly in pencil and do the colours in Photoshop. It quickly wandered into digital execution territory instead, the graphics tab feeling that bit better suited to tackling intricate circuitry, metallic sheen and what have you.

The above illustration's part of a little package which I'm hoping might turn a few heads in game development studios - a package which will also include wide open vistas expanded from the scenic thumbnails in this pic.

Plus I've a slew of new print/poster designs on the go. There aren't enough hours in the day, I tells ye...

Upgraded Trolls

2009-02-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

One of the perks/drawbacks of doing new - and hopefully more accomplished - work is how it can completely refresh your perception of your older stuff. Take "Trolls" above. I used to think the version on the left was one of my most complete efforts. Nice composition, kinetic, good colours, lighting, atmosphere etc.

But seeing it next to my recent take on Little Red Riding Hood made it seem like nothing more than a sketch. Just like that: Bam. All of a sudden it looked impossibly flat, which may well have been the intention at the time, but nowadays the plan is to give the viewer something they might be tempted to physically jump into. Whether the reboot on the right up there fits the bill, I can't say. Right now I think it's a giant improvement, but who knows what me in six months time will think?

January Part 2 - Damienne Hobbs Reflects

2009-02-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

And here's a sneak peek of the other thing that's kept me glued to the monitor this month; my two favourite pages from a submission to New British Comics, a Polish/UK anthology due out in a month or two. I reckon I'm going to single out some of the better panels and just keep drawing, expanding them beyond the present perimeters, adding another few centimeters every month or so, so you get a series of ever-evolving, never ending illustrations...

January Part 1 - Hunter Stoke & Rusty Blue

2009-02-02T13:29:00.000-08:00

Gawd, there was a hectic January. Just finished the above pics (from a series of five) for a stirring tale by Sam Rawlings, for an anthology of mythologically influenced illustrated short stories. It's out later this year from Lazy Gramophone - I'm looking forward to tapping my dancing peepers over the rest of it.

Monstrous Santa

2008-12-20T01:23:00.001-08:00

This year's Evergeen Xmas card. Inspired by Scared Of Santa, a site that never fails to get me in a festive mood.

December Scribbles

2008-12-13T02:12:00.000-08:00

Some recent pencil meanderings.

Still working on the zombies... Once they're done I'll be jumping straight into a strip for a Polish/British comics anthology - which will be available in both languages, although of course I've decided to do a caption-free tale - and some illustrations for a Lazy Gramophone collection of short stories inspired by myth, folklore and fairy tales. Both of which I'm hideously excited about.

Zombies, Romans, Celts, etc

2008-11-27T09:36:00.000-08:00

Currently doing a fun little job: a five page comic to promote Burn Zombie Burn, which will be downloadable via PSN next year.

Snatched a couple of hours on the above pic this afternoon while waiting for feedback on the roughs. Do please click on it for a sharper view.

Also, a couple of characters I was commissioned to design earlier this year for an animated kids' pitch are now moving about and saying stuff in a lovely "Attention Investors!" trailer.