One Night in Turin

Based on the book 'All Played Out' by Pete Davies, James Erskine's film 'One Night in Turin' re-visits the Italia '90 World Cup.

This feature length docu-drama combined documentary footage with new scenes to tell the story of the England team during the tournament in 1990 during a time when the country's reputation for hooliganism was at an all time high. 

However Sir Bobby Robson and his team set about uniting the nation as they played their way to the World Cup semi-finals.

I used a huge amount of research material when working on this project, sifting through footage of the games and an archive of photographs from the tournament. With the World Cup once again proving to be the greatest show on earth, I thought this would be a good time to post this trip down memory lane.

MOVIE POSTER ART

My first post of 2018 and it’s already March!  Continuing with the second year of The Stanley Vasco Case files, I have decided to have a little fun with the set dressing by placing a few Easter eggs in the background.

The following pieces of art are my attempt at low budget 1950s B-Movie posters, which incorporate a few characters from the comics I used to draw with my friends as a teenager.

I have always enjoyed good movie poster art and have collected a number of books of the artists, such as Drew Struzan.

With the level of detail that goes into computer game environments, including posters, magazines and product designs I thought I would indulge myself too with art pieces that will probably have been missed by the reader!

Images from THE STANLEY VASCO CASE FILES

I can't Believe It's been two months already since launching the webcomic on Comic Fury and Smack Jeeves. So maybe now is a good time to have a short pause and look at some of the panels and covers I have been working on over the last year; with a sneak peek of what's to come.

There are a number of other projects in development at Destiny Books and we hope to release a number of one-shot comics through different platforms.

If you want to read The Stanley Vasco Case Files I recommend visiting: stanleyvasco.thecomicseries.com/

Concept Art

Just a quick post to show some of what I am working on at the moment, which includes concept work for the new Stanley Vasco webcomic series (scheduled for release next year) and Battered and Bruised; the graphic novel I am currently writing.

There is also some concept work for another possible future webcomic series, provisionally called Angel One.

Angel One

 Stanley Vasco Webcomic Issue#3

 Battered and Bruised.

Stanley Vasco Has Arrived!

At last I've managed to put together my first six page test comic with a view to making a web-comic series of short stories under the umbrella of Destiny Books.

I will refine the process of creating the web comic as at present I am the writer/penciller/inker/colourist and letterer. It is a good platform for me to hone my story telling skills as both a script writer and storyboard artist.

This issue 'The Eye' is a test, so it may be a little rough around the edges compared to your average comic, but I do quite like the hand made look of some comics.

So here is Stanley Vasco, a 1950's detective in war ravaged London a man who lives by the seat of his pants!

Copyright © Destiny Books.

Paul Smith Commercial Pitch

I received this storyboard from my friend a little while ago. I've posted it because it's a project I particularly enjoyed working on.

He commissioned me to draw it as part of his pitch for an open opportunity for film makers to produce a commercial for the designer clothing brand.

The treatment described the look of the film as being a gritty, hand-held documentary style piece filmed on grainy black and white film stock.

This description inspired me to draw the storyboard in solid blocks of black and white.

As with most good commercials the story of this pitch sets up the audience to believe that this is just a group of lads, dressing for a night out, however at the point of the all-important reveal there is a twist in the tail, and we see that their situation is far more serious.

I enjoyed visualizing the story structure with its high tempo, truncated editing style and how each shot concentrated on the details of the different character’s clothing as they dressed for their big date, as the strap line pronounces it's important for the characters to.., ‘Make An Appearance!’

Copyright © I. Cullen

Preparation

I’ve been working on a graphic novel idea for a while now and am finally ready to commit a year of my life to creating it.  However with the story nailed down and most of the characters designed, plus a whole load of visual research done I thought I would prepare by drawing a short five page story to get into the swing of it. I have had difficulty deciding on a style for the overall look of the artwork, which started out looking a little cartoony, but I have found a naturalistic style which is comfortable to work with. Trying to tell a story in five pages is a challenge, but all the best writers are capable of doing this in both film and the comic book industry. I’ve included a scan of one of the pencilled pages, where I’ve been playing with perspective; I’ve also come to the realisation that I love drawing hands, over and out!