www.fluidfriction.com

So how did I come to be in HK working for Fluid Friction? Well the story is actually fairly simple. Some years ago I studied with Helen Griffiths, the Art Director of Fluid Friction, in Birmingham. She and her partner Simon Squibb, the CEO of Fluid Friction, had recently decided to start up Hong Kong's first ever international comic project and she knew that I was working as a comic penciller, so she contacted me and asked if I'd like to submit some artwork and draw some test pages to see if I was suitable for their head penciller position. Hong Kong's a long way from England, but it seemed like a really great opportunity, so I thought I'd go for it.

Well my artwork was accepted and so I started doing work from UK for them and I flew over a few times to visit. Then once my work visa was approved, I packed my bags and a short time later was sitting at the penciller's desk on the 2nd floor of Chaos Building in Sheung Wan!

www.fluidfriction.com

The penciller handles the first stage of all art that goes into a comic book or graphic novel. What this means is that he is responsible for the character concept creation, laying out of the panels on the page creating the background art and then drawing the characters (or other creatures) interacting on the page. The initial pencilling is generally done in blue and the best lines gone over later in black, as traditionally comic pages were photographed and shrunk after pencilling and it is easier to make the blue lines disappear. After the initial pencilling which lays down the look and shape of each full page, the work goes to the inker, who paints on black ink to bring out all the shadow and light on the page, deciding which areas will be highlighted and which will lie in shadow. Finally it goes to the colourist who brings the page to life by deciding on the tones required and painting them in.

I spent my initial years training and learning under John McCrea, a world famous comic artist who has worked on many famous titles such Batman, Spiderman, The Hulk, Star Wars and even the Simpsons.

Later I went on to work on several titles including Blood PSI, a vampire title for which I was nominated for an Eagle Award.

Currently I am working on DevaShard and I will say a bit more about how that came about in my next entry.