It's good to share...

Comica Comiket

Hello. I'll be at the Comica Comiket this saturday (12th November) at the Bishopsgate Institute in London, sharing a table with the amazing Zarina Liew showcasing our latest books and prints. This will be our last expo of the year, so pop down, say hello, maybe get some early xmas shopping done. Details below or go to www.comicafestival.com


Plus, after the show, the legend that is Warren Ellis will be making a rare personal appearence for the screening of the film, Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts. Details below

Knackered. And a little dizzy...

Back from another awesome MCM and I am completely exhausted! Thanks to all the lovely people who came to say hello, I'm honoured to have y'all stop by. Roll on May!

New print and book

It's MCM time this weekend and I have a new print and mini book out for the occassion. Below is some cover art for new book Dreambearer

and new character poster, Ami (from my book Ami+Kobi), to go with Kobi print which was created earlier this year.

See you at Expo!

Stormy...

Dancing king

Check out those moves!

LFCC memories

Here are a few pics from last weekend's Comicon event. It was loads of fun and will definitely attend the next event. A big thank you all that came by the stall - see you at next expo/con! xxx

The Star Trek talk on Sunday morning with Morgan Sheppard, left, and Walter Koenig (Chekov), right. Two thoroughly charming and funny fellas.

Captain Picard lookalike

Scary man. (He walked through Brixton that get-up)

Marty McFly and Marty McFly

Back to the Future panel. Left to right: Jeffery Weissman, Lea Thompson, ? and Christopher Lloyd, who kept on forgetting his past roles.

Below, R2D2 gets angry

Mad Hatter!

London Film and Comic Con

Hello. Just a quick post to say that I will be at LFCC this weekend where I will be sharing a table with the very talented nimator/illustrator Kaori Onishi. See you down there!

Card designs

Here are a couple of card designs I submitted to the two recent Tigerprint competions.

The brief for the 'Hand-Drawn' compeition was to create a hand-drawn design. I wasn't the above isn't the actual entry as I was not entirly happy with it. I chose to create valentines greeting card, drawing and cutting out all letters/elements, cutting them out and assmebling them on a separate piece of paper so that you get some nice shadows when the whole piece is scanned (a method I used on my 'This is for You' and 'Dear Princess' books). Considering the target audience (the M&S shopper) I decided to add some colour but the digital manipulation caused most of the shadows to be lost and, on reflection, I'm not happy with the colours I chose. I much prefer the design in black with with the shadows evoking memroies of old black and white romantic movies, echoing the sentiment.


For the 'Word-up' competion, the brief was to come up with a caption for a special occaision, eg. birthday, wedding, new baby, (I forget the rest). I chose anniversery - perhaps the caption is a little tepid...

Win a copy of New Birtish Comics 3!

That's right kids, you can win a very special copy of NBC#3 (featuring a short story by yours truly) by going to the New Birtish Comics blog and entering the following competition. 'Special, how?' you ask? Well this particular copy has a rather awesome sketch by the wonderfully talented WJC, who contributed to issues 2 and 3 of NBC.

MCM London

Five days to go for MCM!! Once again I'll be in the Comic Village sharing a table with old friend and award winning illustrator Zarina Liew of Colbalt Cafe who will have her new book – a collaboration with all round creative maestro Richy K Chandler (otherwise known as Tempo Lush) – Rosie and Jacinda out for sale. I've read it, I loved and have concluded that everyone needs it!! For more information about this beautiful comic, click here to go to the website.

I myself will have some new badges (including a new mystery badge), new prints (including a tie-in poster for Ami+Kobi) and the frustratingly delayed Little Red for sale. So come and say 'Hello' if your attending – we'll be waiting with sweets : )

If the price of the ticket or the idea people with people with placards threatening 'free hugs' is putting you off MCM, or if you prefer your comics to be a little more left field, head down to Conway Hall, Islington for the first International Alternative Press Festival which also takes place this weekend. Fellow Capes and Drapers Tilly Aviram and Saban Kazim will be representing there with their fabulous comics and I'm pretty sure they'll have sweets too!

Wherever you decide to spend your weekend (you could go to both events - they're both on 27-30th May), have an awesome one!

xxox

New prints

Hello. Here are two brand new prints which I will be launching at MCM Expo at the end of May. Hope to see you there : )

*Art Blossom Japan*

Just wanted to tell you about a cool charity helping out the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Art Blossom Japan collects and sells donated artwork from manga artists to raise money for the victims – most of the artwork are limited edition prints or original artwork. All proceeds go to charity. To find out more, buy or donate, please visit the website www.artblossomjapan.com

Here's my donation below (A3 print, signed, limited edition of 5)


Go on, treat yourself - it is for a good cause, after all...

Why do I draw?

At laaaast!!

Finally!! After many days of head scratching, hair pulling, book slamming and cursing, I can finally reveal my brand new website: www.vannim.me.uk! Woo!
Hope y'all like!
x

New British Comics#3 featuring work by... ME!

I am very excited to be part of the latest installment of the New British Comics series, sharing book space with comic greats such as the fantastic WJC, Laurence Elwick (who created the lovely cover, above) and Paul O'Connell. As well as being able to include a short story, I also got to design the biography pages! Go here to get yourself a copy or visit the New British Comics blog.
Here's a teaser panel from my featured short, (crack)

Mission: Fail

Gah! Wouldn't you know it. Like a good girl, I planned things ahead for the Small Press Expo this Saturday. I got my batch of paper ready, found the paper that was just the right hue for the cover, had loads of spare ink cartridges on standby, but just as I was ready to print, THE DAMN PRINTER DIED ON ME!!! ARRRGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Alas, I guess it was the the printer's time. It served me faithfully for six years and yet I can't help thinking of all the late nights wasted on getting my new book done on time. Sigh... Too late to get a rush order on a new one I guess the new project will have to wait 'til May's MCM for its debut. Here's a sneak peak of what it looks like


I also planned to have a new print ready for Saturday but that isn't going to happen either now.
Hope to see you at the SP Expo anyway http://www.thefallenangel.co.uk/spexpo/london.htm.
It's at Goldsmiths Uni in New Cross and if you hang around later, Dave Mckean will be giving an exclusive talk - I think there is a small fee to attend.

That's all for now. Come and see me and maybe I give you a free sketch (if you ask nicely)

x