Latest projects now up on the site...

Hi there! Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Things have been non-stop since the Orwell project started back in 2018, with a steady stream of jobs landing on my desk (can’t complain!). Unfortunately the release date for Illustrated Orwell: Such, Such Were the Joys has been put back to January 2021 - but I’ve just put plenty of other recent projects up on the site - so hopefully this will keep you going for a while! Just click on the pics above to see what I’ve been up to…

I’ve also shared a few more images from Such, Such Were the Joys here. Enjoy!

PS. You can always follow my Twitter or Facebook account to get (slightly) more regular updates!

G Bear & Jammo at Thought Bubble Festival, September 23rd-24th!

That's right, I'll be at Thought Bubble Festival, Leeds in a few weekends' time debuting G Bear & Jammo in print form! Check out the cover above... 

If you've been following G and J's twice weekly adventures online you'll know that The Coolest Thing Ever recently reached its dramatic (and altogether rather silly) conclusion. This storyline has now been collected as a 36 page American format comic together with a bonus strip featuring Mike McSkunk (you might remember Mike from Jammo's brief brush with fame midway through the story).

To celebrate I'm offering my newsletter subscribers a sneak peek at the bonus material plus £2 off the marked price for those attending Thought Bubble! Sign up here to get your discount copy: jaimehuxtable.com/contact 

For those who can't make Leeds, don't worry - it'll be going up in the shop soon after and I'll still be offering the same discount to subscribers - whoop!

Exciting times - see you in a few weeks?

G Bear and Jammo - the story develops..

Hey everyone, just a quick reminder that my webcomic G Bear and Jammo is happening right now over on gbearandjammo.com! Here are the latest six pages to get you all excited.. What is Jammo building? Is it really "the coolest thing ever"? And who is Melvyn Smedley? All will be revealed over the coming weeks.. follow the link and stay tuned to find out! Updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

ComicPopUp this Saturday 13th May at The Hanover Pub, Brighton!

This Saturday 13th May I will be drawing a giant improvised comic (and selling my work) as part the ComicPopUp small press pop-up shop at The Hanover Pub, Brighton! The pop-up shop is for one day only, as part of Brighton and Hove's Artists Open Houses.

You can see a catalogue of all the amazing comics that will be available here and the Facebook event page is here! The shop is a new collaborative model for selling independent comics and is the brainchild of designer/illustrator Simon Russell. You can read a bit about how it all works in this interview with him over on Pipedream Comics.

As for the improv comic I'm doing, I'll be inviting audience members to contribute by leaving cunning spaces within the panels for you to fill in the blanks with drawings, text or whatever. You can even get to keep your panel for a measly £5! I will then present the entire comic on this 'ere website a few days after the event...

Oh, and the pub does lovely pizza. What's not to like?

G Bear and Jammo: my new webcomic is here!

After years of planning (and one or two false starts) I've finally launched G Bear and Jammo, my latest webcomic! I'm super excited about it and hopefully you will be too. So click the link and enjoy... Plus don't forget to tell your friends about it - if you're on Tumblr, you can even do all that "reblogging" and "liking" malarky - whoop!

Draw The Line

Here's a section of an illustration I've just finished for Draw The Line, where over 100 comic artists have been invited to illustrate positive political actions anyone can take. Initiated by Myfanwy Tristram, the project will initially take the form of a website followed by a book. There are some big names involved - can't wait to see it all collected together!

In other news, my first newsletter is due to go out sometime next week - so if you haven't signed up already do it now! Especially as I will be treating my subscribers to an exclusive peek at a brand new web comic I'm working on..

.. c'mon, you know you wanna.

Buck

A jolly comic I did about some stuff that happened to me recently. Happy holidays everyone!

Comica Comiket at The Lightbox Gallery this Saturday October 8th!

Yep, it's Comiket time again! Organised by Comica London, the Comiket is an independent comics market where you get to meet loads of amazing creators who are selling their work. This time it's taking place at The Lightbox in Woking to tie in with their The Story of British Comics So Far: Cor! By Gum! Zarjaz! exhibition. The market is free to get in and there'll be loads of amazing exhibitors there.. plus me! Things kick off at 10.30 am. This time I'll also be taking part in the live Drawing Parade so do come down if you want to see me draw a robot, a bear, a dog or possibly all three. I haven't decided yet..

Sussex Research Hive

Some new illustrations I've created to promote the Sussex Research Hive, the dedicated doctoral research space at the University of Sussex Library! Should hopefully be winging their way on to some snazzy postcards, etc soon.

All Night Write - this Saturday 18th June!

Hey, just a quick plug for a writing event I'll be attending this Saturday 18th June at 88 London Road theatre bar, Brighton. Organised by Dark & Stormy, it's called All Night Write and yes, that's exactly what it is - an all night writing session from 10pm to 6am Sunday morning! So if you're a budding writer (be it comics, novels, film, TV, theatre, music, whatever!) and want to take the opportunity to write alongside some professionals then this is for you. There will be a series of exciting talks throughout the night and the writers listed above will also be on hand to give hints, tips and one-to-one advice! Top names attending include Brighton crime writer P.D. Viner and comics extraordinaires Hannah Berry and Ian Williams. Plus I'll be mooching in the corner working on something or other...

November & December round up

 

Hey folks, just a quick post to let you know what I've been up to over the last two months..

Firstly, Thought Bubble! Despite the rain I had a top weekend. Met some great people making awesome comics, plus Mark and I aired our latest sample from Makers of Monsters and got a generally positive response - very encouraging! And a big thanks to Rachel for helping out so much with the stall - you rock.

Next up, I was invited to speak to Creative Media Production students at City College Brighton & Hove. I told them all about my work on Think Like Churchill and then got to look at some their sketchbooks. There was some fantastic work in there, plus they were a really welcoming and friendly group - I'm hoping to pay them a visit again sometime soon!

Finally, I took part in an 8 hour comics challenge.. Adam Moore laid down the gauntlet, inviting Anthony Atkinson and me to join him in producing 8 pages in 8 hours with zero prep. Based loosely on the 24-Hour Comic challenge created by Scott McCloud (which is now an international phenomenon), we decided to do a cut down version because, well, we're wimps. That and also the fact that we were taking part in Monthly Milk, a great monthly arts event in the centre of Brighton that um, lasts for 8 hours! Anyway, here is my contribution in all its badly drawn glory: JAIME'S 8 HOUR COMIC CHALLENGE (warning: contains swear words and toilet gags). Here is Adam's amazing creation, Anthony's will be made public soon!

Whilst all that was going on I've also been keeping the Afanc ticking along - so do head over to afanc-tumblr.com to check out the latest instalment. More coming in the New Year...

Anyway, that's pretty much it for 2015 - hope you had a great year and enjoy a relaxing Christmas holiday! See you in 2016!

Mental.

New sequence for Makers of Monsters! Plus more Afanc & Thought Bubble this weekend!

Writer Mark Pembrey and I have been busy putting together a new 6 page sequence for Makers of Monsters (formerly Better Beasts), our graphic novel in progress! And you can see it all by clicking the pic above... There's even some new character studies up there too. You can read a little bit more about the project over on Mark's website here. I'll try and post the full synopsis at some point soon.

There's also been some new Afanc activity over afanc-comic.tumblr.com! There are new characters and everything, including a dog called Mr Cuddles..

And what are you up to this weekend? Going to Leeds perchance? Then do swing by the always fantastic Thought Bubble Comic Arts Festival and say hi! I'll be selling my wares on table 41a in the Royal Armouries Hall. See you there!

Last month's workshops and presentations - quick photo round-up!

Photo Credit: Rachel Malic

So September was a busy month! To start with there was The Brighton Mini Maker Faire, where I ran a comic strip making workshop, the result being these awesome creations. Some extremely talented people out there. Thanks to everyone who came and took part, I had a great time so hopefully they'll have me back again next year!

Photo Credit: Mark Pembrey

Then there was the Alligator's Junior Comics Club at The Alligator's Mouth bookshop in Richmond! Here we made comic strips again and just to say, those Junior Club artists know their stuff - their comics knowledge put me to shame! Here I am doing a quick example featuring a Knight, a Dragon and a..erm..bucket. This month the club is being hosted by animal illustrator extraordinaire Zoe Scammell and it's Halloween themed! You'd be crazy not to check it out.

Photo Credit: Angie Thomas

And finally, there was my Brighton Digital Festival event: Paper Versus Pixels! Here I spoke about my experiences working on Think Like Churchill. However, the real stars were all the other amazing speakers who took part: David Lloyd, Jade Sarson, Alex Fitch, Chloe Pursey and Nye Wright! Thanks to you all, you made it into a fantastic night. Thanks to everyone who came and watched too. For those who couldn't make it, fear not! We recorded the whole thing and I'm hoping to put it online soon...

So, I'm having a little breather from speaking for the next couple of weeks but do watch this space for upcoming events. Next on the list I guess it's Thought Bubble...see you there?

Create a Comic Strip! At Brighton Mini Maker Faire 2015

Thanks to everyone who came to the Create a Comic Strip! workshop yesterday at Brighton Mini Maker Faire! I had a brilliant time, I hope you did too. Most of all, I was astounded by how talented you all are! Some fantastic budding writers and artists out there.. so keep up the good work. Time to check out your masterpiece in the gallery below:

Workshoppin'

Next month I'll be doing some comics making workshops! Firstly, I'll be at the Brighton Mini Maker Faire, the festival of making, creativity and invention at Brighton Corn Exchange on Saturday 5th September! Here I'll be doing scheduled workshops throughout the day, each lasting around an hour. I'll be talking about what makes a good 4-panel story/gag strip and getting visitors to make their very own! The results will be exhibited on this blog and/or on me Tumblr. All ages welcome! Although younger kids might need grown-up supervision. Do come down, as there'll be loads of great things going on including arts & crafts, robots and engineering, wood and metalwork, electronics, science, tech, music and more amazing do-it-yourself creation!

Following on from that, I will be hosting the Alligator's Comics Club on Thursday September 24th at the Alligator's Mouth children's bookshop in Richmond! This one kicks off at 4pm and is aimed at 7-12 yrs. Do RSVP the lovely people at Alligator's Mouth if you fancy coming as space may be limited! Again I'll be talking about how to make your own comics and also giving an insight into my working process...

And to finish the month off - not so much a workshop but a night of talks - there's the Brighton Digital Festival event Paper Versus Pixels. This one is all about comics and digital media with some great speakers lined up, including: Jade Sarson, David Lloyd, Nye Wright, Alex Fitch, Chloe Pursey and erm...me.

So yeah, do come say hello at either one, two or all three of these exciting comics happenings! September's gonna rock.

A date for your diaries!

Coming in September: Paper versus pixels: comics, digital media and their mutant offspring - an evening of talks about comics in print, on-screen and everything in between. Presented as part of Brighton Digital Festival 2015!

Yep, that's right - I've gone and organised an event! It's all going to be happening on Tuesday September 29th, from 6-8pm at the new Sussex Humanities Lab, based in Silverstone Building, Sussex University. Directions can be found here. A big thank you to the lovely people there for letting me use the space.

And guess what? It's free!

Here's the official list of presentations so far:

When is a comic not a comic? When it’s an app Comic artist Jaime Huxtable relates his experiences illustrating Think Like Churchill (Touchpress, 2014), an app that mixes comics, animation, historical archive and gameplay into a new breed of graphic narrative.

The comic page as time machine – panel based time travel and simultaneity in From Hell, One Soul and Here All comics are a form of time travel. Comic journalist, podcaster and film critic Alex Fitch explains how the paper page of the comic can create a transcendent experience that more interactive formats (such as tablet computers) can only hint at.

More speakers to be announced, including artists from Myriad Editions

So make a note of the date and see you there!

The Afanc returns for Brighton Illustration Fair!

That's right, he's back! All new Afanc strips such as this one are again appearing over on afanc-comic.tumblr.com. Please check them out and like/reblog/cuddle or whatever you clever social media kids do to show appreciation! Thanks so much. You're tops.

Not only that but I've also collected the first 14 of these brand new strips into Afanc Issue No.3! Most of these strips aren't even on the web yet, that's how fresh they are. And guess what? You can grab a mega-exclusive copy at the FIRST BRIGHTON ILLUSTRATION FAIR at the end of the month! I'll be there on the Sunday 31st along with the awesome Adam Moore so do come along if you're in town. You know you wanna....

See you there!!!

Another robot..

..happier with the looser brushwork on this one.

Robot drawing - step by step

STAGE 1 - I created a new A3 document in Manga Studio. Using a sketchbook doodle as reference, I roughed in the robot's pose using a blue line first and then darkened and defined the basic shape of its body with a grey pencil.

STAGE 2 - still pencilling with the darker line, I've started to add more definition to its various joints, fingers, body cavity, etc. Also dropped in a background, which was a bit of an afterthought (not always the best practice!). Thanks to the blue line I'm able to see what I'm doing pretty clearly and am saved from making the page a grey mess as I work things out. The soft eraser tool in Manga Studio also helps me keep things clean. I tend to be quite a messy penciller and a bit of a hard presser so blue line definitely works for me.

STAGE 3 - Inks. Using the G-Pen nib in Manga Studio I draw in the basic outlines. I then pluck up the courage to put in the heavy black areas. Some zip-tone was then dropped in loosely for the mid tone areas. The brush droplet tool was used together with white paint to get some of those dented FX and also push back the mountain range. The upper legs and arms were a bit of a struggle here - I tried to draw those tube rings in a way that wasn't too mechanical but also not too sloppy. Not entirely happy with the result but time to push on with....

STAGE 4 - Colour! For this stage it's time to export to Photoshop. I then block in the basic flat colours on a new layer and add a custom pattern effect to get that watercolour paper look. The darker areas are added on a separate layer using a brush with 'wet edges'. Adjustment layers are then added to some of the line work to push the background further back. Finally I dropped in some highlights, again with a wet edged brush set to 'luminosity'. Done!

Next stage? Possibly getting this bad boy made into a print for the shop?

My other place (Tumblr)...

 

So here's a selection of sketches, doodles and scribbles that you can see over on my Tumblr site, called Jaime's Other Place. I'm currently mulling over making it my main news feed and linking directly to it from this site's main menu...we'll see. Anyway, do take a look - hope you enjoy!