Below is a quote from the Robot Comics website, they say it better than I would, so here goes!
Ben Powis’ Original Mobile Graphic Novel – Where Grows the Bitter Herb – will be available for FREEdownload on iTunes marketplace for 7 special days only!
Next week, starting November 30th and ending midnight December 8th, the price on Bitter Herb will be dropped to absolutely free on iTunes and $0.99 on Android (due to the rules regarding the Android Market, Bitter Herb will not be offered for free there at this time).
Ben’s work has wowed professionals and readers alike, and we here at Robot Comics feel that Ben’s mobile work has produced some of the most unique and re-readable comics on the mobile market today. His one-shot Turtle Guitar was released for free on the iTunes and Android Market and continues to be popular with mobile owners. His lengthier Bitter Herb epic was posted originally for $1.99 download.
SIGN UP to be notified when the promotion begins! –
Synopsis
All is not well in the village, a mother lies sick and dying. The only thing that can save her is a magical herb that grows atop the tallest mountain, but who will be brave enough to quest for it? Be prepared to embark on a journey through the unexplored world of Afar, to wild and wonderful environments meeting new creatures, some friendly and welcoming, some not!
Here is another page (page eight) from my graphic interpretation of ‘The Burial Of The Dead‘, the first quarter of ‘The Waste Land‘ by T.S. Elliot which is featured in issue 22.1 of the Gulf Coast Literary Journal. You can check out the whole thing by picking up a copy of the magazine, which also features cover artwork by me! Click the image for a bigger view!
Here is page one of my graphic interpretation of ‘The Burial Of The Dead‘, the first quarter of ‘The Waste Land‘ by T.S. Elliot which is featured in issue 22.1 of the Gulf Coast Literary Journal. You can check out the whole thing by picking up a copy of the magazine, which also features cover artwork by me! Click the image for a bigger view!
By Scott Purdy takes you into the wild and wonderful world of greenskins, giving you practical, visual advice on drawing and colouring them. Scott also gives a lot of golden information on ideas generation and character building, stuff that will be useful to beginners and experienced doodles alike!
“For Goblin drawing, Orc drawing and other dark creatures, this classic fantasy art title explores the previously unchartered territory of Goblinoids. This book will show readers how to design, draw and paint every kind of goblinoid. This is a fun exploration of all six goblinoid ‘races’ of the fantasy world. Highly practical and packed with hot tips a series of classes are presented with each race which gives the author the opportunity to show readers how to construct characters in strong step sequences. The characters range from the humorous, dragon flying Goblin through to the dark, evil and twisted torturous Hobgoblin. A wealth of visual and textual information offers guidance on goblin drawing, orc drawing and painting – both traditionally and digitally – the diverse world of Goblinoids.“
Fantasy Art For Beginners by Jon Hodgson is out November 1st. Jon has been working in fantasy illustration for over a decade and this book is packed with his accumulated knowledge and advice for beginner artists, as Jon says:
“On the First of November my book on creating fantasy art for beginners hits the streets, published by IMPACT! books. It is full of non threatening, easy to follow ways to draw and paint your favorite fantasy fings! The first half is gently introduced theory, aimed at absolute beginners, and then the second half is a series of step by step walkthroughs of 6 paintings of favourite fantasy subjects. All in an easily approachable art style for beginners. Rather than me just letting rip at it in my usual manner…“
Scott Purdy’s second solo instructional art book, due for release in Summer 2010, takes us into the world of Vampires! Above is the current cover artwork, for more news as its happens check out Scott’s blog!
Out at the end of this month is issue 22.1 of Gulf Coast, a journal of literature and fine arts. This issue features a comic interpretation of The Burial of the Dead, the first quarter of The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot. I was very excited to be asked to create this 12 page interpenetration of Elliot’s poem, the whole process was fantastic fun, presenting a very interesting challenge.
I am very pleased with the results, which can be seen in the magazine (and on the cover!) or in some samples on the Gulf Coast website. The newest journal also contains an article by Sean Bishop on the growing acceptance of comic art and it’s ability to communicate complex narratives, you can read that on the website too! I will post some pages from by Burial of the Dead on this blog over the new couple of months, but if you want to see it complete and any time soon, you just have to pick up a copy of the magazine!
This year I had the honor of being asked to display work at Dragonfly Festival, Sweden’s only ambient arts festival. I had a bunch of black and white ink drawings on show and some comics for sale – hello to anyone who is visiting my website for the first time after visiting Dragonfly. Sadly I was not able to make the show this year, but fingers crossed for 2010!
Check out the above promo video for Where Grows The Bitter Herb, out now on iTunes and Android Market place for mobile devices!
Win, Win Win!
Would you like to win a free copy of Where Grows The Bitter Herb for your iPhone or iPod Touch? All you have to do is download the Turtle Guitar app, which is free, and write a review of it, then tweet it to @robotcomics or send them an email. You can also tweet your review to me, for a bit of fun @benpowis – simple, now get to work!
P.s. I am afraid this competition is only available to US residents (sorry to the rest of the world, would still love to read your reviews though!).
More news to announce! Turtle Guitar and ‘Bitter Herb are now out on the Android Marketplace, so all you Google phone comics fans can go download them now!
I am very excited to announce that you can now read Turtle Guitar and Where Grows The Bitter Herb on your iPhone and iPod Touch! Turtle Guitar is available FREE, and Where Grows The Bitter Herb comes at a fraction of the print cost, each story has been converted by hand for optimum readability on the iPhone and the fantastic iRobot Comics Viewer displays them perfectly.
For more information, previews and reviews pleas visit the App pages on iTunes:
ANDROID?
Hello Android users! Turtle Guitar is hitting the Android marketplace this Wednesday (16th September) with ‘Bitter Herb following a week later (23rd September) so you will not miss out on the adventure!
Everyone go download the comics and let me know what you think!
sam kirkman on