Sunday 21 December 2014

Greg Staples - I'm Dreaming of a Dark Christmasssss...


Welcome to day 2 of this festive 2000AD Covers Uncovered special! On the second day of Christmas, Greg Staples gave to me, a badge that was bloody scaryyyy! Yes today, Greg tells us the surprising way that his excellent, very daring Christmas cover of Prog 2015 came about. Prepare to have your mind blown!

Greg said "This cover certainly is a departure from the Christmas norm, it was originally done back in summer and was intended to be a slight nod to those black Christmas horror films where the red against white indicated Christmas... but in blood! It maybe turned out a little bleaker than intended but it was important to get across that this wasn’t a Judge Death comedy from the off. Tharg with a Santas hat next year!"

"There was a lot of experimenting in Dark Justice and this was no exception. I was given a plain unpainted badge by Planet Replicas and thought I’d paint it then photograph it and from that paint the original onto a separate paper using the photo as reference."


"Say my name..."

"Once it was photographed I painted in a splat of blood..." Wait, what?!? I thought it was cranberry sauce!


Greg's Easter cover will feature baby Tharg in a manger, three wise men (Dredd, Alpha and Rogue) and a star.

"From there I got a large plain sheet of art paper and carefully drew it, then painted it up in my usual manner. An experiment for sure, fun to do and while I might not attempt the same thing again, like most new ideas it gave me an idea for something else..."

So effectively, Greg photographed his painting, before painting his photo, as reference for his painting!?!

Luckily, Death washes his clothes with new improved Scariel. Tough on blood, Boing(R), egg and other stubborn stains - even at low temperatures.

Brilliant! Greg has painted one or two more covers for Dark Justice before the series is done so keep watching the blog for more! A HUGE thanks to the very, very busy Mr Staples for sending the images and fascinating write up.

Come back tomorrow for another festive treat!

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