Hello

I am an artist and illustrator from a little seaside town near Edinburgh Scotland. As I write, there is a storm going on outside my window. Storm Babet 2023. It sounds like the North Sea is knocking at the front door. I’m trying to ignore it. Hopefully it will go away and leave some driftwood in the garden.

This is ILLUSTRATED by Alexander Naughton

This substack will be image heavy. I’ll try to make the files as light as possible to reduce loading times but I can’t guarantee that the content won’t be heavy. You will find short comic strips on all sorts of things, my thoughts on art and illustration, the process, the practice, making money, losing money, insights about being a parent of a small child. Life, the universe, everything. That sort of stuff.

The strips are rarely comical so it’s strange to call them comic but it’s the closest description I can think of without sounding self absorbed (which I am. Sorry). They may contain some trace of comedy but only in an absurd sense. If you like humour that is not very funny, sometimes painfully close to tragedy, and leaning heavily into silliness, then you might like my strips.

I’m trying to learn how to construct stories with pictures. I have made several attempts at writing graphic novels but I have always fallen foul of conceit. All my attempts have become overblown pretentious nonsense. I think this is because I have been aiming too high. My ambition exceeds my ability, for now. You can expect these short comic strips to be experimental, funny, ridiculous and sometimes shocking.

In time, I intend to post serialised versions of graphic stories that I am working on. They won’t be perfect but they will be intentionally crafted. The objective is to push myself to self publish these stories as physical books. And you, dear subscriber will be the first to read them.

Become a paid subscriber

If you feel you would like to support my work through a paid subscription, I would be over the moon with gratitude. The extra money would allow me to spend more time developing my personal work such as graphic stories and art projects and put more time into creating a yearly zine to accompany this newsletter. In return your your support, I plan to post some exclusive content, including progress pages of graphic stories and art projects and perhaps access to a serialised graphic story I have in the works. Also, I plan to provide other treats such as discounts on prints, commissions and a discounted version of the yearly zine when it is ready. I haven’t quite worked out the exact details yet but for now, any help would be most appreciated.

If you’re feeling generous, you could become a founding member. As a thank you, I have in mind, all of the above, plus a free copy of the yearly zine to accompany this newsletter. And my eternal gratitude.

Make a commission enquiry

I do illustrations for a few people on substack. (Maybe I’ll make a list somewhere). I am the resident artist at The Intrinsic Perspective by Erik Hoel. I’d love to do more. I think substack is the most promising platform for art and literature I have yet seen on the internet. If you write a substack yourself, maybe you would like some art? If so, follow the link below to my website where you will find a useful form to fill out. I will get back to you ASAP with an estimate. And if you are a paid subscriber, you will get it at a discounted rate.

Mutually beneficial

I have a shop on my website with a collection of prints. If you buy some, you will have some art and I will have some money. Great. Really great. CLick.

If you are a paid subscriber, and you want to buy a print, please email me and I will get you a discount code.

Show me the pictures

My website is yellow. My portfolio is multicoloured

Thank you

Thank you for reading this far. And welcome. This is the beginning