Stephenson's Robot.

I've spent the last few weeks getting back into colouring Stephenson's Robot. This is the book that is an alternative history Victorian mixture of science, magic and steam, drawn by the incomparable INDIO! and written by myself and Jon Ayre.
This page is the first from Issue 3,

 

Issues 1 and 2 are coloured and lettered, and the four pages that INDIO! has completed of Issue 4 are also coloured. I did them before starting Issue 3 as I had a clear idea of the effect I wanted to achieve and couldn't do Issue 3 until I'd tried it out.

Colouring is a long process, and you wouldn't believe how much time and effort goes into it unless you've had a go yourself, so I really do respect those who colour for a living, it's a hell of a lot harder than you might think, even to do it to the level that I do it.

Righto.. on to page 2..

It's been a strange few weeks. I went to the opening of the Contemporary Craft Open Exhibition and was a little humbled by the professionalism of the other entries. True to any form of art there were those that I liked and those that I didn't, but overall I felt a certain amount of pride that Belmat was even there.
He didn't get a prize of course, but he did look the toughest exhibit in the room and I certainly noticed that none of the other exhibits would look him in the eye.
I have plans for entering something next year, but we'll see if I ever find the time to make it.

Yesterday Accent UK had a table at the Comiket in London and sold a good number of our books. All was going very well until I sold a copy of Robot Shorts to a Spanish (I think) couple.
'My partner makes robots', the lady stated, very proud of her chap.
 'Hey, so do I', I felt a bond forming between myself and the gentleman. 'I make mine out of paper mache' I explained.
'Oh, he programmes his to avoid objects...'
'Oh... real robots...' I felt a little like Androx The Mighty and crawled back behind the table to deal with the next customer.
Still, it feels good to know that a Robotics Engineer now possessed a book of my about robots.
Next weekend I'll be at the Leeds' Thought Bubble Festival, so do pop in and say hello if you're in the area, and if you happen to be a Robotics Engineer it might be best to mention that early in the conversation, to avoid my embarrassing myself... again.