Mark O'Connell

I felt your presents!

2012-02-13T21:29:00.003-08:00

Continuing the Star Wars theme, my latest drawing was a request for a birthday present. My uncle set his phone to play Darth Vader's Imperial March whenever his wife rings. He thought it fitting therefore to immortalise her as the dark lord of the Sith in cartoon form...

May the force be with you!

2011-12-21T09:32:00.001-08:00

A friend asked me to draw her brother as a Jedi Knight for a Christmas present. Here it is!

Spider Rob!

2011-10-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

I was asked to draw a colleague as Spiderman by his wife for his 30th Birthday. Here it is! It was drawn with my Wacom tablet in Photoshop.

Studio Director!

2011-04-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

I drew our Studio Director (at The Creative Assembly) Tim Heaton for a Charity Auction to raise money for Japan. I first sketched it with my Wacom tablet and then did the final version with colour in Photoshop.

1950's Cheesecake

2011-03-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

In addition to being a delicious dessert, cheesecake is also a style of pin-up photography made popular in the 1940's and 50's. As a gift for a friend, I have drawn the above in Photoshop. It was fun and served as the first official test drive of my new Wacom Intuos 4 graphics tablet. The entire image took 3 hours to complete, including the time it took to drink copious amounts of tea (I started it at 2am!).

Bonjour and other French words!

2010-08-09T01:53:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick doodle of our resident Frenchman at work, drawn in Photoshop with an oddly shaped mouse!

To infinity and beyond!

2010-08-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a sketch of Buzz Lightyear for a Toy Story 3 competition for Empire Magazine.

UPDATE! I got a message from Empire on Twitter saying I have won the competition!

Avatar'd!

2010-02-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

Using Photoshop, I transformed myself into Pandora's indigenous Na'vi species from James Cameron's Avatar!

Happy Pancake Day!

2010-02-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Here's one I made earlier with a combo of strawberries, nutella, kiwi fruit and cream!

5th Wedding Anniversary Montage!

2010-02-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

Celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary today (Valentines Day), I have created a montage of our first 5 years of marriage!

Spreken ze deutsch!

2010-02-05T03:43:00.000-08:00

While over in Hamburg, Germany for a press tour a couple of weeks ago, I was interviewed by Computer Bild Spiele Magazine. Now I finally know what I sound like dubbed into German! Skip to 6:30-6:45 mins to also hear my laughing translated into Deutsch!

Lilo and Stitch - Final version

2010-02-03T17:31:00.000-08:00

Here is the final version of my 'Lilo and Stitch' drawing, now with added watercolours, Vitamin C and Omega 3. I could spend more time on it, but as this is only an exercise I am happy to move on...

Work in progress...

2010-02-02T18:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a sketch that I did this evening from Disney's 'Lilo and Stitch'. As Valentine's Day (and indeed my 5th Wedding anniversary!) are only two short weeks away, I thought I'd depict the scene where the Hawaiian girl kisses a genetically engineered alien and he freaks out. Romantic eh?

Next step: water colours...

Top 20 films of 2009!

2010-01-30T06:42:00.000-08:00

As promised, I am pleased to reveal my top 20 films of 2009. Most of which are now available on Blu-ray so get involved!

1. Avatar – Easily film of the year. Expect 3D films to rule in 2010.
2. Michael Jackson’s This is it – A final glimpse at the legendary King of Pop in action.
3. Inglorious Basterds – Tarantino reinvents the war movie. Not for historians!
4. Slumdog Millionaire – British film of the year.
5. Zombieland – Bill Murray stole this un-dead show!
6. Gran Torino – Clint’s gravelly singing aside, this was entertaining throughout.
7. Moon – Best Indie film of the year!
8. Coraline – Twisted, animated fun.
9. A Perfect Getaway – Loved this film. A lot of fun.
10. The Hurt Locker – Very tense, explosive drama.
11. The Hangover –Looking forward to the sequel already!
12. District 9 – Nothings fishy about this racial film about prawns.
13. Triangle – A disturbed Groundhog Day for adults.
14. The Wrestler – It’s no Rocky, but a must-watch for those who think it’s just for kids.
15. Up! – Massively over-rated and formulaic but still quite good.
16. Star Trek – Finally a Trekkie film that I can admit watching. Just about.
17. Donkey punch – Over-the-top British thriller.
18. I love you man – Bromantic comedy that teaches you how to “Slapah de bass!”
19. Last house in the left – A surprisingly good remake.
20. Paranormal activity – low budget spookiness that is more entertaining if watched with girls!

Already a month in to 2010, the first contender for this year’s list is "Up in the Air" starring George Clooney. With Oscar season coming up, there are plenty of cinematic treats on the way. :o)

Mark O'Connell

A sketchy interlude!

2010-01-14T14:29:00.001-08:00

Here is a quick sketch of someone to get back into the swing of things! Who shall I do next...

Blog Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Introduction

2010-01-13T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my official blog!

If you are reading this I can only assume that either my subliminal Jedi mind trick worked, or you clicked here by accident. Either way, this page will soon become a hotbed of thoughts, imaginings and a yearly drunken entry on my birthday. Unless my wife prohibits me from posting photos of that.

If it was a sign of things to come in 2010, I saw in the new decade wearing a Toga to a party in London and made my way home through the snow at 5:30am. Despite being noticably beardless, this didn't stop four separate drunken revellers from confusing me with Jesus. Makes a change from the Arnold Schwarzenegger references I usually get (albeit the 62-year-old saggy Governator version).

I trust that you all had an enjoyable festive season too and are currently in the middle of a well-intended diet to lose your turkey bellies. I'm doing my bit by watching the keep fit woman on GMTV every morning while eating breakfast.

For my next blog, I'm going to reveal my "Best and worst films of 2009" list, which will also serve as a handy guide for what is Hot and definitely not on BluRay in 2010. Or alternatively, a list of what to buy people that you don't particularly like on their birthdays. Second-hand of course.

Until next time, I'm going to study the growing mountain of snow outside my front door and work out the best route of escape!

Adios,

Mark O'Connell