Engine Punk

1.                 The story begins with a growth hormone experiment that goes horribly wrong. 2.                 The tale of The Wormton Lamb asks us what are we doing to rural communities and our environment through the unseen effects of self-interest by people who have sold their souls. 3.                 The book introduces the traffiscope, a means of predicting the future by studying the traffic. What road sign are you? 4.                 It is set in the wider Wold around the flock market town of Wormton. 5.                 It also introduces the Mithering Brethren who believe souls can be improved if they are th...

I'm continually impressed with the material this other blogspot is throwing up - Engine Punk Litmus . It's been set up by a fan - I know ! I can't believe it! Huge grin! Anyway, everything on here so far provides an accurate example of the Engine Punk aesthetic and I have to say that so far these are all in tune with what I had in mind when writing my tall stories about Nick Hob and The Wild Hunt. It would appear that, somehow, I have struck a chord with other people and not only understand what I was on about but are coming up with more examples. So - I would like more people to join in because I don't know where this is leading. I'm going to have a word with the administrator to see if other people can contribute. I would like to see what you lot think is Engine Punk. I'll still get worked up about Vintage Things but exploring the Engine Punk Aesthetic isn't just about me anymore - your views count!

The Wormton Lamb now looks like this. I came to the conclusion that the original illustration was dominated by the cars in the foreground. Now the lamb is much more prominent and the cars look more dynamic. As well as the 2CV kicking up its heels you can just make out Hob on Nosferatu riding dangerously close to its cloven heels. I have abandoned the use of marker pens - although I'll continue to use them for website drawings - and after flirting briefly with oils and acrylic inks have adopted gouache as my medium. I'd like to experiment with oils more but oils take so long to dry. It's a whole technique, too, but the paint feels fantastic on the brush and I really like the smell (although not enough to dream of eating a tube of cadmium yellow, as owner of my mates did once.) Beck said she liked the graph qualities of the clouds in my original drawing and after a great deal of trial and error I am reasonably content with them. I think they make the Giant Lamb loo...

Here is the new book cover for The Horsepower Whisperer. It's much more colourful and carries a bigger punch, helped in part by Hob's knuckles gripping the steering wheel as he punches M Cadvare's personal transportation module off the page. The gremlin can see trouble up ahead and is doing a hornpipe in his panic. We can see what's ahead, too. If you look really closely you can make out a roadblock and a helicopter in the reflection of Hob's visor. Hob is about to fost through the roadblock, effectively leak into another set of dimensions in a parallel universe, but just before he does the Conformorians will activate the airbag in the steering wheel. For what happens next you'll just have to read the book. It's a big relief to have got to this stage. Time will tell whether this cover design has more shelf appeal than the old one. I still need to upload this image onto Amazon and it will take a few days for books looking like this to be available so ...

On Friday night during my regular guitar lesson with Ellis of LSG, a musician to his fingertips, reckoned I was ready to have a go at recording. I’ll always be a bit rough and ready (“Musics for zeros, noise is for heroes” – The Damned) but I thought why not? During the session (!) I made lots of mistakes but Ellis made it sound brilliant. I need to practise my lead. And the timing of the intro was rubbish. It wasn't "1,2,3,4" but more "1,2,3,4,5". I know there's a fifth count when The Ramones go "1,2,3,4" but this was more Corporal Jones than Dee Dee Ramone. Anyway , by overlaying different tracks and letting me loose on his bass guitar and then working his magic Ellis turned me into a rock god! That’s the way it feels anyway. Thanks mate! Then on Saturday morning I finally got the illustration for the back of The Horsepower Whisperer right. I’ve been wrestling with this for months. During June I worked up a picture of an Allosaurus riding a st...