First look: Cover: Age of Darkness

Hello One and All!

Here's a nice clean version of the new, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING ANTHOLOGY "Age of Darkness" from BL Publishing, showing a slightly evil Horus grinding an Imperial Fist Marine into the dirt (a certain Christian Dunn's idea - so BLAME HIM!):

(Above)
Horus is *starting* to go all evil,
so he's not TOTALLY spiked up yet...

As is usual, I started off with draughting out thumbnails - just two thumbnail ideas this time, as I had a pretty set idea as to how I wanted this cover to look. Luckily, Black Library were happy with them and chose the first thumbnail to work from. Then it was simply a case of paint, Paint, PAINT!

(Above)
The initial thumbnails,
BL correctly stated I'd made
his armour too purple -
n00b mistake ;)

(Above)
Horus Detail, armour heavily based
on the classic Adrian Smith
Horus vs Emperor art.

(Above)
OOF! BOOT TO THE HEAD!
See his panicked eye behind his eye-lens -
that's me, that is ;)

Cool, so that's the skinny on the new Heresy cover - I'm off to finish putting some more spikes on this here certain xenos cover I'm currently working on...

First look: Cover: Deliverance Lost

Hello All!

So, Black Library Live! 2011 has been and gone for another year and what a great day it was - it was great to meet up with all those who enjoy the books, hobby and artwork.

A big THANKYOU for making all the hard work feel worthwhile.

Many folk saw the new Corax artwork for 'Deliverance Lost' by Gav Thorpe and Black Library have now put the final (lo-res) image up for your enjoyment and scrutiny:

(Above)
Corax in orbital drop.
The brief wanted an Art Deco hanging garden city
something we've never really seen in 40K before

Thankfully the artwork has gone down a storm. It was inspired by a specially commissioned illustration by John Blanche - Corax has never been seen before, so who better to define his look ;)

(Above: Detail)
I was inspired by the idea of a 'Dark Knight' style
base-jump mixed with 'Star Trek' orbital drop.
WHOOOSH!

Anyway, here you go - feast thine eyes upon it and feel free to leave a comment.

See you soon!

Catchup - Thoughtbubble 2010

Yo,

Updates are few and far between at the minute 'cos of sheer workload, so here's a quick link to mine and Graham McNeills' adventures in Leeds, at the always amazing Leeds Thoughtbubble convention, via The Black Library:

(Above)
Click on the link to read.

So, as an update proper, I'm working on a new piece for a new publisher, finishing up on a couple of logo's and I'm about to start work on a new Graham McNeill Horus Heresy cover: "Outcast Dead", oh, and a 2000AD cover to keep me company over the Christmas break.

Phew!

I think my New Years promise should be more updates, more regularly.

Cover: Legion of One

Hello, All,

Sorry about the lack of posts, but sheer workload has meant that I've been unable to maintain the blog as much as I'd like. But, that'skind of a good thing, right?

Anyway, this is the latest cover for the Horus Heresy Audiobook "Garro: Legion of One" by James Swallow:

(Above)
Cover Artwork for Garro: Legion of One.
But exactly WHO is that on the cover...?

Here's the blurb:

"Nathaniel Garro, loyalist Death Guard, and hero of the Eisenstein, has found a new calling in his service to the Emperor. Surrounded by a cloak of secrecy, Garro travels the galaxy in pursuit of his new goal. His quest will lead him to heart of the most destructive warzones, and reveal a secret that will change the course of the Horus Heresy itself..."

and here it is in the final design:

(Above)
Yeah, Classy!

You can pre-order it here and here - tell 'em Neil sent you ;)

Also, Games Day has been and gone - and what a day it was, sketching and signing all day. It was a shame I couldn't come the day before to catch up with the authors, as they're a great bunch and good company. Ah well, that'll teach me to BREAK MY LEG!

Here's a few pics from the BL Art Seminar me and Jon Sullivan gave (thanks to all that came along) from Shane McElligots FB page:

(Above)
"So, an Ork, A Space Marine
and an Eldar walk into a bar..."

(Above)
Erm, stop looking at my plaster cast, Jon.

Anyways, a big thankyou to all that came along and made us feel welcome and appreciated. I'll be working on that "Music to Draw Space Marines By" album for next time ;)

Next up - magazine work and the Sarah Jane Adventures...!

Nemesis: New York Times Bestseller!

Hello All,

Well, we've done it again! We've made it onto the New York Times Bestseller list with James Swallows' fantastic 'Nemesis':

(Above)
There, look...!
26) Nemesis, by James Swallow (Games Workshop)

Well done, it seems James unlocked an achievement!


Well done all of us - these books are really doing rather well, aren't they!

SFX Interview

Hello All,

The superb SFX magazine have an interview with little old me up online at:

http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/07/21/interview-neil-roberts/

(Above)
Nemesis, James Swallows' latest book
in the Horus Heresy series.

..where I talk about the Horus Heresy, Warhammer, being freelance and my various inspirations. Hopefully there's something in there for the whole family...!

Right, back to the 30K, I need to find a certain Son of Horus...

Signing this weekend

I shall be visiting the Big Smoke (London) this weekend to sign copies of the new Horus Heresy book 'Nemesis', alongside author extraordinaire, James Swallow:

James Swallow & Neil Roberts Book Signing
Date:
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Time:
12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location:
Games Workshop, The Plaza 116/128,
Oxford Street, London, W1D 1LT

Here's the book blurb:

"After the horrors of Istvaan V, Horus declares outright war against the Imperium. In the shadows of the Emperor's Palace, powerful figures convene.Their plan is to send a team of assassins to execute the arch-traitor Horus and end the war for the galaxy of mankind before it's even begun. But what they cannot know is that another assassin is abroad already, with his sights firmly set on killing the Emperor."

I'll be signing and sketching whilst I'm there, so it'll also be a chance to get some rare Neil Roberts pen and ink art - so, catch the "Roberts Rock 'n' Roll Roadshow" while you can.

See you there!

Wales Comic Con 2010: The Aftermath

Well that was fun!

After a couple of hours in the car early Sunday morning, I arrived to set up at Glyndwr University in Wrexham - sitting next to the ever-pleasant Staz Johnson and Neil Edwards.

Also attending were the likes of Danny John-Jules and Dirk Benedict, cool.

Highlights were doing a sketch for the BEST Star Trek: TNG lookalikes I have EVER seen - wish I'd had a chance to get my photo taken with them - next time...

Coolest of all was meeting Marc Silk, the voice talent behind Stingo, Slugsy and a whole host of other cartoon voices. That's sure to get me some serious brownie points from my children. Sorted.

I spent the day signing and sketching - drawing mostly space marines at this event, there were loads of GW/ BL fans attending, those Horus Heresy books have a powerful hold over everyone who reads them.

(Above)
Kenny and his 'Marine vs Aliens' sketch.
(Photo courtesy Kim Randles Facebook)

After a pleasant and uneventful drive back, I arrived home and had a lovely cup of tea. Job done.

Next posts: limited edition books, Eldar and being a magazine cover star!

Book Signing: GW Plaza, London, Sat Feb 20th

A quick one as Graham McNeill and I will be signing copies of Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons at Games Workshop, Plaza on Saturday 20th Feb from 12-2pm.

(Above)
Bring 'em along or buy 'em there -
We'll sign 'em.

Call the store on 020 7436 0839 for more details.

I'll probably 'tweet' during the course of the day and get any pictures up next week. Also, check the superb Black Library facebook pages for updates and photos.

As usual, I'll be sketching throughout the afternoon and I'll be happy to sign books, so I look forward to seeing you there!

Horus Heresy: First Heretic

So, I can finally reveal the latest cover for the new instalment of the Horus Heresy series, "First Heretic" written by the ever rock-steady, Aaron Dembski-Bowden:

(Above)
Release date:
November 2010

To be honest, I was apprehensive about this piece to start off with - it's the series' first foray into exploring 'Chaos' (Aaron's absolutely the right man to write it) and I wanted to make sure the 'Chaos Space Marines' looked really freaky and the 'Custodes' looked super-cool. Luckily, Aaron had some fantastic ideas and inspirations, so I let his thoughts guide me. Very Zen.

I guess it'll be a while until this one comes out, so we'll have to wait until November 2010 when I can put up a "making of..."

If you're very nice to me I'll show you the full image at the conventions I'll be attending ;)

Horus Heresy Book Trailer

Ooh, almost forgot - I'll be doing some promotion for the forthcoming Horus Heresy "A Thousand Sons" and "Prospero Burns" books over the next few months:



Cool, huh!

Cover: 2000AD Prog 1665

Tharg is being very good to me at the minute - he's given me plenty of lovely covers to do and here's the latest cover for Prog 1665: (Sinister Dexter) "The Deadliest Duo":


It was great fun working on this one as it's a step away from the explosions and gritted teeth that usually appear in my work. Also, I love the way there are no header/ footer bars on this, the image just bleeds off the page - luvverly bit of design, Tharg!

As always it starts with a sketch:


Then my wife took a few reference photos with me 'in costume' holding various plastic toy gun props - hey, no sniggering at the back!:


Then I painted up the final version, paying close attention to their expressions, I wanted them to look like they'd just stepped out of a futuristic/ cop/ buddy/ hitmen film ( a sort of Beverly Hills Cop meets Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer):


Here's a little fact, fact fans... Dan Abnett, the writer of Sinister Dexter, is also one of the fantastic writers for the Horus Heresy series, of which I do the covers - Oh, and did I mention that Dan is an AWESOME chap!

The great thing about 2000AD covers is the quick turnaround - you do the illustration, next few weeks it's in the shops - sorted!

Reminder: Games Day 2009

Hello All,

Just a quick reminder to say I shall be attending Games Day 2009 this coming Sunday the 27th September - so if you have any of my Black Library books, Horus Heresy books or even posters, feel free to bring them along to get signed. I may even have a special sneak preview for anyone who asks nicely...

I look forward to seeing you there!

Local news for local people

Well, I seem to have made quite a stir with my recent Dredd piece, so much so that my local newspaper ran a little article in last weeks edition of the Louth Leader - I even made the front page:

(Above)
Look - there's me on the left...
at the top...
above the strange veg!

I just have to be thankful I made it above 'Strange Veg' otherwise I'd never be able to live that down...!

Here's the piece as it appeared on page 3:

(Above)
The chap who wrote it, Charles, was a keen Dredd fan and I feel
he enjoyed writing the 'Top 5 Dredd Facts' piece to accompany the article -
Nice one, Charles!

Great stuff, a couple of local people have since recognised me and stopped to talk to me about it which is always nice! I imagine CNN or BBC World News may be next on the list ;)

In other news, I'll be appearing at this years Games Day at the NEC on the Sept 27th, so if you want any books or posters signing, bring them on down and I'll deface them with my signature!

(Above)
Games Day in full flow - Sept 2006

Also, I've recently been pencilled in to be appearing at the big Horus Heresy signing at the Forbidden Planet Megastore next February - I'll talk more about this nearer the time, I guess.

Workwise, I'm currently doing some more 2000AD/ Megazine covers and a nice, big set of illustrations for an Iron Warriors book from BL Publishing.

Oh, and it looks like I'll be doing some lecturing at the University of Lincoln on their Computer Science course - all those years in the games biz might amount to something yet!

Peace out, y'all.

Horus Heresy: Tales of Heresy

Time flies when you're having fun, eh! These Horus Heresy posts are fast catching me up, I think this is from one of the latest books to be printed. It means I'll have to start rationing the relevant posts until further books are out. Hopefully I'll be able to add a few more 'How-to' bits to the posts, 'cos it seems people like that sort of thing.

There will still be plenty to read about though, as I can finally start showing exciting and cool work from some of my other clients.

With this piece, the 'Tales of Heresy', I really wanted to capture the raw anger and power in the Primarch Angron as he leads his World Eaters into battle. I like the fact he's standing on the Imperial Aquila (the double-headed eagle), one of the first tangible references to the Warhammer 40,000 future to come.

This Angron was based on the sketches in the Horus Heresy Collected Visions books by John Blanche.

Artwork (c) Games Workshop 2009. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission

I was trying to be a bit more daring with my colour use in this piece, with the greens and reds (I'd been watching a few too many Hammer Horror films at around that time), I thought it'd give the image some Chaotic 'kick'. Plus, I was overlaying many layers of paint scribbles and imperfections to give it a ruddy, grimy, weathered feel.

Trivia: The rubble and debris are photo-referenced from the old RAF airbase near Manby in Lincolnshire.

Breaking News!

Update time!

As if one post per month wasn't enough - now you get two in one day!

The newly announced cover for Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons is up at the Black Library. Here it is for those who want to have a look right now:


I think this one turned out really well - especially when Darius Hinks' superb design work is added to the mix. Well done us!

And in other news, I'm in the process of setting up some verrrry exciting work with a world renowned publishing/ media house - I can't wait to go public with the news, it's going to make my year!

Right, deep breaths, got to calm down...

Horus Heresy: Mechanicum

Back to the semi-regular posts about my work on the on-going (and best-selling!) Horus Heresy series. This time round - 'Mechanicum'

Like Legion there was one main character to focus on in this image, this time an Adeptus. The detailing on his mandible and chest box were great fun to work on, even if it isn't always immediately obvious. I find that the interplay of light, reflection and shadows at least hints at the intricate detail I like to add to the characters.

The Martian setting was great fun to do, with the Forge, the crazy mechanical creatures and robots all adding to the carnage.

Artwork (c) Games Workshop 2009. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission

Trivia: The background robots and vehicles are all old Citadel miniatures, Crusader class robots and Imperial Moles - for those interested.

Look Ahead: Horus Heresy - Prospero Burns

Over on the Black Library website, Darius Hinks has posted up the cover for the new HH book - Prospero Burns. He writes:

Jiminy Cricket, this is good. Makes me feel like I'm about to get flattened by a whole wall of armour, muscle and fangs. All of Neil Roberts' Horus Heresy covers have been pretty jaw-dropping, but with this Prospero Burns art I think he's excelled himself. I'm not sure how he's going to top this though – maybe with some kind of towering, one-eyed mutant?

The book's out in November.

Nice one - Cheers, Darius! It's always a pleasure working with BL Publishing.

Now, about that giant, one-eyed mutant...

Horus Heresy: Descent of Angels

This was a more pared down cover, less marines and an interior setting - this time a ransacked banqueting hall. I went as far as modelling debris, the rafters and cross-beams, but after I added the fog and glows and other EFX, it all got lost in the mayhem. The glow-globes were a nod of the hat to one of my favourite books as a teenager, Frank Herbert's 'Dune'.

People have told me they really like this cover, which is always good to hear, as I feel that making the extra effort always makes a difference.

Artwork (c) Games Workshop 2009. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission

Trivia: The reflections in the gold trim were created using images of the ornately Gothic interior of Lincoln Cathedral.

Horus Heresy: Fulgrim

This was the first time I'd been asked to illustrate any of the Primarchs and I was very nervous about doing so. As a fan I'd always wanted to see the Primarchs in all their glory. The only thing was they had to be far away in the background, having a fight.

On Ferrus Manus' back I wanted a big old-fashioned diesel engine to suggest his mechanical nature. It was great fun to do and also have a chance to add a dreadnought and some vehicles in there.

Artwork (c) Games Workshop 2009. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission

Trivia: Some have suggested Ferrus Manus' backpack looks like a beer barrel, I guess that means he'll never get thirsty.