Anthony Hope-Smith

Gee Gee Storyboards

2012-01-14T11:41:00.000Z

Written and directed by Peter Straughan(writer - ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’, ‘Men Who Stare at Goats’) and starring DavidMorrissey, Gee Gee is a short film (35mm) funded by Film4, UK Film Council withthe support of Northern Film and Media.

Adapted from a John Cheevershort story, the film follows the unsettling effect of drunken and riotousnew-comer Gee-Gee on his neighbours in a fashionable block of flats. Theclosely-knit, respectable community finally force the trouble-maker to move,but one of them - the previously happy and respectable Michael - shows alarmingsigns of infection…

Gosh! Bookplate

2012-01-03T16:10:00.000Z

Some praise for GONZO:

“Text and image interact and collide withaudacious, intuitive logic, capturing the essence… And when you get to the end,you realize the whole damn thing was pulled off without a single cliché.”
–Michel Faber, critic and author of The Crimson Petal and the White

“Hope-Smith’s art is beautifully realized.Thompson is rendered not as a the hedonistic outlaw superman of legend but as atwitchy and surprisingly sensitive human being…Those readers who are familiarwith Thompson’s work will see certain scenes played out from a newperspective.”
- TheWall Street Journal

“Sensibly, Hope-Smith's dark, energetic andrather splendid illustrations and Bingley's sharp words (a fair few ofThompson's are thrown in to good effect) focus more on the creativity of the60s and 70s than the decline of later years, dedicating just a few torturedpages to the remaining years.”
– The Guardian

“With taught and evocative writing fromWill Bingley and superb black and white illustrations from Anthony Hope-Smith,Gonzo is a meth-soaked journey down the path of self-destruction that defined20th century counter culture.”
- Esquire

“Rigid, intense copy by Will Bingley andevocative black and white artwork from Anthony Hope-Smith Gonzo – A GraphicBiography of Hunter S. Thompson brings thisenraged, politically charged romantic’s life into full focus documenting himfrom birth foul-mouthed and full-circle through oddball activism, misplacedlove and “king-high” drug abuse to his untimely, tragic suicide. We’re callingit “a must” ”
- Maxim

“Gonzo is an excellent, entertaining andinformative biography, a great read and an intriguing calling card fromcreators to watch out for.”
- ShinyShelf

“The graphic novel is a hugely satisfying read,whether you have an interest in Thompson or not. And for someone unfamiliarwith Thompson it’s an excellent introduction to his life and work.”
– ComicsBuzz

“All in all, Gonzo does exactly what I washoping it would, it’s a fascinating biography, a triumph of a graphic novel anda beautifully realised picture of a unique man. It may be a late addition, butGonzo has easily made it onto my best of year list. SelfMadeHero really have aknack of putting out some of the best original graphic novels around.”
- Richard Bruton, The Forbidden PlanetInternational Blog

“In a partnership and style reminiscent ofJeph Loeb and Tim Sale, Hope-Smith complements Bingley’s texts with strongbrushwork and predominantly widescreen compositions. The team make good use ofthe gaps between what is said and what is shown to create irony andcounterpoint. Theirs is the perfect language to evoke Thompson’s fierce, angryintelligence that made him one of the modern world’s most outspoken andcourageous commentators and defenders of liberties. As those same libertiesstill come under threat these days, let’s hope that it will be Thompson’sno-bullshit attitude to hypocrisy and authority and his persistent search fortruth that inspire rebel readers and writers to follow his trail. That is alegacy even he might have been proud of.”
- Paul Gravett, The Man At TheCrossroads, freelance journalist, curator, lecturer, writer and broadcaster,one of the worlds foremost experts on the Graphic Novel in all it’s forms,author of (among others) MANGA Sixty years ofJapanese Comics, GRAPHIC NOVELS Stories ToChange Your Life and 1001 COMICS You Must ReadBefore You Die

Many thanks go out to allwho have shown an interest in, and offered kind words and feedback regarding,our first graphic novel!

Cheers!

Post-Christmas Wrap-Up...

2011-12-27T16:43:00.001Z

...post features my design for the GONZO wrapping paper, a clever little piece of promo given that the book came out just a few weeks before Christmas 2010. The design went down so well that a modified version became the end papers for the book itself.

I would also like to draw your attention to a series of guest posts that I did for the SelfMadeHero blog in which I share process and, in the last post, inspirations for my work. Here are the links in chronological order -

Post 01

Post 02

Post 03

Post 04

Post 05

Hope you enjoy (and apologies for the typos, many that there are)!

Isabella

2011-12-22T17:19:00.001Z

Paper Anniversary Gift

2011-12-14T09:43:00.000Z

Dr Strange - Master of the Mystic Arts!!!

2011-12-07T23:05:00.001Z

Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond

2011-11-28T16:22:00.001Z

Blam!

2011-11-16T16:48:00.002Z

Hello! Up to now I have been happy to merely post the odd image, intermittently, without any accompanying explanation beyond that which can be gleaned from the title and keywords. Well, as of this week I will be posting on, at least, a weekly schedule. The posts will still be light on text, for the most part, but then this is an art blog and not the place for me to play at the frustrated writer. I will also share any news pertaining to the pieces posted here.

The image above is a piece of concept art for an upcoming comic project that I am very excited about! To say much more than that, and to talk about with whom I will be collaborating, would at this stage be impolite, but rest assured that I will be delighted to share more illos and information as and when appropriate.

Finally, many thanks for popping by and, indeed, for your interest! Keep an eye on this page as I have some cool bits lined up for the next few weeks, and further beyond!

Gonzo Trailer

2011-03-28T12:53:00.000Z

GONZO – a graphic novel biography of Hunter S Thompson from SelfMadeHero on Vimeo.

ISBN: 9781906838119

Korridor GN "Trailer"

2011-03-13T20:55:00.002Z

Story - Jay Basu

with Colin Teague

Find out more here.

Gonzo Spreads

2011-03-07T11:24:00.000Z

Out now!

2010-12-04T11:26:00.005Z

Available from all good bookshops!

Gosh! Bookplate Edition - limited to 200!

Being Human - Series 2 Storyboards (BBC)

2010-06-01T15:04:00.013Z

EDIT (22/12/11) - The above video was put together by the guys at Touchpaper, with audio from the episode laid over an animatic of my boards. It likely hasn't escaped your notice that said video is not currently working. Unfortunately, I foolishly neglected to grab myself a copy when it was available. Thus, I have posted the actual boards below this message for your enjoyment, and I will leave the video up in the hope that it will come back online at some point soon, once the BBC have finished tinkering about with their new site.

And here, as an extra "treat", are a selection of boards from Series 3 -

Gonzo: a Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson (SelfMadeHero)

2010-04-20T17:29:00.004Z

Find out more at selfmadehero.com

Olympus Pin-Up (Image Comics)

2009-07-14T10:49:00.005Z

Resonance Prologue

2009-06-07T16:09:00.008Z

Story - Allen J. Beever, Colin Teague and Tom Hill

Find out more here.

Doctor Who Spot Illustrations (unsent)

2009-02-16T22:17:00.006Z

A little background regarding these illustrations and the Doctor Who pages in the previous post... I had found myself without work in late 2008, and so, at the suggestion of a friend, I put together some samples featuring the Doctor Who characters. By the time I'd finished them, I had other work lined up, so these samples have never been sent out. Can't help wondering if they might have resulted in anything?

Doctor Who Samples (unsent)

2009-01-24T02:46:00.008Z