Merry Christmas to one and all...

Peace and Goodwill to everyone, wherever you may be...

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one today to give you a little e-card.

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying it with those you love and are safe and well.

All that remains is for me to wish you all the Very Best and say that I hope Santa brought you all you wished for...

Until next time, have fun!

Tim Perkins…
December 25th 2010

‘Twas the Night before Christmas 2010...

Not long now guys...

Hi Guys,

I apologise for the lack of Blogs during this festive season, which I have come to use as the Bloggiest time of year of late, but the workload as I work through the enormous amount of work with the digital painting of Worlds End has been taking up most of my waking hours and I hope the finished art will show you the truth of this, when you finally see the graphic novel in print in 2011.

To tell the truth this year has seen fewer Blogs from me, but for the same reason and the fact that the first half of the year saw me working on projects, which in hindsight I should have left well alone.

Anyhow with only a few hours left before we hear Santa’s sleigh bells – If you do my advice is get to sleep ASAP, or else Santa may not pay you a visit – I thought I would share a few festive moments with you all.

Thanks first to all of the customers that have bought things from us this year – your support, as always is invaluable. Thanks also to the many people that have either left comments here on the Blog, or other Social and Professional Networks, or emails either sent privately, or to the main Wizards Keep Website – I appreciate your time spent in doing so.

The entire local landscape is covered in deep snow and looks beautiful – picture postcard/ Christmas card perfect. The plan is to take some photos of the place over the next few days and post them in a later Blog during this season of goodwill.

Yesterday saw me visit the nearby city of Preston with my wife, Margaret and daughter, Joanne as we did some last minute shopping. During our time there I saw one of Santa’s helpers and a very friendly Red Dragon and add my photo took with them, in fact it was at the insistence of my wife and daughter that it was taken...let me know what you think. The place was a nice gentle hustle and bustle with folks to-ing and fro-ing as they too did their last minute Christmas shopping – to me it seemed some were doing all of their LATE Christmas shopping, and we all know how that can be... LOL.

This morning saw me visit my home town of Blackburn and despite the sunshine the temperature is still minus silly and the snow is not moving away, so we are set for a wonderful white Christmas again, just like last year.

Whilst in the centre of town I paid a visit to the newly moved comic shop, Bat-Cave, which is now situated on the first and second floors in a fantastic store with a bicycle shop occupying the ground floor. This new move means the store is now much bigger with much more scope and the plan is to stock some Wizards Keep products in there in the New Year and have a signing for the graphic novel when we launch in 2011. The address is here and I strongly advise you guys to pop along, if you are visiting.

Bat-Cave, 48 Northgate, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB5 1JL UK.
Website: www.bat-cave.co.uk

We’ll be placing a permanent link in the Website links pages ASAP.
I’ll be Blogging between Christmas and New Year, as much as I can and may let you guys see more recent work on Worlds End unseen up to this moment, except for a few colleagues and friends and family...I’ll see...

Well just before I go, Bentley would like to say thanks for all the messages he has received this year too and all the friends he has seen add him to their Twitter pages. Tonight he plans on an early bedtime with his stocking hung up at the side of his basket, although he will probably be beside me in bed...if I know him at all...LOL.

All that remains is for me to wish you all the Very Best and say that I hope Santa brings you all you wish for...
Until next time, have fun!

Tim Perkins…
December 24th 2010

Happy Birthday, Mum...

And some more snippets...

Hi Guys,

I wanted to share my Mum’s Birthday with everyone today, so, once more, I hope you’ll indulge me.
 

With Bentley "Bogtrotter" in tow once more and braving the wintery weather we made the short car journey to Mum and Dad’s home today, where we were plied with chicken and stuffing sandwiches, chocolate roll and several cups of tea.

The sun had set by the time we were making our way back home and just as it has for several days now the temperature was well below freezing even before it had done so.

Well more snow is forecast and I have lots to do, so I will leave you with me wishing my Mum a Happy Birthday once more.

Until next time, have fun!


Tim Perkins…
December 6th 2010

Happy Birthday, Dad...

And some other snippets...

Hi Guys, I wanted to share my Dad’s Birthday with everyone today, so I hope you’ll indulge me.

Dad & Bentley "Bogtrotter"

I have just got back from visiting my parents amidst the snowy landscape and was attired accordingly, despite going along in the car. Accompanying me was Bentley “Bogtrotter” sporting his new haircut and Christmas coat and scarf. Margaret was out with Joanne, so I set off before any more snow arrived. Bentley, as you know by now, loves going out in the car with me, so with his winter togs on and his little seat belt on he settled down for the trip in the snow.

It was lovely and warm in Mum and Dad’s home and it wasn’t long after Dad had opened his card and present before we were settled down with a brew and some biscuits. We looked at his other cards and presents and chatted and they both played with Bentley, whom they both love and spoil rotten. Mum fed him Brioche whilst we chatted, which he scoffed down enthusiastically. There is always a great smell of cooking at their home and today was no exception. The time just flew and then it was time for Bentley and I to make our way back, so I could return to the studio to work.

We didn’t make it to the Pickwick evening, after all, this year, as I fell asleep in the chair for a while after the long hours I had worked this last week on the computer with more paints being applied digitally to the graphic novel pages. Mum had not been too well anyhow with a chest infection and I had paid a visit to the doctors for some anti-biotics on Monday for the same reason, so with that in mind, my tiredness and the snowy weather and the trip was unfortunately missed this year, but I am sure we will make up for it in other ways during this festive season.

Last evening’s Murder Mystery Buffet at The Olde England Kiosk was brilliant with me managing to get the correct murderer, the correct motive, but getting the method of the murder wrong. It was great fun and, never having been to one before, I would certainly go again. The venue has a Tudor feel to it inside and feels really quaint. It is always great having time out with friends and the weather certainly added to the venue, situated as it was not far from my daughter’s house in the depths of Sunnyhurst woods – certainly a great place to hold a murder mystery...

Well more snow is forecast and I have lots to do, so I will leave you with me wishing my Dad a Happy Birthday once more.
 
Until next time, have fun!

Tim Perkins…
December 4th 2010

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, again...

25 days to go and counting...

Hi Guys,

Well one minute I seemed to be looking at a summer wedding for my daughter Joanne and her husband, Toby from the viewpoint of just coming out of a few months of very wintery weather, with snow lasting arriving pre-Christmas and lasting for three months and here we are once more in Winter with pre-Christmas snow. This is something even here in the north west of England that I certainly haven’t seen since my days as a little kid.

It looks very picturesque here at the moment outside the studio windows of the Keep – just like something from any “olde worlde” traditional winter scene.

What’s on the agenda then for this season of good will I hear you ask?

Well, first off, the website will see a return of the FREE SHIPPING throughout the holiday season until 12:00 midnight on January 1st.

We are also launching FOUR NEW Christmas Cards. These were traditionally illustrated by me during the nineties as line art with colour washes and used to send to my colleagues in the comic industry and I have decided to publish them this year en masse.

Tomorrow on Thursday sees the return of the pilgrimage to the village of Whalley for the annual Pickwick Night event. Weather permitting I’ll be going along with Mum and Dad again.

Friday sees me enjoying an evening with some friends at a Murder Mystery, which sounds like being fun.

The final edits on the Worlds End script are now complete, so I’ll be winging it off to Richard Starkings very soon for him to letter the book.

I am forging ahead with the digital paints on the rest of the book – I am over the half way mark now and the graphic novel is now starting to come together nicely.

Last year saw me produce a Blog a day over the entire month of December. Unfortunately time will not permit me to do so this year, but I will try and publish some nice frivolously festive footnotes to carry on the tradition here on this Blog as many times as I can.

As you guys now realise this is a very important part of the year for me and my family, so I’ll be trying to keep that feeling prevalent here too, as usual.

Until next time, have fun!

Tim Perkins…
December 1st 2010