Comic creator, freelance illustrator and character designer Stuart Harrison has just completed a commission from the Atkinson Gallery in Southport, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The resulting artwork will be exhibited at The Atkinson on Lord Street, Southport, from this Thursday, 6th June.
It tells the story and experiences, in comic strip form, of a Southport local,Ted Jackson, who landed on SWORD beach on 6th June 1944, with the King’s V Liverpool Regiment.
“The origin of the idea was that I knew his son, Dave,” Stuart tells downthetubes, “who owned a model shop in Southport. “Last June, he showed me all his militaria in the shop – including a tin of actual sand from SWORD beach, amongst other things!
“So we cooked up a plan as we wanted to somehow tell the general public about what happened 80 years ago, and his sister Angela wrote up his history.
“I translated it into a comic strip, printed it out two metres tall.”
There’s more information here on their website.
Stuart Harrison, Co-Owner, Content Creator, Character Designer of Liverpool-basd Fun Crew Ltd, is a UK-based illustrator and designer. His work includes a series of picture books for children with HIV, for the charity Chiva, and he’s the Leading Illustrator for publisher Signature Publishing Ltd, providing strips for their My Little Pony and Equestria Girls titles, and writing and drawing the “Dinoboy” strip for their Dino Action title, which he’s been doing for more than 10 years.
He was the artist behind two ELT books for Scholastic, The Skate Park After Dark and The Graffiti Ghost, written by Angela Salt, based on Spooky Skaters, and has previously written “Spooky Skaters” comic strips for TOXIC and Dandy Xtreme.
A creative who regularly runs cartooning workshops at venues such as Liverpool’s Dot Gallery, he’s who’s had numerous clients over the last 25 years, illustrating and designing for children’s educational books, and magazine publishing, food and toy packaging for the US, European and Japanese markets (including creating the concept and characters, and all the artwork behind the Kellogg’s Fruit Winders product, with creative partner Steve Williams), children’s IP creation for TV and web properties, drawing and writing comic strips, branding, concepts and artwork for advertising campaigns.
He also created all the artwork and assets for the BBC BAFTA winning website “Level Up”. Other work includes artwork for Hasbro brands such as My Little Pony, Mr Potato Head and Go-Jetters for the BBC, and he’s designed and written animated comedy for a Youtube series, “Comical Spill”.
The Atkinson is Southport’s home for music, theatre, art, literature and history. You can find it in the middle of the iconic Lord Street and just three minutes’ walk from Southport train station.
The venue offers an exciting and varied destination for families, cultural tourists and arts enthusiasts alike, with a full day and night time offer. Home to a permanent “Dan Dare” exhibit, upcoming free exhibitions include Bill Tidy: “Is there any news of the iceberg?”, running from Saturday 8th June 2024 – Saturday 5th October 2024.
The exhibition pays tribute to the comic genius who gave us “The Cloggies” and “The Fosdyke Saga”, as well as countless other cartoons in our national newspapers and magazines.
• The Atkinson is at Lord Street, Southport PR8 1DB and online at theatkinson.co.uk | Facebook | Instagram | X
• Stuart Harrison is online at stu-art.biz | Instagram | LinkedIn
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Comic Art, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Exhibitions, Other Worlds
Related Articles
-
Whose Side Are You On? Election Trail at London’s Cartoon Museum
-
Beryl Cook and Tom of Finland exhibition at Studio Voltaire spotlights two extraordinary creators
-
“Adventures in Time and Space – 60 Years of Doctor Who Art” heads to Somerset
-
In Pictures and In Review: “Heroes” exhibition at the Cartoon Museum