Drawing

Happy New Year!

2018 is here, Dear Reader!

Best instagram posts of 2017

Last year I took the leap from occasional creator to running my own business as a professional illustrator, graphic designer and writer – something that took a lot of courage, hard work and determination. 

There’s been bumps in the road causing delays in setting everything up, but I’m still on track.

My next steps are advertising myself more, catching up on both personal and professional projects so that I have a clear schedule ahead of me – and most importantly: improving my daily routine both personally and professionally.

All while balancing life as a father and partner, and going back to my part time day job after more than half a year as a stay-at-home dad.

I start the new year with clear goals in mind and a path staked out for turning my business into my primary means of support.

2017 was full of challenges, learning, and new acquaintances and connections. I bought a new apartment with the love of my life and together we built a home for our little family, something which allowed me to finally set up a professional creative work space (no more drawing at the dining room table!) and sort through all of my art supplies. 


I’ve connected with some amazing people, both privately and in my business, and they have been a big help and inspiration for me as I move forward with my goals.
2018 will also see the release of Lady Phantom – the vigilante comic book I’m doing with writer Julie K. Taylor – after nearly two years of preparation and hard work.

What did you accomplish in 2017 and what challenges do you anticipate in 2018?

Ink

Inktober is here and this year I’m participating for the first time.
Of course, one could day In creating as I am busy inking Lady Phantom anyway – but hopefully I will manage to share some other things as well!

Ink is a medium I have fairly limited experience in.

I’ve always preferred pencils and various colour mediums and when I  accepted the Lady Phantom project I had to think long and hard about whether or not I wanted to do traditional inks or take another approach. As you can see I chose ink. I figured my first proper comics project should include as much as possible of the craft.

And inking is a valuable skill to have as an illustrator.

As with everything, I’m trying to approach inking from a very personal angle – learning from but trying not to copy what others do, and still adapting my technique to the requirements of whatever I am working on.

You can follow my progress for inktober on instagram: @rallwin

Lady Phantom

Dear Reader –

I haven’t been posting much lately, and there are three reasons for that:

  • First and foremost, having a baby boy (he just turned 5 months old) takes a lot of time and effort.
  • Second, with the advent of our child. me and my girlfriend are busy planning our future and working toward finding a home for our family.
  • Third, the project I’m working on – the one I have been teasing here and elsewhere:

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So what is Lady Phantom, you may wonder?

Lady Phantom is the title and main character of an upcoming superhero comic, written by Julie K. Taylor and drawn by R. Thomas Allwin (that’s right – me!). Now, don’t run off and try to find it quite yet, though – we are just starting out. For the past six months, we have been busy refining the original concept, working out the script, doing concept art and storyboards – now, we have all the preparations done and we are ready to start in earnest.

It’s going to be a while before the first issue is available.

I am just now putting pen to paper and starting the actual interior art, and between my day job and my family there’s only so much time to put it. Our plan is to start with a six-issue mini series and go from there.

Everything else will be in your hands, as readers and critics.

You will be able to follow our progress on the facebook page:

Lady Phantom

We will post updates, teasers, news and information about ourselves there – though of course there will be updates on here as well – so if you want the latest info as it happens, swing by and follow us there. Who knows, there may even be some surprises popping up there later on!

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Welcome to Costa City!