Hello, hello, hello! AttoBoy is the imprint for comic stuff done by me, Derek Mah. Gee, I sound like Al Franken in his old SNL shtick...


I am a commercial illustrator in friendly Calgary, Alberta, Canada - Stampede City and Gateway to the Rockies! (Calgary, not me!) Despite working at serious art for a number of years, the urge to draw comics has grown too strong, so here I am. (Can you feel that? It's the Quickening!)


(Of course comics are serious art, but it's sometimes hard to convince the uninitiated of that fact. It can be hard, sometimes, to convince even the initiated of that fact!)


Preferred mediums include watercolour and acrylic. Themes and subject matter vary from rusty antiques to science fiction and fantasy images.


Favourite artists include Gil Kane, Dick Giordano, Keith Giffen, Bill Sienkiewicz, Winsor McCay, Maxfield Parrish, Jon J. Muth, Brian Froud and Alphonse Maria Mucha. That's the short list, anyway. I really can't think of too many artists whose work I don't like!


Some of the nicest art can be found in illustrated books for children. Among my favourites are Norman Lindsay's The Magic Pudding - The Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum (Angus & Robertson, Pub.), Paul Morin's paintings in The Dragon's Pearl (Oxford University Press) and Brian Froud's paintings in Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book (Turner Publishing, Inc.). That last one's not really a children's book, but I found it in that part of a bookstore, so that's how I'll list it here!


Competing for space and food in our cozy home is another human, two cats and four gerbils, all female. Their names are Cari, Zoie, Zana, Misty, Lyric, Lacey and Joe. There are also about two dozen stuffed animals, but I won't name them here because I wouldn't want anyone to think I was weird...


A corner of the studio is dedicated to the computer. A Macintosh, naturally. Much debate has focused on the supposed superiority of this or that computer and software configuration. Having used both Pentiums and Macs for all sorts of page layout and graphics applications, I have only one thing to say:

Commercial Plug:

The ASFA CD-ROM "Atlantis to the Stars"
available from CD Titles.

• CD Title's best selling CD!
• Featuring SF and Fantasy Art by leading artists!
  (Derek, too!)
  
• Mac and PC compatible!
• and all for less than $10 US!
  

• Order on-line now!

Sort of Commercial Plug:
(more of an invitation, really...)

• If you are in Calgary next summer, drop by the Con-Version XIV Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention and say "hi!" The show takes place July 18 to 20, 1997 at the Carriage House Inn.
  

  This past year at Con-Version XIII, Derek's painting The Puppetmaster was voted Best Original 2D Art! It will be the cover for the comic book Carrion #1 debuting early 1997 from Dave World Press!
  

  Hey, let's see if they've updated the site!
  

Another Sort of Commercial Plug:
(more of an invitation, again...)

• If you are in Lethbridge next summer, drop by the NonCon XX Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention and say "hi!" The show takes place October 10 - 12, 1997 at the Sandman Inn.
  

  Check out their site!
  

Thanks for visiting AttoBoy Online, hope you've enjoyed yourself!
And now, the obligatory links...

Alta Vista - my favourite search engine


Macworld Online - online Mac magazine


The Anti-Gravity Room - YTV's way cool show about comics


SAGA Net - my favourite band's site


Indy Magazine - reviews of independently published comics


Winsor McCay - Little Nemo in Slumberland!