Bramble and Burdock

Another effort for IF . I made this a while ago hoping to turn it into a T-shirt design, but as usual never got around to it. I was reading a book about Marx and sketched a quick charicature from a photo of him. He's always depicted with that serious look, hence the captions. He had a hard life, but I think he would have had a chuckle now and then - and he'd certainly appreciate all the bloggers who are "rising up" and producing their own content...!

Somewhere in between card-making and sleeping, I found time to do a quick sketch for the topic "Vacant" for this week's Illustration Friday . Sharks always seem to have vacant eyes, which tends to make them seem scarier (that and the fact that a lot of them have huge teeth!), but actually I quite like them! For this illo I took a pic of my drawing (for lack of a scanner) and inverted the colours using GIMP to make it look like it's looming out of the dark.

It's very difficult to concentrate on making Christmas cards when cows keep wandering across to see what you're doing...

October seems to be the best month for colour photography. I spent the weekend capturing the changing foliage!

Well, autumn is well and truly here in my part of the world. Soon it'll be time to start thinking about Christmas!

A silly one for IF . Possible alternate tagline - "Lemon suspected nepotism was the explanation for such a quick promotion..."

Ah, the joys of the doodle... the best use for leftover paint! Tiny characters with a life of their own.

"Waiter, waiter! There's a fly in my soup!" "Well sir, don't speak too loudly or everybody will want one...!" Yet another slightly tenuous offering for Illustration Friday . This two-tone style always puts me in mind of those magazine illustrations from the 1950s. The third fly also seems to have turned out a bit Gorey ...

If you open your eyes "wide" at night, you might just see something unexpected... A tenuous effort for Illustration Friday , with apologies to the inimitable Goya.

A few of the things that make life a little more bearable: - drinking tea when you're really thirsty - musty books - the bit of floor just below a window sill - the film "If..." - really good poetry - remembering your first ZX Spectrum

Seapower! For Illustration Friday

I think I've used every shade of green known to man in my current piece of work.

The fruits of a browse around town. Rescuing discarded pet photos from second-hand shops is a favourite pastime of mine. And who can resist a novel about talking woodland creatures...?!

By utilizing the little-appreciated skill of "avoiding work", you can get lots of household chores done very easily. Today the shower curtain needed a good clean, and by adding a bit of salt to the water, you can keep the mould at bay a little longer! Tomorrow I will do some work, promise...!

First post, so not much here at the moment, but hopefully there will be soon. It’s always difficult to come back after a great holiday... Anyway, can’t stare at holiday snaps all day - there’s work to be done!