Tools of the trade

Add some paper, a bottle of ink, some watercolour pans and you are all set.

Streets

I would sooner walk down a little street like this. Not even Tesco could shoehorn a store into this one.

Project

A snippet from something I'm working on

Bank Holiday

Another dreadful Bank Holiday! Wind, Rain and Traffic Jams. I suppose it could be worse.

Doctors

It has not gone without notice that certain people tend to drop in on the Doctor particularly when the weather has been forecast ‘fine and sunny’ for the next week.

They are of course looking for the Doctor to rubber stamp a week off in the garden on the sun lounger.

The Doctors must have heard it all.."It hurts when I do this”, “It hurts when I do that”. “I think I've caught a virus from the neighbours tortoise” or according to the Internet “I've got something called Hemmallstaffle Syndrome”! blah, blah, blah!

Now Doctors by the nature of their business can be excused for being somewhat off or dismissive sometimes when dealing with patients who are clearly ‘trying it on’. Remember the majority of their time can be spent listening to people moaning about something or the other. I have to say that in general Doctors do a fine job and have to be professional at all times when dealing with their patients, but I just wonder sometimes if they would actually like to say what they really think.

On this day

On this day 26 years ago

Alcohol Units

Every adult is expected to know and understand how many units of alcohol are in each the various measures of drink they may consume in an evening.

Once people know what they are will it be the end of such familiar sayings as "4 Pints of Bitter" and a replaced instead with "8 units of Bitter in separate glasses"..?

You 'orrible' little man

Every now and again there will be a discussion on the TV or Radio about how to deal with the lack of discipline amongst some of the kids today. " Bring back National Service" is often a moot point. I say forget it, look for an alternative as those days are long gone.

Fat Fish

Overheard someone saying that they think their Goldfish is overweight!!. Gave me an idea for quick gag.

Am I Overweight?

Apparently there is a percentage of people who do not know whether they are overweight or not. It's a curious situation to be in, as if you look and feel overweight then there is a strong chance that you are. Then again if you are reliant on the scales to give you the answer then surely the simple fact that you can't actually see them is also a good indicator.

"Question"

Q: Do you do any digital art? I don’t see any on your blog or your website.

A:I have a little Wacom tablet but cannot remember when I last used it. Now I have nothing against digital stuff as applications such as Photoshop and Painter can easily deliver effects that are as good as and in some cases better than the real thing.

Digital art is right up there these days, you only have to ‘surf the net’ looking at Digital Art to realise just what can be done with the humble pixel. Some of the stuff out there is incredible.
Coming back to the original question. I prefer at this time to use traditional media such pens, pencils and inks. It suits my way of working. Ok, so I cannot choose ‘Undo’ to correct my mistakes and I am continually looking for storage space for yet another bundle of drawings.

Also it has been said that you haven’t lived until you have knocked a bottle of Indian Ink all over your drawing table and subsequently cracked your head on the lamp above your head as you try to leap clear of the tidal wave of black ink sweeping towards you

You may also want to consider this …. When a drawing goes wrong I can take great pleasure in screwing it into a tight ball and launching it across the room into the permanently open flip top bin…Not something you can do with a £1000+ computer.
And clicking ‘undo’ or dragging a little file to the trash bin icon just isn’t the same.

So while pixel chasing is great I still prefer inky fingers.

Thanks for your question you know who you are.

A couple of swimmers

A couple of people down at the local pool probably the wrong side of 50

Football Premiership Showdown

If Wigan beat Man U and Chelsea beat Bolton then Chelsea win the title. If Bolton beat Chelsea and Man U beat Wigan then Man U win the title. If Man U and Chelsea both draw then Man U win the title. If Wigan and Bolton both win then Man U win the title. If both Man U and Chelsea win then Man U win on goal difference. If...........Do you know what! I don't really care as I follow West Ham.

Post news

A full post will follow later in the day meanwhile I shall just sit here looking bored

Question time

Q: I am interested to know what type of pen you use and it looks like you colour with inks...Do you?

A: I get asked that question many times so here we go. I mainly use a Dip Pen and Black Acrylic ink when drawing stuff like the two images that accompany this post. They are coloured up using Watercolours (see pic).

A couple of pics using the materials seen in the pic above.

I use chisel tip marker pens when drawing 'live' and doing big demo pictures. I can and do, use anything from calligraphy markers, fountain pens, fineliners and brushes for sketching and Doodling....Variety is good.

A pic done using a Chisel tip marker and Watercolours

Thanks for the question

Are you going to answer our questions?

I have been receiving quite a few questions just recently, about the pictures I post up on my Blog. Some ask what kind of materials, such as pens, inks etc I use. While others are curious about what I draw, why and how I go about it.

I am more than happy to answer those questions and will start right here with this intro or brief overview.

I have a saying which is 'See what you see then Draw what you saw' and that is really the rule that applies for me when it comes to the random doodle or sketch. I form an image in my minds eye based on something that I have heard or maybe seen. I then simply start drawing, the result being the majority of what you see here on this Blog.

Future posts will contain the text of the actual question emailed to me and my answer.

In the meantime I will leave you with this image of a Pig.

Keep the questions coming :)

Man and Birdcage

Not quite sure what was in the cage, but I think I just swallowed it!

Mouse trapped

A quick image for a quiet Sunday

London has a new Mayor

London has a new Mayor and his name is Boris Johnson. He is a bit of a character and guaranteed to take London on a rollercoaster ride over the next four years...Lets just hope it's a fun ride and Boris is actually prepared for it.

What is it like to fly?

Odd one out