Has anyone noticed that Spring is in the air?
Image
7
The True Nature of Robins
If you’re anything like me, you can’t help but chat to Mr Robin when he joins you in the garden. But what if he isn’t who we think he is?
If you like it, share it!
Life’s Little Mysteries #3
Image
If you like it, share it!
Life’s Little Mysteries #2
If you like it, share it!
Long haul flights
When I travel, I tend to keep a diary. Occasionally, I try to draw cartoons based on an entry – it’s good practice and provides some inspiration. This is a reflection on my recent flight from Calgary to London. I failed to draw the man reading a ‘Guns and Ammo’ magazine who was on the verge of using the baby as target practice. I did feel sorry for the baby as it obviously wasn’t well. Its parents tried incredibly hard to pacify it, but the combined experience of being shoehorned into a seat, subjected to the tinny sound of ineffectual headphones from the man sitting next to me AND a crying baby, made for a horrific journey.
If you like it, share it!
Beautiful Bloggers
I’m not very experienced with Blogger Awards but when someone nominates you for one, there is undoubtedly a sense of pride (however small) that people appreciate what you do. I hear that some people are irritated by them, but I think it is nice to spread the cheer.
It has taken me some time to follow up my nomination from the lovely Michelle who writes regularly on her blog The Green Study. There are a few rules involved in the Beautiful Blogger Award. I’ve worked my way through them:
Identify and show appreciation of the blogger who awarded you.
Michelle was one of my first followers and always has kind things to say about my work. She writes beautifully about her life, her daughter, her observations and often her posts are dosed with humor.
You must add the award logo to your blog.
Added to my “About” page.
Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.
- I used to work in a zoo looking after a baby elephant. I appeared on television with said elephant and can confirm that animals and TV do not mix.
- For a short while I rode a Harley.
- I’ve had a varied career path. I was once a firefighter before it dawned on me that burning to death would be a horrible way to die.
- I love animals but my other half is yet to be convinced that our life would be so much more interesting with a dog in it.
- I truly have big hair.
- I secretly hope that one day someone will see my drawings and say ‘hey, let’s collaborate on something’.
- I dissected my own kidney in a biology class. Of course you wouldn’t be able to do that nowadays, but in back then when you had an operation you could take your body parts home in a pot…. That’s what I did. And I wonder why people think I’m weird.
You must nominate 5-10 bloggers you read regularly for this award.
All of my nominations are for fellow artists. I would like to start with Rusty Doodle. Rusty is a doodler/cartoonist who after years of ignoring his passion to follow other career paths, has finally turned his hand to what he loves.
Silent Paige “was a child witness to domestic abuse. She uses comics as her preferred medium to explore the experience and legacy of that.” Beautifully illustrated, I wait with baited breath to see the next installment.
The Illustrious Peacock. “Bringing a touch of beautiful into everyday life”. Fabulous filmography, photography and design.
The Cutting Edge – often rude, often crude but always funny.
An Owl a Day – What a challenge! Drawing an owl a day for 365 days. I love these quirky little illustrations. Who would of thought it was possible to create a different one every day.
Inform your nominees that you nominated them.
If you like it, share it!
Life’s little mysteries
Image
If you like it, share it!
I would love to be able to contribute to a piece of work like this. Melts the heart!
I’ve been fiddling around with paper Valentine ideas…both for this blog, and for Jackson’s Darwin’s shop displays. It was serendipity that led me to this romantic animation featuring paper. Lots of paper.
Merging computer-generated and hand-drawn animation techniques,”Paperman” was created by a small, innovative team working at Walt Disney Animation Studios. I love that they’ve put it up on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.
If you like it, share it!
Snow Days
This cartoon was inspired by my recent trip to Canada, but seems equally appropriate for the UK at the moment. I’m certainly unused to extreme cold weather and although it was a relatively balmy -14 degrees Celcius in Canada, I suffered from chill blains on my fingers and frost nip on my legs.
Every morning we discussed the temperature over breakfast then dressed accordingly. The mere act of getting dressed for a day out in Canada is a process in itself, and there is something to be said for an organised approach. It wasn’t until the third or fourth day of the holiday that I realised you need to have all your essentials ready first. Then and only then should you get on with the business of donning your outdoor gear. Even when I’d mastered that element, it was another day or so before I learnt to avoid expiration by putting my had, scarf and coat on last. Yes, I’m slow!
If you like it, share it!
January Canadian Scenes
I’ve just returned from a week in Canada and am suffering from a colossal case of jetlag. Our ten hour prison sentence, ahem, I mean flight, was marred by the seemingly unbreakable vocal cords of a small, unhappy child. That, and being squeezed into a space more suited to a cat than a human, meant sleep was unattainable for over 24hours! On the plus side, we did manage to see the fabulous Northern Lights through the airplane window, which I’d have missed if my eye were shut! Why thank you small, screaming devil child!
On arrival in the UK, all the stories of heavy snowfall were confirmed and although the flight wasn’t delayed, the plane’s hold doors froze shut so it took an hour and a half for our bags to arrive! Surely they must be prepared for this type of scenario? It took so long that I started to have visions of baggage handling crew frantically licking the hold doors in a desperate attempt to free our bags! I’m sure there’s a cartoon there somewhere.
Anyway, apart from that, the holiday was fantastic. The food was more than ample (as per North American quotas) and the scenery was breathtaking. I have a few cartoons that I’m mulling over, but before I put pen to paper, I thought I’d share a few travel snapshots.
Big Hair Metamorphosis 