...2008 first editions

Yay, my first book !

Started my new year off with a smile when I found the delivery note this morning :O)

...unwanted xmas presence

Happy Christmas all.

...a Christmas snail.

An excerpt taken from "A Christmas Snail"
One of Charles Dickens' lesser known works.

...refrigerator horror

Douglas Adams once suggested his fridge has seriously started to lurk.

Its that time of year again.
Im going in .

...the shopping forecast

Ok , so I went off on a bit of an ebay tangent today.
Started with one , didn't like it so drew another.
(After all I had to find a reason for Polar bears & penguins to occupy the same polar region, so online penguin shopping it was).

I'm beginning to think I should investigate a more constructive use of my lunch hour.

...Gin !

Been away from my blog & drawing in general for a while .
Priorities elsewhere.
No , not Gin.
Mostly stopping work for a short holiday , so no lunchtime cartooning sessions.
Ive channeled my efforts elsewhere & managed to further my sailing instruction qualifications.
Which I know sounds dull , but was good fun.
Night navigation, in high speed ribs, in a force 8 wind & major sea swell was an interesting experience not to be repeated in a hurry though.

Anyway back to some sort of normality now.

...pffffft !

Modern priorities.

...being a swine.

I get a little bored with folk quoting food statistics & facts at me all the time.

...bad thoughts

I know it's wrong.
Small children should not ask me silly questions though, gives me bad thoughts.

...chasing the money

A leaving card for one of my work mates.
I was asked today whether I would be "making a collection" for a leaving present for him.
After consideration that the guy was unqualified, was on 8 1/2" grand a year more than me & now leaving for a job in excess of £52,000 my initial reaction was , "AM I FUCK" .
After calming down I conceded to draw a card.
(Which I hasten to add was far more than most were willing to do)
I wonder if I Will get my point across.

...hurumph

Despite how ever much I like Autumn ,
I kind of missed the summer because I was working .

So hurumph !

(just needed to get that off my chest)

...bunny dreams

.....

...sausage !

I expect I have a latent desire to get dressed up as a sausage,
But I don't get invited to those kind of parties any more.

(Maybe at Hallowen.)

...return to the flock

I was capable of individual thought once.
Society generally doesn't like it you know.

...remote dangers

I can honestly say that I don't have a remote control anything in my house.

Not too happy with my cartoon today.
My black ink pen ran out So I tried to compensate & fill in with photoshop.
I think the Jet black over took the tone of the thing a little too much.
:O(

...failure to step back

...bear flames

...abridged movies.

Every now and again I run out of ideas & abridge a movie
into four or less frames.
Any one guess this one ?
Easiest one yet I think.

(click on the drawing to enlarge)

...intollerance

I have arrived at the conclusion that the marked increase in the UK grey squirrel population is not down to its natural aggressiveness or territorial dominance over our native red squirrel , but due to a rapid acceleration of the sickly little red buggers developing nut allergies & it's just making them look grey.

...ram zom com ?

Mmmm.
A short while ago I wondered why they hadn't made a killer sheep movie.

Now it turns out they have .

I now feel I need to go see it .

...pink rock

Despite its image & it's stereo typical perception as a talentless gener, Im rather fond of Punk.
...pink too.

...rubber duelling chickens.

I find space hoppers funny.
I find the concept of rubber chickens funny.
Now I know Im going a little strange,
but at least it gives me a little warm glow inside.

...end of the world

I've yet to determine where the ends of the earth are for me.
Pontyprid in Wales was pretty damn close.
....or was that just the pitts of the earth ?

...bananas split

?

Fruit horror films.

Dawn of the 'veg'.
My bloody 'nectarine'
'Fruit' basket case
Jack the 'pipper'
The people who live under the 'pears'
The 'fruit' fly
Pumpkinhead
Naked lunch
Devils avacardo
I know what you did last summer 'pudding'.
Straw'berry' dogs.
Cry of the 'lychees'
Innocent blood 'orange'.
28 'grapes' later
The 'pinapple' ring

...plastic surgery

Mrs Potatoechip undergoes a little nip & tuck.

...astro pranks

Arnold's boyish pranks back fire when he sticks a potatoe in the space shuttles tail pipe.

...Lunar smoke

So the smoking ban in public & work spaces is now a legal position.
...and because it's legal , it is being implemented and enforced.
Despite the fact we've known its been coming for a while now in the UK we still have to suffer a raft of whiny smokers complaining about having to leave the building & often the site to have a sly ciggy.

My position on this has always been:

We don't provide a den for junkies to shoot up during work
or a bar for alcoholics to get smashed in.

So why should we even consider giving people the time to sneak off and provide a warm, cozy place to feed their addiction ?

Smokers .....fuck em.

...egyptian sheep theory

The only remaining glyph, thought to be of Ramisis XII

I really should take the time to translate

...space doubt

These were the things of my very early child hood
,But ive found much better ways to waste time now.

...and far more childish :O).

...inspiration from genius

I get odd inspiration from all sorts of places , people , odd remarks , twisted sentences & situations.
I think because I have been so busy of late I've been ignoring people & blanking out all thats going on around me. Inspiration has become dry.

When I started out drawing as a young teen, I discovered the wonderfulness Rhoald Dahl & René Goscinnys' stories, Albert Uderzos' energetic drawings, the surreal situation humour of Gary Larson, the moralistic yet strangley sinister humour of Hilair Beloch .
I like to think there is still a little bit of all of this rolled up in my scribbles along with an unhealthy mix of my dry, sarcastic & strange outlook.

When I stopped drawing in my early twenties it was because I became distracted, became too busy, ignored everything around me.

I achieve a new awarness of new things surrounding me a few years ago. My situation changed. I Started drawing again. With new sources of inspiration.

Im hoping my distractions are not starting change things back again.

...gone retro

hmm. Beware the lazy blogger.

When he can't think of anything new.

He thinks of something old.

...wandering souls.

...alter ego

Quiet
Shy
naive
un-confident
plain
simple
bewildered
optimistic
sarcastic
hopeless
tangential
artistic
happy
fool


Me.

...bugs - in plants.

I am aware that people are becoming more paranoid about what they eat !
Always banging on about what's in it , whats not in it.
Quite right too. If only you knew.
Conspiracy theory number one.
















...and they collect all the raw data at the sewage plant, don't ya know.

...internet of lost souls

Im sure the internet is full of lost souls.

...nature

...ancient oriental arts

...well, I think it is.

...lingual dischord

It still amazes me how much these things can communicate with just two vowles & five consonants.
Grabing it by the neck ,wringing it & thrashing, it speaks even more volume.

...contract killer bees

It's supprising just how much of this goes on in the under growth.

(Apparently Jerry had tried to pull off one sting too many.)

...flies prey

It seems we had weapons of moth destruction all the time !

...demonic appliances.

Its odd where your mind wanders to when sitting in a dull meeting being denied access to tea.

...first contact.

...."at my service yor say ", repeated Dougie to Lorb Zob , leader of the welcome committee.
The rest was history, as the fate of the Earth was decided over the next three sets.

...cavity wall hippothermal insulation.

I have an intermittent drip, drip dripping noise in my house.
Nothing appears to be leaking & there are no damp patched.
now either :
A) I'm being stupid & hearing noises.
B) The offending noise is not in my house.
C) Its evaporating too quickly to form a puddle.
or
D) I have moist hippos living in my walls.

...long dark teatime.....etc.

So I've been in a bit of a fug. A dark, unhappy place in my head of late.
Over tired, over stressed & all over work.
It's odd, the less interest you take in something , the longer and more extensively drawn out it becomes, creating it's own vicious circle inside of which is only a downward spiraling depression.
In turn this strips you of any creative thought or willingness.
Boredom brings no enthusiasm.
....and you are left with dark.

Douglas Adams once described Sunday afternoons (pre all day shopping of course) as the long dark tea time of the soul. Not quite the same application here , but the sentiment is the same.

This is not my natural state.
I'm trying everything to get out of this rut.
A hopeful light is now starting to glimmer at the end of this tunnel
So maybe I will start to draw again.

Apologies for being on such a downer.