In my quest for more odd names, I was recently telling my sister in law about this, my most recent “excuse to draw”. I’m in the middle of a series of drawings of people with odd names. Generally these are all made up by either myself or someone I’ve been talking to. The idea started some years ago when a work colleague who told me several names  that he’d seen whilst overseeing production of business cards. Derek, then used to come and whisper new ones to add to the collection and these were generally of his own making.

I told him then that I’d do some of drawings of them when I had the time, and now I have the time. Sadly, I have lost touch with Derek, but if you are out there Derek, there will be an exhibition of all this stuff in August here in downtown Cheltenham. Half of the drawings in there will be your fault!

If I run into anyone else who’s remotely intersted in what I’m doing I’ll tell them of the plan and inevitably they will come up with an example of their own. My chum Richard, who I go walking with when the weather behaves, came up with a few like Des Pratt ( he saw him as one of those rather sad on-line gamer/dating poeple ) Helen Highwater: Yachtswoman, and one that I’m struggling with:Jenny Taylor. 

My sister in law suggested that I might do one of my brother and call him Robin B’Staard.  OK, I said, but it’s your idea and not mine. After all my brother is an antique dealer by profession.

So here he is, in rough form ( when is he not? ) complete with rather ancient flyer’s jacket that he used to live in when he first started all those years ago. He’s not changed much over the years and can still lift a fairly sizeable chest of drawers into the back of his van.