Embellishment, or advertising as it was called in those days.

“Did you really earn a living from that? Someone once asked me that, and there were many times when I thought someone else might, by the look on their face, ask me the same question again.What the questioners had in common was a look of utter disbelief that I did in fact make a living from drawing cartoons. I made a very good living from my so called skills, especially in the late 70s and 80s. “Will I have heard of you?” was another regular question and after I’d said “No” they would generally follow up with the name of … Continue reading Embellishment, or advertising as it was called in those days.

Pressed Meat

I’m not a vegetarian but along with many people eat nowhere near as much meat as I used to. I have happy memories of when I did go to butchers shops to buy, and in some ways I was unusual. It was almost always the woman in th a family who went to see the butcher. By their very nature butchers were always big blokes wearing the regulation striped aprons of their trade. Very unlikely to find a man wearing an apron back in those days, other than butchers, and they tended to be big butch blokes too with a … Continue reading Pressed Meat

Coming up next year…

I’m working on a little book written by my chum Gordon Thorburn, ( Men and Sheds ) who apart from writing about sheds and bomber pilots from the Second World War ( Books about all sorts ), has written a little tome about…well, I’ll leave exactly what it’s about until I have it all ready. I’m doing the drawings for it and hope to publish it on-line in the New Year, or perhaps will be able to make a start before Christmas, as you’ll have plenty of time to read, learn, and digest. We’ll see. It will be on this site … Continue reading Coming up next year…

Jasper Johns must have been a gardener.

Or at least a man with a shed. For those not of an artistic persuasion, you should know that Jasper Johns was, and perhaps is, a great American artist.He’s still with us! I recall in my late school days loving his work. As I understand it he went out of favour later on in his career, though I claim no special knowledge. He has an exhibition on in London at present at the Royal Academy, so I presume that those in the flow of these things, consider it’s time to resurrect his reputation. Jasper Johns Exhibition at the RA I … Continue reading Jasper Johns must have been a gardener.

Some of my friends have gone…

These chaps above have all gone to new homes as well as the finished version of the one below. In many ways I prefer the one below to the final. I’m sure they’ve all gone to good homes. The bike drawing has been sold for charity, so I am particularly pleased about that. It was bought by a chap who’s friend is greatly into motorbikes. The charity that will benefit is Headway. This one’s for charity Hoping for a fine day today so that I can find new homes for some of the others, but it’s been a good week anyway. … Continue reading Some of my friends have gone…

What’s happening to the French?

Just been there and before I go on about them let me say that there’s something I like a lot about the French. In fact, there are many things that I like about the French. They tend never to apologize, we are always saying sorry. They tend to think that the response to something going wrong is, of course, your fault. It may well be, but in France, it is always the case. Even when it’s not. Another thing I like about the French is the food and their attitude to it, but here something is going terribly wrong. The … Continue reading What’s happening to the French?

British Railway Station kiosk reader, is this accurate today?Perhaps not.

Another in my series of black and white drawings about the British and reviewing this today, it seems perhaps that it may be a bit dated. Artists sometimes talk about their work in terms of how they have been inspired by others, and what they were trying to do. Well this is supposed to be about those people who’s job is to sell  newspapers and magazines, none of which are normally of great literary merit. I imagined that perhaps there exists somewhere a newspaper seller that spends his or her ‘downtime’ reading the classics whilst surrounded by all the other … Continue reading British Railway Station kiosk reader, is this accurate today?Perhaps not.

“Anyone wanting to be Prime Minister should be automatically discounted”

The joys of walking are many and various, walking with a chum is recommended, though walking alone can sometimes have it’s moments too. Today I set out early with my chum Robin. We were expecting hot weather so the early start was a must, and it was perfect. A walk in Paradise, as it really is called, just outside Painswick. Cotswold landscape at its very best. There used to be a bus stop there but it seems to have been dispensed with. Take a look here for a previous visit:  Jesus drives a Porsche in Paradise. Walking and talking we … Continue reading “Anyone wanting to be Prime Minister should be automatically discounted”