I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day.

I've had these pictures sitting around for about a week, but life kept getting in the way of me sitting down and actually putting them in a new post.

It was my brother Ben's birthday* last week, so I drew him this:

It's good to see that I'm improving at this scribbling lark, considering that last year I drew him a picture based on this (I've lost the final version):

The last pictures on here are based on photos I am afraid. Just stuff to try and keep me fresh. The first one was based on this photo and, I think, was a bit of a success:

The second was from Calivintage, and I didn't half have problems with it. Looking at it now I know some minor alterations I'd make, but I think I'll just move on. The first colour looked like this and was such a mess that I decided on a very stripped back recolour. 

My summer job finished today, so hopefully you can expect some more pictures soon.

*alliteration station

"Organizer of public gaiety, curator of a richly encrusted happiness"

 Saturday Special!

I really love the Instagram app. This isn't just because of the various filters, which are excellent, but also because of the way in which it lets you share your images so easily to various social media accounts whilst maintaining its own community.

In any case, I recently decided to stick a through of my recent drawings through it and see what come up. Some, I think, worked better than others, but all are pretty interesting!

"I want to give a party where there’s a brawl and seductions and people going home with their feelings hurt."

The cricket in the last week has been pretty exciting eh? You...you do watch cricket, yes? No? Oh well, just take my word for it.

In any event, here is a drawing of a cricketer:

Sadly this was the only "proper" drawing I had time for this week, so the following three are all quick little numbers: 

This is a super-rapid drawing of Emma Watson, based on this photograph. I love just scribbling sometimes. 

A scowly young lady. 

Just messing about with a new way of drawing/colouring. Not bad for a quick picture! 

See you all next week. 

With a smile on your face, and a tear right in your eye.

You have probably noticed that the blog looks a bit different. I've also redesigned my tumblr and twitter pages. Still not certain if this is a final design yet, so you might see it change further before too long!

The really neat idea I had the other week still isn't finished, mostly because I got myself a second job, so ended up much busier than expected. In any event it's coming along nicely. In the meantime may I present to you the following:

I have a confession, I mispronounce Rapunzel all of the time. I am corrected every single time. I will then proceed to say it wrong the next time it comes up. 

In retrospect it's surprising how often Rapunzel comes up in conversation. Huh. In any event here is a picture of the lady in question. She's a bit grumpy because, well, wouldn't you be? 

I also thought I would share with you the original line work, since I was very pleased with it. Particularly the hair. For whatever reason I always really like drawing hair. 

This is a picture of my friend Anna. Anna is enormously cool for a number of reasons, but a prime one is that she runs a bookshop. She also really likes olives, which is why there's a glowing bowl of them here. It made more sense at the time, I swear. 

This is a five minute doodle of a situation I found myself in when I got home the other day. It was so hot.  So hot. I let Stephen Fry read me stories for a bit whilst I just stood there, unable to finish getting changed, just sort of laughing at myself. 

Finally here are some free tester business cards I had made from moo.com! They seem really good, so I'm going to look into perhaps buying some. Need to finalise what goes on them though. 

"Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!"

Hey everyone! I hope you've all been enjoying the manic sunshine/crushing rain.

I'm pretty pleased with my offerings this week, I have to say.

I drew a Harry Potter in a cynical bid for Tumblr popularity. It didn't work out even a little bit, but I do not mind. I'm extremely happy with it. One of those moments where I feel I've "moved forward" a step.

I'd love to tell you that this is a damning social critique, but really it's just something that would absolutely terrify me. I don't think I could cope if I woke up one morning as a puppet. 

I made some slight changes to the colouring on the Middle-Aged Superman from the last entry. I think it looks better like this. 

I'm working on something as I type that I wish I could share with you, as I think it will be pretty good when it's finished, but there's no way it will be done this evening. Hopefully for next time! 

I guess every superhero need his own theme music.

Cartoon of an old friend of mine. Pretty natty if I may say so myself.

This is a sketch of a lady called Stephanie. Really pleased with how this came out. 

Finally, here's a Superman. An old Superman. 

The following is copied directly from my Tumblr, which you really should check out. 

"I drew a Superman. 

So far as I can remember I have never read a superhero comic, with the exception of Neil Gaiman’s Eternals, which was alright, and Watchmen. If that counts. This isn’t me being pretentious, it’s just never happened. 

To a degree I suspect that this is a cultural thing. No-one that I knew whilst growing up read superhero comics. I don’t even know if you were able to buy them. We grew up on The Beano and The Dandy and so on. Since then I’ve never really got around to it; I have gone into bookshops with the express intention of buying something superhero-y, but have invariably walked out with a regular book or some other form of comic. 

That said, I’m fascinated by Superman, and it’s not like I grew up completely divorced from this titanic cultural symbol. I had a book about Superman, I remember that. Lois & Clark was also on the television when I was a wee man, plus of course there was always the movies. 

For a long time the idea of Superman bored me. Perfect, invincible, unstoppable, and so American (often “American” was a dirty word to me when I was growing up. I’m over it now), but my opinion has changed over time.

I have an idea for a Superman story. As I’ve never read the comics I don’t know if it’s been done before, and honestly I don’t know if it’s even any good, but it seemed interesting to me. I might as well give you the background to it; it’s not like I’m in a position to do anything with it. 

From what I understand Superman ages somewhat more slowly than regular humans, yes? I hope so, because if this is wrong, the whole thing falls down. In any event, I’d quite like to see Superman’s world as though time had progressed normally since his appearance in the 1940s. The story would be set in the present day, he’d be a bit greyer, a bit tireder, but still, you know, super. Lois, Jimmy, Luthor will all be long dead, of old age or whatever, and now Superman’s dealing with the passage of time. Living in a world that’s better off than it would have been, but still imperfect enough to leave him slightly disheartened. A world that’s evolving rapidly, as our own world has evolved since the 1940s, and a man of steel in the middle of at all that has to constantly has to evolve and rethink his own position. 

It would absolutely, one hundred per cent, not be a dark story. It might occasionally have dark elements, but dark does not mean “grown up” or “intelligent” and I am not holding with it even a little bit. It would ultimately be a story about hope and goodness, because so far as I can tell that’s what a Superman story should be about. 

Obviously there’s a plot too, but I ain’t gonna tell you that. "

Congratulations if you reached the end of that. Hope you enjoy the rest of your week! 

All our most brilliant friends are doubting themselves.

Hello all! How the devil are you this fair Tuesday? I am decidedly comfy. Here are some pictures for you.

This is the first time I've used paint in well over a year, I think. Exciting! 

This is a sketch of the extraordinary burlesque dancer, Vicky Butterfly. Eventually I'll clean it up a tad and colour it. 

Finally, here's some hard-boiled type. I suspect that he has Woes.