Better late than never. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you are all going to have a fantastic 2013.

A typical French scene from the corny parts of my memory banks.

A bunny boiler sketch. Man, the number of times my girlfriends did this to me...

A little bit of Oliver going on. 'Who will buy this wonderful...Koff' Enough of that.

Another rough for new book.

Rough for a new book project....I'm yet to hear.

The Cleaner. A bit Cinderella but no-one comes to save this cleaner.

A little devil. Not so fearsome now eh?

Dreaming into space.

Bradley Wiggins inspired sketch.

It has been raining quite hard over the past few weeks.....months......this year.

Raking up the leaves. We are doing it ourselves the past couple of weeks. Luckily our kids are older although if they saw the piles of leaves I'm sure they would still jump into it.

Feed the birds. Or let them help themselves.

I think I've got a series of 'young love' going on here completely uintentionally.

Aaaaaaah. Young love.

Aaaah, what it was to be young...and have a flower.

Tis the season to be skiing....Nearly.

November in London..

A girl and her dog. I think every kid should grow up with a dog.

I know this is still Autumn but it has all the characteristics of winter... except the snow. It's been SO cold and overcast. I need someone to sail England closer to the equator.

Okay, it's not Alfred Hitchcock but the thought was there. These are 'Bluebirds' by the way for any 'twitchers' that might look at this.

Some dogs are just so lazy. Our dog, who recently died, would chase after a ball once. If you threw it again he would just look at you for a while and then wander off sniffing around the grass as he went.

Oooops! It happens. Taking life on at full speed, something untoward is going to happen. For those of you with a technical mind this is pen on paper.

I was going to draw him holding a duffle bag but nobody uses duffle bags any more do they? I haven't seen any around for years. Come to think of it I haven't seen any charging goats for years either.

I love doing these kind of drawings. This is a game of field hockey by the way.

A jolly old pirate. It's penciled first and then inked. I prefer the ink line. Many will disagree but I like the definition. That only applies to my work of course!

I like a girl with glasses.

I thought I hasn't put this image up. I was wrong. I uploaded it earlier this year. Ooops and apologies.

A rough. Dogs don't eat frogs do they?

Sugar and spice and all things nice. I don't think so.

Quick morning drawing.

Funky Monkey (The Band) Dancing Monkeys.

 

You might as well face it. You can NEVER have too many Vampires.

Robin Hood and hs Merry men. I really enjoy doing group shots like this. The busier the better in truth.

This illustration should be to celebrate the beginning of Summer. The truth is this represents all of this summer. I didn't include the rain.

My daughter is singing with this band. They asked me to come up with a logo they could use. I gave them 4 versions and this is the one they went with.

Fishing. I hate doing t with a rod and line but this would be fun. If the bears were as sweet as possible.

You don't see enough bears in the city nowadays. It's because they can't read maps.

These are some of the sketches I did while on holiday in Ibiza with my daughter. We had a great time. Most of these are drawings made of characters on the beach at Es Canar. There are a few from St Antoni. All I can really add is that it was HOT!  But we had a really good time together.Unfortuneately my wife had just started a new job so she was left behind. She wasn't to keen on that and, in truth, neither was I.

There are a number of things that make being an illustrator difficult. These aren't complaints because being an illustrator is one of the best jobs in the world.

Why do people expect you to do work for nothing? I just don't get it. Try asking a solicitor to knock up a contract for nothing. It just doesn't work and yet if you say no the look of hurt and annoyance is amazing.

Some guy asked me recently to draw his barber's shop and the people who work there. I told him the price and he gasped in amazement. If I had agreed it would have taken me several days. Should I have done it for nothing....because he's a barber?

It annoys me.

I have a style of drawing and colouring. My examples are all over the place: On my website, my blog and in the public domain. Why is it I get asked to draw in someone else's style? I draw in my style. If you want it to look like someone else's style ask them to draw it. Oh, they're too expensive ae they? Then use another style!

It annoys me.

These things don't annoy me enough to start a revolutionary movement or a new political party but I would very much like the occurences to stop.

I remember a story that Phil May ( a 19th Century cartoonist/illustrator) was asked to do a commission for someone. When he delivered the piece the clent was angry that it had cost so much for so few lines. Phil May replied, 'The fewer lines I use the more I would charge'. He was charging for 30 years experience and a skilful use of line.

A Pig relaxing. He is listening to a few tunes and soaking.

Samurai Pig. It's an idea for a comic. I just like the idea. He's a great Samurai warrior trained from a piglet in the great arts of combat. That kind if thing.

A few spaceships. According to the science programs I used to watch in the 60's we should all have one of these by now.

A Jungle and some parrots. Oh, and girl trying to coax them over.

Thid happens to me EVERY time I go into the sea. It sometimes happens to me when I have a bath. I can't be the only one?