I made the top 100!

My image has made it through to the top 100 in the 100 Shirts Competition. This means it will be made into a t-shirt and appear in the exhibition in Liverpool. Check out the 100 Shirts website to view the other entries and cast some votes!

Actually quite a sad tale...

It seems that Ai Ai took up the habit upon the death of her first mate. Her keepers realised she would have to quit when her health began to detiorate and so created a four week plan to wean her off the fags...

I'm having fun with these news stories

And there are so many bizarre tales to choose from! I particularly like my penguin in this piece and I've tried putting the text across the image for once.

Just don't answer it...

For my Dad who is suffering from something nasty

Hey Dad! Here is the illustration as you asked but I decided against sticking the stamp on the poor rodents head as it's been through enough trauma already! I hear that one of the two lads has been banned from keeping pets for ten years after this little drunken 'prank'.

A Penguin's Right to Choose...

According to the article they flew in some lady penguins from Sweden and were planning on an enforced seperation between the happily paired-up males. Gay rights protestors pointed out that this was unfair and the zoo decided to simply release the females in with the males in the hope that the coming breeding season will bring about other urges. The penguins are of a rare breed but I think the old adage of "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink" is very apt here.

Cow Convict

And if you don't believe it read this.

Slay your own dragons!

I was doodling last night and I rather liked the results so I did some scanning this morning and a bit of colouring in. I guess it's actually turned into a small statement about women's rights...

Another one of those arcane laws...

Strange how a lot of them come from the USA. I have to say it's not a bad law though, unless you are the guy with the soup that is. Everybody knows soup is easier to eat straight from the bowl. Let's just do away with spoons and forget those nasty Victorian manners that make life that little bit more complicated.

Buy my Badges!

I've submitted some designs to a great new site called Prickie who create badges designed by artists. It's well worth taking a look as there is some really good work on there...

P.S. I've got a link on the right that takes you directly to my page in the store or you can just click here if you are feeling lazy!

E is For Edinburgh

This week's Illustration Friday submission. Edinburgh is my current home and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The particular bit that I have drawn is Victoria Street, a winding colourful street that curves up from the Grassmarket. It is, of course, named after me!

In all seriousness, if you ever get the chance to visit Edinburgh jump to it like a shot. I came up to see someone else and ended up moving here. The architecture is amazing, the vibe is fantastic and- despite being a capital city- it has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. I'll stop now before I start sounding like I'm being paid by the Scottish Tourist Board!

Last week's Illustration Friday submission...

And I know it is a week late but I'm back on my beloved PC once again so I thought I would scan the sketches I did and make something from them. The theme was 'Flavour' and I did some research into tastebuds. A newborn baby has the most active tastebuds and these gradually lose their sensitivity as you get older. This explains why kids hate certain kinds of food and it also is a clear case for not forcing them to eat things they say they hate. Strong flavours become less of a problem as you get older and this explains how people's tastes change.

Full marks for creativity...

According to a local newspaper he thought the cotton would soak up the alcohol. Only thing is, it would still be in his stomach wouldn't it? When up before the judge he caused havoc in the courtroom as observers struggled to maintain their composure.

Illustration Friday- Sea

I'm guessing most of them suffer from it when actually at sea, not just on a day-to-day basis! Apparently after seven days at sea most people get over it and "find their sea legs". I get sick even at the idea of a boat and when I lived in Germany and we took the ferry back and forth I would always have to stand outside. I've stood on a ferry deck in all kinds of weather with fellow sufferers throwing up all around me. I've yet to actually join them but I certainly feel like I'm going to for most of the trip.

Birds in the City

I've not posted anything recently as I'm visiting my parents and their computer struggles to run Photoshop. I'm also a little confused by their scanner's determination to use 'lpi' as a measurement of resolution rather than 'dpi'!?

The image above is for the 100Shirts Competition and was hurriedly drawn and laboriously scanned by me today. To make matters worse I also have the plague and am permanently doped up on a mixture of hot toddies and Lemsip. Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

I've just been sorting through my CD collection...

And I found a Beatles album that I think belongs to my Dad. I don't really listen to half of my CD's because I have Radio 2 on during the day, I prefer shouting at the callers on the Jeremy Vine show! Anyway, I did a quick sketch of the famous four and dropped in some colour in Photoshop.

Mum if you're looking at this don't panic!

I was sitting at my desk pondering this week's Illustration Friday topic of 'Surprise' and trying to find an approach that wouldn't involve a present or someone wearing a party hat. I started thinking about nice surprises and not-so-nice surprises until I came to this image. I guess pregnancy could potentially be the biggest surprise somebody might ever face...

Illustration Friday- 'Blue'

My submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic (www.illustrationfriday.com). The Blue Whale is the largest creature known to have ever existed in the history of the earth. An adult Blue Whale can be bigger than the largest dinosaur! Apparently a small child could crawl down the aorta of a Blue Whale's heart- not that anybody would want to...

One of life's little questions...

This image actually created a bit of a headache for me because I wanted the zebra to be slightly more cartoon-like. I was one of those little girls who drew horses everywhere, my notebooks from school have unicorns and beasties all over the back covers and my homework diary looks more like a sketchbook. Looking back it has always been obvious what I would become! Anyway, due to my horse obsession I have a strong sense of the proportion of all horse-like animals and find it difficult to draw them inaccurately.

By the way, I happen to know the answer to this question. New scientific research has confirmed that zebras are in fact white with black stripes. So there you go.