Ice Bucket Challenge

I thought I had escaped the Ice Bucket Challenge…just my luck to receive a nomination now the weather has turned cold! The Mister also received a nomination. We really didn't want to be wasting water by slinging it around so instead here is our much drier contribution…

We both have experience of caring for people with Motor Neurone Disease, through our work, and it's  a truly horrible illness. The Mister and I donated today. I hope the extra funds and awareness raised with this campaign will help to find effective treatment. 

I know my artistic friends are often snowed under with deadlines, but should Jo Empson, Kate Walter and Abbie Stanton fancy doing a watery doodle, I for one would love to see it!

I know there is a Twitter er.. thingy for Ice Bucket Doodles, too, so I am sure there's plenty of inspiration there.

Text ICED55 £10 (or whatever amount you choose) to 70070 to donate to the MND Association.

OW! OW! OOOWWW!!!!

Hello, nice, friendly, Blogger site. Hello, easy-to-use site that I understand, and that doesn't turn me into a raging, sobbing hunchback.

I am trying to make a website. Something I was just going to casually do before doing all the other things I had to do today, which believe me was a LOT..

I have been trying to make a website, from a template described (by a liar) as "simple", since 8.30 this morning. That's eight hours. Yes, that's right, EIGHT hours during which I have been hunched, cold, hungry and stiff and weeping over the keyboard. My back literally doesn't straighten anymore. The dog has gone to bed, because I have screamed "WHY???" once too often.

I don't have a website and I DON'T WANT TO BE A WEBSITE DESIGNER. EVER.

Here's another version of a book cover I have been working on. I was going to save it for the website, but website, you don't deserve it. You won't beat me, though. Believe me, horrible cruel website, I will be back and you WILL be mine. Just as soon as I have straightened my back. You mark my words.

Experimenting and a Bargain

It was such a beautiful day today I couldn't face staying in dissertating. So I took Poppy out for a walk and then dabbled around in my studio for a while...without the heater on can you believe?

I just noticed I didn't crop this image...oops. Anyway, as well as this I tried etching an aluminium plate with some copper sulphate solution I cought some months back when I still had high hopes of my mangle working as an etching press. I didn't know how long to bite it for and will take the plate next time I go to uni and try printing it out - if I can get past the grumpy technician, guardian of the printroom.



On my walk I spotted this on a table of books for sale outside the library. I've bought some really good graphic novels there before - they must have a policy of not keeping them very long! I have wanted this book for a long time and now I have it...and all for a mere pound.

Don't say I don't keep my promises! Just managed this little spoof ad (well a first draft of it anyway) for BANG (Brighton Animators Networking Group) who are planning a fantastic event of animation, comics and theatrical delights at Marlborough House, Brighton in October - details here. Can't wait to join this creative bunch - once I can really call myself an animator, which I am going to tackle this semester!

A frustrating couple of days...I seem to have lost a printer and also a printing press, which is a real setback. But I am trying not to let it get me down!

Harmony

A bit of drawing as promised. I got a lovely book for Christmas which had a disc with beautiful 1950s patterns on, which I wanted to use for this - but since my computer went wrong, Photoshop has gone all weird. I don't understand Photoshop very well when it's not being weird. So instead this was painted with very unsuitably sized and shaped brushes, because all mine are either lost or ruined. The theme came from a prompt on Inspire Me Thursday - "I don't think there is enough______in this world." I chose harmony, and the fox from yesterday made a guest appearance.

NB - The woman in the picture happens to be suffering from "ear". An ex-girlfriend of my son told me about this condition, which basically means your ear sticks out of your hair. Just in case you need to use this phrase in the future, and want to sound modern and young, you might word it like this: "OMG, you've got full-on ear!" Even if both ears are affected, the condition is still known as simply "ear".