You had me at meat tornado...........

Hello!
Long time no blog!
Had a bit of whatever the drawing version of writer's block is called. Came back from Edinburgh with all these ideas of things to do and couldn't settle on one certain thing, I've basically been starting a lot of stuff then getting side tracked by something else and not finishing anything.....
So I've decided to finish one work in progress off just to ease the blockage...........hopefully!

I'm sure that a lot of people won't know who the person above is supposed to be, but if you're a fan of Parks & Recreation I'm hoping you will.
Maybe not the most well known programme on TV, but if you like your American comedies you may have heard about it and even hunted it down on BBC Four or 'borrowed' it off the Internet.
It's a fly on the wall 'mockumentery' style comedy which yes may have been overdone since The Office hit big, but it is funny and although the lead character Leslie Knope could be seen as a female David Brent/Michael Scott - come the second season she's more developed, in this series set in local government.

But the main draw for me is Ron Swanson; part Ron Burgandy part caveman, director of the Parks and Recreation department, who despises the general public and holds high hopes for the department to be as ineffective as possible.Hunter, fisherman, woodwork enthusiast, woman of the year and clandestine lead of jazz ensemble the Duke Silver Trio, avoiding meetings and social interaction in general he is one of the best character's out there in sitcom land at the moment.

The above 'swansonism' is from an episode where amongst other things happening Ron has suffered a hernia but refuses to let on to his fellow workers - a sign of weakness no doubt included in some way on the Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness

A few  more 'swansonisms' for you below..........

Well hopefully this has acted as a spoonful of castor oil to help the flow of more frequent upcoming blogs, see you in a few months!

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash......

When it comes to music, you can be influenced a lot by your parents. So growing up - as my Dad was a fan Johnny Cash became a staple in the Potter home. It's not a question of old or new music it's good music and now that my Dad is no longer with us Johnny Cash will always bring back memories of him - particulary for me A Thing Called Love - one of my favourite songs.

So as a fan of Cash myself and through his Facebook page I entered the above image into a competition  to create some Cash inspired art. Leaving myself just a day to do it and looking at the other entries personally I don't think I stand much chance, but the way I see things with drawing now is that it's all good practice and you have to practice to get better!

We'll see how I get on, but I'll be counting on your vote should I make it through to the next round.

As a footnote Redbubble the site I use to try and sell my stuff on took my Johnny Cash T-Shirt down! Saying I had 'infringed copyright' - bit odd considering I drew it

That's Andy...........

Anyone for Tennis?

How's does it feel?

Glastonbury a fortnight ago then, always wanted to go - and did last year when the festival wasn't on!

Didn't get down to the farm but did get up the Tor and it's well worth a visit.

Glastonbury is always associated with John Peel for me, that old curmudgeon with the dour sense of humour and although they've named a stage in his honour, I'm not sure what he would have made of some of the more recent headliners on the stages over the last few years (or Reggie Yates & Ferne feckin; Cotton for that matter). But no doubt he would have found some Norwegian nose flute folk band to keep him interested somewhere up in the healing field.

The Stones were the big headliners this year and many were surprised by their energy and performance on the Saturday night, but if you have seen them before you'll know what to expect and they've been around long enough to know what they're doing and how to put on a show.

Other highlights for me were the Artic Monkeys, Chic, Haim and of course Kenny Rogers!
I'm getting myself registered for next years and fingers crossed come October I might be in with a chance of being there......when the headliners will be.......er who knows??

Is it a bird? Is it a plane, no it's...........

Watched Man of Steel the other night, IMAX 3D as well. Not sure if the 3D was needed though and as for my verdict? A provisional 3.5 Phil's out of 5, bit of a low score but would like to watch it again in 2D and maybe it will go up a bit. The special effects with a bit too much for me on some occasions and during the fight sequences everything happened far to quickly to actually work out what was going on, the super strength fights work for The Incredible Hulk in Avengers Assemble but it was a bit too over the top and too often in Man of Steel for me. But we will have the inevitable sequel to look forward to where things may slow down a bit.

There'll be comparisons to the other films starring the last son of Krypton and for me you can't beat Superman II, I guess when it comes to the man with an S on his chest I prefer mine I little bit more comic book.
If you haven't seen it go along and let me know what you think.
The picture at the top of the page is inspired both by the release of the rebooted Superman but also by the trailer of the upcoming  Alan Partridge film Alpha Papa - with Chap of Steel as one of Alan's favoured alternate titles.

Bluddy, bluddy ,bluddy.......

It's Wednesday and that can only mean one thing - for me anyway, it's The bluddy Apprentice. Sir Lord Alan of Sugar is still the gift that keeps on giving for me and the only real reason to watch.
So in his honour we have this week's picture, drawn with the MASSIVE  help of my brand spanking new fine line pens I picked up here
This was one of my first proper attempts at drawing with pens and it came out okay.
I'm hoping to get another picture up at the weekend, but in the meantime enjoy this clip put together by Cassette Boy also celebrating the work of his Sugarship.

                                     

Woke up this morning........

So, it's been awhile. Came up with an idea to put some drawings up which hadn't taken long to do - was going to call them 'quick on the draw'.......but that was a few weeks ago and I'm obviously not that quick!

That thought came back to me tonight following this morning's shocking news of James Gandolfini passing away at the young age of fifty one, so a sat down tonight and in just under an hour drew the above.

Matt Smith - The Regeneration Game......

I like Doctor Who..........there I've said it......
And with being a Doctor Who fan you have your favourite Doctors - a bit like a football fan has their favourite player and like footballers of today you know you shouldn't get too attached because they're bound to move on and forget all about you.
Change is always a part of Doctor Who so we should get used to it, but still. It was announced this weekend that Matt Smith would be leaving the role of Doctor Who and I'm a bit gutted really.

Tom Baker was my Doctor, but Matt was up there right on his scarf tails and so it'll be a long wait till November for the 50th Anniversary to see him again and the Christmas Special after that being his last story. His performance alone kept me watching the show as a forty year old who should know better and I will be sad to see him go.

Oh and he's so good to draw!

Here's one I drew earlier............David Beckham

 

 

Didn't put a picture up this week, still working on my proper Django Unchained piece. So here's one I did earlier and as he retired (you'd thing he'd died given the coverage it got) it's David Beckham. I've used it before on a page I admin with a mate called Four Four Two It's a Football Thing I did a few of the more easier to caricature footballers in a 'gallery' folder (keep meaning to do a few more)

I have somewhere in a sketchbook another more recent Beckham which I'll have to find and stick up here at some point.

Have a week off work now so should be able to crack on with some more pics.......



reservoir unchained.......

It's not all about drawing, although it will mainly be drawn pictures that I'll put on here. Just thought I'd share something I knocked up for a competition I'm thinking of entering.
Short List magazine (found here) are giving people the chance to create a new poster to coincide with the DVD release of Django Unchained and win a Sony Entertainment System for their troubles.
I'm not going to enter this effort but it's good to get's these ideas down on 'paper' and out of my head so I can come up with something better.
I'll see how I get on and possibly put the finished product up on here at some point.

Phil'll draw it............

You may or may not be aware of a site and Facebook page called "Jim'll paint it" it's where a chap - possibly named Jim takes requests from people for more and more outrageous drawings which he then creates in Microsoft Paint.
So that is the inspiration for the above, as discussed while at work with a colleague - he is flying a spitfire, attacking Godzilla whilst having a haircut as Wolverine stands on the wing shouting obscenities at him.
As opposed to the Microsoft Paint option mine was drawn free hand, then scanned into Photo Shop to colour.
Here's a link to Jim'll link it it's all good stuff and he's started to make T-Shirts too.

Glass bottle, bottle glass

Here's something I did a long time ago. Big Tommy Cooper fan and it's a play on his most famous routine, the idea was to turn him into more of a psychopath/serial killer.
From this came the idea for a story, based on the idea of a pub in London called The Hand & Racquet
linkage (which I've been in) that has now been closed down. The pub as you'll see from the link was frequented by Cooper, Sid James and Tony Hancock........ amongst others.
The pub is now all boarded up and ready for demolition, the story would involve them coming back from the dead to take revenge on those who are behind the Racquet's demise.
Each character would be a slightly more extreme and horrific version of that which we know and love, with Sid James as a Joker type character.
If anyone wants to make this - be it a comic or graphic novel, get in touch and let's make it happen!

A Lannister Always Pays Their Debts

Everybody's favourite Game of Thrones character (apart from Daenerys Targaryen naked in smoke with dragons perched on both shoulders ) is the star of the first new blog post!