1908.31 DRAWING AND THAT

When I was a kid my dream was to draw cartoons for the Beano, I used to copy characters from the comics of the time then I started to develop my own.

©DC Thompson

I'm not sure when I started reading comics, I remember my parents let me have the Beano and Dandy delivered and with my pocket money I used to buy other titles (like Whizzer & Chips, Buster, Nutty etc). My love of comics was a two way street - I read them and I also drew them.

Then I grew up, found alcohol and girls - met the love of my life, had a family, bought a house and had to work hard to keep everything together. I stopped drawing for a long time. I still consumed a few comics, moving onto adult titles like Viz and American Star Trek comics.

My journey back was long and slow. I doodled a few things but it was this blog that started me drawing again. A few years ago I realised drawing has lots of therapeutic value so I started to do more. Anyone that does any arts or crafts can probably agree that doing something creative helps to keep you healthy mentally. 

Recently I've been looking at expanding my repertoire. I've been practicing with pyrography (wood burning) and engraving. It's early days but I hope to, one day, turn out something half decent.

One thing people ask is how do I draw my cartoons. Well I switched from pencil and paper to a digital medium a couple of years ago and I'm currently using an Android tablet together with a pressure sensitive pen. When I say this some assume that it's the tablet doing the work. I can assure you it's all me, just because I use a different medium doesn't mean I don't do the work. The other thing that people ask when they discover I draw is "draw me". I don't draw caricatures as a rule (it's not my skill) but it's the thing most asked of me.

My style is that of the comics from my youth, I enjoy it, it helps me but I know I'll never make any money doing it. If other enjoy my work it's a bonus, I like to show my work, but I'm realistic in what I do. What I would like to do is share the process with a couple of videos I did and recently showed on social media...

And I have a new webcomic for you to enjoy coming up very soon.