Thomas Hardy

The last entry for Portrait week is of one of my favourite authors Thomas Hardy. Reading his books, from a modern perspective, is so refreshing. The world we live in these days is so fast paced and jammed full of sensationalism. Hardy is a marvelous antidote to all that...

David Hockney

When it comes to artists that I admire no one really comes close to David Hockney. His work has an illustrative feel to it that really endears me to him. My job sometimes takes me to an office in London that has some Hockney etchings of A Rake's Progress (limited edition - 1/50...drool...), I like them so much that I sometimes find my self thinking about ways to steal them... face it, it is the only way I would ever be able to own something like them!

Roderick Mills

If Roderick can do it, so can I.

Carrying on with what is turning into Portrait Week (possible the first of several themed weeks) here is a picture of an illustrator called Roderick Mills who had quite an influence on my work. I drew this during a college session when he bought in his portfolio. The economy of his workand the integrity he imbued in it really made an impression on me.

Captain Sensible

Growing old disgracefully

There is a bit of a theme emerging this week - portraits of people I admire... This one (in case the red beret doesn't mean anything to you) is a picture of Captain Sensible - Guitarist of The Damned (and, yes, of Happy Talk fame) I have seen The Damned a few times. Capt.S gave me a signed plastic banana...

Casey Stoner MotoGP Champion

Yesterday Casey Stoner wrapped up the 2007 MotoGP Championship with three rounds to go. He has not put a foot (or tyre) wrong all year and has done what no one expected he would do - namely whoop everyones asses good and proper!

I remember when the young Aussie first appeared in the UK racing in the national championship. His parents had sold up down-under to move to the UK for the sake of Casey's career... They must've really believed in him. Now that faith has really paid off.

Well Done Casey!

Cheese on sticks

To mark the end of Bloghibition: the facebook Event I am offering nibbles to go with the wine. I apologise to those who expected real wine - I did try pouring some down various cavities on my PC, but none of them got the wine on to the internet... sorry.

V1agr@

See if this gets past your spam filter!

I don't really get spam (I mean, I do physically get it, but I don't understand it) Surely there can't be many people left in the world who are stupid enough to fall for it, is there? And what sort of person would buy unverified medication from strangers, let alone doing it over the internet? Hmmm - relevant link

Sometimes I get spam that doesn't seem to be selling anything. What is the point of that? - nb. I had to scroll passed 400 of the 800 spam items in my spam folder before I found one with the spelt viagra using symbols - maybe no one is stupid enough to buy it over the Internet anymore...

Perfect Cuppa

Sometimes just being a tiny bit wrong can make something that would otherwise be nice into something totally unpleasant. On the whole we can control the ingredients that go into making things to our liking and we know how we like it. Occasionally though you have to rely on others. Mostly they are sympathic to your needs, but there is always someone who, no matter how much you explain your preferences to them or how much you ask to be allowed to make your own, will continue to make your tea the strength of gnat's piss.

emergency dub

I apologies for not posting anything yesterday, but I was struck down with food poisoning. To make up for it I have posted a nice picture of a VW campervan - Normal service will be resumed later today.

bloghibition

I have been keeping this blog for a few weeks now and I think it is about time to get some people looking at it...

So welcome to the grand opening of Ben Farnell's bloghibition (this means you can have a browse round and look at my illustrations).

I know that as far as Artistic Events go this is pretty low-key. Feel free to leave comments and remember to look at the posts which aren't on the first page (it would be a shame to leave without seeing the dog in a mini skirt... wouldn't it?)

Pilot Drawing Pens

My Weapon of choice!

The humble Pilot Drawing Pen is a big favourite of mine and I think all of these posts have been created using one. I prefer the 0.1 (which despite it's name has a line thickness of 0.28) as I like to draw quite small. The only problem with this pen, though, is that it is slightly too big to sit comfortably behind the ear.

Beard update

A week of chins

I decided to shave the beard off as it got too itchy. I liked how it looked though - I think it complemented my long hair nicely. Anyhow, I have decided to only shave properly once a week on Friday evenings so I can spend most of the week with designer stubble

Swiss Army Phone

Isn't it amazing what mobile phones can do these days?

In my pocket I carry a camera, a stereo, an internet browser, a clock/calendar, a games console, a video camera, a currency converter, a calculator, not to forget a telephone... 15 years ago you would've thought I had surprisingly capacious pockets, but no! All these gadgets are built into one handy application that is small enough to loose down the back of the sofa.

The mobile phone truly is the Swiss Army Knife of the 21st Century, all it needs now is a corkscrew and one of those tools for digging stones out of horses hooves and it will truly be the ultimate modern utility.

Am I a free man?

What happens when you combine bad puns with The Prisoner, The Invisible Man, Maths, and feeling unhappy with work?

This is an old picture I drew in my previous job when I was working for two departments simultaneously. As you can imagine it was a bit difficult to please both departments and I felt like I was being pushed from pillar to post and this was my response to that situation.

Marmite

Mmmm!

Marmite is now available in squeezy form. Not sure if that is a good idea, you'll never be able to squeeze out the last bits... So the above picture pays homage to the good old fashioned glass jar (albeit with a plastic lid... I remember when the lids were metal, you know.)

Talking Dog

Funny how an over reliance on words hinders communications.

Apparently the words you actually use only contribute 7% of your total communication, the next 38% is the intonation in the voice and a whopping 55% is body language. I am guessing this is why animals manage OK without words.

diy

Racing Belt Sanders



and a chainsaw juggler

Two images today (lucky you) which are actual published work (doubly lucky you). They can be seen in the latest issue of the B&Q Installer magazine, which I think is only available to people who install kitchens for B&Q so I doubt you will see it. I might scan in the article so you can see them in situ.

Lighthouse

A picture of Smeaton's Tower, Plymouth.

There is no meaning behind this image, just a nice sketch that I was playing around with on photoshop, using the same colouring technique as I have for most of the other illustrations in this blog. I hope very soon to get some screen-printing paraphernalia, which is why my illustrations are constructed as they are.

This lighthouse used to be 14 miles offshore from Plymouth, but had to be moved as the rock is was on was corroding. The design of this building which we recognise as classic lighthouse shape, was actually an original design by Smeaton and was based on a Oak tree.

You can climb to the top, but there isn't much room inside.