miketoons

New blogs to bookmark

2011-03-03T16:25:00.007Z

I'm revamping my miketoons website to contain my art blog.

I've also started a new blog at doodlejam.blogspot for doodles, sketches, mere trifles and various artistic bagatelles. You're very welcome to visit.

Occasional rants about the world may continue to be posted on this miketoons.blogspot site but will probably not be art related.

Please adjust your ~~dress~~ bookmarks:
www.miketoons.com
doodlejam.blogspot.com

Ta muchly.

Cheeky grey squirrel on the bird feeder

2010-11-28T22:06:00.006Z

Getting video and music to work together is an art that I've not tried before.
Hat tip to film editors and soundtrack composers.

Old Cricket Pitch, Le Marchant: Scots Pines (1989)

2010-11-27T20:25:00.004Z

Old Cricket Pitch, Le Marchant: Scots Pines (1989), originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Historical document.

When we first moved to our newly-built house in Devizes back in the late 80s, this was the view we had across the old cricket pitch at Le Marchant barracks.

No Crest development (Kingfisher Drive). No marina. No adventure playground. No Great Mills (Focus) DIY store and definitely no Lidl.

Just an overgrown abandoned cricket pitch complete with derelict pavilion and these magnificent Scots Pines. My intention was to photograph them forever, in all sorts of light and all sorts of weather.

Sadly they were snapped in half by the gales of January 1990. The same gales also flattened the double pair of conifers in the middle distance.

Montage of photos from same position.

The old cricket pitch

2010-11-19T10:25:00.005Z

The old cricket pitch, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Late yesterday afternoon I had a meeting with a young woman from Wiltshire Council's Countryside Team to discuss the future of our POS - Public Open Space - on the eastern side of Devizes.  

Many years ago this space was the regimental cricket pitch for the army based at Le Marchant Barracks. When we first came to live in our new home, in the late 1980s, the derelict cricket pavilion was still standing - approximately where the hazel bushes are on the left of the photo.  

The Crown/MoD owned most of the land around which was being sold to developers but the cricket pitch was protected under the local long term plan as POS. That didn't stop the developers from attempting a greedy land grab by submitting plans for 90 houses on the cricket pitch and it took a huge campaign to make sure the plans were overturned by a council planning meeting.  

Once the dust had settled after that, the council - Kennet District Council - came up with an excellent solution of halving the area into a close-mown area for play and a wild, nature area which would, with the right management, become a glorious wildflower meadow. Between the two they sited an adventure playground.  

So, in 1996, the Le Marchant Conservation Area was born and nearly 1000 trees and shrubs were planted around the edges.  

The recent local government changes in Wiltshire means Kennet DC are no more and so it was with great relief I finally met someone from Wiltshire Council who understands how good the conservation area could be, what needs doing and who could help.  

And I'm still proud of the fact that those 90 houses were never built.  

PS The 'castle' on the right hand side of the photo is The Keep. A Victorian folly tower which guarded the entrance to Le Marchant barracks. 

Roger Frames buys Budjit Games

2010-11-02T17:34:00.018Z

Roger Frames - masthead, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

I've been scanning in old art commissioned by Commodore Format magazine in the early 1990s. At the time, Future Publishing was probably my best client and I was producing artwork for many of its magazines.

The regular project that I enjoyed the most was illustrating the pages where the low-cost (Budjit) computer games were reviewed by the fictitious young, accident-prone kid - Roger Frames.

Issue #1 of the magazine saw Roger in basic black and white line but very soon - by issue #4 - a couple of full colour illustrations of Roger's antics appeared every month. This increased to as much as four illustrations in some issues.

I've chosen a few of my favourites: some are scans from the printed magazine because the artwork was either not returned or been lost.

Roger Frames: Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Computer Sand Sculpture, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: All at sea, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Hospital Visit, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Brush with the Law, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Asleep in the Sun, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Bad Sunburn, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: The Untouchables, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: 'Batman' and the Vicar, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Hanging On, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Beach Treasure Hunt, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Roger Frames: Bath Tub Sub, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Exhibition sketchbook: Ronald Searle 'What? Already?!', 90th year exhibition, Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hannover

2010-09-09T22:45:00.062+01:00

Exhibition sketchbook: Ronald Searle - self portrait, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

2010 has been a year of rediscovery for me. And the greatest of these has been of Ronald Searle's work, made possible by exhibitions in London and Hannover in honour of his 90th birthday.

The fact that I could still draw, after a decade of beating ever increasing amounts of type into smaller text boxes (sometimes laughingly described as graphic design), was also a rediscovery. The joy I felt at sketching these drawings by Searle was astonishing. I burst into tears at one point. Something had been re-established in me.

These sketchbook drawings are not intended to give a wider public much information about Searle's work. They were really just for me. A way of connecting. Better sources for actual examples of Ronald Searle's work are the Ronald Searle Tribute and Brian Sibley has written several pieces about him. Worth a look.

And if you can, get over to Hannover before 30 January 2011 to see the exhibition!

Exhibition sketchbook: Perhaps His Majesty's Minister is not aware of the grave displeasure with which the Primrose League views the Government's sunflower scheme, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Exhibition sketchbook: Ronald Searle - And this is Mr Eccle Shave. He wants a bloody revolution., originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Exhibition sketchbook: Ronald Searle - Layman's Guide to the Warrior's Anatomy & Artist's Anatomy., originally uploaded by mike(toons).

The right hand sketch is missing about 30 arrows linking the artist's attributes to his head, which I lazily omitted to draw.

Exhibition sketchbook: Some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England... (Telescopic photo taken through the open window of the ladies room of a well-known Port Said hostelry), originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Exhibition sketchbook: Clown by Ronald Searle (1971), originally uploaded by mike(toons).

I love the contrast between the sober normal world seen in the businessman's clothes hanging on the pegs and the ludicrous clown in a purple striped dress.

Exhibition sketchbook: two cartoons for Le Monde by Ronald Searle, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

The cartoons done for Le Monde, over the last 15 years or so, show that Searle's powers are undiminished. These are my two favourites but there were many more in the exhibition. Top: "Au suivant!", bottom "Foubelle".

Exhibition sketchbook: Ronald Searle - owl in ink and scribbled colour pencil, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Grand Day Out

2010-03-08T17:59:00.018Z

Young and old, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

'Lord Nelson' at Ropley station

The wonderfully named Watercress Line (although the Bluebell Line is even more wonderfully named) runs from Alresford to Alton in Hampshire. The first weekend in March brought the Spring Steam Gala: three days of steamy pleasure for all railway nuts.

The icing on the cake and the irresistible draw was the presence of the recently built A1 Pacific Class 'Tornado' amongst many other locomotives steamed up and pulling the passengers.

(below) A1 Class 'Tornado' approaching Ropley station

An ambitious timetable of a train every half hour proved too ambitious on the Friday when I was there. A signal problem first and then an event that was unexpected and almost unbelievable. The west-bound 12:51 from Alton, pulled by Gresley A4 Pacific 'Bitten' completely ran out of pulling power on the steep gradient up to the summit of the 'Hampshire Alps'. Plenty of power from the loco but wheelslip slowed the train down to a complete standstill. Repeated attempts to get rolling again only succeeded in rolling backwards as gravity proved to be applying more force than 'Bittern'.

(left) 'Bittern' is hidden in the steam as it tries in vain to haul the train up the incline

A long wait for some rescuing motive power ensued. And, as the stalled train was unfortunately blocking a stretch of single-track line, the whole day's timetable was thrown by well over an hour. Southern Railway 4-6-0 'Lord Nelson' saved the day and partnered 'Bittern' up and beyond the summit point before rejoining its own train at Medstead.

Nobody grumbled. People looked bemused rather than annoyed. If it had happened on a South West Trains service tantrums would have been thrown. It certainly didn't spoil a grand day out.

More photographs from the same day on my Flickrstream.

Quick Brown Fox

2010-02-10T17:34:00.006Z

Quick Brown Fox, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

...and Lazy Dog.

Scraperboard illustration in a woodcut style which was used as the logo for Quick Brown Fox (typesetters and pre-press company in Manchester, UK). It was based on a colour painting by another artist, whose name I don't know.

It was done in my first years working as a freelance illustrator. Back then, if anyone asked "Can you draw wildlife?" (or virtually anything under the sun), I'd answer "Sure!" and worry about how I was going to do it when I got back home with the brief and the purchase order.

Apologies for the intrusive copyright notice. I'd prefer a lighter touch but I'd like any rip-off merchants there might be out there to have to work for their ill-gained goodies.

Assassination of the pretender

2010-02-01T19:36:00.005Z

Assassination of the pretender, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Sketchbook work. Some time free from the clutches of the Digital Life. Using inks which I've had for over 15 years. And they still work.

Playtime with the materials... slowly evolving from the colours and shapes.

Standing Stone at Avebury

2009-12-13T10:28:00.006Z

Standing Stone at Avebury, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

It was an unplanned visit to the stone circle at Avebury, on the way back from visiting a friend in Brinkworth. A cold, foggy morning so I thought it would be worth stopping for a few photos. The fog cleared more than I would have wished but without any sunlight breaking through so it was a very flat light.

Anyway, this shot pleases me. Looking at it on screen still gives me a weird and uncomfortable feeling. There are so many histories here.

Roger Frames and his dog Debit watch the Chancellor's Speech

2009-12-06T14:58:00.004Z

Roger Frames and his dog Debit watch the Chancellor's Speech, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

This is a blast from the past. An ink and wash illustration commissioned by Commodore Format magazine in the early 1990s.

I illustrated many "Roger Frames buys Budjit Games" for the magazine involving the penny-pinching antics of Roger, who acted out his computer game role-play with disastrous consequences.

Working with Ollie Alderton, the art editor of Commodore Format, on Roger Frames has to be one of the most fun things I ever did.

Looking to Quakers Walk, towards Devizes

2009-11-20T22:52:00.009Z

Looking to Quakers Walk, towards Devizes, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

A view of the historic bridleway known as Quakers Walk in Devizes.
This view will be lost for ever when the green field the other side of the track is filled with housing. The roads are already being built. The sales offices for Wimpy and Persimmon Homes are in place, flags fluttering in the chill breeze. I spoke to a lady who was walking her dog and she told me that the walk will be closed for six months while it is dug up to allow for the laying of major new drains.

It's sad when owners* of agricultural land sell out to the developers. (*The Merchant Venturers, based in Bristol. Try Googling it.)

For me, it's even sadder that all the new homes will be cramped little boxes with pocket handkerchief gardens (if lucky) and all looking like pattern book variants of various Victorian village buildings. But with smaller windows. Mean and cheap.

Why can't these companies build 21st century homes that include the new technologies for renewable energy? Can't they build zero carbon housing? (c.f. BedZed) Where's Kevin McCloud when you need him?

Quakers Walk, Devizes, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Sea and Light

2009-10-02T22:37:00.007+01:00

Sea and Light, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

We had a Day Out in Dorset on Wednesday. Emily (aka Garmin SatNav) guided us to Kimmeridge Bay, which I'd never visited before. I wasn't expecting to be so excited by the pure play of light on the sea, especially on the horizon line. Almost a dead calm day, the light was ever changing all day: sometimes magical, sometimes flat.

My only regret is that we left there at 4.45pm, when the sky was looking distinctly unpromising. Two hours later, standing by the bridge in Wareham, the sky had cleared for a golden sunset and I tried not to think how wonderful it would be back at Kimmeridge. Damn. Lesson learned.

Sea and Light, originally uploaded by mike(toons)

Real materials versus computer software

2009-09-06T12:29:00.009+01:00

Salisbury Plain (from memory), originally uploaded by mike(toons).

August Bank Holiday I spent some time playing with ink and watercolours in my sketchbook. Doodles really. Playing with the medium. Simply enjoying myself. But the first time for absolutely ages.

I had to take advantage of a clear desk space in my wife's studio - well away from my tiny home office which is dominated by the computer.

Some of the resultant pieces I've scanned from the sketchbook and a couple are uploaded to Flickr.

Looking at the Flickr set of my artworks I was struck by two pieces that I created with a computer art application (ArtRage). It's a clever piece of software, similar to Painter but cheaper.

Midnight in Badalamenti, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

But those ArtRage pieces have no soul. Nothing feeds back to me from them. They are empty images. If only 'Midnight in Badalamenti' existed as a real acrylic or oil painting! It's just an jpeg image in a world flooded with jpegs. There isn't a real version I can hold.

I feel the same way about a lot of the work that I've done since the mid 90s using Adobe Illustrator. At first I used inked line work that I scanned and converted to vector. Pressures of lower and lower fees meant short-cutting this stage by using 'brushes' built into the software.

Nothing comes close to real ink, paint, colour on real paper, board, canvas.

I must find more time away from the computer. Computers have provided me with employment for the past 15 years but are now stopping me doing the very thing that gives me most enjoyment and creative nourishment.

Chelsea Buns

2009-05-26T17:28:00.018+01:00

Chelsea Buns, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Chelsea Buns

This is mainly based on a recipe I found at the Great British Kitchen Cookbook with changes to make them even more scrummy.

Filling
Fruit
60g raisins
40g sultanas
25g cut mixed peel

Spices
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon

40g butter (soft enough to spread)
50g Demerara sugar

Mix fruit in a bowl and add 25ml of hot water, a mixture of ruby port and hot water or 100 per cent port. Cover with cling film and soak for at least an hour - longer is better. Stir the fruit occasionally.
- - - - - -
Yeast ferment/batter
75g wholemeal flour
10g natural caster sugar
10g fresh yeast (or 5g of dried yeast)
125ml of milk at 30 deg C

Add enough milk to the yeast to make a paste, then add the sugar and enough milk to dissolve the sugar. Add the flour and the rest of the milk a little at a time to create a fairly sloppy batter. Make sure the bowl is big enough to have enough room for the mixture to froth up. Cover with cling film and leave until the ferment has bubbled up and is just starting to drop back - an hour or more depending on room temperature.
- - - - - -
Dough
Ferment/batter (above)
175g strong white (plain) flour
25g butter
50g egg (1 medium egg) beaten

Measure flour into a large bowl. Cut butter into small cubes, adding a little at a time into the flour and rubbing in using thumbs and fingers to create a 'crumb' mixture. When all the butter is mixed with the flour, add the ferment/batter and beaten egg and mix thoroughly.

Knead for about 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until the mixture feels smooth and elastic.

Return the dough to the bowl and cover with greased cling film. Allow to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled.
- - - - - -
Prepare a 20cm square cake tin by lining with baking parchment.
Drain any excess liquid from the fruit (if you've used port, this is where you get your bonus tipple) and stir the spices mixture into the fruit.
- - - - - -
Roll or spread the dough on a lightly floured surface until it makes a rectangle 20 x 30cm. Spread with the soft butter. Sprinkle spicy fruit and Demerara sugar to cover evenly. Roll up from the long side (like a Swiss roll) and then slice the roll into nine pieces.

Place the slices in the cake tin (with the cut sides top and bottom) in three rows of three. Cover and allow to rise for about an hour. I use a very large re-sealable polythene bag for this purpose.

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Remove the cover and then bake for 30 to 35 minutes. If the top is browning too much, cover with baking parchment for the last few minutes.

Glaze while still in the tin with warmed liquid honey (3 tsps). Leave to cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Best eaten warm!

Roe deer in the bluebells

2009-04-22T12:52:00.003+01:00

Roe deer in the bluebells, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Last weekend I went to a 'Nature Photography Beginners Day' given by Colin Varndell. One message he kept repeating was that the most wonderful light to shoot in is fog.

I looked out at 6.30 this morning - fog!

Having decided to go to Oakfrith Wood to shoot bluebells, at the last minute I packed my old Canon and telephoto lens. It's a crappy bog-standard 75-300mm lens but (sigh) all the glass I can afford at the moment.

After half an hour of wandering around the wood taking misty morning photos of bluebells I spotted a roe deer buck. It also spotted me but wasn't sure what I was. When it disappeared behind a tree trunk, I frantically swopped cameras and then (hand held) got some shots.

The deer did come closer and I took more shots but this is my favourite composition.

Imber village: Imber Court

2009-04-15T10:33:00.003+01:00

Imber village: Imber Court, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Imber village is in the middle of Salisbury Plain and was commandeered by the army in 1943. They promised to return it to the villagers after Herr Hitler had been defeated. The army reneged on their promise.

On certain days during the year the MoD opens the roads across the Plain for people - including surviving village inhabitants - to visit Imber.

"Buy 'em by the Sack!"

2009-03-15T17:08:00.002Z

"Buy 'em by the Sack!", originally uploaded by bayswater97.

No More Land Art on Clougha

2009-01-28T21:24:00.007Z

No More Land Art on Clougha, originally uploaded by escher1.

I've been following the work of artist Richard Shilling. He's a Land Artist, similar to Andy Goldsworthy. In fact he acknowledges that, studying Goldsworthy's work and using it as a launching pad for new ideas.

He has recently done some wonderful sculptures on Clougha, a looming hill to the south east of Lancaster and where there is already a large sculpture by Goldsworthy.

However, the owners of the land, Abbeystead Estate, have instructed that all Richard's work be dismantled and none be newly constructed.

There's got to be a way for this to be resolved. Land Art is a wonderfully free art - public art in the best sense. Galleries can't sell it, traders can't deal in it. In money terms, it's worthless. But Richard's work, in the shapes he builds, in the settings he chooses, is priceless.

Roundway Hill: late afternoon, December

2008-12-10T09:40:00.003Z

Roundway Hill: late afternoon, December, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

We went to get our Christmas tree this afternoon from the farm we usually buy from at Seend village. Alas and alack. They were not selling trees. No explanation on the big hand-painted sign other than "No Trees".

So we tootled back into Devizes and stopped off at the garden centre near the Black Horse pub at the top of the flight of locks. Their tree prices were outrageous so we resisted but the view from their car park is one of the best around, looking towards Roundway Hill.

We eventually got a tree from a fallenoffthebackofalorry outfit selling trees in the car park of the Bell by the Green pub. M recognised the young guy selling - she had taught him at primary school. "Oh I remember him... he was a pain in the ****..."

The tree looks OK. Only cost £15. Hope the needles stay on until Christmas Day.

More bread

2008-12-09T13:14:00.003Z

More bread, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

I worked hard yesterday to get five loaves baked - a pain de campagne and four small Borodinsky sourdough rye. I'm still ridiculously proud of my newly-learned baking. It's great fun, very satisfying and I'm literally putting bread on the table.

The four Borodinskys were baked in my new four-in-a-line baking tins bought from Dinghams in Salisbury.

Winter skyline

2008-12-09T13:07:00.004Z

Winter skyline, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

The light yesterday morning was very changeable. One moment bathed in pale golden winter sun, the next shrouded with mist. This is the view directly south from my house. Not 'straight out of the tin' but with some help applied in Adobe Lightroom and an intrusive electricity cable carefully removed in Photoshop. Honesty is my middle name.

Worst car I ever bought

2008-10-06T12:01:00.013+01:00

Worst car I ever bought, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Back in 1976 Fiat cars were built to last...oooh... anything up to two years. Which is about how long this heap of rubbish lasted. Rain water leaks, poor starting, rusting bodywork... bad, bad, bad.

This Fiat 128 was bought new - something I tend not to do any more - and, thinking back, it was my 'poor man's Alfa Sud'.

For the first six months, engineers tried to find the cause of the more-than-intermittent missing acceleration. Bravely, I planned a three-week holiday driving up the Rhine valley to the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps. The week before the holiday I took the car in for its service. I was assured all was now well.

We set off in the early hours to travel down to Felixstowe - over the Pennines then down the A1. A policeman flagged us down with his torch in the middle of the A6 in Whaley Bridge. Where were we going to at this hour in the morning? "The ferry at Felixtowe." He was impressed by my adventurousness and wished us well for our holiday.

Driving down the A1, the acceleration once again began to falter. I lost my rag and just floored it. I didn't care. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Whoosh! Suddenly the car leaped forward and we flew along. It was if a giant had given the car a kick up the backside. Problem solved. And it never returned.

We had a wonderful holiday. My mistake was not selling the car as soon as we got back.

It had to be parked facing downhill for morning starts. Gravity and a rolling start were vital ingredients. Eventually the seals around the back window went and let rainwater in, soaking the back seat which I regularly had to take out to dry in front of the fire. Sometimes the car smelled as though it had a dead rat hidden in it.

Two years from new, rust was eating through the doors. The lowest point was when I parked the car in central Manchester and returned to find someone had knocked the door-mounted mirror off, leaving a rusty gaping wound in the door. How did Fiat stay in business? Their cars were only suitable for clogging up the streets of Rome.

Note: The yellow VW beetle seen parked at the top of the hill in the photo belonged to neighbour Ted King. Ted was a character: a great racing pigeon man and a fine veg grower.

Plume-de-ma-tante moth

2008-08-11T18:56:00.007+01:00

Plume-de-ma-tante moth, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Hysteria non-scriptus Usually in flight during August, early doors to early dawn. These moths can be a nuisance in the home, leaving inky writing over walls and ceilings. Particularly messy when squished.

Moths lured off-track

2008-07-22T20:52:00.011+01:00

Dun-bar moth, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Moths must hate all the lights we burn. Thinking that it must be the moon or a particularly bright star, many moths spiral towards bright lights and completely lose their bearings. If it's the proverbial candle flame they lose their lives.

For several million years moths perfected their navigation system and then clever-clogs humans come along, lighting fires, inventing incandescent bulbs and bedecking the planet with all manner of unnecessary, dazzling and unnatural artificial daylight.

I've just added to their woes. The light on the garage wall which illuminates the back gate and garden path had been unused since the 60 watt bulb had failed several months ago. I'd got fed up of feeding the damn thing with fragile bulbs which only lasted three or four months.

A visit to the DIY megawarehouse in Chippenham provided me with a new high-tech replacement. A light-sensor-activated low-energy bulkhead lamp using only 16 watts of power.

Poor moths. Every morning there are at least four lost souls dotted around the new lamp wondering why they are where they are and trying to blend their brilliant camouflages, acquired by natural selection in a more natural world, against my red brick garage wall.

Rye rubber brick

2008-07-21T09:34:00.018+01:00

Rye rubber brick, originally uploaded by mike(toons).

Danger: Steep learning curve ahead. Behold the result of my very first attempt at baking bread. Actually, it's only my third attempt at baking anything.

A few weeks ago, under the watchful eye of my better half, I baked two delicious Irish Tea Loaves from a recipe in a Delia Smith cookbook. Which made me feel very proud. Prior to that I have to go back to my teen years when a swiss roll I baked had an unintentional but distinctly cubist look to it.

I wanted to have a go at baking bread but I especially wanted to try a rye sourdough. I have a digestion intolerance for white bread, especially the soft, damp, fluffy stuff that supermarkets sell.

For some time we've been buying various rye breads by The Village Bakery. It's great bread but a) naturally it's more expensive than normal supermarket bread and b) there are a couple of hundred 'food miles' involved getting the loaves from Melmerby in Cumbria to my table in Wiltshire. (On the plus side we never waste a crumb of it, Gordon Brown please note.)

Learning how to bake bread from a book is hard work. You're in a foreign land and it's difficult to tell how badly you're doing. Following the guidance in the book Bread Matters by The Village Bakery's founder Andrew Whitley, I lovingly prepared the sourdough starter over four days.

But when it came to the proofing stage, well, not much was going on. I could tell it wasn't right before it went into the oven but I wanted to see what would happen anyway.

Result: one rye rubber brick. Completely inedible.

I searched the internet for more guidance and it is probable that my 'starting from scratch' starter didn't have enough active beasties to work properly. It hadn't 'fired'. I had a vision of a Fiat 128 I once owned back in the 1970s. That was a bastard to cold start too, so at home I always parked it facing downhill.

Undaunted, I've saved a little of the original starter and I'm now in the process of adding to that in the hope of better results second time.

Fingers crossed.

Well I woke up this mornin'

2008-06-02T22:29:00.009+01:00

I had those no sleep blues. For some reason I woke up at 4 o' clock this morning and peeped out between the curtains to see a misty morning which looked like it might turn into a good sunrise.

Got up, collected the camera kit together and headed for the Vale of Pewsey hoping for some good landscape photos.

Not to be. The mist slowly thickened to a grey fog and the sunrise was completely hidden. But I did see a few things worth getting out of bed for... well worth getting out of bed for.

Brown Hare

Male pheasant

Brown hares playing, watched by the pheasant

A question of identity

2008-05-16T23:39:00.007+01:00

Our recent visit to Andalucia in April introduced us to lots of plants and animals we had never seen before. Identifying them from the photos we took is proving hard work. I think I've tracked more one down this evening after extensive Google and Wikipedia searches - Cynoglossum cheirifolium [photo above] - but, not being a botanist, I still harbour doubts. Anyway, to this botanical beginner it's a very pretty plant* with furry silver leaves and beautiful deep red flowers.

And it's not just wildflowers... have you tried identifying moths? Very difficult. But I know a man who can.

* Note added on May 27th: 'a very pretty plant' is a gross understatement. What a wonderful and sexy combination of colour and texture! I love this plant and its photo is my aide memoire to a very special place.

Midnight in Badalamenti

2008-05-15T17:16:00.004+01:00

Digital painting created in ArtRage 2.
A blessed release after a day of retouching scans

Kopi Luwak

2008-05-14T17:14:00.009+01:00

Things I didn't know before today: I received a newsletter from Algerian Coffee Stores this morning. One of the items was about Kopi Luwak coffee.

"Most of you must have heard of Kopi Luwak, Kopi being the Indonesian word for coffee and Luwak the indigenous animal who feasts on ripe coffee cherries.

These animals eat, digest and eventually excrete the cherries. Locals gather the beans, which come through the digestion process fairly intact still wrapped in layers of the coffee cherry mucilage.

Apparently the enzymes in the stomach of the animal add something unique to the coffee's flavour through fermentation. Some people even say it's an aphrodisiac and it is now the world's priciest speciality coffee! We will have some in by the end of May, packed in a 250g bag, multipurpose ground @ £15.99"

Can you imagine the 'foodies' dinner party where this coffee is served up?

Where have I been all these years?

2008-05-13T12:37:00.008+01:00

I can't believe that I've only recently discovered Moondog. He is the springhead for the whole minimalist music movement - Glass, Reich, (who appear on this CBS album) Adams, Tiersen - which I have been devouring for the last ten years. How come I missed Moondog? Better late than never.

PS. Thanks to Dave B for lending the Moondog LP.

Faster...

2008-03-31T14:13:00.004+01:00

Ooops. I've just witnessed something I find hard to believe actually happened. My neighbour has driven, nay - accelerated, his car through his garage door. Completely wrecked his garage door, minor damage to car, no damage to driver and passenger apart being from a little shocked and shaken up. Totally weird.

Wider...

2008-03-31T14:08:00.002+01:00

After tinkering with the blog HTML, it is now 70 pixels wider than before. No big deal, but I can now make the left hand column 200 pixels wide.

Easter weekend

2008-03-27T21:02:00.018Z

Maundy Thursday: M's birthday but sadly not a particularly special day with both of us working hard.

Good Friday: Traditional annual meet with friends at the Barge Inn at Honeystreet, supposedly to watch the participants in the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race but most, if not all of them, paddled past this point hours ago. Excellent Butcombe Bitter. Joined by No. 1 son and partner down from London. Followed by excellent joint-effort meal at friends' house.

–
Easter Saturday: Fretted over state-of-play in Lancashire derby between PNE and Burnley, the Whites prevailing. After lunch No. 1 son and partner headed back to London via garden centres and Sainsbury's. The rest of the day spent chained to Mac to finish off the print-ready artwork for Wiltshire Wildlife Magazine and the What's On events guide, finally FTP-ing them to the printer. Deadlines, deadlines...

Easter Sunday: Watched unseasonal snowfall (photographed the Easter Robin) before packing the Silver Baby (Toyota Yaris) for The North. After parking in Lancaster, I used taxis to get around* the city because of painful torn muscles in my leg. *L I M P, pronounced limp.

Easter Monday: Grand Day Out for nephews and sister-in-law to Oulton Park for a day's motor sport. I know nothing about motor racing apart from being able to name one or two famous English Grand Prix drivers (when did it change its name to F1?). Seven hours later I had a couple of hundred shots, most of them blurred or half a second too late, but was still not much wiser about motor sport.

Back-to-work-again-for-most-people-Tuesday: Took a short detour, across the lovely bridge over the River Lune at Crook o' Lune, up over the hilltops to Over Kellet and down to Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve at Silverdale. Complete bliss sitting in the hides watching crazy black-headed gulls, introspective teal and graceful great crested grebes. A pair of grebes were busy building a nest near the Public Hide on the Causeway, accompanied by the occasional pas de deux of head bobbing and weed presentation. Had to force myself away to point the Silver Baby back down the M6 again.

Mersey ferry on a foggy day

2008-03-14T12:36:00.007Z

Even more from the archives: A new scan from an old negative. A labour of love which took a lot of time 'spotting out' in Photoshop to lose the scratches, dust and other grot accumulated over almost 40 years. Anyway, thank goodness for the cloning and healing tools. Much easier than mixing up tints of lamp black and dabbing it on with a brush with two hairs.

The shot was taken in early 1969, the last year of my graphic design course at Liverpool College of Art, but I haven't any record of the exact date. It looks like early afternoon, judging by the low number of people on board: well before the evening rush. I'd been photographing on the Wirral that day: by train from Liverpool to West Kirby and back to Birkenhead. Just for the hell of it, instead of staying on the train I decided to take the ferry back to Liverpool and was rewarded with the best shot of the day.

Liverpool Pierhead in the 60s

2008-03-09T11:23:00.003Z

More from the archives: I took this photo from the top floor of the old bus terminus at Liverpool Pierhead in spring 1967. It's beginning to dawn on me that I'm old.

Playing with ArtRage 2

2008-03-03T23:25:00.015Z

Hornet Entity: created with ArtRage 2. I've had this application on my Mac for a while but haven't properly explored what it can do. There are four layers to this doodly painting: 1) sketch 2) colour 1 set to multiply 3) colour 2 set to multiply 4) highlights.

Playtime after a long day spent diligently working to pay the mortgage.

Small earthquake, nobody killed

2008-02-27T16:12:00.007Z

Where were you when...
The earthquake centred in Market Rasen in the early hours of this morning has become one of those events that gets people chattering and comparing. Most descriptions start with an initial perception that it was the young couple upstairs/next door engaging in a particularly athletic bout of bonking before the realisation that the earth was actually moving for everybody. In my case I presumed the memsahib had fallen heavily against the furniture but the vigourous shaking of the walls and the alarm calls of the ducks on the canal indicated a wider event. I can't say I ever remember participating in an earthquake before.

Messerschmitt car

2008-02-26T15:14:00.009Z

Rummaging Through Old Photos Department: I can't remember which year this photo was taken - it could be 1967 or 1968. It's while I was living in Anfield, anyway. And it's obviously winter. A fall of snow late at night tempted me out onto the streets with my camera and in St Domingo Grove I found this little gem. It's still a favourite image of mine.

60s Liverpool | Adrian Henri

2008-02-22T12:19:00.017Z

Last night I spent a couple of nostalgic hours scanning in old transparencies taken in the 60s in Liverpool. That's where (and when) I spent my student days at the College of Art, studying Pre-Dip. (now called Foundation) and Diploma in Art & Design [Graphic Design].

My group tutor in my first year was the late Adrian Henri, artist and Liverpool poet *. Adjusting to life at art college with Adrian Henri was a major shock to the system after A level art in the sixth form of a Grammar School but it was fabulous to have been there at that time.

The photo of Adrian Henri (above) was taken a couple years later in April 1967 during a student collaborative film/audio/visual project. I wish I'd taken lots more. Seen from this distance it's as precious as gold.

'Death in the Suburbs', Adrian Henri (audio)

* Poet Roger McGough was my 'Liberal Studies' tutor in that first year at the college: his classes sometimes involved improvised plays based on newspaper headlines. It was 'Whose Line is it Anyway?' 40 years ago.

Trashy Lingerie

2008-02-18T10:51:00.018Z

London: 15th February. This doorway and its funny neon sign turned out to be one of the unexpected highlights of the day. The shop is in Old Compton Street, almost opposite the Algerian Coffee Stores*, where I'd just bought Brazilian Bourbon and Blue Sumatra coffee beans.

It's the sort of shot that I wouldn't have taken a few months ago but I'm feeling more playful and more confident in my visual 'jottings' now. I'm sharpening up the way I look at everything. [Despite this photo having camera-shake blur!]

Earlier in the day I'd fought through the half-term hoards of kids with their attendant mums, dads and pushchairs at the Natural History Museum. They were there for the dinosaurs. I was there for the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition.

A magnificent collection of beautiful and thought-provoking images, some of them by very young kids too! It must be nice for a 10 year old to be able to say "I got a new DSLR for Christmas so I borrowed my uncle's 400mm lens and managed to capture this image of a rare..."

The exhibition is on until 27 April 2008. Recommended.

* Algerian Coffee Stores: The very best place IMHO to buy fresh coffee beans. Beats any other place I've ever tried.

Bag o' sh*t

2008-02-13T18:40:00.020Z

Hand on heart, I've never been a 'doggy' person.

I tolerate dogs. I tolerate then when they bark and growl at me. I tolerate them when they stinky slobber on my hand. I even tolerate them when they leap up and try and knock me over. Actually, I just remembered back to a little Yorkie I used to know called Chewy. Chewy was OK.

But poo is the problem. Poo on your shoe. Poo in areas where children play. Poo in areas like nature reserves where ecologists play - grovelling on hands and knees, looking for marsh fritillary larvae or early signs of squinancywort.

Good dog owners pick up the poo [scoop the poop] in a plastic bag and dispose of it in the appropriate manner. A hearty round of applause for all those good folk.

Bad dog owners shiftily avert their gaze to admire a passing cement truck and continue their sauntering walk as Effin' Fido dumps a pile in the middle of the pavement/footpath/canal towpath.

But there's an in-between breed [crossbreed?] of dog owners whose behaviour is, quite frankly, incomprehensible. After dutifully bagging up their pet's excrement they throw the bag down into the grass, under some bushes, or even tie the bag onto a branch of a bush.

What do they think will happen to the bagged-up shite? Do they walk past the bag each day and admire it? The polythene is very effective at preserving its contents and preventing it from breaking down naturally. No chance of dung-loving insects processing it in there.

I am totally flummoxed by these people. I wait in hope of enlightenment from someone who has insight into their mindset.

1995 revisited

2008-02-10T22:22:00.002Z

1995 revisited: this was the image on the homepage of miketoons in its first incarnation. Doodly doodles* on a spiral bound secretarial notepad, montaged in Photoshop. I still like the lettering but I'm not sure now about the fake coffee cup stain. *My best doodles are done while talking on the phone.

managaging volunteers

2008-02-07T23:35:00.003Z

I was sent the GoldStar logo for a design job I'm currently working on. As often happens, the file sent to me was low-res inside a Word document. [sigh]. I burst out laughing when I noticed the spelling. I checked the GoldStar website and yes, the same artwork with the same spelling was top left of every page.* Well done HM Government Cabinet Office.
*I'll keep a check on how long it takes them to notice. I've saved a screengrab.

Update - 23 September 2008 Thanks to Elliot Elam for discovering that things have been rectified: "You'll be slightly disappointed, as I am, to find they've noticed their mistake."

Beware of Birdsong

2008-02-07T23:15:00.002Z

Beware of Birdsong, originally uploaded by miketoons pix.

Drawn with Pentel Japanese brushpen on a piece of A4 photocopier paper, torn in half to A5.
The lack of any value to this piece of white paper helped me to make marks.
Coloured in Photoshop.

Creative Schizoid

2008-02-05T22:20:00.001Z

Wood pigeon in the rain, originally uploaded by miketoons pix.

Since 2002, illustration has slept soundly in the back seat of my beat-up creative jalopy. A corner was turned when I was offered a job as a graphic designer for the local Wildlife Trust. This souped-up my Quark and Photoshop skills very nicely but gradually the confidence in my drawing skills declined.

Six years later I still haven't got my confidence back to where it was before the turn of the millennium. I spend my days wiggling a mouse around a mouse mat, staring at a monitor, shunting type and images around a digital pasteboard. This needs remedial action and I've promised myself to WD-40 my sketching hand and grind off that rust.

However, since last November (2007), after buying a second-hand DSLR camera, I've found a creative outlet in wildlife and landscape photography. It reinforces my interest in those subjects - which had been nurtured through my work for the Wildlife Trust - and gives me the opportunity to do things solely for myself.

After many years of working to a brief, to a deadline, keeping clients happy... it is hard to work creatively for no-one but me. The buzz I'm getting now from my photography is training me to think differently and I want to be able to take this across to my drawing and painting.

I'm posting the best of the photos on Flickr but will post some on this blog if I feel the need to write about the capturing of them.

For now, here's a very drippy wood pigeon. It was lifting its wing in the heavy rain as it sat forlornly on the front fence. It may have been thinking that a shower was just as good as taking a bath, but I like to think it was just pee'd off with the rain and was using the wing in lieu of a folded copy of The Guardian.

miketoons b.1995

2006-08-02T16:37:00.000+01:00

miketoons has been around on the web in one form or another since, hmmm, must be 1995. The word was coined at a moment's notice when I was asked by a guy at the ISP what I would like my website space to be called. In 1995 it was like that. All very personal.

I blurted out "miketoons". And so started my first website.

miketoons.com followed in 1997. It's still operational, after a lapse of a couple of years, but I need to make it more personal with less commercial work on there. Maybe this blog space will help me through the process.

PS added 10 February 2008: see 1995 revisited