Ignore no-mobile-phones notices at your peril; the coloured version.

This piece is actually for the Cheltenham Illustration Awards (thought I'd better make that clear, cos if I put CIA this may be misleading), and the brief was 'Cautionary Tales'.

Well, I finished the piece, scanned it and then tried unsuccessfully to print it out last night.  The printer obliged with the top 2" (approximately), and then printed out loads of gibberish, similar to those spam emails you get from Eastern Europe, on the next few sheets.  Until I removed all the remaining pieces of paper before it could get to them.

However, the noble printer obligingly obliged, this morning.  Then I heard there was a postal strike, so I ended up taking the stuff down to Cheltenham myself.  Problem is, once it gets into the postal system it could stay there for 30 years, for all I know, and there's no guarantee that this illustration would be relevant to future themes when it eventually gets there!

Though there is a lot going on here, and I dare say it could have tenuous links to all sorts of things ...

Following on from the 'Cars' post ...

I heard on the news today that there are thousands of drivers out there, ostensibly with full licences, who are actually NOT QUALIFIED TO DRIVE.  This is because they have hired criminals to sit their tests for them.  Some of these criminals have taken 200 tests, impersonating someone else;  apparently one of the reasons for this scam is that lessons and tests are so expensive these days  that it's actually much cheaper to hire someone to do the test for you.

I have several reactions to this.  Firstly, there are drivers out there with totally bona fide licences who are B****Y dangerous, and shouldn't be let loose near anything with more than one wheel.

Secondly, I am filled with admiration for the criminals.  All the blood, sweat and tears which went into me passing one test (I'm not telling you how many goes it took.  Suffice to say it took more than one.  And if you're supposed to have one driving lesson for every year of your age, I'd have been drawing my pension for years and years.)  But these people have passed 200!!!!! I think that's something of an achievement in itself.

Anyway, I expect some of these characters feature in my illustration below ...

Illustration Friday - Rejection

Cripes - it's been a long time since I put anything on here.  Basically because I've had a life transplant in the last couple of weeks!

Anyway, here's a picture to persuade to you not to use mobile phones in prohibited areas.  They have your best interests at heart, these warning signs!

Cosmetics gone mad!

People on the web have been noticing that cosmetics have got strange ingredients in them, which, on the face of it, have nothing to do with their purpose.  Some are listed here.

Amazingly, look what I've managed to find!  The existence of a preparation containing roast marmoset and charcoal, as detailed in Elizabeth's Journal, does seem a bit far fetched.

But did you realise that you could get this stuff at Somerfield?  You might need to click on the image to see it clearly!

I'm not sure if it's meant to make you look like a meerkat.  Maybe the charcoal is to give you the dark bits round the eyes.