Kicking things off with Falco‘s Rock Me Amadeus was regular host Liberty Pink, who then went on to pose for our first drawing. She was followed by Marnie Scarlet‘s vivid Red Queen routine, my sketch of whom won the prize for that round – a knitted boob (ahem) cup-cake.

Liberty Pink returned with her rendition of the Scarlet Pimpernel from the musical of the same name, before posing with stage manager Tiffany Beau. Another elaborate wig was being sported by the next act, Kitten von Mew, complete with twinkly fairy lights and a peacock feather tail. She then went on to pose for two drawings, one of them rather ‘cheeky’.

Rounding things off for the evening was Liberty Pink, in another costume change, this time apparently fulfilling another fantasy by appearing as Adam Ant (of Adam and the Ants fame) for a performance of Stand and Deliver, which involved getting this month’s winners up on stage (yours truly included) to dance along. Erk.

Another fun night was had by all, and, as ever, I’ve left this posting a bit late again, as the next Dr Sketchy’s happens this coming Saturday 26th March, upstairs at the Victoria in John Bright Street in Birmingham, tickets £9.50 on the door. I’ll be there, as will my mum, for a special birthday treat. The theme this time round is set to be Toy Story, so why not come out and play?

Making a splash with her opening number was our mermaid compère, Liberty Pink, after which we were straight in to our first model, Dani California with her balletic Bird of Paradise routine. Dr Sketchy’s organiser Candee Handful shivered our timbers with her pirate queen outfit, and was swiftly followed by Missy Malone, who stood for two poses.

Mysti Vine performed a grass-skirted hula for us, and finally Liberty Pink lowered the tone a bit with her rendition of sweary Saturday Night Live track I’m on a Boat! Reluctantly rescued from our desert island, we made our way home…

If this sounds your sort of thing, then the next Dr Sketchy’s happens er, tomorrow (sorry, this post is a tad late) 29th January, upstairs at the Victoria in John Bright Street, Birmingham, tickets £9.50 on the door. This month’s theme is Rococo Rocks, so expect a bit of the baroque with the burlesque.

Finally, I hinted about the presence of some Channel 4 folk in my last post from Dr Sketchy’s. Well, this involved a bit of filming for an upcoming TV show and a slightly different life-drawing class. Of which, more details soon…

I shall say this only once – Liberty Pink returned in the guise of Michelle of the Resistance (from ‘Allo ‘Allo) to perform Édith Piaf‘s Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien. Next, Millie Dollar joined the fray (unfortunately, my notes let me down here, as I must have neglected to write down the musical accompaniment), and posed for a couple of sketches – one of which I won the prize for, a vintage Daily Herald. Liberty Pink returned as the Andrews Sisters (well, one of them at least) performing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, and posed with stage assistant Fleur du Mal for the final drawing of the evening. Peace was finally declared following Liberty Pink’s rendition of Hitler Has Only Got One Ball, complete with a General Melchett-esque moustache.

Apologies, as ever, for the lateness of this post – after all, the next Dr Sketchy’s Birmingham happens this coming Saturday the 25th September. The theme this time round is Silver Screen Sirens, and will be held at the Victoria in John Bright Street. Tickets are available on the door prices £8.50, and the door in question opens at 3.30pm. Sadly, for the first time in the last two years, I won’t be able to attend due to a prior engagement (well, a wedding actually). Fear not,there is a special Dr Sketchy’s as part of this years British International Comics Show (BICS) on Saturday 16th October at 5pm in the Think Tank Theatre at Millennium Point. The comic-related theme of Heroines n Villains will feature a whole host of familar faces from Dr Sketchys’ past including Crimson Skye, Sherry Trifle and Cherryfox. BICS tix are available here. See you there?

Next up was Sketchy’s newcomer Glorian Gray in full tigress costume, dancing to The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Teach Me Tiger. Liberty Pink returned in a new costume to duet with side-kick puppet David Peckham for On A Tree By A River (Tit-Willow) from the Mikado, then went on to pose with stage manager Fleur du Mal as ringmaster and tigress respectively.

Ditzy Diamond returned with a set that was, quite literally, nuts, performing to The White Stripes‘ Little Acorns whilst dressed (and undressed) as a squirrel, and Mysti Vine brought another puppet to the show with her snake-charming set based on Kaa‘s song Trust In Me from Disney’s The Jungle Book. Events were brought to a close by Liberty Pink (in yet another costume change) and her version of Tom Lehrer‘s Poisoning Pigeons in the Park. All in all, another fun show. I finally broke my recent losing streak by winning an inflatable monkey for my sketch of Ditzy Diamond, and fellow scribbler Cathy Simpson also won an elephant.

The next class will be held this coming Saturday 17th July upstairs at the Victoria, with the theme of Beauties of the Blitz. Tickets are available on the door, priced £8.50. Doors open at 3.30pm. See you there!

The exhibition was not without controversy, particularly with doubts expressed as to the origins of some of the bodies. It’s certainly not for everyone, but speaking as an artist, I found it a fascinating exhibition offering an invaluable insight into what happens ‘under the skin’, and took the opportunity to do a little, er, very still life drawing. Fellow Brum Blogger and photographer Karen Strunks was also there, and snapped a few pics for her blog too. The show has ended now (yes, I was a bit slow in blogging this one), but you can still see my impressions below.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, or last Saturday to be precise, the anti-art burlesque life-drawing class known as Dr Sketchy’s beamed back down to Birmingham. And boldly going where no life-drawing class has gone before, the theme this time was X-Files. Hosted, as ever, by the Decadent Gent, this time regenerated into the form of the Fourth Doctor, we were treated to a selection of broadly Sci-Fi related routines, starting with Rouge Rum the Murderous Mare, featuring Crazy Horses by the Osmonds, a persuing policeman and, er, a horse’s head.

Following was Meg La Mania performing (and singing) Science Fiction/Double Feature from the Rocky Horror Show, with 3D glasses and retro ray-guns. Next up was Scarlet Fever, taking a break from her normal co-hosting duties to perform an alien-headed routine to the tune of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds (thankfully posing without the alien mask!)

Miss Rose Thorne’s appearance in a long overcoat with a sack over her head served to introduce her Elephant (Wo)man set, complete with prosthetic trunk. Our final act of the evening was the Chantilly Belles with their simply stunning Bride of Frankenstein themed disco set, to the tune of Le Freak by Chic. The evening was rounded up with a final pose from the Belles alongside Miss Rose Thorne. All in all a thoroughly entertaining evening, at which I was accompanied by fellow cartoonist Cathy Simpson, who managed to run off with two of the evening’s prizes (using one of my brush pens, I might add). I myself won one round, for my drawing of the Chantilly Belles, which was, appropriately enough, a Cyberman, of which I’m very proud!

Roll on the next Dr Sketchy’s in September! The theme next time, I’m told, is Boudoir, and is expected to be a popular one, so book up your tickets as soon as you can.

JEECamp – 8 May 2009

JEECamp (or, to give it it’s full title, the Journalism Enterprise and Experimentation unconference) was an interesting experience. An attempt for journalists and other media types (including one or two cartoonists) to gather and discuss how the digital revolution has changed (and continues to change) the news media, and how we as journalists (and cartoonists) are adapting to the changes.

Hosted and organised by digital media uber-guru and BCU lecturer Paul Bradshaw, the event took the BarCamp/Unconference model, which was a refreshing change from the more formal events I’ve attended as a live caricaturist in the past, although I was here as an attendee on this occasion. Activities included a talk by scoopt.com founder Kyle McRea, speed-networking, group discussions and a couple of panels, chosen at random from the audience. Myself and fellow cartoonist Matt Buck (of whom more later) were also interviewed for the BBC podcast Pods and Blogs. There’s a few sketches I doodled whilst I was there in the gallery at the bottom of this post.

Some other coverage about JEECamp: Created in Birmingham, Martin Belam, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph (part 2), Journalism.co.uk, Jo Geary, and pictures from Flickr.

Tormented Premiere – 21 May 2009

Later in May I was asked by Ruth Ward of Rewired PR to come along to the Birmingham premiere of the locally produced movie Tormented, a British take on the American High School slasher flick, so in keeping with the academic theme of the film, I was working on a chalk black-board drawing some of the text smileys that appeared in the film. And yes, that is me posing at the entrance to the party in a hastily-arranged school uniform (including a Prefect badge).

More coverage on Tormented: Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia and a review from the Guardian.

WxWM 2 – 28 May 2009

About a year and a half ago, a bunch of Brummie bloggers went to SxSWi (that’s South by South West Interactive), an annual tech and social media conference held in Austin, Texas that started as an offshoot of the SxSW music festival. These bloggers set up a website to record what they did – titled SxSWM (South by South West Midlands). This year, a larger bunch of Brummie bloggers went out again – so a group of other Brummie bloggers (lead by Shona McQuillan) decided to set up a parallel event here in Birmingham to connect with the USA bound bunch – this was WxWM (West by West Midlands… still with me?). That was earlier in the year, and unfortunately I couldn’t make it, but I could make the follow-on event, WxWM 2 – Sue Ellen’s Almighty Hangover on the 28 May at the Spotted Dog pub in Digbeth. This one was a little more experimental (for me at least), as I was drawing the speakers (and others) on my tablet PC hooked up to a projector for the room to see. The discussions were drawn from the general area of the social media, with a less business-oriented tone, and as it was held in a pub, well, things were a bit more relaxed all round…

There’s a few of my sketches from the evening in the gallery below, but all of the pics I drew on the night feature in this Flickr set.

Some further coverage from WxWM:  Speakers Jon Bounds (audio), Gavin Wray, Dave Harte, and Rhubarb Radio (who also did live audio),

My Dad’s on Twitter (#mdot) – 11 June 2009

A bit of a change of direction for this one. Conceived by Karl Binder and held as part of the Fazeley Digital festival, there was no clever techy tablet PCs here as the plan was to create a mind-map as a way of explaining the social media phenomenon, based around the theme ‘My Dad’s on Twitter… and he doesn’t know why’. The mind map was where we (myself and the aforementioned Matt Buck) came in, as it was drawn on one of the large, white walls of the Fazeley Studios complex in marker pen, pastel and whatever else we could get to work and was based on the conversations that the invited speakers sparked off. The drawings and notes were also added to by members of the audience, broadcast live over the internet and twittered and live-blogged, and so was a truely interactive event. There are a few more snaps I took below in the gallery, but all my pics are in this Flickr set.

#mdot (as it was known in Twitter hash-tag speak) also acted as the (un)official launch for myself and Matt Buck’s latest project – drawnalism. Drawnalism is our name for a form of visual reportage, where we cover an event through the medium of drawing (as opposed to photography or text), to provide a unique form of live visual commentary. Contact us at alex@drawnalism.com or matt@drawnalism.com for more details as to how we could cover your event.

Further coverage of My Dad’s On Twitter: the thinking behind MDoT, video of the event,  Jon Hickman (and the response from Karl Binder), usual suspect Dave Harte (again), reflections (part 2), another Flickr set, and, finally, the wall in more detail.

Moseley BarCamp – 28 June 2009

…aaand finally we come to what I was up to at the weekend, namely Shona McQuillan’s latest project – the Moseley BarCamp. Held in the upstairs room of the Cross bar in the leafy Birmingham suburb of Moseley on a sultry summers afternoon, the BarCamp ran on similar lines to the aforementioned WxWM2, and again I was drawing sketches on my tablet hooked up to a projector (courtesy of Jon Bounds of Birmingham It’s Not Shit, amongst others). This was a bigger event though, with more speakers, a larger crowd and even food laid on by the bar (thanks!).

Phew! I reckon that’s about everything covered. I’m off to another event this afternoon, so there’ll be more to add soon!

Gallery

Here’s a selection of images from all the events above… for more pics, see my Flickr photostream.

…and secondly, in July of the same year I was profiled in the Birmingham Post, for a double page spread in the Post Style section. Less scary than the TV interview, but that full-page photo shocked me when I saw it!

]]> http://alexhughescartoons.co.uk/2009/03/video-test-page/feed/ 4 http://alexhughescartoons.co.uk/2009/02/out-and-about/ http://alexhughescartoons.co.uk/2009/02/out-and-about/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:36:07 +0000 Alex http://drawnalism.com/alexhughescartoons/?p=1929

There’s been a bit of a dearth of new posts here recently, so I thought I’d add a quick round-up. Basically, I’ve been a bit all over the place recently…

In no particular order, I’ll start with the photo on the right, taken by Stuart Parker (aka @stuartparker) with his TTV camera setup at the recent Birmingham Twestival, a charity fundraising event organized around twitter.com, the microblogging site that’s been in the news a lot recently. I’ve been twittering away on there for over a year now, you can find me at @alexhughes. The event raised over £1500 for Charity:Water, who are a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Then last week I was in St Andrews in Scotland (not the Blues ground) to take part in the University’s Union Debating Society‘s Parliamentary Debate, opposing the likes of former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell… more on this later in the week.

Back in January, I captained a team representing the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation for BBC2′s Eggheads quiz show. The episode hasn’t been broadcast yet, so I can’t reveal much at the moment (although there is a bit more here), but rest assured, as soon as I know when it’s going out, I’ll be blogging it!

Incidentally, it’s just occurred to me that I’ve not written much here about the PCO or The Bloghorn. The Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation was formed to represent and raise the profile of UK professional cartoonists, and I’ve been Treasurer for a couple of years now. I’ve also been blogging for the recently re-launched Bloghorn, the blog of the PCO, alongside fellow cartoonists Matt Buck and Royston Robertson, where we’re writing about cartooning issues, news and events.

And finally, a bit of a heads up. Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival is back again (see previous years here) on the weekend of the 24-26 April (events diary), and although I’m not on the official list this year, myself, Matt and Royston will be covering the event for Bloghorn.

Following on from the successful Dr. Sketchys in November of last year, Birmingham’s burlesque life drawing ‘anti-art’ school returned on Saturday for another afternoon of drawing, drinking and dames. This time, I decided to travel light, leaving the tablet PC at home in favour of sketchbook, pens and pencils. The theme this time was ‘Hollywood Babylon’, and the girls perfomed suitably movie-themed routines.

First up, Suzie Sequin, performed to the tune of ‘Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend’ from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in a diamond-encrusted Marilyn Monre-themed outfit. She was followed by Victoria l’Etoile as Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz, Dani California pirouetting her way through Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes and proceedings were rounded off with a number of short poses from the appropriately named Diva Hollywood. As before, prizes, in the form of an Oscar statuette, were awarded for the best sketch for each girl, one of which I won.

Anyway, enough rambling, here’s my pics…

There was a great turnout of Brum bloggers and Twitterers this time, including Graphiquillan who has already posted some of her sketches, not to mention a couple of fellow Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation members – Cathy Simpson and Chichi Parrish (who has unfortunately managed to injure her left eye in an altercation with a car door following the event… hope you’re feeling better soon, Chichi!).