Dr Sketchy’s 2015 Round-up

Well, it’s been more than a year since my last Dr Sketchy’s update (part 2 – part 3), and you may be forgiven for thinking that I’d not been in the last twelve months. Well, with another Anti-Art School class happening this very Saturday, I thought it was time I dusted off the sketchbooks and showed you what I’ve been drawing.

24 January 2015 – Steampunk

Regular visitors to this blog will understand that Steampunk is a subject rather dear to my heart, being the theme me and my lovely bride Maria chose when we got married back in 2012. So, when it was announced that the next Dr Sketchy’s was to don cogs and corsets, I dug out the bowler and goggles and headed on down to The Victoria for an very steamy evening of sketching.

You may, however, be less familiar with the Caricatorium, where I (ahem) Professor Algernon Heliotrope produces caricatographs of the Great and the Good of the Empire for sale to the general public. You can also book myself (ahem) the Professor to demonstrate his Physiognomatic Pantograph, the camera-like device with which I (ahem) he uses to produce such simulcra.

21 March 2015 – B-Movie Bash

March brought us a Science Fiction/Double Feature, in the shape of a celebration of low-budget, late-night cult movies. From campy sci-fi to gory blood-spattered horror, Dr Sketchy’s had a new take on those old movies.

Returning visitors may have noticed a bit of a new look too here at alexhughescartoons.co.uk. I gave the site a bit of a re-vamp late last year, but there’s more to come, as I plan on giving a few dusty old pages a bit of a spring clean over the course of the next few weeks and months.

14 May 2015 – Birmingham Cabaret Festival Exhibition

A change of scene in May with the arrival of the first Birmingham Cabaret Festival at the Old Joint Stock Pub & Theatre. I was asked to submit some artwork for a Dr Sketchy’s exhibition to be held in the Theatre Bar and Lobby at the former bank. You may recognise a couple of the pieces in the photos below from Drawn of the Dead and Deco Darlings back in 2014.

My thanks go to Candee for the photos, and of course, for organising Dr Sketchy’s Birmingham!

 25 July 2015 – Very, Very Vegas

All the glitzy glamour of Las Vegas here in Birmingham – showgirls, gambling, Mexican wrestling and, of course, the King himself, Elvis Presley.

I’ve never visited Las Vegas, but as keen followers of my Twitter account will note, I have been doing a lot of travelling around Europe (and beyond) in the last few years – last year alone included trips to Latvia, Luxembourg, Budapest, Marseilles, Barcelona and Brussels. However, these weren’t holidays, but for Drawnalism, the business I co-own with Matt Buck, where we draw ‘in-the-moment’ at conferences and colloquia, providing a live visual record of the event (amongst other activities). If you’ve got an event coming up and think we might be able to help, please drop me a line!

Unfortunately, due to prior committments, I couldn’t make it to Once Upon A Time in May or Magic and Mischief in September, but they looked like great fun from the photos. As mentioned above, Drawnalism has kept me very busy recently, so much so that I decided to stop drawing cartoons for Tribune in May after marking 20 years on the magazine earlier in the year. You can see my very first cartoon for Tribune here, and the rest of my archive here – and other cartoonists from Tribune can be seen at tribunecartoons.com.

And so we come to the end of the round-up. As mentioned at the top, the next one is on Saturday 30 January 2016. Marking 8 years of Dr Sketchy’s in Birmingham, the theme this time is Twin Peaks, at the Black Lodge (ahem) The Victoria on John Bright Street in Birmingham – 2pm start, tickets £10 on the door. Prizes for the best costume… and remember… the owls are not what they seem!