How do you like this side panel?

My brother is coming round with his hammer drill later to rescue me from my DIY disaster.

He's going to laugh at me. This makes me sad.

He's going to put up my blinds for me. This makes me happy.

Life can be so contrary.

So, we continue the journey - having mastered the art of eyeballing it was just one short step to making my cartoon doodles walk.

This funky yellow chap was my first attempt.

Ooooh.. hello

Today I attempted to put up my new blinds with my new cordless drill (all part of the weekend-spend), and I am dismayed to report that I am crap at DIY :(

I have made 6 crumbling holes above the living room window, and have a stack of blinds now propped up in the corner of the room.

So to take my mind off it I have retreated to my PC :)

The next step in my animation journey came as a result of the websites I was surfing for pixel art tips. One particular feature was all about movement - how you could make a ball bounce or a pair of cartoon eyes dart from side to side.

As a result "Nervous Blue Thing" was born.

I am never going horse riding again...

Last day of work today! Hurrah... I only have 3 days worked booked in in about 4 weeks time at the moment, so I am seriously looking forward to some me time... catching up on all the little niggly jobs that have escaped me for the last manic 6 months.

Undoubtedly I will use a large chunk of my free time procrastinating through the medium of Photoshop - just monitor these pages over the coming weeks if you still need convincing :)

In the mean time let me continue showing you my journey. After I had freed all the stickmen I had ever created (that alone took more hours/days/weeks than I care to recall), I started playing around with the idea of pixel art. I read a few websites and strapped a magnifying glass to the monitor and off I went....

Those who know me know I have a cat, called Pants (it's a long story). So delighted was I with the results of pixelating my Pants (all right, settle down now), that I made an excitable little me. It's actually quite a good likeness too, only I don't have white paws ;)

Today my legs just hurt...

Spent £500 in Homebase today buying garden furniture and BBQ stuff - ouch :( Why does it have to be so damn sunny??

I bought my first home at the beginning of this year, so this is the first summer I have spent on my own. It's a one-off expense I keep telling myself - then fire up photoshop and get my mind busy doing something else (it's not escapism, honest guv ;))...

Anyway, while I was in Tesco buying my roast I heard a monotone announcement over the low-quality tannoy system...

"Dali lama to the delicatessen counter please. Dali lama to the delicatessen counter "...

The idea of the dali lama working in Tescos tickled me so much I had to 'shop it (as we say in the trade).

It's actually quite difficult to insert objects into pictures behind other objects - if you look really carefully you can even see his reflection in the counter... I just wanted you to appreciate the amount of time I actually wasted putting this picture together :)

My legs feel weird...

When I first discovered the joys of playing with stickmen I spent literally hours and hours trying to work out how best to bring them to life.

That got me wondering... what happens to the stickmen when you're not watching them??

Are they doomed to spend eternity locked into their own personal part of cyberspace, unable to do anything but repeat ad infinitum the limited sequence of activities I have programmed them to do?

I began to feel sorry for them - I couldn't sleep at night... So I decided to stage a rescue mission...

Good morning...

In about 20 minutes I am going horse riding for the first time in about 5 years... It could be painful..

Have a stickman doodle to entertain you while I'm away...

Mr Hasselhoff...

Sorry

Sorry.. he's just such an easy target.

It's a ferrits-wheel... geddit?

Talking of dark...

Did anyone else get that when they were a kid?

What a dreadful thing to do to a kid if their father actually did die on the way home from work that day...

I never understood being told off for something I did accidentally either. On purpose, suuure... but an accident is an accident.

Telling off should be resevered for two things only - on purpose, and roleplay.

Did I mention I had my dark moments?

We've all thought of it though - let's be honest...

There are mischievous forces at work

And yes, I know I spelt deity wrong... now *sigh*

Sometimes you can have too much excitement...

Here's how it works...

Do you ever have one of those moments?

I hate being bored.

I can't just sit in front of the TV counting the hours till bedtime.

Equally I can't sit in a pub all night drowning the hours away -- not every night anyway.

So I play. I make Photshop curiosities. Sometimes in the name of art (however misguided), sometimes in the name of experimentation (also sometimes misguided) - almost always in the name of fun (unless I'm feeling morbid, when my digital doodles can turn quite dark)...

I discovered playing with photoshop because of a website I was recommended - b3ta.com - a place you should really not visit if you're easily offended.

I do it mostly because it entertains me. And exercises my brain too I believe.

And in order to justify this phenomenal waste of time (not to mention the wreckless over use of electrons), I aim to chronical my adventures here. I'll start by showing you a few of my more poignant masterpieces, probably accompanied by a paragraph of drivel in a vein attempt to explain myself. Maybe even occasionally to beg forgiveness... Who knows where it'll lead? I certainly don't...