Long-Legged Lovelies

Gentlemen of a certain age (i.e. mine) may get a certain frisson from this week's competition entry. During my, erm, burgeoning years I was subjected to the Tiller Girls each week on Sunday Night at the London Palladium. For those of you too young to remember when the window on the world was black and white, the Tiller Girls were a troupe of high-kicking women in skimpy (although modern eyes would probably regard them as quite robust) costumes designed to display their legs. Ah, the legs. The women in the Tiller Girls lost their individuality as they morphed into a precise, tightly timed and co-ordinated human centipede. Their legs rose and dropped at exactly the same second. Sometimes, using little demi-kicks, the row of girls split into two separate entities slowly turning clockwise or anti-clockwise on their own axes. I am trying to describe all this from an unreliable memory, but it was all very skilled and clever and charged with an erotic undercurrent, which is why I think the chap at the end is one of my more successful creations.
I was going for total incongruity with this cartoon and I think (for all its faults) I pretty much achieved what I set out to do. There is the incongruous image of a pudgy little man in his underwear high-kicking with a chorus line of long-legged lovelies, but it is the expression on his face which I think works very well indeed. I aimed for an expression of surprise that he should be asked to cease dancing - why on earth would I want to come with you when I'm dancing in a chorus line for an audience? Well, that's what I feel would be his reply to the two intrusive gentlemen in evening dress.
The faults? I think they speak for themselves. The girls aren't just tall, they are positively elongated and stretched. A little spell studying human anatomy might not go amiss. I tried to hint at fishnet tights, but I don't think it really came off. The string vest was an essential part of the humour and was supposed to echo the fishnet tights but, again, it didn't really come off. I'm not going to let these shortcomings bother me too much; after all, I can't envisage the need to draw too many fishnet tights and string vests in the future.
I reverted to my usual cartridge paper and Indian ink this week. I also used a little bit of light pencilling on the finished drawing. This is an avenue I might explore more in the future.
If you would like to see all the winners and also-rans (moi) kindly step this way, you will not be disappointed. There are some real beauties this week and a very deserving number one.

Dummy De Dum Dummy De Dum Oooh Weee Yew...

This, let me kid you nowise, is Matt Smith. Oh yes it is. This is my contribution to the Cartoonist's Club of Great Britain's inaugural Caricature Competition, the subject matter of which is Matt Smith. This is my caricature of Matt Smith as Dr. Who wearing a fez. He wears a fez now. Fezes are cool. Click on the pic and watch it grow! See, it really is Matt Smith.

Now then, O best beloved, it could be argued that this is not a caricature at all. It could be argued that it is just a straight-forward drawing of the actor Matt Smith playing Dr. Who and that it doesn't actually loook like him. This argument is so feeble-minded and deluded it doesn't really merit a counter-argument, so I won't proffer one. I won't, do you hear me? It's Matt Smith, dammit, Matt Smith.

I will admit to this. Several weeks ago I drew a cartoon called "Well that's where your problem is." featuring Matt Smith as Dr. Who. Here is my admission. I think that cartoon looks more like him than this caricature and I wasn't consciously caricaturing him. *SIGH*

Now then, dear reader, if you want to see how it should be done, get thee hence to here. If you scroll down a bit you should find a composite picture of all the entries. Some are truly marvels to behold. The bar has been set, the gauntlet has been thrown down, the challenge has been, um, challenged sort of thingy. Let slip the dogs of war. Gok Wan here I come!

Just a Roll, Just a Roll on Your Drum.

The more culturally erudite and intellectually perspicacious among you will have duly noted that this entry's title is taken from Fairport Convention's Sloth. Knuckle-draggers won't be reading this anyway, so I don't have any worries on that score. Only the best people read this blog, so count yourself as being one of the elite.

All the entries may be seen ici for your delight and delectation and in my opinion the winner was a very worthy one. Yours truly came sixth out of eighteen entries and I'm VERY happy with that, I was worried that there would be seventeen other apple trees this week. Perhaps everybody did, indeed, think about it but rejected it as being too simple, leaving the field - or should I (ha ha) say - orchard open to me.

Good points: the posture is nice and relaxed and not too disproportionate.

Bad points: I'm going to take an axe to that tree.

But I Digress

My first caption competition entry for what seems a lifetime. A very rushed affair and probably not very original, but it's a start. I quite like the instrument tray and the nurse's bored expression - not an easy thing to convey through a mask. Lots of things wrong too, but it's nice to start to get back in the saddle.