Drawing Peter rabbit in the Lake District

I Had a great day last week drawing with Beatrix Potter fans at the Eskdale miniature railway. Thanks to all you budding artists who joined in the fun!
To book me for workshops and events, see my website where you will find my email address.

Beatrix Potter; imitating her wonderful painting style!

I'm looking forward to appearing live in the Lake District this week and will be drawing Peter Rabbit with kids at Dalegarth Station on Thurday.  I've had some fun attempting to reproduce the beautiful ink line and water colour style that Beatrix used, starting with a rough sketch just like she would have done. My own way of working is very similar although my style is a bit more nutty! Beatrix was a keen student of nature and her animals are very realistic. Her painting style was very delicate and takes some care to reproduce.

NEW BOOK; "My Pet is a Problem!"

My new book "My pet is a problem!" is released today on Amazon Kindle and include 30 new humorous illustrated poems about pets; smelly, fretful, frightful, delightful, amorous, excitable, pets (as well as a few human characters who are usually getting in some sort of pet-related tizz.)
If you are a pet owner you will recognise some of these problems and I hope that they will make you laugh.
30 hilarious poems illustrated in full colour!
The book is available only as a download from Amazon Kindle and is stunningly good value at £2.75 U.K and $3.99 U.S!

Shakespeare 400

Shakespeare! Couldn't resist doing a little portrait of the old Bard this morning.
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Ronnie Corbett!

I woke up feeling rather melancholy this morning and a Ronnie caricature was all I could think about doing so I thought I'd better just get on with it!
Here's the result, hope it cheers you all up a bit. Love you Ron! xx

Bardsley's Musical notes (high hat).

Feel the noise!

Goody Goody Yum Yum!

Bill Oddie is one of my comedy and wildlife top blokes. I did this portrait as one of a set of Spring watch presenters and he sent me a very kind email saying how flattering he thought it was. Bill has an urban garden full of quirky things including a multitude of bird feeders!
Bill starred in the madcap UK comedy The Goodies back in the 70s and was a definite influence on my developing cartoon brain!
Goodies! Goody Goody Yum Yum! (If you are old enough you will be able to sing that.)

My family and other animals!

In the 1970s my family lived in a crumbling old Shropshire manor house surrounded by a neglected and overgrown garden. My parents and grandparents populated it with various strange beasts and it was rather like living in a zoo! Dad had a spectacular collection of rare pheasants and a peacock who lived alongside dogs, sheep, ducks, rabbits, turkeys, stick insects, guineapigs a goat a cat and a fat little pony. We also tended to be the go to people for sick and injured creatures who often swelled the animal ranks.
I painted this a while back as a celebration of those happy times and presented it to my Mum and Dad on their wedding anniversary.
I'm the kid on the chopper bike going flying in front of the pony!

Dafft!

The sun is out and the daffodils are dallying! YES! YES! YES!

SHERLOCK!

The real Sherlock! This is my illustration that was used for the cover of the first Sherlock Holmes story in Welsh. The Speckled Band is translated " Y Cylch Brith ". It is currently available from Welsh publisher Y Lolfa.

French Horn!

Time for another musical note! Keep following if you like these, I'll be doing one every week if time allows in between projects. These designs are available on mugs via my website/ Direct Design Supplied. www.markbardsleyillustration.co.uk.
I'm a keen musician as well as an artist in case you are wondering and this series is really my homage to artist and broadcaster Gerard Hoffnung who is one of my absolute heroes! Sadly no longer with us but look him up and you will see why I love his work so much.

A Couple of Charlies!

Here's a commission from a little while ago. My work tends to be a mixture of private commissions and commercial work. I like doing personal pieces for people, it's a nice thought that there are little pieces of me dotted about in various homes depicting the ones they love! Give me a hoot if you'd like a portrait of either people or pets (or both!)
www.markbardsleyillustration.co.uk

Card Crafty!

This is an image created from my Card Hut card craft CDs which enable you to mess around with my artwork and create your own funny scenes. You can then print out as cards for personal use. There are 3 titles currently and I'm designing a new one at the moment. There's a Card Hut link on my website.
www.markbardsleyillustration

George Martin!

George Martin has always been one of my music heroes, a wonderfully talented and creative artist whose behind the scenes genius was the making of many remarkable recordings! I grew up listening to the sonic marvels of the Beatles and George Martin and my appreciation of music has been the richer for it. Goodbye George, we love you yeah, yeah, yeah!
Hope you all like my caricature, something I just had to do today!

Shoe shopping with Mum!

Being international women's day, I thought I'd find something appropriate.
This illustrates a poem from my book which was inspired by being dragged round shoe shops by my Mum. It seemed traumatic for me at the time but as a result I've always looked after my feet! What I think we need is 365 women's days every year, perhaps then men might learn to be more sensible!

Trumpet Involuntary!

Here's one for you brass players! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest & Twitter.
Don't forget that my Ebook of crazy illustrated poems is available from Amazon!

How do schools tackle Rugby tackling?

The news provides me with some irresistible material some mornings! Schools are finally admitting that Rugby is actually quite dangerous, well I could have told them that! I dealt with tackling by carefully avoiding it altogether which worked for me. I have an intact skull and am able to walk as a result!

Bardsley's Musical notes number 4, "Yoko Oboe"

Yoko Ono was in the news this week being very poorly so I thought I'd do a little tribute by way of the next musical note. My musical notes are something I do for pure enjoyment and sometimes I like to recognize fellow creatives. Yoko and John were inspirational to me as a teenager, hats off to both of them! Give peace a chance!

Bardsley's musical notes, KETTLEDRUM!

Here is the latest in my musical series! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

The three amigos!

A dog portrait commission this week. Three very lovely looking dogs from Holland. Drop me a line if you'd like a portrait of your favourite animal chums. I usually work from photos so it is a relatively simple process these days.

Conductor

CONDUCTOR!
From Bardsley's musical notes.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.

PIANEARMISSIMO!

PIANEARMISSIMO!
Bardsley's musical notes.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram.

Hairy Panic in Australia!
What a great headline ?
Just had to draw what sprang into my deranged mind when I read about it!

Billy won't Pass the parcel

Here's a little reminder that you can still obtain my eBook "Billy won't pass the parcel" from the Amazon Kindle store. It's a book of 40 funny poems that are largely a result of childhood memories and each one is accompanied by a full colour illustration so its great value at £3.93 in UK money and, of course, you can download it onto any device, it doesn't have to be a Kindle reader. Amazon will advise you as you make your purchase. There are a few You tube movies of me reading some of these poems, just do a search on my name and you will find them. If you do obtain the book and you have time to write a favourable review on the Amazon "Billy won't pass the parcel" Page I would be thrilled, thank you in advance. Happy reading and best wishes, Mark.
www.markbardsleyillustration.co.uk/poetry