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!