Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes!

I was always partial to She-Ra, myself!

I think He-Man and Skeletor are really secret BFFs.

Some Predator for a Tuesday morning.

It's official: Drawing the Turtles is a lot of fun.

The Best Birthday Party Ever!

A while ago, a lovely lady (and amazing photographer) asked if she could use my TMNT pictures for her little boy's birthday party. I said yes but didn't quite expect to see just how awesome a party she'd put together for her son! Please check out Stephanie's blog here for what can only be described as the best birthday party ever!

Michaelangelo Is A Party Dude

Childhood Influences: Garbage Pail Kids

Gross things fascinate kids. I'm still kind of fascinated by gross things although I shouldn't admit it but I think I can say that Garbage Pail Kids had a hand in that. I still remember my brother's huge collection of them (still much coveted but apparently he gave me lots of swaps years ago which I then lost - I have no memory of this) and he refuses still to part with the 60 or so cards he keeps with his Micro Machines and M.U.S.C.L.E Men (I'm nearly 32, he'll be 30 this year). Every now and then I will try my luck with him and ask if he wants to give them to his loving sister - along with an original Skeletor figure which he insists is his but was bought for a birthday gift for a friend and never given, therefore is NOT his -but he remains unshakable. So imagine my immense delight when I found this book the other day:

This amazing book collects all of the artwork for the first 5 original Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. What's so great about these? They were gross and brilliant. I can still remember looking at certain cards for ages, thrilled at the grossness of the pictures. It's no wonder parents wanted them banned - they really pushed it in terms of decency! I mean, look at Ned Head (below) - he was one I always remembered and still think is pretty bad taste. But these things left a lasting impression on me as a youngster; they were pretty popular at school which I guess would have been about 1988 even though the cards came out in 1985. I can't be totally sure, but I think teachers started to boycott them in our school. I know they were definitely frowned upon.

As an adult (I use this word in the loosest possible way) I still love these things; to me the artwork is gorgeous; I love the painted style that artist John Pound used and it wasn't totally lost on me as a kid that they were a parody of Cabbage Patch Kids. I also love that they hark back to the days when stuff for kids was a bit less "contains mild peril" and a lot more risky. They certainly made an impression on me and I can still remember the taste of the horrible hard stick of bubblegum that would come with every pack. The designers of the book have made a nice nod to this, not only by putting an image of a bubblegum stick on the hardcovers but also by making the dust cover from the same weird greaseproof paper the cards came in. Genius.

They're disgusting and immature, sure, but children still love stuff like this, no matter how much their parents wished they didn't. I still revel in the books I loved growing up and several of them feature potty humour and even now, working in the children's book field, it's still pretty popular; one book I nearly drew but which sadly got cancelled would have been an activity book about gross stuff for kids. My art director excitedly said in an email "We get to draw poo and snot!" which made me wonder if she liked these as a kid too.

The A-Z of The 80s! PREVIEWS!

With less than a week to go before the Jurassic Dorks show, let's have a look at some of the awesome artwork you can expect to see!

Please spread the work and come along if you're able - it should be pretty darn cool!

WarGames Sneak Peek!

Ulysses 31 sneaky peek!

Ulysses 31 still remains one of my favourite 80s shows; the idea of setting The Odyssey in space is still genius and I think the cartoon still holds up, concept-wise, if not animation-wise! No-one can deny that the theme tune isn't awesome either...

Here's a small peek at my Ulysses 31 piece for the upcoming Jurassic Dorks exhibition.

Hazy Watercolour Memories

For those either not from the UK or not old enough to know what it was, Hartbeat was a brilliant children's art show that inspired me and countless others as kids!

Jurassic Dorks Presents: The A-Z Of The 80s!

It's official! The Jurassic Dorks have an exhibition coming up! Tell your friends, invite your family whether they want to come or not, prepare to have your nostalgia buds wangled and buy awesome prints and stuff. Your dreams will LITERALLY come true if you attend this show.* But seriously, we're all pretty excited; expect the following weeks to be full of giddiness as we all prepare for our first, and hopefully not last, show at Centrespace in Bristol!

*Your dreams may not literally come true if you attend this show.

Do The Wolf Dance!

One of my favourite scenes from Teen Wolf is the school prom, where Scott proceeds to "wow" everyone with a dance that only a werewolf could do (apparently). Watch this to learn the dance and be the envy of your friends!