Had to get this one done before Christmas, and as you can see, was out in the shops before the end of the year, last year that is. If you know George Lane, there is a yawning gap between Lily's Indulgence and a Barnardo's charity shop, which used to be occupied by a watering hole called Red Mantra. I decided to fill it with something a little more grand, that ties in nicely with the NatWest branch opposite. The curved balcony I nabbed from a drawing I did aeons ago of the Ivor Novello building at 15-160 Wardour Street, and the steps were based on some old country pile. I was going to add pineapples on top of the pedestals, but that would have just been silly.

Another complex scenario which the accommodating editor has to work his way around. Although these drawings come out of my imagination, encouraged of course by the text, they are still based on real life. I still have to do find a willing participant to get hands and magazines right, adapt furnishings found in Images to suit, and ultimately convince the reader that this is all perfectly normal. Best bit this month, the old school infra red.

Fun with London Urban Sketchers in the rain today, except I drew this from inside Cambridge Circus' McDonalds. I thought I'd go for the quick style, which would have been okay, but as I was having a good chat with my friend, this took just as long as my usual work. The words at the bottom are from Rae Morrison's song, wafting over the airwaves while I finished my cappuccino.

This month was all about staircases, random objects, and trying to get DD full face, teetering downstairs. Creating your 'person's' face in different angles, whilst retaining their characteristics, is a dedicated, practical, and conscious task. As I once read, if it isn't instinctive, you have to learn it.

Very exciting this month to be featured in Leopard the London Assay Office's newsletter!

This delightful piece of brickwork is immediately left of the Mayflower pub, at number 117. Drawn on site, plus a few of the top bricks painted in before we retired to the pub for the customary discussion. Also, got to have another go with the latest addition to my paintbox, a 5ml tube of buff titanium, by Daniel Smith. Just the right colour to use as the base for London stocks. Everything else is varying degrees of hookers green dark, indigo, paynes grey, cadmium red pale, sepia, ..... you get the idea.