iPhone Apps

Here are the iPhone Apps that I would love to see on everyone's iPhone:

Imagine the Apps television commercial setting:

Need to book the world's best caricaturist for your wedding?

there's an app for that..... 'Wedding'

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Need to visit a Caricature Artist's website?

there's an app for that.... 'drawn4u'

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Want to visit one of the best Blogs on the internet today?

there's an app for that.... 'Steve's Blog'

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When you require a Meerkat...

there's an app for that.... 'Simples'

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Just a bit of fun but boy oh boy, if I had the skills to build/develop apps for the iPhone I would have so much fun!

Camel

I don't know what it is about the Camel but they really are an interesting creature to draw. I was watching a programme on television yesterday about how Frankincense was transported around Saudi Arabia, on the backs of Camel's of course. I found it fascinating to see the camels on television. I would love to spend a day with some camels, sketching them and getting to know them better through drawing.

Do you have a favourite animal?

Travel Tips

Here are some tips for anyone who is travelling in the near future:

#1 - Always aim to pack light with your luggage and do check your allowance for baggage weight, many carriers have changed their allowances and reduced the weight allowance to a lower figure this year, so don't get caught out as it will cost you more money!

#2 - Try to arrive at 'check in' early as this will give yo a better chance of seat allocation should have a preference. It also means you may be seated closer to the front of the plane and this will give you a faster departure from the plane once it has landed and the doors are open and ready to let you off.

#3 - If you are travelling on your own, choose an isle seat as it is much easier to make those toilet calls when nature calls which in turn will make your journey more relaxed.

#4 - Be friendly and polite to the immigration control officer who is checking your passport and entry visa! This may sound obvious but I have seen some people turned away and who knows what they said to the immigration officer? There is no second chance! You have just made a long journey and you do not want to have an issue or delay with immigration control at the airport and point of entry to the country you have travelled too!

#5 - Drink plenty of water on the plane. The carrier will also advise you to do so and it is good advice as you will feel mire refreshed and be able to deal with any jetlag you may encounter.

#6 - After arriving at your destination, do make sure you have a meal within the first 2 hours of being at your new location. Your body will thank you for it!

I have travelled to some wonderful places all over the world and have plans to continue to do so. Travel has become a hobby for my wife and I and we love every minute of it!

Keep an eye out for me next time your at the airport, you never know, yo may just see me there!

Gary McKinnon

You may of heard about the case of Gary McKinnon, a Scottish citizen, who managed to hack the US military computers and also the NASA computers in 2001 & 2002.

The Americans want to put him on trial for the 'hack' and prosecute him for the criminal activity as they see it.

Click here for a brief outline on Wikipedia about the details

Now I am not sure of all the details so it is best I not post my opinion on any details, I am not involved in anyway, just a member of the public who has been following the story since it first hit the news headlines.

Click here to visit the support website for Gary McKinnon

But what I do want to say is this, when a new computer virus or malware hits the network and attacks computers, mostly windows OS machines, often or not the person who has created the virus is then hired by the software company to work for them and to help prevent such future attacks. Currently an Australian young man has had an iPhone hack out there that he 'built' and has now been hired by an Australian software company to work for them (so I understand but I may have the facts wrong:disclaimer!).

Click here for more about the iPhone hacker!

So his illegal activity has secured him a job.

And this is the point I want to make, if people who create computer viruses can get hired by software companies, why don't the American's hire Gary to work with them to improve and future proof their systems against further attacks/hacks...???

To me this makes more sense than trying to prosecute him as 'others' out there, who may be thinking of repeating what Gary had done back in 2001 & 2002, will view Gary being prosecuted as a challenge or 'dare' to hack the computers! (I'm sure there must be a few people who are able to hack the USA systems again at some point in the future).

So the USA should work with Gary and improve their system, not prosecute him.

Bananas what you may not know

This was a real education for me and I just had to post it here to help spread awareness about what goes on in Columbia with the banana growers......

So sit back and watch this very interesting youtube video:

The next podcast..

Yes the next podcast is now available to listen too....

Click here to visit the website and listen to the podcast

I hope you enjoy this show and thank you for taking the time to listen.

Any feedback is most welcome!

Happy Thanks Giving!

Yes to all my American friends and readers of this blog, a very Happy Thanksgiving to you all

I wish you and all your families a day of celebration and quality time!

I hope one day to be able to celebrate Thanks Giving in the USA with my friends!

Wine!

Click on image to view full size

Commission that I finished this morning for a client, it is his brother in law and apparently he enjoys a glass of wine!

As usual, rough pencil sketch was scanned into photoshop, where I then redrew the line work and on layers, added colour and shades etc.

Christmas Gift ideas?

Yes it is that time of year when we are thinking about Christmas and what we need to buy!

I have some EXCLUSIVE GIFT IDEAS and a great Christmas Card on my onlinestore that you can buy!

Click here to visit the store and see the Christmas Meerkat range of products that are available

These are created/printed in the USA and are available for both European and American customers, so be sure to stop by and treat someone or yourself this Christmas season!

And best of all there is a SPECIAL OFFER on shipping costs to the UK & EUROPE

Meerkat Christmas Card by sjhearn
View more Christmas Cards

Weddings

Weddings are now taking place all year round. Why do I mention this I hear you ask?

Well years ago weddings always seemed to take place in the summer months here in England. My own wedding date was August 21st and August was THE month to get married in way back then!

Today the culture and climate for weddings has changed and it is no bad thing, in fact it is great that weddings take place all year round. It means I can draw & entertain all through the year and keep busy.

Summer months are still very popular but the past few years, December and January have also become a very busy time for weddings to take place.

December is nice as the venues will have all their Christmas decorations up and this makes the wedding seem even more special!

The bride in the picture above is my cousin who was married 2 years ago this coming December 22nd! I shot the photograph and was very pleased with how it came out!

I am looking forward to drawing at weddings this December and 2010 looks to be another busy year for more weddings, which I love to draw & entertain at! Maybe I will see you at one?

Star Trek

This week I bought the new Star Trek movie on DVD.

Before I start my review of the movie I have to confess to being a huge Star Trek fan and have been watching the show since the 1960's when it first showed on television. This was one of those shows that I watched with my Dad when I was a kid. Great!

But I want to give a unbiased review of the movie and award it my Steve rating as an honest reflection of the movie.

So, here we are in 2009 and we have yet another Star Trek movie out on release and my wife has no interest in the film at all, as it is not her 'cup of tea'.

But as a fan of Star Trek I had to see the movie, it has received much acclaim and of course the digital effects are bang up to date and I thought to myself they should deliver a superior finish to such a film.

To be blunt, Star Trek delivers on all fronts and is an excellent movie. Not only are the digital effects amazing and sit with the scenes as natural as you could ever wish for, the story line is expertly written and includes inter weaving story lines and the right amount of humour that helps cary the whole film along at the right pace.

The story builds upon how James T Kirk got started and meets Spock but I will say no more in case you have not seen the movie yet, I do not wish to spoil it for you!

This is a true blockbuster movie that I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys Sci Fi. Directed by J. J. Abrams, who has really completed an Oscar winning film, the acting is very professional and impressive when you consider so many have been through this setting before with the previous Star Trek movies and as well as the gigantic television series that still plays today on so many channels, on so many networks around the world.

Star Trek receives a full 5 Steve rating!

Caricature gift

Click on image to view full size

This was completed yesterday for a client!

Sometimes the requests for the caricature situation make me giggle to myself!

Podcast show

Yes I now have my first Podcast show up on the web for everyone to listen to!

Click here to visit & listen to the podcast

It's a little rough around the edges but the main idea is there. I have already had some excellent feedback and ideas to improve the show's production & format.

So I hope to improve and create better quality shows as I go along.

It is great fun and I really enjoy recording the show!

Hope enjoy listening to the podcast and any feedback is most welcome!

All for Charity mate!

Click on image to view full size...

At the start of this year I donated a 'caricature' to charity to help raise funds for Cancer Research.

The person who 'bought' the caricature at the charity auction was the BBC actor, Ricky Groves.

Ricky is best known for his role in the tv soap Eastenders but has since left the show and is now starring in the BBC programme, 'Strictly Come Dancing' and he is doing well as a contestant!

Because of his busy schedule with the show and after speaking with Ricky on the telephone, he felt he did not have the time to meet up with me and wanted to pass on the 'caricature' to his brother's family.

So that is what we agreed and I was more than happy to do this for him.

Above is the end result of the caricature. Ricky's brother and wife and their two children. The jungle/tarzan theme seemed appropriate somehow!

Latest commission

These two caricatures were completed yesterday for a client and as a rush job! I understand that they will be presented on Thursday to the subjects....!

Apple Store UK review

Apple Stores that are local to where I live are located in The Lakeside Retail Shopping Centre & Bluewater Shopping Centre.

I have used both and found their customer service to be lacking the edge that their computers are supposed to have over Windows products. Basically their store staff need more training on actual customer service.

Without going over all the problems I had when I first purchased my iMac back in December 2007, I had reason to visit the stores on a number of occasions. I also had the One to One package at the Lakeside store where I was supposed to receive help and instruction on using the Mac and the software, mostly iLife but found my appointment times were usually not kept by the Apple staff (always late) and then I often found I would show the Apple member of staff aspects of the iLife software that they were not aware of, I was training THEM!

So I had furst had experience of how they dealt with me as a customer and responded to my iMac issues, as well as Time Capsule issues and then to top it all off, yesterday I had to take my 3 week old WD MyBook external hard drive back as it fried itself when I turned it on!

The first then any Apple store employee will say when you mention a problem or issue with either hardware or software is " I have never heard that before, your the first one...", do yo know how that makes me feel as a customer, like I am an idiot! As if I am the only person on the planet who has this problem and brought it to the attention of the place where I purchased it!

They then go on to apologise, which is very cordial of them but thats as far as its gets. An apology and a smile and then I am expected to disappear into the ether and Apple continues as if nothing has happened and all of their products are perfect..... hello I'm a Mac and I'm a PC..... AND I am a APPLE customer who has problems with the Apple stuff I paid top dollar for and seem to be ignored or treated as if I have a curse and are the only human being in history that has a problem with something Apple.

So in my experience the Apple store only receives a 2 Steve rating

Cartoon gag

An idea that popped into my mind this weekend....

Derren Brown

Well you just never know what is going to happen to your work on the internet!

My cute little bird cartoon has been used by Derren Brown on his blog, see above picture and click on it to view full size.

Derren is a showman and performs as a master magician who creates illusion and tricks with people's minds.

He is very entertaining and is a big success on british television commanding a wide and growing audience.

So it was with wonder and surprise that I discovered this week, by way of tracking where the 'hits' come from for pencildreams.com, that Derren and his 'crew' had used my bird cartoon to illustrate his blog post about Twitter.

Click here to view the blog post in question

I am of course very flattered and pleased to see my work on such a high profile website!

I also have to admit to being a fan of Derren and always enjoy watching him on television. I even use some of his tricks/methods when I am drawing live, having some fun with the people sitting in front of me as I draw them.

Derren is also a dab hand at painting caricatures as well and you can see examples on the blog if you click through on the link above.

So I wonder where my bird cartoon will show up next?

Dr Who

Above, David Tennant as Dr Who

I have been a fan for this show for many years as I was around when it first aired on british television!

There have been at least 753 episodes made plus a feature film and many other spin off shows from Dr Who.

The current 10th Doctor, David Tennant, is to be replaced with a new generated younger version, Matt Smith (who will be the 11th Doctor) and that should be very good for the show!

If you are unfamiliar with the Sci Fi show, it is about a time lord known as the Doctor who has a machine that travels time and space, fighting the evils that lurk in our universe and beyond. The Doctor is immortal but regenerates himself into a new body every now and then..... there are now 11 generations in the series!

Click here for the shows official website

Latest commission

This was done this week for a client who ordered direct from my website. They were very happy with the result I am pleased to report!

These black and white head and shoulders do not take more than 1 hour to complete and for the price I offer, I think they are very good value for money!

You can see the various options on my website here

The Men Who Stare at Goats

A movie review:

The Men Who Stare at Goats.

I saw this movie yesterday afternoon. With big name actors in the leading roles I was hoping for a real gem of a movie.

Did the film deliver a gem for me?

Well, not exactly. While Clooney, Bridges, McGregor & Spacey all delivered excellent performances the movie story line lacked energy in places and fell into its own dream state with the constant references to Star Wars and the fact that Ewan McGregor has now played two roles where he is referred to as the 'Jedi'. Was this a deliberate move by the casting company or the films producers, to play a double take gag on us the audience?

I will say no more so I do not give the game away on the movie and spoil it for you! But....

How McGregor prevented himself from laughing out loud with the constant Jedi references in the movie, I shall never know but there must be some real 'diamond' out takes from the movie show reel!

So I applaud the acting from all who appear in the film, with out such professionals it would have really flopped.

Jeff Bridges plays a superb 'Hippie' role like he did in The Big Lebowski and pulls if off too well!

Spacey is the bad guy and you really get to hate him in the film!

So I was pleased with the humour that ran through the film from start to end but the story let itself down at times. The soundtrack though was amazing and really helped to carry the movie along!

The Men Who Stare at Goats receives a 3 Steve rating,

....go and watch it if your a big fan of any of the actors, women no doubt shall want to see Clooney and 40 somethings like myself shall love the Star War references and Bridges playing a different type of 'The Dude' character, but I recommend waiting until your local store stocks it 12 months from now at a very low price and then treat yourself to the DVD at a reduced cost!

Overall it was a funny film and enjoyable.

Now where did I leave my light saber...?

Organ Donation

I have registered to donate my organs when I die, have you...?

I have drawn many people who are in need of an organ donation and I am always touched and humbled at their ability to remain so positive while waiting for an organ donor to meet their needs. One young girl in her late teens was waiting for a lung transplant, I do not know if she ever received it, I can only hope that she did as she was a loverly girl and her life was just starting.

It is for this reason that I have decided to place myself on the NHS register for organ donations.

I know that should I die, my organs, if fit for use, will be taken and could improve and even safe the life of another human being.

If you live in the UK, I would also encourage you to consider placing yourself on the register:

Click here to go to the NHS website for organ donation information and registration

Please think about becoming a registered donor, it will make a real difference to someone's life.

The NHS website has all the information and answers any questions you may have about it all. So please stop by the website and take a look.

Thank You.

Wedding Caricatures

Click on the image to view full size

This is a great photo shot by Tony of Storm Photography from a wedding we both worked at in Lavenham in Suffolk.

Tony has some more great shots from the wedding and shall be sending them to me soon and I will share them with you here.

The wedding was a wonderful event and everyone had a fantastic day & evening time, which is when I was drawing!

Questions I am asked....

Yes I am always asked questions while I am drawing people as they sit for me. This is fun and I really don't mind except for the questions that are repeated night after night and sometimes over and over during the same sitting!

In fact being asked questions is a real honour and very flattering, as people have every right to just sit there and be quiet while I draw them.

In the world of caricature when you draw live, you expect the same questions to be asked and when ever caricaturists get together for a social, it is one of the main talking points, sharing stories about the questions people ask us.

So here are the top 5 questions that I am asked over and over and over and over and over... you get the idea... along with my most common replies ( I have many variations and amuse myself by replying with different answers to the same questions) -:

1. Do you do this full time as a living?

Answer: "No, I'm a brain surgeon who gets bored with drilling holes in peoples heads" or "No, I am on early release from prison, trying to adjust back into society after completing a 10 stretch for murder"

2. Do you do proper art as well?

Answer: "What you mean this isn't proper art? ..eek!"

3. Has anyone ever been offended?

Answer: "One or two but not everyone appreciates great art"

4. What is the most difficult face to draw?

Answer: "The one who looks away and shows me the back of their head...grrrr.."

5. Do you travel?

Answer: "Yes, I draw in Japan, America and all over the UK and Europe, where is your event taking place exactly?" or "Yes, where ever I can get work... will draw for food!"

Being asked questions is a form of compliment and I love it when people sit for me at a wedding or party and start to ask away. Occasionally I get a real genuine unique and original question that may not have ever been asked before. That always surprises me!

So I shall continue to hope that I will be asked the same questions over and over, for to that very person who is asking, it is most likely the very first time that they have ever asked such a question.

Cartoon Book review!

Tim Harries is a cartoonist and someone who I know and can call a friend, although he lives (with his loverly wife) in Wales, having a social beer together never happens as we are just geographically too far away from each other.

Anyway, I am a BIG fan of Tim's work and greatly admire and respect his wonderful talent.

The other week I purchased his cartoon book 'Never say Dai' and he very kindly also threw in his Gag Cartoon book '100 and 1 Gag cartoons' for free, he is such a nice man!

Both these books are excellent and are awarded a full 5 Steve rating..!

Both the books are full of Tim's super art and very very funny gags and comedy, Tim writes all his own gags/work and is a master at it! The books are professionally printed and bound with a loverly soft glossy cover, absolutely outstanding, the inside paper is of very good quality, these books are printed and produced to the highest standards!

The never say Dai book is a collection of cartoon strips that have been published in a Welsh newspaper and have a loverly Welsh theme flowing through them all, the material is very funny and appeals to everyone regardless if you happen to be Welsh or not!

Tim's 100 and 1 Gag cartoons book is fantastic and if your looking for a cartoon book that will hit you between the eyes with great humour and have you laughing and rolling all around the floor, then this book is a must!

Both these books make for the perfect Christmas present so why not treat & surprise someone you know this Christmas, they will love you forever if you do!

To buy either one of these books or both (you really should buy both) click here for Tim's website to place your order

Windows 7 commercial spoof

Here is my NEW spoof YouTube video of the Windows 7 commercials that are every where at the moment...

.....

I actually like what microsoft have done with their new ads, they are fun and look very cool. But I could not resist making this spoof video!

So click on the YouTube vid above and see me make a fool of myself.......Enjoy!

Review FEATURE!

Yes I am launching a new review feature to my blog here, I shall be taking all kinds of different things to review for you, from art to technology, travel to theatre and so much more.

I shall be using a 5 star rating system, but in my case it is 5 Steve rating system, with 1 Steve being rated as very poor, 2 Steve's as OK but don;t rush out to buy this, 3 Steve's as Good, 4 Steve's as very good you must get this and.... 5 Steve's as superior and outstanding, ....you get the picture.

Above you can see the Steve's rating score for the Markette Marker Pens, a very good 4 Steve's.

I have given them a 4 Steve rating as they are very good and deliver top quality results for use when drawing live at events. The problem is that they are only available from North America and I have to order them over the internet, the shipping costs make them very expensive. I have also had a few pens that have been poorly made so I cannot be sure that every single pen is 100%.

But they still receive 4 Steve's and I recommend you buy them if you want to draw live!

Tom & Jerry

'Tom & Jerry' are a cartoon series that I used to watch when I was a child. It was a cartoon show that I loved and my Dad also loved to watch, so we would sit down together and watch the show, laughing our heads off!

This was one of the many influences that I had as a child.

The comedy of the show, with Tom the cat forever trying to catch the mouse and throw him out of the house but of course, hardly ever succeeding. Jerry the mouse was very smart and always had one over Tom as well unique and ingenious ways of trapping Tom and paying him back with some pain!

The humour was amazing and as I mentioned earlier, I was often in fits of laughter.

Click here to visit a website that has lots of great information all about Tom & Jerry

Cartoons such as these would take me away into a world of fantasy and excitement and I would not only enjoy the fun but feel safe and 'at home' while watching them, I would be totally absorbed!

I think I may add Tom & Jerry's DVD's to my Christmas list this year!

Gift caricature

Click on image to view full size

This was done yesterday, it is a gift from the bride and groom for the grooms father. They were pleased with the caricature and tomorrow the father of the groom receives it as a gift while the speeches are taking place, lets hope that he will like it as well!

As usual, I scanned in the rough sketches of the faces and then in photoshop, finished off with line and colour.

Photography

Click on image to view full size.

I shot this while on holiday the other week in Portugal.

The sunsets were just wonderful and gave some great opportunities to catch such shots as these!

This one I feel, makes for a great computer desktop wallpaper, if you would like a copy, just email me with your screen resolution and I will reply with the image resized to fit your computer!

Completely FREE of charge!

Windows 7

Please click on image/cartoon to view full size

Here is my new Windows 7 cartoon gag for you to enjoy.

You can stop by my online store (click here) to purchase some cool gifts in time for Christmas including this all new Windows 7 cartoon!

Please contact me for copyright permission if you would like to use this cartoon on a website, blog, facebook etc etc as I have a high resolution version I can let you use, subject to terms and conditions of my copyright.

Thanks!

Fishermen

Fisherman in Portugal

I shot this a couple of weeks ago while we were on holiday in the Algarve, Portugal.

As we were walking along the harbour side, we saw these fishermen bringing in their nets and collecting the catch of Sardines. It was great to watch them and their faces were so interesting being weathered by their many years out at sea and living as they do.

It also reminded me of the bible story where Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him. It must have been something special for such men at that time to leave their jobs and livelihoods, as I would suspect that fishermen such as these, love their work and would not leave it unless it was for some very good reason.

Along the harbour side there were a couple of restaurants and we had our lunch at The Sueste restaurant.

Click here for information on the restaurant

The fish was of course fresh and from the days catch and the chef was cooking outside the restaurant, on his barbeque, seated next to the harbour walls edge. Wonderful! It was a great meal and a bottle of white wine washed it all down. I can highly recommend the Sueste to anyone who may visit this area, make sure you have a meal there!