One Sketch 217) #inktober2018 prompt - Gift (Sunday 28th)

Personally, I think it's ace
Seeing it before twas put in place
Given  with such kindness and such grace
More, much more than just a pretty face

Yesterday, when I made this sketch, was a very busy day. I knew I was going to be driving for between 5 and 6 hours, since I was travelling to Birmingham and back for a national quiz competition. Luckily this idea presented itself. I found a wonderful photograph on the net of this, the face of the Statue of Liberty, just unpacked after it had been delivered from France, but before assembly. I'm sure that you know that the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was a gift to the people of the USA from France.

One sketch 216) #inktober2018 prompt 27 - Thunder -

The thunderbird
Is a funny fowl
It flies from street to street
It breathes in air
And spits out fumes
Which do smell none too sweet.

Sorry, nothing else occurred in the way of verse. Ford Thunderbird, one of those iconic American car which began with the Chevy Corvette, and culminated in the Ford Mustang.

One Sketch 215) #inktober2018 prompt 26 - stretch

Mighty symbol
of power and pride
A nod to the cathedrals
of Europe
A physical stretch
And a leap of the imagination

I've told you before that I love bridges. Just looking at the Brooklyn Bridge - which spans the East River and not, as the unitiated think, the Hudson - is enough to inspire awe. How much more, then, when you know the story of its construction. A truly monumental undertaking, right up there in iconic status with the Statue of Liberty and the Epire State Building.

One sketch 214) #inktober2018 prompt 25 - Prickly

It make me feel old, and old at heart

For I was already a dad

When Sonic was state of the art

Out of inspiration, and short on time, I sketched a quick Sonic the hedgehog. I remember when the Mega Drive first came out and I bought the original Sonic for my oldest two kids. What a great game. I am not ashamed to admit that I still have a megadrive, and still play the game from time to time. 

One Sketch 213) #inktober2018 prompt 24 - Chop

I find that it helps me relax

It's something that cribbage just lacks

I play with my chopper

It's really a whopper

In fact it's a hell of an axe

I thought about karate chop and pork chop, but in the end decided to once again go literal. So sue me. 

One Sketch 212) #intober 2018 prompt 23 - Muddy

Muddy Old Man
Bearing floating palaces,
Teardrops of wonderful
Shabby gaudiness.

Muddy. You know, I'd really love to ride on a Mississippi riverboat,. I really do think they are magnificent looking things, and so a boat on 'Big Muddy' was the first thing that occurred when I saw this prompt

One Sketch 211) Monday 22nd - #inktober2018 prompt 22 - Expensive

This mastiff's a dog from Tibet
That's very expensive to get
One million quid
Would be too low a bit
Value for money? Nyet.

The Tibetan Mastiff is, according to Google, the world's most expensive species of dog. It's a huge thing, and looks half lion, half dog to me.

One Sketch 210) #inktober2018 Day 21 - Prompt- Drain

Thousands pass each morning
Spewed out
From their homes in the South
They speak a language
Of money.

London's Waterloo and City Line, which is now part of the London Underground network, is nicknamed The Drain. Until the 1990s it was operated by British Rail, and used trains which were quite distinctive and different from the Tube.

One Sketch 209) #inktober2018 prompt 20 - breakable

I am a prison
What do you see
When you look in the mirror?
I see bars, and walls
I see locked doors.

Wow, that's a bit heavy, isn't it. Well, I do work with teenagers , and I think that we ignore their mental health issues at our own peril.
I did make another sketch today, another of my public transport sketches. Here t'is.

C'est Paris, une cite jolie

Si belle, et si plein d'desprit

Son Metro, si vite

Le meilleur, elite,

Donc j'aime aller la, oh oui, oui.

(This is what I was trying to say with my schoolboy French - 

It's Paris, a pretty city

So beautiful, so full of spirit

Its Metro, so fast

The best, the top drawer

So I like to go there, yes, yes. ) 

One Sketch 208) #inktober2018 Prompt 19 - Scorched

The Doctor is always a hit
Or such in my books have I writ
Perhaps then I ought
Recall when he fought
The fiery fiend from the pit

I was just looking for a different take on scorched, today's prompt, and came up with this beast from the Doctor Who story "The Satan Pit"

One Sketch 207) #inktober2018 Prompt - Bottle

Forgive me, but I have to ask
Whose idea was it then
Encasing ships in glass?

Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, by Yinka Shinobare, is an artwork that has at one time stood on the 'empty' 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. The ship inside the bottle is a replica of Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory

One Sketch 206) #inktober2018 prompt 17 Swollen

Telosians have funny old heads

Or so it is quite often said

So large and so lumpy

I bet they get grumpy

When lifting them up from their beds.

Swollen made me think of swollen heads, which made me think of the Telosians from Star Trek's original pilot (subsequently used in Season 1's The Menagerie) . "Wrong thinking will be punished!" They don't make 'em like that any more.

One Sketch 205) (Tuesday 16th) #inktober2018 Prompt 16 Angular

Ah, Dizzy, now there was a guy
Who often did things on the sly
A devious sort
Or so it is thought
But then he was gone, and bye bye.

OK - so what do you do with angular, I thought? Which immediately led me to think of pyramids, as you do. Which led me to think of one of my favourite Victorian political cartoons, by one of my favourite Victorian political cartoonists, Sir John Tenniel. He's my absolute joint favourite along with the wonderful American, Thomas Nast. This is almost a direct copy, although I did stick an extra pyramid in which isn't in the original.

One Sketch 204) #inktober2018 prompt 15 - Weak

A girl called Elizabeth one
Was truly as chaste as a nun
Despite some men's urging
This queen stayed a virgin
Majestic, but not really fun.

Couldn't come up with much for the prompt weak. Then the Elizabeth I speech in Tilbury on the eve of the Spanish Armada. You know it - it was where she said "I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but the hear and stomach of a concrete elephant" - come to think of it, that may well have been Blackadder.

One Sketch 203) #inktober2018 prompt 14 - Clock

I've said it once, I've said it twice,
I'll say it once again,
You shouldn't underestimate
The power of the train.

Train, what's that got to do with it? Well, this is the exterior of St. Pancras station in my home city of London. I just felt it might be nice to use the clock prompt to illustrate the prompt - clock.

One Sketch 202 - Saturday 13th) #inktober2018 prompt 13 - Guarded

I wouldn't say they're cheating,
Although I can believe
That every single one of them
Has aces up their sleeves.

I set myself the challenge of just spending 10 minutes o making this sketch. Does it fit the prompt? Well, I just felt that a poker game would see all of the participants being guarded and careful about exactly what they give away to their opponents.

One Sketch 201) #inktober2018 Prompt - Whale

I've heard, though I may well be wrong,
That whales are addicted to song

I believe that this one is a humpbacked whale, which species is particularly noted for whalesong.

One Sketch 200) (TWO HUNDRED!) #inktober2018 Prompt - Cruel

Corporal Punishment?
Major Cruelty.

31 years I've spent in teaching, and one thing I'm constantly grateful for is the fact that the ambiguity over corporal punishment was brought to an end when it was banned in English and Welsh schools in August 1987, just before I took up my first ever teaching post.

I once got into a fight at school, in a PE lesson. It honestly wasn't my fault. The other guy started hitting me, so I hit him back. Cue the Head of PE - a Yorkshireman, short on temper but long on beer gut - arriving. He broke up the fight, then took off his trainer and gave each of us a beating while at the same time chanting, "That'll - teach - you - vi-o-lence - is - wrong!" I would have suspected that this was a crude attempt at ironic hunour, had it not been for the fact that he was a bear of very little brain. I was only 12 but I could see the inherent flaw in his argument, but this fuckwit Charmer saw no contradiction. Moron. Sadly he was never struck down with the bout of amoebic dysentery I heartily wished him.

Not that I am bitter, you understand.

One Sketch 199) Medusapunzel #inktober2018 prompt - flowing

The problem with snakes for your hair?
It encourages people to stare
They rant and they moan
While turning to stone
Sometimes it seems life isn't fair

I had the idea of Rapunzel - long flowing hair - to fit the inktober prompt, and then the thought occurred that maybe I could to a take on Medusa. Combine the two and you've got - Medusapunzel! No? Well, please yourselves.

One Sketch 198) #inktober2018 - prompt Precious

Enjoy these days, 

My son

For he will grow

Before you know. Remember this, and then

In years to come,

You too can say to him

Enjoy these days,

My son.

Today's Inktober prompt is Precious, and so I couldn't resist sketching my son, holding his son. I wish I was skillfulenough to render just how gorgeous my grandson is. 

One Sketch 197) #inktober2018 Prompt - Star

(To the tune of the Robin Hood theme)

Norrin Rad, Norrin Rad,

Riding through the stars,

Norrin Rad, Norrin Rad

Never goes in bars

Well, I don't recall him ever doing so in the comics. If you're not an aficionado, Norrin Rad was the Surfer's name before he became Galactus' herald. Long story. I first encountered the Silver Surfer when Marvel started reprinting American comics from the 60s in the UK in the mid 70s. I was a fan of Mighty World Of Marvel which featured the Hulk in the lead story, Daredevil in the middle story, and Fantastic Four in the third. The Surfer made his debut in a Fantastic Four serial. If I recall correctly.

One Sketch 196) #inktober2018 Prompt 7 - Exhausted

I am not sleeping,
Not exhausted.
And though I may look slumped
Inert
Listless
I am ready for the chase.
I am merely rehearsing
Death is inevitable
And it is in my gift
To you.

Latest Inktober prompt, and that's probably about all I can say about it.

One Sketch 195) #inktober2018 Prompt 6 - Drooling

I really don't want to be cruel
But think I should say, as a rule
That a collie or lab
Is usually fab
Apart from their terrible drool

I once saw a piece of graffiti which said 'Pavlov's dogs drool, ok?!' Well, it made me laugh, but then I was only a kid at the time, I suppose.

One Sketch 194) #inktober2018 Prompt 5 - Chicken

Run, Colonel, run Colonel, run run run
Fetch a semi-automatic gun, gun, gun
That cock's nuts
And boy he hates your guts
Coz you stuck his mum in a bun, bun, bun.
(with apologies to Noel Gay and Ralph Butler)

I just wanted to do something different rather than just drawing a chicken, and this image popped into my head.

One Sketch 193) #inktober2018 day 4 - Prompt - Spell

A wizard, when casting a spell
Just didn't perform very well
He went with a flash
Leaving nothing but ash,
A bang, and a terrible smell.

Yes, it is based on Christopher Lee as Saruman in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 4th Inktober Prompt, and I just noticed a little earlier that we're rapidly approaching the 200 days mark. Yippee!

One Sketch #192) #inktober2018 Day 3 - Roasted - Roasting Chestnuts

I think that you couldn't rebut
The fact that it must take some guts
To stand in the street
And ask folk to eat
Their fill of your steaming hot nuts

The roast chicken route was just too obvious for this prompt. I did a sketch a couple of months back based on a photo of a chestnuts seller from about a century ago, and I did say then that you could still see chestnut sellers with their braziers in the centre of London when I was a young boy in the late 60s. Unless memory fails me, I think that the last time I saw one would possibly have been New Year's Eve 1981.

One Sketch #191) #inktober2018 Day 2 - Tranquil

Sleep,

And dream of bones,

Chewed slippers

And walks.

Actually, like yesterday I could have included another tram sketch, but I thought I'd continue to share with you my inktober sketches. This is what I came up with for the prompt 'tranquil'. My blank Christmas cards arrived yesterday, so it occurs to me that I'm going to be wanting to go into production of this year's cards pretty soon. 

One Sketch #190) #inktober2018 Prompt 1 Poisonous

Scorpions - nasty wee things
Just think of the pain that they brings
They scuttle around
On the dry sandy ground
Just waiting to strike with their stings

Yes, it's the first day of inktober. Basically, if you take part you get 31 prompts - one for each day of the month - and commit to producing an ink sketch each day of the month. I heard about the event right on the last day of October 2017, too late to take part then. But for now, it's absolutely perfect! (BTW, I DID sketch another tram today as well, of the Great Orme Tramway. But I decided to give you all a day off, even if I didn't take one.)