Quarehawk

Her Dad was really pleased with this …

Done as a christening gift. As usual I did it at the last minute in a mad rush and didn’t have time to get it scanned, so I had to ask the mammy to take a photo and send it to me. So the detail doesn’t really show up here. Cute though all the same isn’t it?

Back in 2007 I did a drawing of George Hook. And lately I started using Twitter, so I sent it to him …

So that was nice.

I use Twitter to get the news headlines and follow interesting people, mostly comedians. But now I’ve noticed around 10 people have started following my updates! Dear God what do these weirdos want from me? I have nothing to say.

So I posted this a minute ago …

Hopefully that’ll keep them happy for a while.

Back in 2007 for some reason maybe involving a mental episode, I looked up Ray Darcy on wikipedia, and I noticed that his entry didn’t have a picture.

So as part of my bid for early sainthood, I sprang into action and spent 2 sweaty hours doing this portrait. It was probably mainly a reflection on my social life at the time.

Anyhoo - I just checked and it’s still up there. Yay. I think I captured his essence with this effort. Of course this does not mean that Ray should call me up now and interview me on his radio show. God no! Or offer me 50 Euro for the framed original. Certainly not. Put your money away Ray now, and don’t be silly.

[PS: I saw Ray Darcy drinking in The Long Hall on Georges Street a few months back. He's not as small as you'd expect. He's maybe 5'8]

A few portrait commissions I did for Christmas gifts. Pics taken with a crappy phone camera. Why didn’t I get all these scanned before framing, so I could display them on the site more professionally and maybe bring in more business? Why? Because I’m a stupid idiot, that’s why.

A wiley psychologist, tapping his pipe out on his boot, would probably deduce that this is because sub-consciously I want to fail, because I’m secretly afraid of succeeding, and probably trace it all back to some childhood incident where my Da refused to buy me an ice-cream in 1978. But whatever, here are the drawings, badly photographed …

Yeah that’s right - I’m drawing animals now as well. Take that Rolf Harris!!!

It appears someone has set up a Google Alert for the term “Dermot Whelan Comedy”, which sends some kind of Googlebot over poking around this site nearly every day, based on a passing reference I made to Dermot Whelan in an old post about The Panel.

Feeling bad for this lone fanatical surfer, I decided to feed the bot. So I drew this bizarre portrait of the man himself. It was a freewheeling, random kind of project. My washing machine was on in the background so I sketched that in, then an ad came on the tv where there were carrots, so (why not?) I incorporated the carrot motif as well. Then as an afterthought, I used iPhoto to make a sort of commemorative plate effect. So here you go my friend, this one’s for you …

[I suppose eventually this will pop up in Google Image Search, perplexing and confounding genuine Dermot Whelan fans]

UPDATE: Dermot Whelan found this post and responded in the comments below … 

Ten minutes after the official start-time the lights dip. “Would you welcome to the stage … Dara O’Briain”, says an unseen voice behind the curtain, which you quickly realize is that of Dara O’Briain himself. And out he comes. Ah yes, I forgot this was Vicar Street, where the comedians have to develop multiple personality disorders and introduce themselves speaking in the third person.

It’s only Monday night and the place is pretty much full. Maybe everyone went home and changed but they don’t look much like the office crowd I was expecting. And Dara O’Briain doesn’t look much like a stand-up. In a smart suit minus the tie, and eschewing the traditional microphone stand for a pinned-on radio mic which leaves him free to gesticulate with both hands, he reminds you a bit of a motivational speaker at a corporate gathering.

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Anyone who tried to order balcony seat tickets for this gig online got the message “No seats available for your selection”, giving the wrong impression that the event had sold out. Actually what happened was the opposite - the balcony wasn’t in use because they knew they couldn’t fill it. This is hardly surprising though - Sean Hughes hasn’t really done anything to keep himself in the Irish spotlight since leaving “Never Mind The Buzzcocks”.

This show wasn’t publicized much. You get the suspicion he was just over visiting his parents for the Bank Holiday weekend and decided to chance his arm with a gig while he was here.

If so, I’m glad he did. Because he’s still good.
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