Time-Tested: 210/Liebster Award

Our weekly spin of the wheel and foray into Reddit has taken a slightly different turn this week… well, actually, a completely different turn, given that I didn’t go to Reddit Gets Drawn, nor did I use the wheel to determine the length of the exercise.

It’s time for me to miss a button my shirt, leave my collar on the wonk and then trip over the red carpet (or my chair… again), as I’ve been nominated for an award!

The man to blame for this is our subject this week, one Charlie O’Shields, keeper of the doodlewash blog, who nominated me for the coveted Liebster Award along with nine of his other most crazed fans. What better way to exhibit one’s gratitude for this wonderful gesture, than to roundly offend the kind gentleman with a whistle-stop portrait? I’m sorry, Charlie. Please can we still be friends?

I think I pretty accurately captured the smile, and indeed I did all in my power within the three-and-a-half hours to show a sunny character, for that is, I think, what best describes doodlewash – a warm, friendly and addictive artistic community. And, like the sun itself, we all warm to Charlie, who is in the centre of it all and somehow manages to be entertaining and endearing on a daily basis. He also spends a great deal of time championing other artists from around the world, which is deserving of recognition in itself.

I suspect 90 per cent of my followers came from doodlewash in some way or another, but if you are one of the minority, go follow! And do it now!!

Now, in accepting this award, I’d like to thank my mu… oh, time’s up already? I’m being given fingers by the floor manager! I thought that kind of stuff only happened in rehearsal…

We’ve reached the stage where I now have to share ten (only ten!?) blogs who I think deserve this honour. With such a small number, I did, as Charlie did, rely on WordPress stats for the most part, to show who have been the most prolific on the site as well as who have been following me for the longest time. I also left out a couple of potential nominees because Charlie beat me to it. What I’m saying is, please don’t hate me if your name does not appear. I still love you.

THE NOMINEES ARE (!!!):

• Allan Arcilla drawing collection
• Clive Hicks-Jenkins’ Artlog
• Fearsome Beard
• Fun with Zbrush
• gaydinosaurtales
• Graham McQuade
• My Freddie Mercury
• RebeccaEvans Create
• Scott Keenan Illustration
• Stuff and Nonsense

I would of course have added Charlie in here myself, but I believe the rules are policed as tightly and seriously as playground touchy – that is, there are no touch-backs.

(blows party horn) Congratulations all round! In accepting the prize, you should show the Liebster Award badge, nominate ten people of your own, and then answer the questions below. Participation is, of course, not obligatory.

Yes, as mentioned just there, before I can scuttle off to my uproarious after-party, I apparently have to undergo some form of interrogation, answering ten taxing questions for your own perplexing pleasure. Well, here goes nothing:

1 – WHICH LITERARY GENRE DO YOU PREFER?
Oh blimey, first one up and this is already getting to ‘phone a friend please, Chris’ territory. I don’t read many books, actually. I should probably read a lot more. In fiction, I rather enjoy thrillers, and non-fiction, I enjoy anything to do with history, design, or melding the two. A relatively new-found literary love, though, is poetry and verse. I wish I could write a decent poem or a good old sizzling sonnet.

2 – WHICH BOOK YOU KNOW AND LOVE?
Patently, Top and Toby – A First Book of Letters… I can tell you how that one goes from cover to cover! Failing that, probably Treasure Island, as it’s the first book I can remember picking from the library and reading myself.

3 – WHICH BOOK YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT NOW?
I can’t say I’m passionate about a book at this moment. Honest answer. Moving on.

4 – WHY DID YOU START BLOGGING?
I’d be bored stiff otherwise. That, and having the concept of the blog there pushes me to continue with what I’m doing, which is trying to make art (incase you hadn’t gathered). It’s like a muscle, it requires training and it’s easy to atrophy, so having the community there is a wonderful thing.

5 – ORDER OR CHAOS?
I bounce wildly from one to the other. My digital files are all stored with impeccable order, my daily routine is very rigid, yet my space definitely deserves the label of ‘chaos’.

6 – WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?
Somewhere bracing and out of the way. Norway, for instance. That could be fun.

7 – STARRY SKY OR SUNSET?
Hmm, both are beautiful, but probably the stars. They seem to stimulate my imagination more than a sunset.

8 – BETTER THE PAPER BOOK, RATHER THAN THE E-BOOK?
Again with the books. Lots of the newer books I do own are in e-book form. It’s a godsend, really, as I don’t have room in my extensive library for any more hardbacks.

9 – WHAT IS THE WRITING FOR YOU? DO YOU SEE IT AS A HOBBY OR HOPING FOR A FUTURE AS A WRITER?
This is probably why my writing is so poor – I don’t read enough. I’ve always enjoyed writing, though mostly as a hobby. When I was a teenager I spent summers penning Batman screenplays and a children’s book, so maybe there is a writer in me somewhere.

10 – WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT SOCIAL NETWORKS?
I would think it crude to slam them while writing on a social network, but indeed one should be careful what they share and who they interact with. I don’t do Facebook, Instagram or any of that stuff anymore – I only use WordPress. It seems the nicest of all and I’ve certainly met a lot of wonderful people in the time I’ve spent here.

There we are then.

I believe there’s a conga line to the after-party due any minute. Thanks once more to Charlie, and well done again to all nominees!

• 210 minutes
• Art
• award
• blog award
• drawing
• liebster award
• portrait
• timed