The sad tale of my father’s short modelling career
Posted: November 28, 2014 Filed under: People, What to do if ... | Tags: beer, dad, father, George Midgley, modelling, pub 2 Comments
For January 2014’s Camping and Caravanning Club magazine I was retired to illustrate a jovial barman, serving up a pint of ale.
Lovely.
I usually prefer to work from life, but sometimes a little tweaking of life is required.
I searched on the internet for some suitable reference photographs first and, while I found some nice photographs of bar staff and bars, I couldn’t find a photograph which showed the barman stood at the bar serving up that pint.
So I did what i usually do in this situation and mocked up the situation at home.
Now, remember, I had my reference photographs for the pumps and in case I decided to use any of the background optics and such like (In fact I didn’t use any background at all, to focus the illustration on the jovial barman.
It just happened that my parents were visiting that weekend – so I used my father as a stand-in barman.
– I don’t actually have a bar set up in my home – but we do have an ironing board!
Nor was I planning on downing a pint of ale just at the moment in time, so I used a pint glass of diluted orange juice instead.
… and several photographs later – I managed to get what I thought was a pretty good photograph of …
… my jovial looking father serving me a glass of orange juice across an ironing board.
And so began my father’s modelling career …
Unfortunately …
The magazine requested a younger model. So I quickly drew out a replacement head
Transplanted it onto my father’s body.
And that’s the photograph which was used in the magazine. Still recognisable as my father – only, it kind of looks like he has a toupee on!
George Midgley is still available for modelling work. Toupee not included.
Wednesday in Cyprus
Posted: December 5, 2012 Filed under: Food | Tags: BBQ, beer, kebab, waffle Leave a comment
The smell from the waffle station was driving me nuts by now …
After breakfast we took a trip up to the old part of Pafos town. After wandering around a little; and drawing a church and a battered, old bike, I started to feel a bit peckish. The cafes and restaurants near the old market seemed a bit too tourist-y and so I started to head out of town.
I walked back to the newer part of town. Just in time to grab a beer and take in the late afternoon view of the harbour.
In the evening there was a western theme to the buffet.
Tuesday in Cyprus
Posted: November 3, 2012 Filed under: Food | Tags: beer, breakfast, Sandwich 2 CommentsFor breakfast I thought I’d try a it bit more of a minimalist style. Especially as this was the first morning I’d felt like anything for substantial than tea! I just wanted to tuck in!
Then we set off into town. Lucy wanted to check out some of the shops ….
…. so after quite a while (Whilst Lucy desperately tried to spend the Euros which were burning a hole in her pocket) We stopped off for a late morning drink.
After we’d gone round the roman mosiacs and the archaeological dig it was time for lunch.
And I had a first! The owner of the restaurant was so impressed with my speedy drawing that she waved the charge on our drinks when it came to settle the bill! That’s never happened before! I wonder how many more restaurant drawings I need to do before I get the whole meal for free?
I’d had such a lovely day out – it was frustrating to be reminded of other people offloading their preconceptions of what is acceptable behaviour at the dining table 
But, you know what? I don’t think I do care what other people think! I’m enjoying drawing my food!!
Sunday in Cyprus
Posted: October 30, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beer, breakfast, Sandwich, sushi Leave a commentIt usually takes me a bit of time to relax into any holiday, even when I’m around drawing. Actually, focussing on the meals I was eating, also forced me to relax into things a bit quicker than usual. But mornings I still find difficult when I’m holiday. Especially when it’s a large buffet room. I always that kind of breakfast difficult to face in a morning.
Oh, my! Halloumi cheese and Lountza ham! What a fantastic combination!
I’ve been a fan of the ham/cheese combination in a sandwich; but grilled Halloumi and the marinated Lountza ham, combined with the toasted pitta! Oh, for goodness sake! Fan-tast-ic!
You may, or may not be, aware that I LOVE SUSHI. So the chance to go ans have japanese cuisine was too much to pass up! The only problem was that the the restaurant was pitched outside, and the lighting was a bit dim, so it was a bit difficult to see! Plus it was a restaurant meal out with my family! So I was under pressure to draw and eat in pace with everyone else. (In other words normal eaters!!!) I snapped a few photos on my iphone to refer to later, but managed to complete my drawing before we left the table. 🙂
Later in the evening I snuck off to the bar. To catch up on some of my drawing notes and to look forward to the week ahead! 🙂
Rastrick – 2nd Beer Festival
Posted: October 3, 2012 Filed under: Food | Tags: beer, pork pie 1 Comment
Last year Lee and I spent a lovely, lazy afternoon sampling beers in the late summer sunshine.
… and we were able to go this year too, the 2nd Rastrick Beer Festival.
Amazingly, ending a week of torrential rain, came Saturday. With a (nearly) balmy afternoon. Well, there wasn’t any rain anyway.
I stuck with cider and perry as it felt like a bright Autumnal kind of drink.
(Yes, I know it can’t be late summer and autumn, but the weather WAS confused and so was I!)
Matthew Midgley Illustration 