Disastronaut

He caught
a falling star.

Happy new
year.

Happy Christmas

Fishtank revolution

Lion in wait

Demi-urge

A rite of
passage.

Food for thought

You Are What You Eat Shirt by nonstickplans
make your own custom t-shirt at zazzle

This is a t-shirt with a drawing from September 2007, adapted into a circle for Mindfields College as a logo for a seminar or workshop on diet. Alas Mindfields has ceased trading and has morphed into the smaller scale Human Givens College, where humorous logos are spat upon and clean pastel colours and Swiss-style graphics are employed instead. With so many logos going spare I thought it was time for some recycling (with permission) and a few of them (the more interesting ones) have been Zazzled.
The .com link for this t-shirt is here, by the way, though I'm not expecting anyone to buy it. Judging by my past efforts to make money, this Zazzle lark is almost inevitably doomed to failure. It's already been plagued by technical problems. I've been reading an interesting series of blog posts by Robert Twigger about how to make money. I must study them more thoroughly - it could change my life. He's an interesting writer, by the way, and I recommend his blog, and his books.
Another by-the-way is that I've started a Wordpress blog where I'll be posting drawings from the Non-Stick Plans archive which I'm using on my Zazzle products. I realise I'm occasionally doing that here too, but over on Wordpress I'm posting them big enough to see. Surely a good reason to visit. Ok, suit yourself.

Emile Zola in his J'Accuzzi

This bad literary pun is a remnant from my Paris Fraud series from February 2009 (starting here), which I never drew up. Having drawn it up I now realise that it's hardly an original bad literary pun as there are 869 results for it on Google. It's obvious when you think about it, but I may as well post it now I've drawn it up - that will make it a round number.

Body language

SomNoëlent

The words are, 'Happy Hibernation! or if you're staying awake Happy Christmas!' in case it's too small to read.
‘The Sleep of Reason Produces Funny Animals,’ as Goya almost said, and here’s one, asleep. This is my Christmas card, rather early I believe. Mainly because you won’t have the opportunity to buy it from Zazzle here (uk site), if I post it any later.
Zazzle has given me a big headache due to technical problems - nothing was showing up after I’d designed it, uploaded it, titled it, described it, categorised it, tagged it and posted it for sale. A quiet word or three with the Help! department got their technicians on the case and it now seems to be working ok. I’ve got about 140 ‘products’ so far, including this card and other funny animals. I’ll continue to add stuff if my stamina holds out. It’s hard work you know.
Perhaps only other people with Zazzle shops know.

Non-stick mugs on Zazzle

See more personalized gifts from Zazzle.

Apologies (again) for the continued absence of posts on Non-Stick, if anyone is still looking in. Here's another reason for that.
I'm spending time designing some of the drawings from this blog (of which there are many) into products for sale on Zazzle. Mugs is all I've got so far, and only a few, but I thought I'd flag it up now before it's well-stocked as I've got little else to post at the moment. I'm new to online selling so it's going to look a bit disorganised for a while. Any feedback (or requests) would be very welcome.
This widget will take you to the UK site. Here are a few links to other countries: US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Brazil. I think that will do for now.
The mugs I've ordered are top quality and would make fantastic Christmas presents!

Running late

I did this drawing of a slow boy in an egg-and-spoon race a couple of years ago as a birthday card. 'Sorry I'm Late' was the inevitable message - a phrase bursting with possibilities for the cartoonist, or indeed anyone else. Thinking of situations in which being late has consequences, foreseen or unforeseen, pleasant or unpleasant, is a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. I recommend it.

An inhibition of drawings

Some people may have noticed a slight hiatus in activity on this blog. I know I have. This has been caused, in part, by me having to get my act together for a small local exhibition (or inhibition). It takes place over the next couple of weekends as part of the Woodford Festival Arts Trail. See picture for details.
Like all small local exhibitions it has involved large amounts of time, effort and money. From an initial selection of 25 drawings I’ve whittled it down to 60, all of which have appeared on Nonstick at some time or other. I suspect quite a few will have to be culled when it comes to hanging day, but how does one decide? I’ve never decided to find out.
Do come along if you’re visiting this planet on those days. There are plenty of clouds to park on, and Woodford is not known for its passport controls.
When the above occurrence has played out, like occurrences do, the slight hiatus may cease and frenetic activity on this blog will resume.

Tortwice

Leonardo's ghost

Artist's conscience:

"Madre di Deo! Call yourself
a painter?"

Pondlife

Two stages of development.

Out of one's element

This penguin cannot be said to lack direction.

Shanks' pony

Optical delusion

Torque of the town

(It's too tight).

At the OK Canal

Aspirations

Bagmouth strikes again

Also known as the Fish-and-Chips Monster, the Bagmouth is a common sight in British seaside resorts during the Summer. This one was sketched very hurriedly, but it's fairly accurate.

Mousing off

My brief jaunt to Eastbourne produced almost identical photos to last year so that’s scuppered my plan to post them here.
My brain has been giving me some trouble recently, and is refusing to cooperate. This blog will therefore be continuing without it for the foreseeable future, otherwise it will just go into hibernation, so expect non-ideas and a lack of effort on the drawing front. You never know it might be an improvement...

Eighth Sister

I don’t suppose anyone will notice my absence due to the sparseness of posts here, but I’m off this week to Eastbourne again, to watch some tennis in either punishing sunshine, squally showers or bone-chilling sea breezes. Last year I took some very boring photos of the place so will endeavour to take some more interesting ones this year, though it will be a challenge as I have a very boring camera.
In this drawing can be seen a personification of Beachy Head, the next cliff along from the Seven Sisters on the south coast of England. Goodbye.

Alien safari

Ripley
visits the
Serengeti.

(It's
supposed
to be
Ripley
anyway).

National dress

Thistle
turn-out
for the
best.

Exit

Thanks
to Alex for
featuring
me on the
Neatorama
art blog.
And to
Apelad for
suggesting
me.

Early knight

Saga

You can click on this Viking literary invasion to see it larger but don't look too close or you'll see all sorts of glaring errors. I'll redo it one day when I've learned how to draw in perspective and warp pages of text in photoshop.

Freelance pigeon

Tap tap
tappin'
on the
window
pane.

Ode to Joy

Ludwig van
Beethoven
with a face like
a slapped violin.

Lovebird

This blog has dried up lately. This is probably because work has dried up, inspiration has dried up and life has dried up - in fact I'm thinking of buying a camel.

Max: Box 7

That's the last of this Max sequence, which turned out to be in slightly slower slow motion than intended.
Coming up: I dunno.

Max: Box 6

Max: Box 5

I almost forgot to post anything today, due to the fact that I'm grappling with some sort of flu, which might be of the Swinish variety. It's not very pleasant, whatever variety it is - perhaps it's just the not-very-pleasant variety.
Visitors are advised not to sit too close to the screen.
There are another two drawings from this Max story. Then I'll post something new, if I can be bothered to get out of bed.

Max: Box 4

Max: Box 3

Max: Box 2

Max: Box 1

Well, my attempt to sell out having been somewhat underwhelming, it seems time to resume old habits. One of the things that has attracted people to this blog has been my postings of Pericle Giovannetti’s Max drawings, so I thought I’d put up another ‘story’ from ‘The Penguin Max’. Prepare for another week of slow-motion slapstick, hamster-style, this time concerning the perils of carpentry.

Bird-spreads 8

This is the final spread I’ll be posting from ‘Where the Birdies is’. From now on my attempts to sell out will be confined to the sidebar. The drawings are ‘Wren’s egg’ and ‘Pecking order’ from December 2007 and January 2008.

Bird-spreads 7

Here are two parrots from the book ‘Anomalous Instances of Ornithological Hybridism’, a scholarly work of avian punditry by the distinguished academic Professor Gert Lummox.
Fig.1 is ‘Excalibird’ and represents the visual correlation between sword and tail, the title referring to Excalibur, the sword of Arthur, and thus to the correlation between the Sword in the Stone and the probable origin of the word Parrot - Perrot, diminutive of the name Pierre in early C16th Dialect French, or Peter in English, from the Greek petros - stone.
Fig.2 is called ‘Plaititudes’, pointing up a relationship between the Macaw’s plaited wings and tail and the word Platitude, an overused moral statement, thus correlating with the parrot’s tendency to repeat phrases at random, with no understanding of their meaning.
NB. This information is implicit in the book and is spelled out here merely for those unused to the depth of intellectual sophistication in academic discourse. The book may be enjoyed as entertainment without knowledge of the foregoing facts.

Bird-spreads 6

Another spread from ‘The Bird Way’, a mystical guide to reaching nirvana by sitting on the fence and eating insects. or your money back. Here we see two drawings (it’s a visual guide), one called ‘A bird in the hand’ and the other named ‘Top hat and tail feathers’, from September and October 2007. These titles are approximate and shouldn’t be relied on in the event of litigation. A generous donation at this site will ensure your happiness, in this ten minutes and the next (allow 6-8 days for delivery).

Bird-spreads 5

A couple of Christmasy-type doings from my book: ‘Birds Do the Funniest Things’: ‘Hot and Cold’ and “Yin Yang Merrily on High”, both from the Christmasy-type month of December in 2007. So long ago, and yet here they are - fresh from the freezer.

Bird-spreads 4

Here’s another spread from the worst-seller: ‘Where the Birdies is’. In it can be seen ‘Nightfever’ from March 2008, and ‘Bathtime’, also from March 2008.

Bird-spreads 3

The latest bulletin from Lulu.com tells me that I’ve now sold 3 copies of 'Where the Birdies is' but the sales ranking hasn’t changed! Some mistake, surely? No-one told me selling out was so complicated. I thought I’d be off to the private jet shop by now.
These two drawnwings are ‘Flying Scot’ and ‘Homing pigeon’, both from October 2007.
Apologies to anyone who’s seen all this rubbish before. There are just a few more of these spreads, then normal service will be resumed; or what passes for normal service these days. Tch.
Did I mention my book? You can buy it here.

Bird-spreads 2

My total sales figures have now gone up to two (2) and my Lulu Sales Rank is 217796, which is more than I could ever have hoped for. Thank you to the buyers, both of whom are friends.
Here is another spread from the book (which you can buy here!), featuring ‘Flamingo flamenco’ from November 16th and ‘In cahoots’ from November 23rd, both 2007. Click for larger view, or lean back for smaller view.

Bird-spreads 1

I can't help thinking that blogs are reaching rather deeply into the barrel when they start repeating old stuff, but, in the interests of selling out, I thought I'd post some spreads from 'Where the Birdies is' to show how the old stuff looks in a new context. And who can be bothered to click through archives. You can click on this (if you can be bothered) to get a larger view - or you can buy the book and see it on paper! (I realise the clicking bit is cheaper).
These two drawings are 'Brooding' and 'Petshop Quartet' from 3rd February and 30th January 2008 respectively (note the chronic illogical order). More to follow.

Plan C: Sell out...

Happy Birthday-before-yesterday to Non-Stick Plans! It's now 3 years (and 2 days) old. It will be going to school soon - don't they grow up fast?
Anyway, to mark the occasion-before-yesterday, in my usual on-the-ball style, I'm doing what people asked me to do 2 years (and 2 days) ago, which is to put some of the now 500+ drawings on this blog into book form.
My first, experimental, effort in this direction could loosely be described as a book - it's more of a glorified pamphlet - and it's up on Lulu now. It's called 'Where the Birdies is' and is a sort of ornithillogical anthology of 60 birdie-themed drawings (plus the one above on the cover and a little one on the half-title page) from this very blog.
Being Lulu and print-on-demand it's neither perfectly printed (partly due to my habit of using gradients for backgrounds) nor cheap. Am I doing a good job of selling it to you? It's paperback, 7.5" (19cm) square, 64 pages, in full colour (apart from the black and white bits). It even has a contents page, like a proper book. It's only available on Lulu for now.
I'd appreciate it if someone would buy a copy. You can get it here, here, or here. (It doesn't really matter which one you click on as they all go to the same link). Think of it as a charity donation.
It would be nice to have some feedback too (even it's to complain about being ripped off) so I can improve on it with the next one, if there is a next one. Of course, if no-one buys it I shall go back to the monastery.

(Plans A, and B).

Native species

I had a more interesting drawing planned for today but it involves Vikings and boats and they're both giving me trouble, so this will have to do for now.

By the way, I'm just waiting for a proof copy to arrive for a little experiment I've been working on, and if it's ok there may be something to buy on Lulu. Imagine that - Nonstick sells out. Birds are involved. Watch the skies, but keep an eye on your wallet.

Storyteller

In
Arabian
Nights

(it's a
book)

(a good
one).

Cognic band

For
narrower
thinking.