Cabin Pressure Advent: Uskerty

I don't want a goose friend!

There’s a thing that British comedies do sometimes, which I absolutely love. They roll along being brilliant and witty, and then crash into something serious, but instead of being thrown by the shift in tone you suddenly realise you really, really care about the characters, and on some subconscious level you’ve been taking it seriously enough that the feeling only has to come to the surface. Cabin Pressure did this in St Petersburg and sustained the new depth though Series 4; Uskerty has my favourite swings between funny bone and heartstrings. I don’t know how many times I relistened when the episode was on iPlayer but I’m pretty sure it was more than once a day.

Also, I'm pretty sure I've been past or through or at least near Uskerty, as I was navigator on our trip to Ireland and I definitely remember Carlow and Castlecomer on our route to Kilkenny. Didn't see any pilots or stuffed sheep, though.

This illustration probably takes the record for most hours, as I nibbled at it all through the holidays. Partly because of that, I think, and partly because there are genuinely a lot of flaws (which can be pointed out on request), I kind of want to draw it from scratch – but NO, it has consumed enough time already. It had more digital doctoring of the line drawing than any other and then turned into a full paint job when I just wanted some strategic washes for composition and atmosphere.

Now I really must go for groceries ...