5569. M32 Spot (173)

Mr Crawls returns with a new variation on his theme, which I really hoped he would, this time charming us with a woolly-hatted penguin. There is something very satisfying about the simplicity in Mr Crawls’ work, proving that artwork doesn’t need to be busy and complex to be effective. His character variation work reminds me of the work of Mr Underbite – Simple-clean-effective.

Mr Crawls has just about managed to squeeze his penguin character within the constraints of the rather narrow column. His other birds have been a bit wider and squarer in format, so he has done well to elongate the penguin to fit in here. The expression on the penguin’s face is priceless, slightly dopey and with a sad smile. The hat is simply brilliant.