Mixed-media art seems to be closely related to scrapbooking and card-making, two very trendy crafts which I loathe on account of their excessive twee-ness. One way out of twee-ness is to avoid using the ready-made papers and trimmings and cartoon figures you can buy in craft shops. I have been drawing my own doodles. OK, they're still twee. Very, very twee.

BUT it was worth doing for a couple of reasons. First, I discovered that when I was sitting and drawing doodles, they were not only twee but also crap. My inner critic was seriously getting in the way. I was much more productive when I doodled whilst watching TV. I filled pages full of the things and afterwards I could see that the later ones were in some ways better than the early ones. Unconsciously I had been monitoring, evaluating and improving without any input from the inner critic. That's very, very interesting.

Secondly, I can see a place for cartoons in mixed media. But I'd prefer to produce edgier Ronald Searle-cum-Gerald Scarfe types of cartoons than this sub-Hallmark shite. I can probably do that if I try. I just need a drippy pen and to get into a really bad mood.