A CARTOONIST is finding inspiration from The Argus headlines when it comes to sketching his quirky creations.

Will Blood, a 29-year-old artist from North Laine, Brighton, uses picture-sharing website Instagram to share his quick sketches of The Argus’s billboards, which sit outside newsagents across Sussex.

The headline ‘Vomiting bug shuts hospital’, first gave Mr Blood the idea.

He said: “Immediately, I just saw a massive bug over a hospital in my mind and thought it was funny.”

Within a few minutes he had sketched his idea, cropped it next to a photo of the billboard and shared it with his 4,500 followers.

He said: “Then I thought, ‘I can do this as a new series’.

“I’m always looking for a new project or a new series of illustrations so it’s quite exciting to do something that doesn’t take a lot of time.”

Since then, he has illustrated half a dozen headlines, including ‘Patient tested for ebola’ and ‘UKIP candidate banned from meeting’, all using the hashtag Illustrating TheArgus.

The images have received praise from more than 1,000 people. Mr Blood began posting them last week and he said there is much more to come.

He said: “I’m going to try and do one every day.

“I’m trying to do each one in less than five minutes just so they’re rough around the edges. They’ve been received quite well. It’s such a change from what the people on social media have seen.

“Maybe some people say they’re not very good, but it’s a quick sketch.”

Although Mr Blood is the first artist on Instagram to use the IllustratingTheArgus hashtag, he thinks that it is only a matter of time before it catches on.

He said: “I’m sure they will. It’s the art world – everyone rips each other off.”

Mr Blood’s illustrations can be found on his Instagram page at william_ blood.

He also has a solo exhibition entitled Lizards Etc. running at the Brush hair salon on Gloucester Road, Brighton, until the end of today.

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