With a strong Kirk Douglas dimple chin, Shakespeare’s form of the infamous Richard III and the timeless apparel of spatterdashes; Hodge is a patchwork of various influences and inspirations of my favourite things.

My original idea behind Hodge (and still the aim) was to become a fundraiser for Blood Cancer charities, hence the blood drop shape of his head and “Hodge” being short for Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma which my wonderful, brave Mum has been fighting for many years. Who better to raise awareness or money or morale concerning blood cancer than a blood drinking creature?

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However as the covid lockdown dragged, and with many first ideas for Hodge involving cancer, I decided to temporarily stray from quite frankly — the very things I wanted to mentally escape from.

Instead I designed my first Hodge ready to post that Friday evening in January, and since then every Friday I have released a new sketch revealing what Hodge was up to that week. Nevertheless, without all the positive comments, messages, likes and support, I know for a fact I wouldn’t have enjoyed the creations quite so much, and might have stopped altogether — so thank you.

I am glad I’ve been able to continue my Hodge weekly illustrations as it has given me the opportunity to get to know him more.

So hopefully… I will be slowly releasing Hodge related merchandise, and some potential future contributions to Blood Cancer UK.

Thank you for reading and following Hodge the Vamp.