Okay people of Blogtown and Twitterville ... I have a challenge for you.

At the moment I'm working on a TOP SECRET project. It's a book. It relates to art and artists. But it is TOP SECRET. So don't try to winkle any more information out of me. My lips are sealed. With epoxy resin. Now, for this TOP SECRET book project, I need some illustrations. Most importantly, I need a range of illustrations. And they don't need to be created by professional artists. In fact, it will help my project immensely if I were to get a range of different people - some professional artists, some amateurs, some hobbyists and some who reckon they'll never be artists - to contribute. The ones I choose will end up in the book. If you fancy getting involved, here's the brief:

I need you to create a work of art called ANGER. This is me being angry a little while ago after the Twitter Joke Trial. Grrr. That'll help set the tone.



I want you to imagine that you've been asked to take part in an exhibition about the Seven Deadly Sins along with six other artists. You've all picked your subjects at random and you have ANGER. Okay so far? Right, here's the twist ...

You can only use any or all of the following reasonably common household objects:

· Paper or card of some kind.
· An ordinary pencil (it will probably be an HB grade but any will do).
· A ballpoint pen – it doesn’t matter what colour.
· Some Plasticine or similar modelling clay (or marzipan or putty).
· A potato.
· Cocktail sticks.
· A sharp knife of some kind.
· Scissors.
· Glue.
· Paper clips.
· Paint or ink of some kind – decorators house paint/emulsion is fine.
· A glossy magazine.
· A newspaper.

The only rules for this challenge are that (a) you come up with the concept yourself, and (b) you must complete the piece of work by Midnight on Wednesday 7th September.

ANGER! Grrrr.

I have deliberately limited your materials and your time for a good reason. Necessity really is the mother of invention and the less you have at your disposal, the more inventive you become. Think about those TV cookery shows where contestants are given a limited range of ingredients. If you’d said to them ‘Use anything you like and take as long as you like’, I can guarantee that they’d fall back on a tried and trusted recipe, one they know well with likely success. By restricting their choices, they are forced to become more creative.

So ... are you up for it? All you need to do is create your work of art and email me a photo or a scan by Midnight on Wednesday. There's no age limit - you can be six or 666. My email address is [email protected]. I'll send an original doodle on a postcard to everyone that enters. And some of them will end up in the book.

Which is TOP SECRET, if I haven't mentioned that before.

Ready ...? Runaround now!