Back during the first lockdown in Ireland, when it had been a few months since my last haircut, I used the Google Arts & Culture app to create a few self-portraits incorporating the styles of famous paintings. I posted a couple as temporary profile pics on my social media pages, but never got round to making use of the other two. I just came across them when I was looking for material to post today, and figured this was as good a time as any to roll them out. The first was inspired by Van Gogh's famous Starry Night painting (one of my all time favourite paintings -- I always try to swing by the MoMA to check it out when I'm in New York, though it's been a good while since my last visit), and the other one's based on a Rubens painting. I thought this was a pretty cool little app -- if you think so too, it's free to download, and there are lots more styles to choose from.

The December issue of my monthly newsletter contains all the latest Darren Shan news and updates, details of a couple of upcoming sales, info about an incoming Christmas story, and a whole lot more. You can check it out by clicking on the following link: https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly/