A FORMER cartoonist for the Bournemouth Daily Echo has been using his time in lockdown to paint pictures of frontline healthcare staff and raise money for the NHS.

Danny Byrne used to draw cartoons in a weekly section of the newspaper in the late eighties, back when it was called the Bournemouth Evening Echo.

Danny, who resides in Ringwood, was due to hold an exhibition in London, entitled ‘All Her Majesty’s Men’, with an array of paintings of the people who run the country before and during Brexit, but was cancelled due to Covid-19.

He said: “I did a section in the paper called the DannyFunny for around 10 years. After that I went on to become the political cartoonist for the Mirror. It all seems a long time ago now.

“I was compiling painting together for an exhibition on Brexit. I have done paintings of David Cameron and Theresa May and Boris Johnson as he has taken over.

“I did a painting of Nicola Sturgeon in the style of Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix, but she wasn’t bare breasted.”

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, Danny wanted to show his support for the hardworking NHS workers who have been put their lives on the line to help others.

Danny has done a number of paintings in support of NHS workers, a couple done in the style of comic book superheroes as well as his variation of Michelangelo’s The Creation Of Adam.

He is selling prints of the drawing on his website and has teamed up with his brother to put the designs on T Shirts, with proceeds going to NHS Charities.

Danny has been in contact with Royal Bournemouth Hospital to see if they would accept the Michelangelo style painting.

“From the moment you are born up until the moment you die, everyone is touched by the NHS,” said Danny.

He added: “They are always touching base so that is when I came up with the idea of doing a Michelangelo inspired painting with Adam as a hospital patient and God as an NHS worker.

“I did it as a way for me to say thank you for their work and how they have supported people close to me and across the country.”

To find out more about Danny and his painting, go to dannybyrneonline.co.uk. To purchase a t-shirt and donate to the NHS, visit its-a-pig.myshopify.com/.