diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index af6527b..a924885 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ Imports:
     magrittr,
     plotly,
     stats,
-    utils
+    utils,
+    glue,
+    htmltools
 Suggests: 
     testthat
 Encoding: UTF-8
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 69040ae..43df64e 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ export(random_dygraph)
 export(random_ggplot)
 export(random_ggplotly)
 export(random_image)
+export(random_image_ext)
 export(random_lm)
 export(random_print)
 export(random_table)
diff --git a/R/random_image_ext.R b/R/random_image_ext.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f2b953
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/random_image_ext.R
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#' A Random External Image from the Lorem Picsum API
+#'
+#' This function returns an external random image from the Lorem Picsum API that can be used directly within the Shiny UI.
+#'
+#' @return an external image
+#'
+#' @export
+#'
+#' @examples
+#'
+#' random_image_ext(width = 400, height = 600, seed = "caramba")
+#'
+#'
+
+random_image_ext <- function(width = 400, height = 400, seed = NULL) {
+
+  if (is.null(seed)) {
+
+    htmltools::img(src = glue::glue("https://picsum.photos/{width}/{height}"))
+
+  } else {
+
+    htmltools::img(src = glue::glue("https://picsum.photos/seed/{seed}/{width}/{height}"))
+
+  }
+
+
+}
diff --git a/man/random_image_ext.Rd b/man/random_image_ext.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9930d5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/random_image_ext.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/random_image_ext.R
+\name{random_image_ext}
+\alias{random_image_ext}
+\title{A Random External Image from the Lorem Picsum API}
+\usage{
+random_image_ext(width = 400, height = 400, seed = NULL)
+}
+\value{
+an external image
+}
+\description{
+This function returns an external random image from the Lorem Picsum API that can be used directly within the Shiny UI.
+}
+\examples{
+
+random_image_ext(width = 400, height = 600, seed = "caramba")
+
+
+}