Exhibition cartoon: Private Eye at the V&A

"Must dash ... I want to spend some time on my social-networking websites."

I went along to the opening of Private Eye: The First 50 Years at the V&A on Monday. As is often the case with these things, I spent so much time chatting to people (there were more cartoonists there than I've ever seen in one place before) that I didn't get to see much of the show. I'll have a proper look next time I'm in London.

I did spot the above cartoon though. It's from 2007, before Twitter even took off. The guy here is probably still using MySpace. It can be seen in a glass case, rather than on the wall! That's because it's part of a mock-up of a messy Private Eye production table, which features cartoons, pages, cuttings and associated paraphernalia.

For more on the exhibition generally, head over to the PCO's Bloghorn, where I've put together a longer piece about the opening.

"I don't believe it, man -- my mum has taped EastEnders over my martyrdom video."

Meanwhile, the Chris Beetles Gallery in St James's, London, has an online selling exhibition of Private Eye artwork to coincide with the V&A event. I've got three for sale, including the above.

Royston's portfolio website

Exhibition cartoon: Ideas man

"Sure, I came up with fire and the wheel – but you're only as good as your last idea."

This original drawing is in a selling exhibition of cartoons in my native North Yorkshire, although as I live 275 miles away I probably won't be going to see the show.

The exhibition, Three Centuries of Cartoon Art, is organised by the Chris Beetles Gallery of St James's, London, but will be held at Nunnington Hall, near York. A colour version of the cartoon was in Prospect magazine in 2008.

You can see the full exhibition online here.

A very cartoony weekend

The Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain is 50 years old on Thursday. We celebrated at the weekend with a party, lots of food and drink, and a very big cake.

It took place in the pub off London's Fleet Street where it all began (well, actually a pub which stands on the site of the pub where it all began, but that doesn't sound quite as good!) on April Fool’s Day, appropriately for cartoonists, 1960.

I made a cartoony weekend of it, meeting up with fellow cartoonists to attend the UK Web and Mini Comix Thing, above, where I spent much more money than planned, as well as the brilliant Ronald Searle at 90 exhibition at the Cartoon Museum.

On Friday I also checked out the smaller Searle show at the Chris Beetles Gallery and went to see Exit Through the Gift Shop, the excellent film by Banksy, the street artist and, some would say, a cartoonist writ large (see above example from the Banksy website).

All-in-all, a fun and inspiring weekend. And now, it's back to work ...

UPDATE: There's a fuller report on the Comix Thing over at
Tim Harries' blog

Royston's portfolio website

Review of the Year type thing

As every magazine and newspaper you open at the moment seems to have a review of the year, from every possible angle, I thought I’d do a cartooning review year, as seen through this blog.

So, here are my personal 2008 highlights. If you think that it reads more like one of those round robin letters you get with Christmas cards, feel free to crumple it up and throw it in the bin.

The Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival was definitely a major highlight of 2008. This year’s was the best one yet in terms of the quality of the exhibitions. Plus, as ever, it was a great social gathering. Here's my "big board":


I really enjoyed being part of the Professional Cartoonists Organisation team at the Big Draw. We didn’t win but we did produce a striking banner. I got a kick from having cartoons exhibited at the Chris Beetles Gallery for the first time. I sold most of them, too. Which was nice.

Talking of exhibitions, they've had some superb ones at the Cartoon Museum this year. The most recent I attended was the Giles show, complete with a reconstruction of his studio. Then there was the Beano and Dandy one, which I reviewed for the PCO blog. But I think my favourite was the show of cartoons by the Punch cartoonist Pont, back in May, which I also reviewed.

This year I drew a strip for indie heroes The Wedding Present … but the best part was being name-checked on their new album as a result! Rock 'n' roll. I was chuffed to get a desert island cartoon published for the first time and I also got a kick out of the fact that one of my cartoons went to the Antarctic. I got a lot of great feedback from one gag more than any other this year, though – the one below, which was in Private Eye.

It just proves that everyone loves a cat cartoon! There are several other highlights I could mention, mainly social gatherings with other cartoonists. I tend not to blog about these at length, as they’re private occasions, but they're always great fun. And it never ceases to amaze me that cartoonists, who are all very much in direct competition with each other, tend to get on so well!

One gathering that I will single out, though, took place just last week ... a team of us from the PCO took part in an audition for the TV quiz show Eggheads. We don’t know yet if we’re gong to get on the show, but even if we don’t we had such a laugh doing it that it was worth it just for the experience. And, of course, we all ended up down the pub afterwards. Wish us luck!

Royston's portfolio website

Cartoonists 2008: Partial exhibition online

Some of the work from Cartoonists 2008 is now up on the Chris Beetles Gallery website. Click the links below.

Cartoonists 2008: Partial exhibition
Direct link to my section

Cartoonists 2008: The private view

Last night I attended the private view of the Cartoonists 2008 show at the Chris Beetles Gallery. This was my first time showing work at a London gallery, so it was a pretty big deal for me.

There was a small section with my work in it and a few others scattered around the gallery. Ironically, the only one I didn't spot was the one I posted here on Monday. That doesn't mean it wasn't in there though because, believe me, there was a lot of cartoons by many cartoonists in the show, every square inch of wall space seemed to be covered, so I may have missed it.

To be honest, there were far too many cartoons to take in. As I've said on this blog before, cartoons are really meant to be seen in magazines and papers, and it's a bit weird seeing so many in one go. But it does give you a chance to see magnificent works by the likes of Mike Williams and Ed McLachlan in their full glory, rather than reduced to fill a two-column space. And of course, it gives people a chance to buy cartoons, which I'm certainly not knocking!

The place was packed, with lots of people clearly enjoying the cartoons. And it was a good chance to catch up with a few cartoonist pals and meet a few others for the first time. Add to this the free champagne, and the fact that I spotted a "sold" spot on one of my cartoons, and you have my idea of a good night.

******

Footnote: Probably the most surreal part of the night was seeing my biography on the wall. This is because it was written by me, just four days ago, and because they asked me to write something with humour in it, like the biography on my main website, rather than just listing where I've been published etc. So I emailed it to them, thinking, I'm sure this sillines can't be the kind of thing they're after really, and it was reproduced practically word for word. Here it is:

Royston Robertson

Born in Catterick, North Yorkshire, in 1968, Royston Robertson has been drawing cartoons for about as long as he can remember. At the age of seven, he wrote to the TV show Jim'll Fix It to ask if he could edit the Beano for a day. Jim never fixed it.

Between school and university, instead of going to work on a kibbutz, Royston ran the comic DoodleBug with a group of friends. Part fanzine, part Viz, it built up a strong following in the North East.

After university, Royston trained as a journalist, giving in to the “get a proper job” hype, and eventually worked for five years as a sub-editor at The Times. But all the time he kept drawing and selling gag cartoons and he gave up the day job in 2004.

He has been published in Private Eye, Reader's Digest, The Spectator, Prospect, New Statesman, The Oldie and many other publications throughout the world. He has also drawn cartoons for Oxford University Press, Children’s BBC and Scholastic Children’s Books.

Royston Robertson is now based in Broadstairs, Kent.

Jimmy Savile has still not replied to his letter.

Cartoons by Royston

Royston cartoons in Cartoonists 2008 exhibition

I have some original cartoons, including the one above, in an exhibition entitled Cartoonists 2008 which opens at the Chris Beetles Gallery in St James's, London, tomorrow (April 8) and runs until May 3.

It is the gallery’s second annual show devoted to the art of British cartooning, following on from the You Havin’ a Laugh? exhibition last year.

I'm in pretty humbling company, as the show features such big cartooning names as Ronald Searle, Matt, Banx, and Simon Bond, and magazine gag cartooning heroes such as Mike Williams and Ed McLachlan.

The gallery, at 8-10 Ryder Street, St James’s, London, is open from 10am-5.30pm, Monday to Saturday. Tel 020-7839 7551, email gallery@chrisbeetles.com or visit the website.

Cartoons by Royston