Live drawing: Love Them or Loathe Them

I did a live-drawing project last weekend as part of the Summer Squall arts festival in Ramsgate. It was called Love Them or Loathe Them and I drew a series of 3ft by 3ft cartoons of well-known divisive figures, such as the artist Tracey Emin, below, a local Margate girl ...

These were then pasted up on to the "Great Wall of Ramsgate", a hoarding around an empty building site which is itself the focus of local hate as it used to be the Pleasurama leisure park, was then supposed to become flats and is now a derelict eyesore.

The passing public were asked to give their views on the individuals depicted. We had ink pads saying “Love” or “Loathe” but they didn’t work very well, so instead people were invited to add comments with marker pens. And they didn’t hold back ...

Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence party was particularly divisive. He has since been confirmed as the Ukip candidate for the area at the general election next year, so this proved to be a poll of local opinion. I counted 15 against, 7 for and 3 undecided ...

Here are the rest of the drawings. The Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans ...

Once I'd added the blood to the teeth of the footballer Luis Suarez, below, I realised I probably shouldn't have bothered with the "Barcelona" on his shirt. But as the public had to match the cartoons with the names on the poster (top) I wanted to leave no room for doubt ...

Pop star Lady Gaga ...

Boris Johnson. Another one seeking election next year ...

TV "controversialist" Jeremy Clarkson ...

Former MP/writer/TV personality Ann Widdecombe. One of the last ones I drew, hence no comments yet ...

The comedian and wannabe revolutionary Russell Brand ...

X-factor judge and record company boss Simon Cowell. I might have pushed this one a bit far, he looks a bit like Kim Jong-un. The Kids got this one no problem, though ...

Toothsome journalist and TV personality Janet Street-Porter ...

The last one I drew was Alan Sugar and I freely admit that the likeness is not really there. Looks a bit too thuggish. However, I had a get-out clause with the speech bubbles ...

It was a really fun job and the public reaction was great. Many thanks to Jeni Butler for sorting out the logistics of the job beforehand and Sue Martin for her help on the day by, particularly by helping me with the wallpapering!

UPDATE: I neglected to take pic of all of the cartoons but thankfully @standuptoUKIP were on the case (posted on Twitter by @StopFarage). Looks like more comments have been added, and someone has tried to remove Suarez! Click image to enlarge.

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Local boy done good

I was pleasantly surprised to see my board on the Great Wall of Ramsgate singled out for a piece in the Thanet Extra, one of the local papers. Click to enlarge (if you squint really hard you can even make out my website address ...)

There's more on my involvement in the Great Wall project here and here.

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Great Wall, lovely weather

As expected, Saturday was something of a scorcher down at the seaside. I had a small table selling my wares at the grand opening of the Great Wall of Ramsgate, and a fun day it was too.

There were other people selling watercolours, oil paintings, crafts etc, but it was not really an art-buying crowd. Those attending were, perfectly understandably, more interested in acquiring ice-creams and cold drinks. But I sold a few cartoon books and made a profit so I was happy at the end of the day. The GWoR organisers only charged us £5 for a spot, so it seemed rude not to turn up and support the event!

My spot was opposite my wall cartoon, as you can see from this photo comparing it with the book version, as suggested by my son, who also took the pic above.

As is usual with such events, I got a kick out of seeing the public reaction to my cartoons, in the book, the prints and originals on the stall, and of course, the 4ft by 8ft one on the wall. If laughs could be converted to cash, cartoonists would be rich!

Here's a virtual walk of the Great Wall put together by the GWofR organisers. Well worth a look, see if you can spot mine!



And here's a guy I sketched who was staring out to sea deep in thought, perhaps unable to comprehend the incredible weather ...

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Selling books and art in sunny Ramsgate

This weekend, on Easter Saturday, you will find me once again standing in front of my Great Wall of Ramsgate cartoon, but this time without the scarf and duffel coat (hopefully!) and with a small table piled with my cartoon books, signed prints and original artwork.

It's the official "unveiling" of this community art project at the Main Sands. There will be dance and music (not from me) and local artists selling their wares, from 1pm onwards. The official unveiling, by artist Charles Newington, of Folkestone White Horse fame, is at 2.30pm There are now 80 paintings in place on the wall, and more to come.

Come along get a copy of my book of gag cartoons Penguin vs Polar Bear which I can sign and personalise if you like. Let's hope the weather stays like it is right now ...

Great Wall of Ramsgate cartoon close-up

I put this montage together to accompany an article in The Jester, the Cartoonists' Club newsletter, about my Great Wall of Ramsgate cartoon.

As I mentioned in my first blog post on this, the cartoon was based on one published in Reader's Digest a few years back. But that featured just one character. When it came to recreating the cartoon on a 8ft by 4ft board he looked very lonely, so I decided I needed to come up with a few extras.

Royston's portfolio website

Cartoon for the Great Wall of Ramsgate

Here's a very big cartoon ...

Cartoon: 8ft by 4ft. Cartoonist: 5ft 8ins (and a half)

This went up on a public art project called the Great Wall of Ramsgate today. I was approached to do this last year. What impressed me about the original flyer looking for contributors is the fact that it included a call for cartoonists, see below, which is rare with this kind of thing.

I don't live in Ramsgate, I live just up the road in Broadstairs, but I'm a regular visitor and was happy to help out. The idea is that the artworks create a mural that will brighten up a rather unsightly 1,000ft-long wall that has been built around the old Pleasurama site on the seafront and is going to be in place for several years. It's looking good so far ...

Rather nice photo, taken from this flickr page

I'm not sure mine fits the brief of "Ramsgate past, present and future" or that it tells "Ramsgate's story". It is a new version of a Reader's Digest cartoon from 2006. But it's a Ramsgate-type scene, with sunburt folk on the beach and a guy with a metal detector. I hope the local council don't get too upset about all the litter under the sand ... or indeed the skeleton.

Here's one of those annoying animated GIF things that shows the process of drawing and painting the board:


Make gif animation

I have drawn cartoons on big boards at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, in 2007 and 2008, but this is the first time I've done a full colour one, and the first time I've done something that will be seen for more than two days. It was outside my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed doing it.

I found working with acrylic paints a great medium for cartoons, far less fussy than watercolours. You can go back and change things when you make mistakes, just like Photoshop!

Here are a few more selections from the wall: Phil Baker's view of the new Thanet wind farm, Ramsgate as seen by Mike Samson, and a painting of nearby Richborough Power Station by Peter Buckey.

And here's one from the people who were kind enough to supply the paints ...

Although the materials were provided, this was not a paying job, as there was no public funding. It's just about people trying to do something for their local environment.

So I now know just how big David Cameron's so-called "Big Society" is: it's 8ft by 4ft.

Royston's portfolio website