Bumper cartoon selection!

Here's a bumper selection of cartoons published in magazines such as Private Eye, The Spectator and Prospect over recent months. In other words, it's the obligatory "I haven't updated this blog for ages" post!

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Prospect cartoon: The blind date

"Darren's mate is a real catch, he's a barrister."

Cartoon from the current issue of Prospect magazine. This came from an overheard conversation about someone who had somehow confused these two occupations. Cue furious scribbling in notebook. Watch what you say around cartoonists. 

Bearded hipsters are one of my favourite things to draw right now. Here's another in a coffeeshop cartoon from Private Eye a few months back.

"You say lar-tay, I say latt-ay, let's call the whole thing off."

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Bookshop cartoon: Celeb culture

I can't recall what the autobiography was that I was looking for in a bookshop, but it inspired this cartoon as I remember being frustrated that all I could find was piles of books by Alan Carr, Michael McIntyre, somebody from Bake Off etc. Another inspiration was noticing that a library's Biography section had, bizarrely, been renamed People's Lives.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally against celeb biographies and, in fact, I'd heartily recommend Danny Baker's Going to Sea in a Sieve, which is a joy to read.

This cartoon is in the current edition of Prospect magazine. 

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Magazine cartoon: Something to think about

"You do know you're supposed to say your Thought For the Day out loud?"

Cartoon from the current issue of Prospect magazine.

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Technology cartoon: No time for downtime

"It's nice to come here and get a break from the office."

This cartoon is in the April issue of Prospect magazine. Yes, it's yet another tech cartoon. Sounds like another chance to plug Cartoons on Demand!

Magazine cartoon: The old switcheroo

"My dream is to walk with humans."

A cartoon from the new issue of Prospect magazine that employs the comedic device known as the old switcheroo i.e. you turn a concept on its head to create a joke.

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Magazine cartoon: Not driving in my car

Here's a cartoon from the current issue of Prospect magazine. A thesaurus was a vital tool in the making of this cartoon.

Appropriately enough, it accompanies this article in the magazine (though not online).

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Another First World War cartoon

"Due to the inclement weather conditions, you are reminded to please take extra care ..."

Here's another cartoon about the First World War. It can be seen in the current issue of Prospect magazine. Unlike my recent war silhouette cartoon, this was not inspired by the centenary coverage of the war in the media, but by something far more mundane.

I was walking through a London Tube station after we had had what can only be described as a spot of light rain. The floor was slightly damp so they played the standard health and safety recorded message about "inclement weather conditions".

Like the middle-aged person I am, I thought, "And to think we won two world wars ..." From such nonsense are cartoon ideas spun ...

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Jesus cartoons for Easter

"Oh no, I lost two followers."

As it's Easter this weekend, here's a cartoon about Jesus, which can be seen in the current issue of Prospect. I used a similar colour palette to the cartoon below, which was in the same magazine in 2011.

"He only got this job because of who his dad is."

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Christmas cartoon: Panic buyer

"Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, except a mouse ..."

One for any late shoppers, from the current issue of Prospect magazine.

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Prospect magazine cartoon: Slow day

"You work from home? Me neither."

This is not, as you may suspect, autobiographical. I do strive to avoid daytime TV and sitting around in my underwear when working from home. However there are some days that are more productive than others and this came out of an unproductive one. But it turned out OK as it led to this cartoon, which can be seen in the new issue of Prospect.

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Cinema cartoon coming at ya

"Wow! The devastating satire on the failure of the American dream just LEAPS out of the screen at you!"

I haven't seen the new Gatsby, but I'm baffled by the idea of it being in 3D and I'm wondering if they have put in some kind of aerial chase scene. Every film I see with my kids has a scene, or several, involving falling from planes or climbing cliffs, cranes etc. It's getting old.

This can be seen in glorious 2D in the new issue of Prospect magazine.

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Cartoons are a timeless solution

"I'm worried we might have exceeded our annual leave entitlement."

Here's another cartoon submitted for exhibition at this year's Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, where the theme this year is "Time".

The cartoon was originally published in Prospect magazine in 2010 and I remember thinking at the time that it was a good example of how cartoons can be used as a spot of light relief amid a lot of text. Click here for details on commissioning cartoons.

This gag also features in my book of cartoons Penguin vs Polar Bear, which you you can buy at my shop page here.

Music cartoon: Memory man

"You know what they say: if you can remember the Sixties then talk about them endlessly on BBC Four documentaries."

Actually, I really like BBC Four's music documentaries, but we have probably done the Sixties now, so it's good that they're also doing some great ones about bands of the Seventies and Eighties. I particularly enjoyed the recent ones on Squeeze, the Undertones, and, yes, Chas 'n' Dave. This cartoon is in the February issue of Prospect.

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Cartoon tribute to H.M. Bateman

The man who bought a sofa that was not in a sale

I can heartily recommend the exhibition H.M. Bateman: The Man Who Went Mad on Paper which is currently at the Cartoon Museum in London. For sheer draughtsmanship it's one of the best shows I've seen there.

Bateman was famous for his "The man who ..." cartoons, depicting social gaffes of the day. The cartoon above, which appeared in Prospect last year, is an attempt to use the Bateman template in a modern scenario. Quite a few contemporary cartoonists have done this.

It was fun to draw, mixing my own style with elements of Bateman's. I used The girl who ordered a glass of milk at the Café Royal, below, as inspiration.

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Prospect cartoon: Post haste

"I refuse to be pigeonholed."

The February issue of Prospect magazine features an article about the Post Secret project, which this cartoon sits alongside. As usual, this was just coincidence and I had no idea they were planning that when I sent it in. This kind of thing has happened before and I wish it happened more often.

Here's a blog post I wrote a while back on the talking-object cartoon. I don't do that many, I think some mags are probably not keen on them, but they are fun to draw.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 18. Food for thought

"Apparently, it's organic"

Day 18 of the cartoon advent calendar and this is the fourth snowman joke, and there may well be more to come. This was in Prospect magazine at Christmas two years ago.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 15. Exchanging gifts

"I feel awful -- we only got them socks."

Back to the present for today's advent cartoon. This is in the new edition of Prospect.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 5. Wise move

Day five, and here's the first religious cartoon. This is from Christmas 2007 and was in Prospect magazine. There was a lot of stuff in the media at the time about MPs and donations, members' interests etc.

Christmas shopping? Why not get them a book they'll actually read this year!

Religion cartoon: Keeping it in the family

"He only got this job because of who his dad is."

After two posts about my social life (it's so rare that I have one!) it's time I posted a cartoon on this cartoon blog, so here's one from the November edition of Prospect.

Watching BBC Four's Holy Flying Circus the other day reminded me how much Monty Python's Life of Brian opened the door to allow us all to be a bit non-reverential about religion. A cartoon like this may have ruffled a few feathers once, but it's hard to imagine anyone getting too worked up about it now. Actually, as a former Catholic (and altar boy!) I should probably think that's a bit of a shame.

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