Weather cartoon: Line and washout

Traders in the seaside towns here in East Kent are being hit hard by this summer's terrible weather. Recently I was asked to do a cartoon to accompany a newspaper article on that subject, above.

Another rain cartoon of mine (I seem to do a lot this days!) was lifted by Time magazine for this blog post. This shows that it's not just small sites that use cartoons without asking. Obviously I'm glad that they have credited me and written about the cartoon, but I prefer it if people ask first before reusing cartoons, as clearly stated under Cartoons for You in the right-hand column, as there may in some cases be a fee involved.

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.

Click here to buy Royston's cartoon book

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 ...

Click here to buy Royston's cartoon book

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

Drawing a line in the sand with the CCGB

"Life's a beach."

This is a cartoon drawn in the sand on the beach at Skegness, where the Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain held its 2010 Convention and AGM last weekend.

As mentioned here before, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little wary about this three-day event: the combination of Skegness, Butlins and October seemed like some kind of elaborate joke!

But as I have been complaining for some time that the club has had few family-friendly events for several years (brewery tours are fine but not ideal with an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old in tow) I decided to take the plunge. It proved to be the right move as I, my wife, and our two children had a great time.

Cartoon by Noel Ford, after the famous poster by John Hassall

I didn't win the Cartoons in the Sand competition – there were too many desert island gags, I think! – but I did win in the Great British Holiday cartoon competition. There were three winners picked by the judges plus one voted by the public – "The What Do the Judges Know? Prize", as it was described – and I won that one, for this cartoon.

"This is rubbish, can we please do Ibiza next year?"

The highlight of the weekend was the excellent Saturday night gala meal, which included the prize-giving, a humour-based quiz, hosted by me, which went down well, and the always enjoyable informal sing-song led by Tim "The Ukulele" Harries.

As a bonus to all this, the kids got to enjoy swimming, play parks, and all the usual Butlins stuff. A note to regular Butlins-goers though: "All you can eat" is just an offer, not a strict instruction.

So, many thanks to the Cartoonists' Club for organising such a fun event. Hi-de-Hi, campers!

Royston's portfolio website