Book illustrations: Look Who's here

This book is finally released today, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who this month. I'm a fan of the show (though nowhere in the same league as Neil, the author of the book) so it's fun to be a very small and unofficial part of the celebrations.

This is the original drawing. Faber, the publishers, added the colour. And below is the illustration I drew for the back cover, a shelf full of mundane kitchen stuff alongside Doctor Who paraphernalia.

It's a bit small to see the detail here, but I had fun coming up with the titles of the books on the shelf, such as Cybermen Behaving Badly and The Doctor's Day Off. I'd like to read that last one, though there's no sigh of him taking a break any time soon.

For more on the original Wife in Space blog cartoons click here.

Happy Birthday, Doctor Who!

Textbook cartoon: Mr Logic

This is a textbook cartoon. By which, I don't mean it's a perfect example of a cartoon, I mean it was drawn recently for a school textbook. I quite liked the joke in this one, so I thought I'd share it.

As you can see, I have attemped to draw A Young Person. An absurdly large tie and ridiculously messy haircut just about does it. I'm down with the kids, me.

Royston's portfolio website

Book illustration: Keeping it fresh

This week I've been drawing some cartoon illustrations for the updated edition of a school careers textbook, replacing the drawings by the previous artist: me.

The book is about writing CVs and applying for jobs and college courses. The last lot were drawn in late 2006 and the book came out in 2007, so I was a bit unsure at first that I'd be able to come up with a whole bunch of different ideas on the same subject.

However, a lot has changed since 2006, and now there are chapters on using social-networking sites and so on. We didn't even know what a Twitter was in 2006!

Anyway, above is an illustration from the old edition. That's genuinely how people used to look for work back in the old days of the mid-to-late-noughties, kids.

Royston's portfolio website

Sex cartoon: What to do afterwards?

I was commissioned to do bunch of cartoons on the theme of relationships for a forthcoming book. Here's one of them. And, yes, it's yet another blogging cartoon. Surely the well will run dry on that theme soon?

As you can see, I've gone for that old comedy stand-by, the post-coital cigarette, to indicate that sexual congress has just taken place. But even as I was drawing the cartoon, I was thinking that it's probably a cartoon signifier that should be retired. It's difficult to know how else to suggest that they have just "done it", without the cartoon getting too graphic, but the post-sex fag does seem a bit dated. Maybe something else will take it's place. All suggestions welcome ...

Royston's website: clean family fun

Cartoon portfolio site updated

It's been more than a year since I've updated the content on my portfolio website (click screenshot above to enlarge), but I finally got around to it this week.

I have added lots of magazine cartoons from the last year, as well as examples of cartoons and illustrations for books, leaflets, websites etc. that I have done recently.

There's no major revamp but I have simplified the site a bit. Whereas before each gag cartoon had its own page, I figure that in this broadband age you can put several on one page.

Here's the site: www.roystonrobertson.co.uk.