Fortune teller cartoon: Size matters

"You are going on a short journey ..."

This is the original version of a cartoon which appears in this week's Private Eye. The magazine was concerned that the shopping list on the man's hand might not be readable when printed, so I drew a "close-up", single-column version.

It's important to bear in mind print size, particularly when the drawing contains a key detail, as this one does. In most magazines these days cartoons are usually printed quite small. The new drawing works fine but I still prefer the original, and as it looks OK online I've used that one here. Plus, of course, on the internet there's always click to enlarge.

Royston's portfolio website

Restaurant cartoon: Watercolour challenge

"I'll have the soup of tomorrow, please."

I've been "kickin' it old school" today, breaking out the watercolours to produce some cartoons to submit for exhibition at next April's Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival.

Here's a sneak peek at one of them. The theme is Magic, Myth and Mystery so I did a new version of a cartoon published in The Spectator and The Week last year. The colours are actually brighter than they look here. I've not quite got the hang of scanning watercolours, probably because I don't do it very often. Any tips on how to make watercolours look good on screen welcome!

Royston's portfolio website

Restaurant cartoon: A second helping

Here's a cartoon that was in The Spectator last week and makes a re-appearance this week in the media digest magazine The Week.

I tend to find that, broadly speaking, my cartoons fall into two categories: there are the ones that are based on observations of life, they're usually topical (in the sense that they are about the times we live in, rather than about this week's news) and, at the risk of sounding a little pretentious, there's a kind of "truth" to them. Then there are the ones that are just a bit silly, a throwaway line, sometimes a pun, a play on words, or a visual pun. "Soup of tomorrow" falls into the latter category!

To elaborate further, here's an example of one from the "observation of life" category ...

And here's one from the "throwaway line" category ...


I suppose, on balance, I find it more rewarding when I come up with cartoons in the first category. But I try not to take myself too seriously (a good idea if you're a cartoonist!) so it's always fun to do the "boom-boom" gags too.

Cartoons by Royston