Graffiti cartoon: One from the files

"To deter vandals, I'm doing my own graffiti."

When you do on-spec cartooning you soon build up quite a bank of gag cartoons. This means that when someone wants a cartoon on a particular subject, you can pull one from the files.

So this cartoon, which was languishing in the rejected file, was taken by a client to illustrate an article about graffiti – which was nice, as I spent a fair bit of time on the graffiti when I drew it originally!

Originally the old guy was "Alf", rather than "Wilf", as that was my Grandad's name and it strikes me as the perfect name for an old-man character. But then I thought people might take the "ALF" as standing for the Animal Liberation Front, which could confuse matters.

Royston's portfolio website

Cartoon graffiti

"HELLO. who ARE you. whats your story?" asks this piece of graffiti, spotted by my three-year-old daughter during a train trip from Broadstairs to Whitstable yesterday.

Most graffiti consists of slogans, or names, declaring something. But this anonymous drawing turns it around and asks the viewer questions. Call me daft, but I found that, and the slightly forlorn looking cartoon character, oddly moving.

I don't know if I want to think about what implements people are carrying with them that allows them to scratch drawings into train windows though.

Royston's portfolio website