Weather cartoon: You give me fever

"You're going to beat the hayfever but it may affect your all-over tan."

Unlikely though it sounds, we're having a heatwave in the UK. Hope you're enjoying it.

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Topical cartoons for newspapers

Here are some recent topical "pocket" cartoons drawn for local newspapers here in Kent. They are about the hosepipe ban in the South East ...

... the announcement of the route of the Olympic torch ...

... and the Government's controversial "workfare" scheme. In this case the cartoon was for a column, and it illustrated both a piece about workfare and a rant about being put on hold! All part of the cartooning service ...

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Newspaper cartoon: Court out

This was drawn for an article about a court replacing stenographers with a system where proceedings are digitally recorded and transcribed on computer later.

I liked the "Facebeak" joke, but I was concerned that some might not be familiar with the slang term "the beak" for a magistrate or judge (as in "up before the beak"). But I took a "you can't please all of the people" approach, and went with it.

The rush towards doing everything digitally does seem crazy. Just because we have the technology, does everything have to be digital? This move, inevitably, involved laying people off, and the paper couldn't find one person who thought it was a good idea, or that it would be a better way of doing things. It's "progress" for the sake of it. Add your "Luddite" and "old fart" comments below.

Cartoon advent calendar: Day 22. Turkey talk

This pocket cartoon was drawn this week, to accompany a local paper story about a woman who keeps a turkey as a pet -- a spot of seasonal silliness!

The glassy eyes of the turkey, to indicate cuteness, were the result of looking at my son's drawings. He draws them like that a lot, a trick picked up from watching Spongebob Squarepants and Pokémon cartoons.

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Cartoon about woman who dialled 999 over snowman theft

You may have heard or read about the woman who called the emergency services over the theft of a snowman. It has provoked quite a few chuckles on Twitter and Facebook.

It happened here in Kent – in Chatham, innit? – so one of the newspapers for the area asked me to do a cartoon. As a subject for humour, it was a bit of a gift.

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Family cartoon: Back to school

"You don't have to look quite so happy every time you see that sign..."

As the summer holidays draw to a close, here's a "back to school" cartoon, drawn for a local newspaper. I'd be lying if I said this was in no way autobiographical. Sorry, kids!

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Snow cartoon: A load of rubbish

Why does everyone insist on saying "Blimey, a bit of snow and the whole country grinds to a halt!" as though that's a bad thing? We need more grinding to a halt. Surely it's time to petition the Government for an officially recognised National Grinding to a Halt Day?

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