Cartoon advent calendar: Day 11. Hello kitty

"Since that trip to the vet, these were the only baubles that Pickles would be playing with this year."

I know what you're thinking ... that's not a cartoon! But I did write the caption for this Christmas photo card.

A few years ago, I drew a Christmas cartoon for a card company that also sent me some photos to write captions for. They picked this one. It's a peurile joke, I know, but it all puts turkey on the table. I dedicate this to our cat, Mike, by way of apology. Normal service will resume tomorrow ...

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 10. Lighten up

"Very festive, but I can't seem to find the door."

Believe it or not, this one can currently be seen on a Christmas tree in a church!

St George's Church in Ramsgate asks local organisations to decorate trees every year, as a fundraising event, and Ramsgate Arts, for whom I did a talk, a couple of years ago, approached local artists to contribute images for theirs. This was also Prospect magazine's Christmas card in 2008.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 9. The early adopter

"I thought we's go for a digital tree this year."

Back up to date, todays advent cartoon is in this week's issue of the Spectator.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 8. Arty Christmas

"It's my homage to Picasso."

Here's an art cartoon for day eight of the advent calendar. Drawn for a local paper last Christmas. That's three snowmen cartoon so far, and there's more to come.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 7. The accused

"It is alleged that you did pose as a clergyman in order to carry out sham marriage ceremonies ..."

After the punnery of yesterday's advent cartoon, this one is possibly a little more sophisticated -- by which, I mean that some people didn't get it. Private Eye did though, and it was in the magazine last Christmas.

Royston's cartoon book: it's got no Christmas cartoons in it but the one on the cover does have some snow in it

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 6. Clause and effect

"The lawyer was suspicious of all the dodgy Clauses."

This was a cartoon for a law firm's Christmas card from 2006, though it was reused again this year by another law firm that had seen it on my portfolio site. Which was nice.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 5. Wise move

Day five, and here's the first religious cartoon. This is from Christmas 2007 and was in Prospect magazine. There was a lot of stuff in the media at the time about MPs and donations, members' interests etc.

Christmas shopping? Why not get them a book they'll actually read this year!

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 4. Giving and receiving

"I think someone's stealing our wi-fi."

I hope you're all enjoying the advent calendar cartoons, and I can only apologise for the fact that each image does not come with a piece of funny-tasting chocolate in the shape of a robin. Today's is an unsold one from a couple of years ago.

The perfect stocking-filler ...

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 3. Meet and Magritte

Today's advent cartoon is an oldie. This was in a Private Eye Christmas issue in 2008. Day three and I'm already revisiting past glories! Mind you, I don't think I've posted this here before, though there are other Magritte cartons.

Nothing says Christmas like a book of Royston cartoons

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 2. Taking stock at Christmas

"These gentlemen are here to discuss mistakes we may have made, where we are now, and what the future holds ..."

Here's today's advent cartoon. This was drawn for a trade publication, to be sent out as part of an e-card, and is one of my regular boardroom series of cartoons.

It's fun sometimes to drop new characters into the regular scenario, and often the jokes almost write themselves. For the current economic climate, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future seemed appropriate, particularly as Future, with his scythe, gives us an indication of what's to come: i.e. more cuts. Merry Christmas, indeed.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 1. Hacking Christmas

"Perhaps you could tell us how you know if we've been bad or good?"

I'm going to treat you lucky people to a Christmas cartoon for each day leading up to December 24 -- a kind of cartoon advent calendar. They will be new and old, published and unpublished, some from magazines and others commissioned.

To kick things off, this is in the Christmas issue of Reader's Digest. Any resemblance to living people is purely coincidental etc etc.

I think this is the only cartoon I've done where the speaker is not in the cartoon. I wasn't sure it would work, but I think we're so used to seeing this kind of televised public grilling now, such as the current Leveson Inquiry, that I get away with it.

Give the gift of a Royston cartoon book this Christmas!

Strike cartoon: The home front

The kids are off school today because of the public sector strike, which makes this cartoon, which I drew today for a local paper, somewhat autobiographical.

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My cartoon collection ... still out now!

I've just ordered a new batch of cartoon books, so it's probably a good time to remind you that one would make an ideal Christmas present ...

Penguin vs Polar Bear and Other Ridiculous Cartoons is 104 pages long and has lots of funny cartoons in it, taken from Private Eye, Reader’s Digest, The Spectator, Prospect, The Oldie, New Statesman and others.

Visit my shop to buy a signed copy for £5.99 plus £2 p+p. It's also available at the Cartoon Museum shop in London, and at their online store. Plus you can buy it at Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and Lulu.com. There's even a bargain-price digital download version available.

Not Yet Sold: Just say no, kids

Look, it made me laugh, OK?

It appears that I was probably alone though, hence it is currently dwelling in the file marked Rejected, er, I mean Not Yet Sold. You can see more here.

Let's pause for a cup of tea

Cuppa tea? Oil on tea towel, by Royston Robertson, circa 2008

Having a sort out, I came across some old paintings I did in an evening class a few years ago. Here's one: a still life of a tea cup. Painted on an old tea towel, I kid you not. This is from my Typhoo period. Sugar, anyone?

Cartoon for Doctor Who website

I had some fun doing this cartoon, which can be seen on the Doctor Who fansite Adventures with the Wife in Space. The site is run by Neil Perryman, an old friend from my university days, who commissioned me via Facebook, having seen me banging on (and on) about my cartoons there.

The idea behind the site is that every day he watches an episode of Doctor Who with his non-fan wife Sue, in order from the very beginning, and records her reactions, which are mostly sarcastic and very funny. They're on to Jon Pertwee now: check it out.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm not averse to drawing the odd Doctor Who-based cartoon.

Looks like I've got some competition ...

There was much excitement in our house when my son Fergus, 9, got a cartoon in The Dandy. It was in last week's issue. He came third, out of five, in a competition to design a character for the comic strip The Bogies.

His creation is Lord Booger (based on Lord Sugar -- geddit?) and a strip based on the character will appear in next week's issue. The family business beckons ...

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Cowboy cartoon: Talkin' long captions

Here's a cartoon that comprehensively breaks the unwritten rule that captions should be snappy and to the point.

"This town ain't big enough for the two of us, so I'm proposing 1,000 new homes with a commitment to affordable housing plus adjacent retail park and leisure destination."

I spent quite a bit of time trawling local council websites to get the deathlessly dull phrases that they use right. "Leisure destination" is a particularly annoying one. This can be seen in the November issue of Reader's Digest.

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Running cartoon: From Private Eye annual

"What are we running for? For me, it's Cancer Research this year."

The Private Eye Annual 2011 is in the shops, and I've got a couple of cartoons in it, including the one above.

This cartoon illustrates that submitting cartoons is often about timing. I drew it about a year ago but it seemed like the wrong time to be sending it out, as we headed into winter, and no-one would be thinking about "fun runs" any time soon. So I sent it in early 2011 and Private Eye took it, then used it in the week of the London Marathon in April.

Library picture

I was more than a little chuffed, when browsing in my local library here in Broadstairs, to come across a copy of my cartoon book. There it is, above, punching above its weight amid heftier tomes. I had heard that it was in there, I suppose it is a "supporting local artists" thing.

Initially I thought no-one had taken it out, but then I remembered that there's no way of knowing. The borrowing process is automated now, and you get a receipt with the return date from a machine, rather than a stamp in your book from a human being. I can't say I'm happy about that, it seems a bit impersonal, but it's better than libraries closing, which is happening all over the country. So, support your local library! (And borrow my book!)

Or, you could buy a copy. (Ideal Christmas present etc.) You can get it from Amazon and Lulu.com, but in the spirit of small enterprise I'd prefer it if you bought it directly from me, as I see more of the money that way: Visit my shop.