The Spectator meets The Walking Dead

"Zombies! The worst kind ..."

Here's a cartoon about zombies that appears in the current issue of The Spectator. It's not a show that usually inspires cartoon ideas, but I came up with this after watching an episode of The Walking Dead.

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Drawing for RD at the V&A

Much fun was had last Sunday at the Battle of the Cartoonists, part of the launch of this year's Big Draw, at the V&A in London. That's me, centre, above, with Steve Way, left, and Rob Murray, working on the Reader's Digest banner. Also on our team were Simon Meyrick-Jones and Nathan Ariss.

We were assigned the Raphael cartoon The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, so we drew a bunch of characters around an approximation of it – thanks, Steve! – some reacting to it, some not so much.

As usual, the drawing surface was horrible and the pens were smudgy, but the results have a certain scruffy appeal. Here's a few of the bits I drew.

Yes, I drew a Dalek, purely to appeal to the kids! It seemed to do the trick. And I make no apologies for the Salvador Dalek groaner.

See lots more post-Big Draw stuff at the Procartoonists.org blog here, here, and here.

Afterwards we ate, drank and got a little too merry, as is required at these things. Oh, and we didn't win. Private Eye won. Private Eye always win.

(Thanks to Ger Whyman and Nikki Harries for the photo).

Going into Battle once more

This Sunday I'll be taking part in the Battle of the Cartoonists at the launch of The Big Draw at the V&A in London at 2pm.

I took part, on the Procartoonists.org team, in 2008, at St Pancras International, and in 2010, above, at the Hays Galleria. I had planned to sit this one out but at the last minute another team was needed so Reader's Digest was asked to form one and I was asked if I wanted to take part.

The full list of teams is: Private Eye, Reader's Digest, The Sun, The Telegraph, The Guardian/Observer, Big Girls Drawers and Procartoonists.org. The seven teams will be tasked with coming up a comic response to seven cartoons (the non-funny kind) by Raphael. And we don't know which one we'll get until minutes before we start!

See the full list of cartoonists taking part here. To see more about the launch, which this year is called Big Draw, Big Make and runs from 11am-5pm, go here and download the programme. Come along and, er, nod approvingly ... apparently there's no clapping or cheering allowed in the Raphael Room!

Photo courtesy of Denis Dowland

Good time to support the Cartoon Museum

"Ohmigod, what big ears she has! Ohmigod, what a big nose she has! ..."

Here's another cartoon from the Animal Crackers exhibition at the Cartoon Museum in London. This is an old Private Eye one. The exhibition has almost a month to run (it finishes October 21) so get along to see it if you can.

The museum took a bit of a beating when it comes to visitor numbers during the Olympics, and has started opening seven days a week to make up the shortfall, so now is the ideal time to support it.

 
I took my kids along to see Animal Crackers recently and they had a great time. There's a "cartoon trail" for them to take part in and plenty of opportunity to create your own cartoons, above. The next exhibition, from October 24, celebrates 75 years of The Dandy, so I'm sure we'll all get along to that one too.

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Doctor Who cartoon regenerated

I drew a "regenerated" version of my cartoon for the Doctor Who fansite Adventures with the Wife in Space, as Neil and Sue Perryman, who have been watching an episode of the 49-year-old series every day from the very beginning, are now on to the Peter Davison years. And the fifth Doctor was famous for a love of cricket and, er, celery.

The original version, in which Neil wears a Tom Baker scarf, was drawn last year for when the project got its own site (it had previously been part of another site).

As you can see, Neil also inflicts some of the dodgy spin-offs on his long-suffering missus. He asked if I was OK with him "customising" the cartoon for different episodes, with different screenshots and captions. I would normally be wary of allowing people to alter my drawings in this way, but it works for this site.

If you haven't yet seen the site, check it out at wifeinspace.com. It's very funny. And you can see lots more of my Doctor Who-based cartoons here.

Social media cartoon: Bird of freedom

This cartoon, about the role social media has played in uprisings and revolutions around the world, can be seen at the website of the Doha Centre for Media Freedom. Cartoons can also play a role in taking leaders to task. And sometimes they don't like it, as the current case of Aseem Trivedi shows.

History cartoons: Getting medieval

I seem to do a lot of history-based cartoons, often set in the Middle Ages/medieval period. I use these terms very loosely, please don't post, er, pedantic comments pointing out incorrect dress etc.

Sometimes this involves riffing on a specific theme, such as public executions ...
 

And, for some unknown reason, battering rams!

I think I first realised that this is a rich source of jokes when I provided cartoons for the BBC's short-lived Robin Hood Adventures magazine some years ago. There's more historical hilarity here, and here and here. 

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Topical cartoon: Closure of The Dandy

Topical gags can sometimes fall victim to the twin perils of print deadlines and other cartoonists coming up with the same idea.

This one, about the closure of The Dandy comic after 75 years, was accepted by Private Eye last Thursday but they phoned today to say that regrettably they won't be using it in the new issue, which is out tomorrow, as two similar cartoons have since appeared in national newspapers.

Such situations do crop up from time to time and a daily publication is always going to have the advantage. All is not lost, however, as the Eye still pays a (smaller) fee in such circumstances and I can still give it an outing here on my blog.

I was a little unsure about doing a cartoon on this subject, as my son is a Dandy fan and I know people who work for it, but I aimed for poignancy rather than a cheap shot.

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Olympics cartoon: Step away from the TV

It's all over. And yes, like most cynics, I watched it and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. But now it's time to switch the telly off and get some fresh air.

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Reader's Digest cartoon: Train of thought

"Please keep all your belongings with you at all times."

From the August issue of Reader's Digest. I probably had an expression on my face much like the woman's here as I stared out of the train window and came up with this idea. This was also used as one of the Beat the Cartoonist drawings at this year's Shrewsbury festival.

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Private Eye cartoon: TV times

From the current Private Eye. I'm not much of a box-set junkie, though I could easily become one, given more time and money. This might be a good time to start, as there is little on the telly other than Olympics right now.

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The cartoon that keeps on giving

I've got three cartoons in the exhibition Animal Crackers, which opens at the Cartoon Museum in London today. Go see it if you're in the city this summer, it's funnier than the Olympic Games.

I was chuffed that my penguin and polar bear cartoon was used on the invitation to the private view, above, which I attended last night. For a cartoon that I had zero expectation for when I drew it in 2006, it seems to have taken on a life of its own.

It was originally in Reader's Digest, then it went on an expedition to the Antarctic, and later was used on a fundraising T-shirt for a bipolar disorder charity. I've also used it myself as a business card, a Christmas card and it gave me the idea to do a Pengiun Books spoof for the cover of my book of cartoons.

And throughout its many incarnations, I continue to hear of some people saying they don't get it. Which is fine, you can't please all the people all the time. I myself don't know the answer to one question: which one is in the wrong cartoon?

Footnote: The Animal Crackers exhibition is divided into themed sections. This one is in the Polar Opposites section where I was pleased, and a little humbled, to see it alongside this masterful piece by Mike Williams.

Olympics cartoon: Flame on

"This is the 'Mother Flame' – three for a pound down the market."

This is a rejected Olympic Torch cartoon. Too cynical? Maybe, but cartoons don't really work when they celebrate something. Or they are not funny, at least. Cynicism is kind of the default position for cartoonists.

The Torch came down our way this week, just a couple of streets away, so I popped out to see it and posted a rubbish photo of it on Twitter.

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Private Eye cartoon: Tall order

"I can't see the point of it."

This cartoon appeared in Private Eye on Wednesday and the following day the point of this very large, empty skyscraper became clear: it's for the Duke of York to abseil down. Now that's a cartoon for another day.

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Weather cartoon: Line and washout

Traders in the seaside towns here in East Kent are being hit hard by this summer's terrible weather. Recently I was asked to do a cartoon to accompany a newspaper article on that subject, above.

Another rain cartoon of mine (I seem to do a lot this days!) was lifted by Time magazine for this blog post. This shows that it's not just small sites that use cartoons without asking. Obviously I'm glad that they have credited me and written about the cartoon, but I prefer it if people ask first before reusing cartoons, as clearly stated under Cartoons for You in the right-hand column, as there may in some cases be a fee involved.

Animal cartoon: Crazy times

"Your honour, this was simply a mutually agreed fish pedicure that went tragically wrong."

I drew this cartoon last year, when fish pedicures were all the rage, among people who go for that kind of thing anyway. Are they still popular? I've no idea. It's probably become a retro thing already. Anyway, this can be seen in the current Saga magazine.

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Law cartoon: Don't fence me in

This cartoon was commissioned to accompany a law magazine article about boundary disputes. Taking things to a ridiculous degree is always a good way to get a joke out of something.

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Cartoon on canvas

This week I painted a small canvas (20cm by 20cm) for a charity auction taking place later in the year.

It is in aid of the Willow Foundation, which works with seriously ill 16 to 40-year-olds. The charity arranges special days and experiences to allow for a break from the difficulties of diagnosis and treatment. A similar auction was held by the Willow Foundation a couple of years ago.

It was fun to break out the acrylic paints to add the colour, though as usual I miss the comfort of the Photoshop "undo" button! This is a simplified version, to allow for the square shape, of a cartoon that originally appeared in Reader's Digest.

Art cartoon: A matter of taste

I loved the recent Channel 4 TV series All in the Best Possible Taste, in which the artist Grayson Perry looked at questions of taste with regard to art, decor, fashion etc.

The by-product was that the programme was also a look at the British class system and one of the best, most non-judgemental takes on that subject that I've ever seen.

And as if that's not enough, there was some knockout artwork in it by the very amiable Perry. You can catch up via 4OD here.

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Animal cartoon: Do not adjust your monitor

"If you could have any super power, what would it be?"

An upside-down cartoon from the current issue of Saga.

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