Reader's Digest cartoon: Game on

A captionless cartoon from the May issue of Reader's Digest.

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Shrewsbury 2013: Doze were the days

Here is my Big Board cartoon from 10th Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, which took place at the weekend. You can see, right, that I used a homemade template, Banksy-style, to get the "Buffering" icon right. I wasn't going to risk mucking that up.

This year I went for a very loose look and had it finished in about three and a half hours. A crucial decision was to apply the acrylic paints straight after the pencilling, then ink the lines. It saves having to re-ink when you paint over lines.

What I love about the festival is getting feedback from the public, not something cartoonists usually experience. It was good to hear the recognition as I drew. Many women and children claimed that this was familiar behaviour from their husbands/fathers.

But you can't please all of the people: a different version of the "Buffering" cartoon appeared in the main festival exhibition and when I arrived at the private view somebody was trying to explain it to the Mayor.

"Do you ever get a hollow feeling when you've looked forward to something for ages and then it finally happens?"

This Daleks cartoon also featured in the exhibition and was a seller. I seem to have drawn quite a lot of Daleks at Shrewsbury over the years (always a hit with the kids) and this one seemed appropriate with the festival theme of "Time" and the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. It was also included in a feature by the BBC on ten years of the festival. The exhibition runs until May 6 then it goes on tour (details here).

Some more links: see a great short video on the festival here and a slideshow of all the boards here.

As ever, as well as the live drawing and attending of exhibitions, there was much drinking, singing and carousing. But the least said about that the better. Feel free to add a caption to this picture.

Photo: Clive Goddard. I think. Frankly, there are so many pics of half-cut cartoonists flying around online right now, it's hard to keep track.

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival: That time again

I'll be attending the annual Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival this weekend. Here's a cartoon I submitted for the main exhibition. The theme, as it is the 10th festival, is "Time".

The main days this year are Saturday and Sunday (as opposed to Friday and Saturday in the past). On those days I'll be drawing a Big Board cartoon in the market square, also I'll be contributing to the Humurals instant exhibition and drawing so-called "reverse caricatures" (someone sticks their head through a seaside-style board and you give them the body of their choice). It's possible that I might also be in the pub for some of the time.

As it's the 10th festival, I've been looking back at my blog posts about previous years. I first attended the third festival, in 2006, and have been every year since.

Click the links: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.

Topical cartoon: Death of Margaret Thatcher

"It's not a protest, it's a summary of the day's newspapers."

This one didn't make the cut, I imagine quite a few cartoonists were chasing this particular subject. So I've put it here as it's about the seemingly endless coverage of Margaret Thatcher's death in the media and will only be relevant for a few more days – hopefully!

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Technology cartoon: Lightbulb idea

"This never used to happen in the old days."

Anyone who looks in regularly here will have noticed I've been on a bit of a blogging break. In the manner of these things that's probably known as a blogiday or something equally annoying. Anyway, here's a cartoon from last month's Saga magazine.

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Magazine cartoon: Things to do

"Busy weekend ahead?"

I drew this cartoon for the listings section of Isle, a local magazine. The idea is to show the wealth of outdoor activities available, or at least will be if the winter ever ends.

The background is based on the seafront here in Broadstairs, which some say is the best place to live by the sea in Britain.

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New cartoon book in aid of Comic Relief

I've got two cartoons in The Little Red Nose-E-Book of Cartoons, which is published by the Cartoonists' Club and is available now.

In total there are 101 cartoons by dozens of cartoonists and it costs just £1.59. How could you resist?

Buy the book here.

Every penny raised will go to help the Comic Relief projects transforming the lives of countless people, in the UK and across Africa. Please tell others about the book too.

Cartoons are a timeless solution

"I'm worried we might have exceeded our annual leave entitlement."

Here's another cartoon submitted for exhibition at this year's Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, where the theme this year is "Time".

The cartoon was originally published in Prospect magazine in 2010 and I remember thinking at the time that it was a good example of how cartoons can be used as a spot of light relief amid a lot of text. Click here for details on commissioning cartoons.

This gag also features in my book of cartoons Penguin vs Polar Bear, which you you can buy at my shop page here.

Cartoon illustration: Estuary airport

I was commissioned to draw a humorous illustration for a newpaper supplement on the proposed Estuary airport in Kent. The idea was to reflect the different arguments and points of view that residents are having to deal with.

Represented are: Boris Johnson, Mayor of London as the pro lobby (the plan has been dubbed Boris Island); the anti-airport Medway council leader; environmentalists' concerns about the threat to rare wildlife; and the slightly worrying close proximity of an old gas plant and a sunken ship full of explosives!

Whatever happens, we can only hope that the wishes of residents are not treated with contempt, as is so often the case. See You've Been Trumped, a highly recommended documentary, which I saw last week. Seek it out, but be warned: it will make you angry.

Private Eye cartoon: Eyes down

Gadget obsession is always a good source of jokes. See more technology-based cartoons here and here.

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Topical cartoon: Horsing around

The horsemeat scandal doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. I drew this last week to accompany a newspaper story about testing for horsemeat in Kent schools. 

This is one of those subjects that seems to have caught people's imaginations as far as jokes are concerned, and there has been a plethora of horsemeat gags on Twitter. I wrote a piece on the rise of Twitter jokes, and how it means cartoonists are having to up their game, for the Procartoonists blog. You can read it here.

Private Eye cartoon: Anger management 2

"We've got TV on demand."

This TV cartoon can be seen on the TV review page of the current Private Eye, logically enough. Oddly, it's another one about anger.

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Film cartoon: Down in front!

Don't you just hate it when this happens? From the current issue of The Spectator.

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Music cartoon: Memory man

"You know what they say: if you can remember the Sixties then talk about them endlessly on BBC Four documentaries."

Actually, I really like BBC Four's music documentaries, but we have probably done the Sixties now, so it's good that they're also doing some great ones about bands of the Seventies and Eighties. I particularly enjoyed the recent ones on Squeeze, the Undertones, and, yes, Chas 'n' Dave. This cartoon is in the February issue of Prospect.

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The art of the snowman

"That Gormley kid is such a show-off"

Here's a snow cartoon. Because it's been snowing. Do you see? I don't just throw this stuff together, you know. This is from Saga magazine.

I'm no Antony Gormley when it comes to snowmen. I built one at the weekend with my kids, and this is how he looked this morning. Remarkably relaxed for someone whose face has fallen off and is about to collapse (he did, a couple of hours later).

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Cartoon illustration: An Orwellian future

Today is the first George Orwell Day. Here's an illustration I drew for a law magazine just before Christmas.

It accompanied an article satirising the future of the legal profession, which suggested parallels with Nineteen Eighty-Four. "Big Board" and "Oceania Legal Services" are references to the Legal Services Board, which regulates lawyers in England and Wales.

Private Eye cartoon: Anger management

"Do you think, perhaps, you are really angry at yourself?"

My son was chuffed that I managed to get a cartoon about Angry Birds into a magazine but now he wants me to do one about Minecraft. I'm not sure it has the same crossover potential with a grown-up readership.

Here's another cartoon character on the couch.

One for the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival

"So ... where do you see yourself in four million years?"

This is a colour print submitted for exhibition at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, which takes place in April. I'll be attending and will be drawing and painting one of the Big Boards (6ft by 8ft) in the market square. The theme this year is "Time". Click here to see previous posts about Shrewsbury.

Topical cartoons: A look back at 2012

I don't know about you, but I'm a little "review of the year" fatigued, so I'll spare you a look back at my cartooning highlights of 2012 and offer instead some topical gags from the past 12 months.

We had the usual winter weather ...

Followed, of course, by a hosepipe ban ...

Britain celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee ...

... amid more extreme weather events in the summer ...
 

But the Olympics was the story of the year ...

There was a new addition to the London skyline ...

 

A government minister prompted a fuel panic ...

There were teething problems with technology ...

A new Archbishop of Canterbury was chosen, via a long and drawn-out process ...

We said farewell to The Dandy comic in printed form after 75 years ...

 

And, as ever, there was some very strange stuff that came out of nowhere ...

Have a happy 2013, everyone!

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 24. Built to last

"Have you given any thought to legacy and sustainability?"

This is a full-colour version of a cartoon that was used as one of the 12 Private Eye Christmas cards this year.

They decided to go with my original version, which had a small amount of spot colour, applied with brush pens, and I must admit it fits more with the Eye's famed "low-fi" look. So I used this one as my Christmas e-card instead.

And on that note, have a very merry Christmas folks!