This is just a brief reminder – to myself, as much as anything. On Sunday, artists with more optimism than sense will be attempting to draw a comic every hour, describing their day. Last year, I only found out about it when I idly scrolled through Twitter at breakfast time. This year, I foundContinue reading “Heads up! Sunday is Hourly Comics Day”
Category Archives: Cartoons
What happens when your New Year’s resolution is “Draw More”?
My new year’s resolution for 2014 was a fairly complex one, but in essence it boiled down to two words: draw more. …and it has felt like I’ve drawn a lot this year. Not as much as someone who doesn’t have a day-job and a child, of course, but a steady stream of stuff nonetheless.Continue reading “What happens when your New Year’s resolution is “Draw More”?”
A short comic strip about working from home
[Click to see bigger] Spot the non-deliberate mistake!
Hashtag Underdog – a new comic strip by Myfanwy Tristram
Click – and then click again – to see bigger. This cartoon was inspired by a true story. Put it this way: we do have a very misshapen toy dog in the house.
Breaking news – Observer/Cape/Comica winner and runner up
The winner and runners up – yes, it turns out there were two runners up – can now be seen on the Guardian website: WINNER: The River by Alexis Deacon RUNNER UP: After Life by Beth Dawson RUNNER UP: Countess Markievicz by Fionnuala Doran Plus there’s an interview with all of them here. My thoughts,Continue reading “Breaking news – Observer/Cape/Comica winner and runner up”
Cartoon competitions update
As you may recall, I’ve entered three illustration/comics competitions in recent weeks: The Cape/Comica/Observer Graphic Short Story contest The Thought Bubble Comic Art competition The Association of Illustrators Prize for Illustration (I’ve also entered the competition to design a new pound coin, just for fun! And so did my daughter. But that’s another post forContinue reading “Cartoon competitions update”
Green Lady Hill, a one-page comic strip
As anyone who knows me will see immediately, this strip is inspired by real-life events. There is a hill at the end of my road, and I did go on an archaeological dig there last month. The Habitat mug anecdote is also a true story, though it happened to my father rather than to theContinue reading “Green Lady Hill, a one-page comic strip”
Giddy Heights, a graphic short story by Myfanwy Tristram
In my last post, I started compiling a list of places where you can see entries to the Comica/Cape/Observer graphic short stories competition. So it seems rather churlish not to share my own – here it is.
Observer/Comica/Cape Graphic Short Story contest – round-up 2014
Here are links to every entry I can find online. I’ll keep adding more as I find them, and please do feel free to let me know in the comments if you have one I can link to (or if I’ve linked to your WIP below and you have a more finished version). WINNER: TheContinue reading “Observer/Comica/Cape Graphic Short Story contest – round-up 2014”
The Hand of Nick Cave – a cartoon
I drew this cartoon last night, as a salve to the woes of trying to embark on a massive new project – I was feeling a bit hopeless and without direction, and I thought drawing something quick and silly would help. One colour, not too much attention to mistakes, and pretty shoddy scanning – andContinue reading “The Hand of Nick Cave – a cartoon”
Comics Unmasked, Posy Simmonds and Steve Bell
“Have you read Posy?” asked the elderly woman who slipped into the seat beside me. “How did you first hear of her?” I thought back: “Well, the Webers were part of my childhood – my parents took the Guardian”, I said – but I could have added how, later in life, once I’d discovered aContinue reading “Comics Unmasked, Posy Simmonds and Steve Bell”
Random House
I’ve got a Facebook friend who occasionally adds a hashtag to some status update when she’s pulled off a really great piece of karaoke: #sinofpride. That’s kind of how I feel now: forgive me Padre, for I cannot help the small blossoming of pride in my bosom when I see this cartoon script, printed outContinue reading “Random House”
The art of throwing your work into the void
The last time I shared a drawing with you was on the 30th of May. That is not because I haven’t been drawing. Quite the opposite, in fact. Since then, I have been dedicating all my free time to creating a four-page comic strip for the Cape/Comica/Observer competition. Every night, I put in between anContinue reading “The art of throwing your work into the void”
A few bits and bobs
I am back from Chile It was wonderful. I did expect to have a sketch diary to share with you by now, but work trips are very different from family holidays. For starters, you’re working rather than drawing – although, I was very pleased when work asked me to draw the conference that I went out for. TheContinue reading “A few bits and bobs”
The cream of Hourly Comic Day
In my last post, I shared the results of my Hourly Comic Day. I’ve been a mere husk of a person ever since, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. So, massive kudos to everyone who did it, and a regretful ‘nuh-uh’ to the nice friends who have suggested I should do something similar everyContinue reading “The cream of Hourly Comic Day”
All my #hourlycomicday posts in one place
February 1st is Hourly Comics Day, when (mad) people commit to drawing a cartoon every hour that they are awake. I saw this happen on Twitter last year, somewhat wistfully, because by the time I knew it was happening, my day was half over. This year I was no better prepared, but I did atContinue reading “All my #hourlycomicday posts in one place”
Doilies
This strip is based on a real conversation I heard while travelling on a Brighton bus. Click to see each section larger. [Disclaimer: the cartoon was inspired by an actual conversation, but I make no guarantee about the likenesses of the people depicted] I started a new piece for my collage project, and it wasn’tContinue reading “Doilies”
Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel competition
We’re lucky in Brighton: the city is home to Myriad Editions. Few British publishers really champion the graphic novel form as much as they do, nor take such delight in stretching the definition to embrace techniques such as embroidery and lino cut. I’ve just come back from a talk, chaired by its Creative Director CorinneContinue reading “Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel competition”
Cape/Comica/Observer graphic short story – update
Just a quick camera phone snap of some work in progress, so that this post has an image – it’s not actually relevant to the rest of the post : ) An update on my attempts to gather together entries for the Cape/Comica/Observer graphic short story contest. Apparently 180 people entered this year. I haveContinue reading “Cape/Comica/Observer graphic short story – update”
Jonathan Cape/Comica/Observer Graphic Short Story competition
The shortlisted entrants for the Jonathan Cape/Comica/Observer Graphic Short Story competiton (that is *such* a mouthful. I think they need to rebrand it as ‘Plonk’ or something) have been decided. For me, as someone with a history in cartooning, it looms large as ‘THE competition’. This year I was determined to enter, because, apart fromContinue reading “Jonathan Cape/Comica/Observer Graphic Short Story competition”