nothing to do with me, guv

Regular readers of this blog might have spotted a pattern- if I haven't much in print to show off about I put up one of my rejects- a cartoon I like but which never found a buyer- just to keep the blog going really, and prove I'm still here (hello!).
If I was one of those proper bloggers I'd write about other things cartoon related and not just my own stuff...

Here's a cartoon I couldn't sell.

but what would I know

Us gag cartoonists often moan about the mystery behind the decision making minds of the magazine cartoon editors- why can't they recognise the genius behind this joke!?
Well- I sometimes think this anyway- I probably shouldn't speak for all the other cartooners.
But then, I can be a terrible editor too. Often I only throw in a cartoon to make up the numbers in a batch of gags- just to make it look less threadbare. And then I find that space filler is accepted, while all the brilliant award winning stuff (in my opinion) goes in the bin.
This is what happened with this one, which found its way into the latest Private Eye- it was a last minute scribble at about midnight. Hmmm...maybe I should do more nocturnal doodlings.

Starring Corey something or other

Radical new type of cartoon for me- first double panel one- it’s in the current Spectator. Was inspired at Xmas, when telly seems to have loads of films on that won’t frighten granny, or upset the hamster. They’re either about talking alien cats from planet Disney, or 1980’s time traveling teenagers- all aimed at nostalgic parents, and of absolutely no interest to little Josh or Charlotte.

"It says it's a film the whole family can enjoy."

Customer is obviously over 25 (the old git)

Bah! The 5 year old computer I use to draw my cartoons with has gone wobbly. This has coincided with another fallow period of ideas, so in a way it's no great drama that I have to wait for a part to be delivered via the 2nd longest river in the world.
Thankfully, these days I don't rely on the income from cartoons to pay for my pot noodle habit, so I won't starve. But, there was a time when I gave being a full time cartoonist a go- If I’d lost the computer then I would have been a bit more panicky than I am now.
Another downside of home based self employment was the solitude- at that time my only social contact was at the local supermarket for my daily shop- my cartoon output at that time seemed to contain a lot of shop based ideas.
This never found a buyer:

3 legged cat might bite

Last month was quite good for me - I had quite a lot of stuff in print.
The next few weeks won't be so good, mostly due to procrastination, laziness and no ideas- but I was cheered to see The Week magazine ('the best of British and foreign media') had chosen one of my gags from Private Eye for this week's er...The Week. They'd squished it into a 4cm wide column, so here it is in all its widescreen High Definition glory.

ergonomic lighting pod

How does the creative process work? I'm not really sure. For me sometimes the cartoon muse drops an idea on my head at random times- with no obvious reason how or why. But there are times when I set aside a couple of hours after work, with no radio or TV distractions, and attempt to have a thinking session. It's not easy whatever way I try. What seems like genius at 11.30 pm is revealed in the cold light of the next day as 3rd rate tat.
I could never do this to order, like some people do in 'creative departments'- Those that can, and make a regular living from it, I envy. So, my way of getting over that, as I seethe in bitter resentment, changing photocopier toner cartridges, is to poke fun at them instead.
This is in The Spectator-

PING!

Technology- pah!
OK, so it enables me to draw cartoons a bit better than with pen n ink, but it is also the source of much headache and irritation in the day job. I am so not looking forward to tomorrow. I shall say no more about that, other than, AGGHHHH!!!!!
OK- that's out of the way...and breathe...
2 cartoons in the new Private Eye- woo! One was drawn last year in April, so that was a nice surprise to see it hadn't been lost- t'other is this one, drawn just last week.

Yeah- take that, processed food industry, and lazy parenting!