Gull Power

There is nothing quite like analysing a problem and applying scientific thinking to its resolution.

Alternatively, you can dredge up a vague anecdote and see if that works.

The latter approach is being tried to prevent Ulverston Business Centre being mobbed by herring gulls. Business tenants are having problems being heard on the phone. All that squawking and squealing is being drowned out by the sound of the seagulls.

Fortunately, the manager of the Business Centre had read something about gulls being deterred by a Manchester United birthday cake. So paint the roof red. On the other hand, someone else had a friend whose uncle once worked in Qatar and swore blind that they painted roofs white to keep birds away.

A spokesperson for the RSPCA is on record as being a tad ‘sceptical’ but they decided to try both ideas anyway.

This was the subject of my cartoon for today’s soaraway Westmorland Gazette. Below you can see the ideas I pitched to my steamed editor.

Which did he choose?

For the answer, wing it to my website.

Feeling blue

This week at the cutting edge of the cartoon news front, a bewildering array of stories presented themselves.

Firstly, the Kendal Torchlight Procession, a much-loved tradition which has taken place for thousands of years, has been cancelled for 2012. No one know why. Even Woodward and Bernstein, the Gazette's farming correspondents, can't get to the bottom of it.

Secondly, there has been more rain. In fact, more rain than you can shake an umbrella at. So much that a local caravan park has offered a day's free holiday for anyone on holiday who suffers an above-average day of rain.

Finally, in the brave-new Camoron-ruled Britain, Cumbria Constabulary are forced to sell off one of their police stations. (It comes complete with matching pairs of handcuffs, for all you 50 Shades of Grey readers.) The local community were hoping to buy it for affordable housing. However the police decided to sell it at auction and got less than Ambleside community were offering.

Here are the sketches presented to my steamed editor. To find out which one graces the front page, you will have to visit my website.

Cartoons stripped bare

A vigorous afternoon at the editorial cartoon newsface this week. 

The main, front page story features a couple of deaths on the local mountains, so not exactly the material to tackle, even if I wanted to. Instead I delved inside the paper and found stories about a government curb on 2nd homes (a favourite topic of mine), traffic warden wars and plans to get locals involved in digging trenches for rural broadband.

I duly sent off four ideas, plus one token bad-taste cartoon I knew wouldn't get in.

Shock horror - all rejected. And at 4.40pm when the deadline is 5.00!

Fortunately another story surfaced just in time: The British Naturist Club is planning a mass skinny-dip in Coniston Water. 

Don't they realise how cold it will be? It could seriously reduce the size of their membership.

Below you can see all seven cartoon ideas submitted to my steamed editor. You can discount the first five. But which of the last two got in?

Throw caution to the winds and dive over to my website to find out.

The Olympic Torch arrives

Excitement grips the Lake District as the Olympic Torch relay reaches the area. It's arrival in Windermere is a considerable bonus in a week when the Westmorland Gazette newspaper stories offer little else for a cartoonist to get to grips with. 

The Torch's arrival also added considerably to the atmosphere. I sat drawing the cartoon at the garden table, surrounded by trees. The sound of birds filled the air and in the distance, came the exotic thrum of the taiko drummers rehearsing in Bowness.

I had a number of stories thrust in my direction by my esteemed editor (see here for an explanation of the entire process). However it had to be The Torch.

Here are the sketches I presented. Which did my steamed editor pick? Was it the right one? (Clue: Yes.)

To find out, gather up your Lucozade Energy Drink With Excess Sugar and run over to my website.

Incidentally, if you think this week's cartoons are scruffier than usual (how rude), bear in mind the following: 

I usually have from 2.00 to 5.00 pm to do the cartoon, including all ideas, artwork, staring into space etc. This week, due to Unforeseen Stories in the Bagging Area, I didn't get to find out what was in the paper until 3.20. That always make for an exciting week. Can I lie down now?

How newspaper cartoons are produced

As a public service, I offer the following scribbly infographic to show how the front-page Westmorland Gazette newspaper cartoon is produced.

 Stage 1 - A journalist goes out and gathers a news story

Stage 2 - The journalist types in the news story, adding supplementary facts, figures and typos

Stage 3 - The cartoonist turns up 3 hours before press deadline and consults with his esteemed editor on suitable stories for the week's front-page cartoon

Stage 4 - The cartoonist then goes off to quiet corner to come up with ideas and pretend not to be daydreaming

Stage 5 - The cartoonist offers ideas of unsurpassed brilliance for consideration of the editor

Stage 6 - The steamed editor subjects the cartoonist's ideas to a rigorous editorial selection process

Stage 7 - Once the cartoonist receives the editor's final choice, he embarks upon artwork of great depth and beauty

Stage 8 - The artwork is scanned and beamed through cyberspace to Westmorland Gazette Production Command somewhere in low Earth orbit

Stage 9 - The following morning, The Westmorland Gazette appears with cartoon on front page. Loyal readers search out magnifying glass and prepare to be amused.

Stage 10 - The sketches submitted appear on this blog on Thursday morning and you get to vote which the editor should have chosen. To find out if you were right, the final cartoon appears on my website and you can find it here.