Rabbit Proof Fence

A range of more serious stories on the front page of this week’s Westmorland Gazette, but tucked away just inside was a gem to bring delight to the heart of any cartoonist. The World of Beatrix Potter visitor attraction, at The Old Laundry in Bowness-on-Windermere, has decided to develop their own kitchen garden, called - naturally enough - The Peter Rabbit Garden. Produce will appear in their café and they hope it will stimulate children’s interest in eating well. However, they have decided to put up a fence to ensure that pesky wabbit doesn’t get in.

These were my first four rough sketches. You can see the cartoon chosen either in the newspaper or on my site.

This Old House

The mountain rescue service is in the news again, locally. As a charity, they can’t reclaim VAT on the equipment they buy (despite the fact that the Royal National Lifeboat Institute can reclaim VAT on their gear). Gordon Brown, however, has decided that he will waive VAT on the Haiti earthquake charity single, produced by Simon Cowell.

Charity, earthquakes, Haiti … clearly this is awkward territory to be tiptoed across with the most delicate of sensitivities. Oh wait, I just remembered; I’m a cartoonist.

Here are the sketches for this week’s Westmorland Gazette cartoon. The final version is already up on my site.

The hills are alive

This week’s Westmorland Gazette features two stories which caught my eye (mostly the left one). The old K-Shoes factory is being revamped as a sort-of out-of-town-ish shopping complex called K-Village. This is rather worrying for those businesses in the centre of Kendal that sell actually new things instead of recycling cast-offs for charity.

The other story involved Pamela Anderson. Yes, the one from Baywatch, seminal Saturday tea time television series of the 1990s. She has been appearing in Aladdin in London and is apparently so struck by the UK she wants to buy a home here. Possibly overlooking Morecambe Bay.

I refuse to believe this is anything other than tawdry tabloid speculation but as cartoon fodder, it has an irresistible allure. The question was … could I resist the obvious couple of jokes?

No.

The finished cartoon will, as ever, be on the front page of the Gazette on Thursday or on my site around the same time (in glorious Crayon-o-rama).

Less Grit More Pluck

This week’s Westmorland Gazette front page threw up two stories of interest for the cartoon. In one, Cumbria County Council refuses to apologies for failing to grit enough roads during the recent snow fall. The other is a cracking story about a local farmer’s wife who reared two abandoned chicks in her oven.

Rough sketches below. If you aren’t too busy drooling over Apple’s latest iThingie or going mad filling in last minute tax returns, you can find which one got in the Gazette by buying the paper or visiting my website on Thursday morning.

A Rough Week

This week there were a couple of stories vying for front page of The Westmorland Gazette, so I had a go at both. The first sketch immediately demonstrated that I was about to veer into bad taste, so I concentrated on the second. 

Ambleside has been without gas - and, for a brief period, electricity - as the thawing snow caused supply problems. A very local story but fun to do. I didn’t quite manage to stay within the bounds of good taste but I figure the odd dubious cartoon makes sure the editor is paying attention.

As you can see, the roughs are just that - very rough. They are 2B pencil sketches, rushed onto paper before the idea evaporates. I used to fuss about with the composition when it came to the final artwork but over the years realised I was making it worse. Somehow, doing the drawing without thinking too hard seems to work.

In this case, as you can see from the final cartoon, the layout did change slightly, to point up the water bursting from the cooker. And, as always, a final, final version appears in colour over on my website.

Snow Business

Now a thaw has begun - or new snow is due to arrive, depending on the forecast - this winter’s tale of British pluck and grit has shifted. But not far.

This is the problem with drawing a regular newspaper cartoon - sometimes the stories are too regular. They either hang around too long or come back too soon and you’ve got to come up with variations on a theme.

So here are mine. More pencil sketches from this week’s Westmorland Gazette cartoon. The final one will be in the newspaper and on my website Thursday morning.

Even Truer Grit

Whilst the rest of England dissolves into chaos (i.e. the South gets a few flakes of snow), Cumbria has had snow for nearly three weeks. Clear roads and pavements are a fond and distant memory and we’re now at the recrimination stage. 

The Council has Held A Meeting to discuss whether to issue an apology for the lack of grit. Uncollected bin bags are piling up at the kerb (and we’re only allowed two per household, remember). 

All of which is good news for cartoonists. Below are the four ideas submitted for this week’s Westmorland Gazette cartoon.

You can see the one chosen from Thursday morning, either on the front of the paper or on my website in glorious technicolor.