This is the first of a series of line drawings done in last year and intended as a bit of a departure from my cartoon stuff. See how I hesitate to call it “cartoon work” in an effort to make it sound less than it is. Cartoon work is work, but it’s hardly coal mining. Any sort of drawing is a kind of therapy as most people who do it will tell you. So I’ve been in therapy since the age of about 7. This is Beaumaris the home town of my late father and it’s in North Wales. It’s … Continue reading A drawing a day for a week, plus back story.

These are the words spoken by my brother at our father’s funeral that have stuck very close to me. What he had to face is in this image. That’s him under the black dot. It’s quite a famous photograph from the invasion of Normandy and was taken in June on the outskirts of Cagny and features the advancing Guards Amoured Division that by September the 2nd was liberating Brussels. On my father’s left is another Davies who sadly never made it out of Normandy. The officer pointing is Major Syrett, killed the day after this image was taken. Our father … Continue reading “We’ve had nothing more frightening than a VAT inspection”

I went to art college before they became polytechnics and then university wishing to go into advertising as it seemed to be populated by cool people. While in my humble job in advertising it became the habit of friends to ask me if I could “do a leaving card for so and so cos you can draw a little bit”. I did loads and when I was made redundant I seem to remember that I did my own. I loved doing the cards, as it gave me the excuse to be rude to some of the humourless people ( very … Continue reading Here’s where it started really.

I don’t do a lot of political cartoons but the unseemly scramble for the leadeship of a party that is sinking, or at least heading for the rocks was too much for me, and I suspect for most of the population. Whoever gets to captian the battered vessel has some navigation to do. Continue reading Rats rejoin a sinking ship

I suppose I should have known at the time. It’s not the first time someone has said ” I’ve got this great idea for you, but you’ll have to do the drawings for free”. Perhaps I should have walked then but I took it all on with my usual enthusiasm. Hours of unpaid work. But then drawing cartoons is not really work is it? Aaaaaaargh! I did the drawings and then waited to make my fortune from the entrepreneur who started me down this path to penury. Greetings cards were all that came out of it and I saw not … Continue reading Artists work for no money, but then it’s fun is it not? Scoot!

Continue reading And why not?

My almost 3 year old twin grandsons dislike having their hair cut. I was reminded of this when this drawing popped out of the archives. It’s from the book Some Missing Persons writen by my late friend Gordon Thorburn, with added contributions from myself as the drawer and the provider of inspiration. This particular chapter bewailed the passing of the traditional barber. It’s well worth a re-read from this link. I know I’m not supposed to like my own drawings but this is a favourite, not least as it was done years before the twins popped out, and the small … Continue reading How would you like it Sir?

Little drawing with the poor chap’s foot cut off. I used to do work for a company that specialised in improving signals for mobile phones. Remember when one used to wave the phone in the air to try and get some reception? I do. I recall going on holiday to France with the family and some work to be done, buying a mobile phone on the way to the ferry at Portsmouth, so that I could keep in touch with my clients while on tour of France’s deepest South West. I recall having to do some phone aerobics then too. … Continue reading Phone aerobics

I’ve just been doing some drawings for a client who is the son of a previous client and friend. So it’s good to keep connections. My new young client is in SEO and helps companies increase visits to their websites. He seems to know all about these things and has been heling me to get more visits to another project of mine: looks good on the wall Apparently putting links in like the one above help with generating visits, so feel free to click on it! Anyhow back to the drawing above. It’s simple enough really and it follows the … Continue reading Been there?

My Aunty Winnie was a cakemaker and a true Northerner. Whenever we moved house which was frequent, she’d turn up on the doorstep of the new house with a meat and potato pie. Her meat and potato pies were legendary, and delicious. Her husband, my Uncle Jack was a quiet kind of chap who would utter hardly a word. He’d had a career as a shop manager. Not a supermarket, they did not exist at the time, just a small grocery store. Whenever they came for tea, which was not that often, Jack would sit in the corner sucking on … Continue reading “Oooh! Just like bought”

I’m not sure of the randomness of algorithms but this is the result of shopping online. A simple task of looking and then ordering a doorbell brings up this suggestion and confirms that the computer is not always right. We have, like any self respecting middle class family, a comfortable supply of what we naturally call  “bathroom tissue”. What we do not have is a handy fire extinguisher, the other suggestion, which was the obvious result of checking out the toilet rolls. Continue reading Doorbell required, you’ll be needing a toilet roll then.