Chewing Pencils

This week’s feature artist surely has the coolest name any artist could hope for! Plus, his drawing style is not to shabby either.

NAME: Royston Robertson
AGE: 39
LOCATION: UK
SITE URL: http://www.royston.dircon.co.uk
BLOG: http://www.roystonrobertson.blogspot.com

How long have you been drawing cartoons?
Like most cartoonists, since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I started by copying characters from The Beano.

What made you start to think more seriously about making some money out of it?
The desire to earn a living from something that I enjoy doing. Of course, selling cartoons ran alongside the day job for many years. I took the plunge and went full time a couple of years ago.

Have you done any formal training? If so, what and where?
Nothing beyond A-level art. And that didn’t involve many cartoons.

Where was your first cartoon published?
Well, I had stuff in college magazines, fanzines and the like, but iIn terms of gag cartoons, I started submitting on-spec stuff to magazines regularly ten years ago, in 1997, and my first sale was to the UK edition of Maxim magazine.

What materials do you use to create your work?
I draw with brush pens and scan the drawing into the computer and make any adjustments there. Then I add tone or colour, when required.

What hardware and software do you use?
I have a Mac and I use Photoshop.

From where so you draw your inspiration?
Every where. Observing people, watching TV, reading the papers, the internet, you name it.

What are some of the resources you’ve found most helpful?
When starting out I found a book called Drawing Cartoons That Sell (aff), by John Byrne, very helpful. There are many “how to” books around, but I found this one useful because the emphasis was on selling gags, not just drawing funny pictures. Now I find the internet immensely useful. There are so many sites, such as this one, where you can read about how other cartoonists work, and interact with them.

What is the best piece of advice you have EVER been given? The worst?
i) Don’t give up
ii) Give up

Take us through the process you use to create one of your drawings:
Pencil the drawing. Put pencil drawing on lightbox. Ink on a piece of paper over the top (keeps it looser than inking the pencil lines, I find). Scan. Make any adjustments on screen. Colour if needed. Add caption plus name and contact details. Pray that it sells …

How long does it generally take to create one piece?
That’s a piece-of-string question. Ideas can take a long time to develop properly, or they may pop into your mind instantly. In terms of the actual drawing, if it’s two people sat in front of a telly, no time at all. If it needs something complicated in it, like a traction engine, a stained-glass window, a tapir … those are all of the top of my head, I’ve never put them all in one cartoon! … then it’s a longer journey, usually via Google Image Search.

What do you find the hardest to draw?
Bicycles, of course.

What do your friends and family think of you being a cartoonist?
I think they generally find it interesting, if slightly baffling that I can even attempt to do it for a living.

What do you think is the best part about being a cartoonist?
People telling you that a cartoon made them and/or their friends laugh. Also, seeing your stuff in print, particularly if it’s somewhere you’ve never been published before. Getting into a magazine after being rejected by them for ages is also a great feeling.

What has been the standout post on Chewing Pencils for you? Why?
This one. I don’t mean me, I mean the Friday Feature Artist!

Anything else you’d like to say….
It’s been fun.

Thanks to Royston for being part of the Chewing Pencils tea party!