No dice, amigo.

First in an occasional series of cartoons I couldn't sell. I've got a lot.

Free Expression

Well, I have finally won a world renowned (Ok-unheard of) cartoon competion: The Council for Secular Humanism Free Expression Cartoon Contest. Top prize was a whopping $2500, which will do very nicely, thank you. I was really proud of this cartoon, as you can see by the previous blog posts on it, but this was an amazing surprise, particularly as I had forgotten about entering the competition in the first place.

Said judge Steve Benson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Arizona Republic, "Wickedly humorous, brutally direct, effectively and simply rendered. A stinging indictment of the Catholic Church's pedophilic priest scandal that allows absolutely no room for the predictable apologetic defense. Left me laughing and wincing at the same time!"

I have reproduced the cartoon below for your viewing pleasure.

Student sketches

I joined in during a sketching session with my students yesterday. Here are three which turned out quite well.
Ksenia
Natasha
Vladimir

And this cartoon is from the latest Reader's Digest. I sold it in the middle of last year, so it's been a bit of a wait.

Classical Sketches

I went to the Tchaikovsky Music Hall in Moscow this evening to see a concert. They did all the biggies-the William Tell Overture and that one with Land of Hope and Glory in it. The first half featured a classical saxophonist, though, and she did an encore that I found hilarious-she clearly had a thing for unlistenable jazz. It sounded a bit like this: Jazz Club.

While I was there, I only been and went and done some sketches, didn't I? Conductors are ace, by the way.

The New Pantheon

Skip over to my twitter (link top left) to name some gods for The New Pantheon! The best few I like I'll draw up and post them on here, with a credit. I'll even send you the original drawing if it's uber-awesome. If what I'm saying makes no sense-go down a few posts to see Duvus, God of putting the duvet cover on the duvet.

Here's a couple of new cartoons too, that I've received a fair bit of praise for. They're in Private Eye right this instant.

Better than a kick in the old town-halls

My recent cartoon in Private Eye (see two posts down) has generated a few comments, both positive and negative on their letters page. A first for me! Amongst us cartoonists it is seen as a bit of an accolade when your work causes such a reaction that people write in. I have posted them below for you to read.

And here's my latest one from that issue.

furthermore...

And the Irish government has just passed an anti-blasphemy law!