Free cartoons for Charities and good causes, that want to have some cartoons, but can't afford a professional cartoonist.

I have recently decided that I should offer my services to charities for no charge whatsoever. After a rather uncomfortable altercation with a certain local Mothers and Toddlers Church Group over some Mural artwork (it only looked like an appendage when all the strip lights in the Church hall were switched on at the same time), I have decided to refund 10% of their fee and offer my services to Charities for free from now on.

How do I find time in my hecktic sheduale to find the time for such endevours, I hear you ask me? Well for starters I have stopped watching Cash In the Attic. The programme just isn't what it used to be. Even Aire Hunters holds little appeal to me, knowing that there's some terrible charities out there in trouble, without any cartoons.

So that's at least 1 hour per day time in my studio that I can offer this unlimited offer until the end of April. Maybe you are a baby Hedgehog sancturary that needs some unique designs to be created for you by a talented individual, but you can't afford them? Well come to Leonard instead! All my services are free of charge (excluding legitimate expenses).

Some other types of Charities that might benefit from my unique skills of drawing and colouring by using my hands are:

A mobile bloodbank Charity
Running Charity for people in coma's 
Subsidence misuse Charity for tramps?
Family Planning Charity for a Bunny Sanctuary?
Irish Underwear collection Charity for the Third World

The posibilities are endless for good causes to get some unique cartoon artwork for their use on things like phamplets, brouchures, adverts, who knows, even tea towels!

*All designs have had unique copyright applied to them, but the Charities are allowed to use them for free, with written permission.

Cartoons for your Business Special offer!

Hi, my name is Leonard, and I'm a very enthusiastic cartoonist and designer. I have experience of applying *very* special effects to my cartoons, which will give your business cartoons REAL impact that many other cartoonists won't offer. This month I have a special offer for window cleaners who are called Dave. Have this wonderful logo for your business (perhaps on your van, or if you don't have a van, you could have it made into a sticker for your bucket). As a special offer for this month only, I have added a special effect to this cartoon logo (normal price for such effects is £3.29).


You may have noticed that there's room for your phone number, which new customers who've seen your van/bucket will be able to phone to book you to clean their windows. Remember to ask about access to the back garden, and the situation with dogs etc.


** If you are called dave, and you do clean windows, but the hair is wrong then please get in touch. I could change the hair colour very easily, for a limited price of only £4.83.


Next week: I'm doing a business card for a plumber called Hank.

Cheap cartoon redesign services

I have a new and original idea for all small to medium (but not large) businesses out there that would like to make use of cartoon illustrations out there for their publications, advertising materials or leaflets.


As Nick Clegg DPM recently said, people must follow the business model of this most finest British business model. John Lewid's famous motto is "never knowing undersold", which got me to thinking about it somewhat.
Many businesses cannot afford to use the services of professional illustrators for their business, even though they would be able to stop sacking people and increase their business models tenfold. The solution I have come up with (all on my own without any assistance from the DPM) is this thus:


Customer approaches cartoonist/illustrator to use image in something. Cartoonist/Illustrator demands a high fee for their work (something like £1,000 for one image).


Customer then approaches Leonard Gubbins' design kit studio. We take that very same illustration and re-draw it exactly, therefor avoiding any copyright issues and charge a much more reasonable £19.90 + 10p admin fee.

Happy Christmas!

This is a little late, but I'd like to wish all my customers (and those freeloaders who just visit my site to steal ideas) a very merry and sincere Christmas Wishes both from and to me.


Here is an extra special cartoon funny for you all to share for your families over this very special time of year. (available as tea towel design Q2 of 2012)

Hilarious Cartoon about Santa Clause and a Robot Dog that is attacking him with a Mince Pie. ©LG 2011

I want to tattoo your arm!

I've had this great idea that I've seen on some other websites. Having drawn lots of really popular cartoons, that people just simply adore, someone that is a very good online friend has suggested that she'd quite like to see my cartoon policeman tattooed onto her arm or buttock. Now I'm not really used to tattooing people's skin. I'm more familiar with tattooing pieces of paper with a gel pen, but being the professional that I have decided to be, I have agreed to do this on her kitchen table next week!

Of course in line with my current fees having to be increased because of the imminent VAT increase, I now find myself having to charge £30 per cartoon, but the good news for my very good online friend is that the image on her arm will belong to her exclusively (so if she wants to have someone take a photo of her, with her arm attached) then I will not be charging a further license fee, unlike some other rip of cartoonists that, while making lots of money and driving flash cars like 59 plate Nissan Notes, will exploit their customers. The arm image will belong to her, as sure as any infection will also be entirely her responsibility.


It seems her father was once a policeman, until he was pushed out of the force for an unfortunate incident with a potato peeler and a repeat offender in the late 1980's, and as a tribute to her dad, she'd like a tattoo with the image below. I think that's a lovely thing for a daughter to do for her father. Heavily tattooed daughters, always love their daddies. That is clear.


Now to hit Google, or TalentWriter Community Website for articles on how to tattoo an arm or bottom with a fatherly tribute.

Hilarious Computer Joke.

This is a recent joke cartoon that I did for a client to see that I could provide some jokey type cartoons for his Ye Olde Computer Shoppe business in the local high street. He wanted something that he could send out to all his customers via email or facebook (he's yet to decide). After he had given me his briefs, I set to work thinking of all the amusing things about computers that I could put into a jokey type cartoon for his computer business as previously discussed.


I did this on my computer with my Wancom Bamboo tablet. IT's a very expensive piece of professional equipment that only professional cartoonists are allowed to buy, but if you can afford one then I think you should. I have drawn this cartoon in just 7 hours, from the client brief to the finished article (no, not this article, I did it last week). I did this cartoon in the style of Bill Tidy or Larry. Check out the filing cabinet!


Next time: How to drawer cartoon filing cabinets.

Gel Pen Manufacturers Blog

I've found this very interesting website all about Gel Pens. The Gel Pen's Manufacturers Blog. A very interesting blog about Gel pens, and how they were invented. Anyone can now use gel pens.

Gel pens tend to produce a bolder line and smudge less than other types of pen. The ink can also be produced in a much wider range of colors and this can include fluorescent, metallic and glittery effects which can work well on darker paper. The size of the nib on a gel pen can vary from around 0.18mm to 1.5mm and the advantages that they provide make them popular with a range of professions. This can include teachers, with the bold lines and vibrant color showing up well when marking papers and also graphic artists with the range of colors suiting them well. However they can be used by anyone and as well as being simply for writing they are also popular for art, with the colors and effects in which they can be produced making them ideal for this.

I think this is true, that anyone can now use Gel pens. You don't need to be a proffessional to use them anymore since they were invented in the 1880's. I imagine back then they were very expensive and people without any money couldn't buy them. As you know I'm a big fan of the GEL PEN. I find that somehow my cartoons are more funnier when they are drawn by GEL PENS. And having them available in so many bright and vivid colours is just an added bonus for me, you, teachers, and professional graphic designers the world over.


All hail the GEL PEN! 


Here's a caricature of my son, which looks nothing like him:

I'm going to draw Penelope Cruze.

I've decided that it might be quite good fun to draw somthing cartoonists call a caricature. That is a picture (or drawing) of someone done in a cartooney style, but instead of just looking like a cartoon drawing that I've copied from another cartoonist (so many cartoons are all the same these days. Drawn with lines. Lettering for the caption etc) this one will look like I had the celebrity right there in front of my drawing pad when I did this.

My plan to do this drawing and make it look like the celebrity that I want it to look like is to draw the picture while quickly looking at my pad and then quickly looking at a photo of the celebrity back and forth as I go. I'm going to draw the celebrity just like they appear in the photo, and then exaggerate their features to add some fun and uniqueness to the drawing. If I didn't do this, then it would just be a drawing of the celebrity.

Remember I am not an artist, and I'm also a single mum.

I'm hoping Penelope Cruze will give me at least £20 for this drawing caricature of herself image.

Here we go.....

I think that worked out quite well. I'm sending it to Penelope Cruze today, but I have to send it by email, as I don't have a colour printer. If she wants it for her art collection, she'll just have to print it out herself.

But I digress.

Over at the cartoonist forum they have a contest every week that sets a caption and all the cartoonists (the ones that charge way more than £20 per cartoon, btw) and they all post a cartoon and then they vote for the one that they like the best.

I tried to do something similar on here once, but only 1 person replied and it didn't really work out as I hoped it would. That's the trouble with original ideas that I have. Someone else has always done it better and bigger than me. The cartoonist cartel over at the cartoonist forum don't take favourably to unique talent such as mine. They call it horrible things, like "it's rubbish", or that I have no "talent". Clearly they feel threatened, otherwise they wouldn't have any need to write such hurtful things. They can see my uniqueness could ruin their business.

And it's that which inspires me to continue with my one woman campaign against anything that isn't talented and free. and unique. Google is my friend. Google loves me and my many links.

This week I've drawn a cartoon based on the idea over at the cartoonist forum, but with a twist. Not for me, something "oh so clever" and smart. Oh no. I've gone for something crude and uniuqe. I was told it was too late to enter the contest, but I know the real reason is that it's simply so good, it puts all their efforts to shame.

So here is my hand shaded goodness for your enjoyment:

but I digress.

It's going to be massive.

This is just one of the many of cartoons that I've recently drawn to send off to some magazines and internet message boards. I think it's much better than many of the cartoons we often see in print these days. I'll let you know what Woman's Own say when they get it.

Election selection expectation...

Well wasn't that an interesting General Election. As some of you will be aware I have been indisposed during the actual voting process, and was unable to vote myself. It was quite a surprise to come home and find that we didn't have any Government at all.

I'm quite pleased to see a sensible looking man doing a number 10, instead of that Scottish man. I don't have anything against Scottish people's as such there thus, but I don't like Scottish men who don't have a beard. Call me strange. I Think all Scottish men should have beards, like in the movies. Everything should be like in the movies, but none of these so called politicians offered that you anyone, did they?

Well I think Mr Cameron would make a great prime minister. I don't know what Mr Brown is going to do now he's been sacked from the position by the Queen. It doesn't look good on anyone's CV when you've been sacked by the Queen does it? I'm sure he'll find something to do for a living. Perhaps he could work on the Shopping Channel?

Election 2010 TV Debate.

I am often asked who I would vote for in the next election, which is going to be very soon (may, I think). This will decide who is going to be the next Prime Minister of England. Tonight there is a live TV debate on the TV tonight in which all the future prime ministers will get a chance to argue with each other and make the others look a bit shit. Who will  turn out to look the less shittest? Only that can be decided by the viewers. I think there's going to be a phone vote at the end. I'm watching it right now, but I haven't seen Ant & Dec OR Phillip Scofeild as yet.

All tied up in cartoon ideas that'll make me lots of money.

The other day while I was very very busy drawing some cartoons for very important clients, I hit upon an idea for some cartoon merchandise that I feel could become the next big thing in fashion which I suppose would take me from the dizzy heights of cartoon designing to fashion designer. Now I realise that fashion designers without womanly bits are usually considered to be a little on the fruity side, and that's not the sort of thing for me at all. I don't like kissing the girlfriend when she's had more than 3 pints of Guinness as it is, so I couldn't handle all that sloppy congratulations that takes place at fashion awards shows or that sort of thing.


I prefer a nice firm grip instead. And that's something that I'll be getting from all the fashion designers when my idea becomes the best thing since the day-glow leg warmer. The best ideas are always ones that someone else has had first, but haven't had the genius to turn it into a brilliant idea for themselves and so just allow someone to take the idea forward to the next level.


Now those professional cartoonists who read this  blog will know how popular cartoon charactures are characters. Genglement will know that it's very important to wear a tie with a smart shirt when at work looking at very important paperwork, which can be quite drery. Office environments can be very dull places to be. So how can we, as professional cartoonists get some day light into these dreary offices? With the popularity of low energy light bulbs in most offices these day, perhaps there's a product combining cartoon characters and Gentlemen's formal wear that would make everyone's lives at the office more cheery from the very start of the working day? (dress down Fridays excluded of course).


I haven't quite fully formed the idea clearly in my head right now, not that I would give away such a brilliant idea on this blog anyway. I know cyberstalkers and other undesirables are reading this with their big jotter in their other hand, just waiting to absorb my genius. I'm quite careful where my ideas land when I'm gushing like this.