Tag / Scrumpy

by Andrew Pilcher

Bee dee dee… Bee dee dee

In my day job I work on the design and production side of a business-to-business news organisation. We don’t deal in politics really – only when it tangentally affects the civil engineering and construction industries. There was one point in the summer where we’d just voted for Brexit, politicians were resigning left right and centre, Donald Trump was finding a new minority group to belittle every day, and famous writers, artists and musicians were dropping dead in platoons. We had to switch off the news alerts on our phones as we couldn’t concentrate with them going off every ten minutes, bearing bad news each time…

by Andrew Pilcher

2016 in seven words

2016 was a year in which the human race seemed to take leave of its senses. We’re in for a wild ride in the next few years as the consequences of the stupid decisions we’ve made this year play through their inevitable courses. Stay safe, folks.

by Andrew Pilcher

Bird scarer

One of these things has appeared in my neighbourhood. It’s essentially a kite in the shape of a bird of prey (or a kite in the shape of a kite if you like) tethered to a pole. It’s made out of polythene so it’s very light and it only takes the lightest of breezes to send it aloft, and as it’s tethered it rises and then swoops down suddenly like stooping buzzard. The combination of the silhouete and the movement keeps nesting seagulls away. This summer we haven’t had any seagulls on our roof.

However, it does also look like a very large cat toy.

by Andrew Pilcher

Savage dog

Two fan favourites together for the first time. Prepare yourself for cute overload!

by Andrew Pilcher

100m dash

smith-pilcher-994-160815

I had an accident with a bottle of Dr Pepper and a graphics tablet on the Sunday I drew this. It completely fritzed my graphics tablet and left me with no means to colour the strip so this black and white version had to be posted instead.

90e5d7dffe673f73c23a526f11abb26f

It ended up looking a lot better than I expected, but Jones and Smudge look undentical unless they’re coloured, so I don’t think I’ll ever be reverting to black and white, no matter how much time it may save.

I thought this was going to be a fairly standard joke about Scrumpy’s ears, so I wasn’t ready for the response it got. It appears that on the same day this was published, Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas beat Allyson Felix of the USA in the 400m track event in the most unusual fashion – she dived over the line. If the winner of the race is the first person to get a bodypart over the line, both Scrumpy and Shaunae won fair and square. In my opinion it’s just as valid as dipping at the line, and everyone does that.

 

by Andrew Pilcher

Who goes there?

smith-pilcher-986-160727

I’ve rendered the grass more successfully here. If you look you’ll see that I forgot to add the sound effects and had to add them in at the colouring stage.

by Andrew Pilcher

Bulge, bulge

smith-pilcher-934-160328

Scrumpy’s eyes have slowly been slipping down his face over the years, and while it’s been useful in making him look more downbeat it’s also been making him look less and less like a rabbit. I’ve moved his eyes back up again, and I’m much happier with him now. His eyes will continue to shift up and down his nose according to mood, but this should be their default position.

by Andrew Pilcher

Delivery

smith-pilcher-932-160323

That’s the problem with subcontracting your work out – the people involved just don’t have the same involvement in making sure they do a good job. Ask anyone who has had to deal with a company that has subcontracted out its customer care to a call centre in Bangalore. Talktalk Broadband, I haven’t forgotten you, and I note that five years after I gave you up as a lost cause you’re still bottom of Which’s customer service tables.

by Andrew Pilcher

Subcontracting

smith-pilcher-931-160321

Hurrah, a strip with an actual cat in it at last! And a rabbit and a seagull.

by Andrew Pilcher

Scrumpy and Hutch

smith-pilcher-918-160219