Old Wives' Tales---Trouble up North

So maybe I've been a little sneaky!

...and maybe, just maybe, I've been keeping stuff from you...

Well there's a very good reason for this: A large portion of my readers are based in America (according to my stats) and would probably have more than a little trouble with the the words used in my cartoon feature, 'Old Wives' Tales'; samples below. Actually, some of my British readers would, and let's not even go near my European fans, who would probably have some internal circuitry blow up and have them charging to their English language teachers and demanding 'what the hell is being said here?' 

But I make no apologies. The cartoons below are from a northern English magazine called the Dalesman and deal with all things Yorkshire; hence the local-centric dialogue.

For quite some time I had been producing humorous gags and twists on features and stories local to the North of England---specifically the Dales---but about a year ago, Adrian Braddy, the editor, asked me if I would produce a stand alone cartoon panel about stereotypical Yorkshire folk.

Now before we go any further I think it only fair to point out that I am not from Yorkshire---I have

visited it, and it is a beautiful area---take a look yourself---but I have never lived there; so the dialogue I use in the strip is from memory and more than a little editorial guidance from those who work at the Dalesman offices.

But I felt that with the world wide appeal and popularity of such programmes as the Last of the Summer Wine, and All Creatures Great and Small and to a lesser degree, the cartoon strip Andy Capp  you were maybe ready for a bit of Northern tom-foolery.

But before I launch you---unsuspecting and totally unprepared into the world of 'Old Wives' Tales'--- I've added this little list of helpful handy hints on the way people 'Up North' communicate:

1. 'T' this is an abbreviation for the work 'the'. Example: "I am going to the shop." would become 'I'm goin' to t'shop
2. The existence of the letter 'G' is somewhat of a mystery to these dour and forthright people. So a sentence that says,---in percieved English: "If you are going this way, I'll be heading out that way" would suddenly, and without warning, become "If tha's goin' this way, I'll be headin' that way, tha's knowest" Now I see you all looking a little blank and asking 'Wha...Hey! What's with the 'Tha's' and 'Tha's nowest'? Fear not. Let me explain
3. The introduction of 'Tha' or Tha's' is simply a bastardisation of the words you, your or you'll as in 'If you are going' and you'll as in Tha's knowest. Knowest is an elongation of the word Know.
4. 'Allus' is another bastardisation of the word 'Always'
5. 'Reet' means quite literally 'Right'
6. 'Thy' equals 'Your' which is confusing. As the sharp sighted amongst you will already have noticed that 'Tha' and 'Tha's' also means 'Your'. Confused? Pity me, I've got to write this stuff.

Now there are probably many, many more, linguistic anomalies that I haven't mentioned; and a single blog post could never do justice to a millenia of the happy mangling of the English language perpetrated by these wonderfully eccentric folk,  I will leave you now with a selection from my comic feature 'Old Wives' Tales' published monthly in the Dalesman about two strong minded northern lasses (ladies) and their perception of married life to their hard nosed, hard headed and delightfully stubborn northern men.

Enjoy

I sincerely hope you enjoyed this post. If you did then please share it like a demented sharing person and keep on coming back for more of the same, and a whole lot more.

All cartoons are copyright Karl Dixon. Please feel free to blog about and repost my work for free but also please acknowledge me as the author and link back. Thank you.

Gag Cartoon tom-foolery

Just for you fun and delectation---and also because I'm too busy at present producing caricatures and cartoon sporting prints for an art gallery to do any tutorials--- I give you a hand full of the most recent cartoons I've just uploaded to Cartoonstock That said, I will be uploading the fruits of my labour when it is completed.

But if you like what you see and want to see more, then feel free to take a gander by clicking on the 'Cartoonstock' link above.

See you all on my next post.

Cartoonstock---Stock cartoons by me!

For about four years now I've had a dry sample of about thirty odd cartoons just languishing on the Cartoonstock website---a site that allows customers to browse the many and varied work from many and varied a fine cartoonist.

So for a while these same old cartoons have been sitting there, selling the odd one every now and again without me even making an effort. So about a week ago I decided that this should change. Especially seeing as I discovered that quite a few of their creatives are making a tidy sum of money and that the website has become quite the 'go to' place for all things cartoon.

So with that in mind---and also the fact that I like to share all I do with you---here are the samples I will be sending off this week. Also by clicking on the Cartoonstock link above, you can see the previously published cartoons that have been languishing up until now.

So grab yourself a cuppa tea or coffee and enjoy what I did for you.

Oh, and Happy Easter

This weeks Gags

True to my promise from last week here's my post of a selection of the cartoons I've sent out to various publishers and internet sites.

Have fun folks.

Tomorrow I'm posting more about my first Children's Book and giving you all an exclusive to the front cover, so don't forget to come back; you're all as welcome as ever!

If you like my blog and the things that I say and do, please tell your friends; mention me on Facebook, Twitter and any of the other fine social media networking sites you use. I would love to have my work reach a much larger audience and although I could no doubt eventually get there under my own steam, I'll get there a lot quicker with your help, so please, please spread the word.

Thank you

A little something extra...

If this blog has anything as grown up as a mission statement, it is to keep you updated as to what I'm up to; to keep you abreast of my various projects; to show you pieces of art I've produced and to sprinkle silly tales and tutorials all over its topping.

But here's some thing I've not done--- up until now---that's to share with you my single panel 'gag' cartoons; the ones I  used to send out by the ship load to every magazine or newspaper I could find.

But around ten years ago that all stopped when other work pressures took control of my time, and seeing as the market for spot gags was diminishing at a frightening rate it was somewhat of a relief when I did finally drop them from my work load.

Well the thing is now I've started up again. Why? Simply put there is a small growth for this market in newspapers and magazines but much more exciting for me is there's a much larger market for on-line filler cartoons; those ideas that just fit what you need to say on a certain subject, and it is this market that I'm going for.

So for the foreseeable future I will be posting a few samples from my weekly out put just for your delectation and perusal, below are the first few. Some you may have seen but others will be new to you.

Hope you like them.

I'll be posting more next week so keep coming back.

On Thursday I will be talking about my new, soon to be published short novel called The Night of the Village Idiots. It's a Sleepy Hamlet comedy tale and is set in a village full of eccentric nut-jobs and hopeless gossipers. More will be revealed about this very exciting project (well exciting for me) including  the plot, my plans to turn it into a collection of stories, short stories and novellas, and there will be a sneak preview of the cover and a sample mini chapter from the book. 

And of course there's always my weekly webcomic event on Friday with the continuation of the Brabbles & Boggitt saga.

So jot it down in your diary; keep an eye on Twitter, Facebook and Google plus or sign up for my free email updates to guarantee not missing a single post from the Diary of a Cartoonist and Writer.

If you like my blog and the things that I say and do, please tell your friends; mention me on Facebook, Twitter and any of the other fine social media networking sites you use. I would love to have my work reach a much larger audience and although I could no doubt eventually get there under my own steam, I'll get there a lot quicker with your help, so please, please spread the word.

Thank you