It’s been a little while but I’m back with another cartoon sampler.
I’ve been really busy with other commitments over the past while including radio work, music, and art. A couple of weeks ago it was the deadline for the open exhibition in my local arts centre so I spent a lot of June working on that. So between all of those things I didn’t have time to do a cartoon sampler. I nearly got this one out at the end of the month but as June faded out and July faded in I’m only posting it now.
One thing I mentioned before is I don’t want to make posts here or on social media for the sake of it. I know that the modern internet revolves around algorithms and a constant stream of content to create engagement. I know so much of modern digital life revolves around prioritising a high quantity of content without any real care for quality.
That’s a part of the modern internet I really don’t like. There was a time where you could find fun websites that were just passion projects by people doing something they loved. Creators would make things and upkeep them out of passion. There were more spaces specificaly for people who wanted to enjoy specific things.
Nowadays digital life is largely about clicks, and constant content, and optimization, and mastering the algorithm. And of course, there’s the never ending stream of AI generated images and writing which themselves are basically bastardized mumbled messes of work they’ve stolen from others. It seems digital life no longer focuses on creativity and expression and is more about the potential to monetize a constant stream of content into followers by optimization and curation for the algorithm… and other such internet words.
I love my art. I love putting together these posts and I love when I get interaction. It would be great if everyone on the internet around the world had the opportunity to stumble upon (remember stumble upon?) my work. But I refuse to neglect actual creativity and passion in favour of just constantly churning out posts so people can scroll mindlessly throughout. For me the internet should be something to get lost in like a book store or an art gallery, not something to rot your brain.
But I was thinking about how I can make sure people who like viewing my work actually know when to expect it. Originally I said I’d do two of these cartoon samplers a month, but with other commitments it hasn’t been a sustainable amount really. So I thought it would be better to do a post each month with slightly more cartoons (6 to 8 rather than just 4). And because it’s less often I could maybe write a bit more.
When I finally launched this website back in October of last year I wanted my posts to give people some enjoyment. All I want for my cartoons is to make people smile. And in order to that, they can’t be half-assed.
It actually occured to me to treat this a bit more like a newsletter. You may remember the first sampler I posted, you can see it here after you read this one. It was basically just a stream of images. Then after a few editions I started writing. I love writing and it’s something I do often, but I rarely share it outside of reading something out at an open mic night. So I started to scribble a bit more in each post.
So going forward you can expect a cartoon sampler once a month with 6 to 8 cartoons and a bit of writing too. I think I’ll also throw out an extra sampler occasionally for Hallowe’en and the likes. It’ll usually be around the start of the month and you can follow me on Instagram and BlueSky (my name on those paltforms is just Ronny Punctuation).
Naturally, some of that writing will be on the main character in my life… no not me, Bruce.
We had a heatwave here in Ireland (and it seems like everywhere else in Europe had one too) and Bruce was his usual dramatic self. French Bulldogs are over bread dogs with health problems as it is, and with Bruce being a big diva anyway he was sure to act up. I couldn’t really walk him as much as normal cause it was so hot (and by walk him as much as normal I mean I couldn’t walk him to the coffee shop for him to sit there all day) so he was getting hyper in the house. He did need to go to the vet one day for his vaccination so he got out for a bit. One inexplicable thing about Bruce is he loves going to the vet. I don’t know why, he just does. He ran around the vet table scrambling for attention while vet prepared his injection. He has earned the label of ‘a bit of a character’ in the vets office. When we went to leave he lay down outside because he wanted to go back in. You could chalk this up to the heat but really he does this on most walks regardless of the weather, see below:
Bruce is the centre of the Bruceverse. He’s not a young dog anymore, he’s 5 1/2 and their life expectancy is around 8-12. But he’s still got plenty left in him I think.
I’ve been playing a few more open mics recently. I got a recording of me performing a song I wrote at a recent one. You can check it out on my music page by clicking here. It was described by a friend as kind of accoustic grunge.
For cartoons we have a therapy session and a date. As well as that The Lord of Eternal Darkness whose name is too evil to be spoken continues to try make friends and we meet one of his coworkers.
If you like a cartoon make sure you hit the clap button so I know what you enjoy.
The best advice I can give is to never make a decision while hungry.
“Honk if you love silence” was my favourite on the list.
Isn’t it better to just be honest from the start?
He ruined the whole vibe of the invasion.
The Almighty Octopus of Creation and the Lord of Eternal Darkness whose name is too evil to be spoken are coworkers.
It’s not easy being dramatic but Bruce has a lot of natural talent.
Thanks for checking out this edition of the cartoon sampler. I always appreciate you dropping by. Remember to follow me on Instagram and Bluesky for info on upcoming open mics I’m playing at, art exhibitions I have coming up, other updates, and most importantly pictures of Bruce.
If you enjoy my work you can leave me a tip on Ko-fi from as little as €2. That’s the price of an espresso in a nice Italian café! You want Bruce to have an espresso from a nice Italian café right? Any tip is greatly appreciated and goes a very long way.
Ronny Punctuation 