Tom Gauld

Tom Gauld

@tomgauld.bsky.social

Cartoonist and Illustrator. My book of science cartoons, PHYSICS FOR CATS, is available now! www.tomgauld.com

69,613 Followers 111 Following 1,018 Posts Joined Jun 2023
Posts Following
7 hours ago

It’s a three panel cartoon, so there will always be some degree of shorthand/simplifying involved, but I don’t feel any of the mothers here are being maligned, and certainly not portrayed as brainless. I think their sons are more the butt of the joke.

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9 hours ago
Happy Mothering Sunday! Title: Just in time for Mother's Day: Classic literature with added Mums Panel 1: Moby Dick "Ahab! Moby! Enough of this nonsense. Apologise to each other and if you can't get along, stay apart." says Ahab's mother, standing in a little boat and looking sternly into Moby's eye, while her son sits chastened behing her. Panel 2: Casino Royale. "Vodka martini, shaken not stirred... And a sweet sherry for my mother." says James Bond. His mother calls over from their table "Just a little one." Panel 3: The Lord of the Rings. "You can look for your ring after you tidy your room and walk the dog, Sauron." says Sauron's mother, holding out the dog lead to her son, who replies "Aw, mum!".

Happy Mothering Sunday!

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1 day ago

Ha. Yes it does, now you mention it!

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1 day ago

😁

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1 day ago
Five cut-out-and-keep bookplates Each reads ‘ex-libris’ then has a space for the owners name. The design reflects the genre: Sci-fi: Nanotechnology tracks the book, monitors its condition and summons a retrieval drone if necessary. Horror: An ancient curse creates feelings of unease, rising to apalling, abject horror unless the book is returned. Romance : Acts as an invite to the county's grandest ball, but revoked if not returned in a polite and timely manner. Crime: Tailed by a dishevelled Gumshoe who Seems cynical, but loves books more than dames and bourbon. Fantasy: A fellowship of heroes lead the borrower on an epic quest to return the tome to its Rightful shelf.

My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com

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5 days ago
The book has a red cloth spine. The cover shows a retrofuturist city with airships and cablecars. A single woman appears in a door high in the towers.Far below, male figures spill out of underground tunnels and climb stairs towards her A retrofuturist city with airships and cablecars. A single woman appears in a door high in the towers. Far below, male figures spill out of underground tunnels and climb stairs towards her. A page of ink drawings of stick figures and strange architecture.

I drew the cover for a new edition of lost sci-fi classic 'Woman Alive' by Susan Ertz. It is out now from @manderleypress.bsky.social
1. The book / 2. A close up of the artwork / 3. Some notebook doodles
www.manderleypress.com/shop/p/womanalive

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6 days ago
Title: "The Haters" panel 1. Two round characters sit in a cinema. Yellow blob "I hate this!" Red Blob "Me too!" Panel 2. They have left the cinema Red blob "I hated every minute of that film! It was nothing like the book!" Panel 3. "Did you like the book?" asks Yellow. Red replies "I hated it!" then asks "You?" Panel 4. Yellow blob "I've not read it. I hated the film purely on its own merits." Panel 5. Red blob "I'll lend you my copy." Yello blob"That's very kind." Panel 6. Caption: "Later" Yellow, reading the book "I hate this!" Red (happily) "I knew you would!!"

"the Haters" my books cartoon for this week's @theguardian.com

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1 week ago
Two scientists walk through a cluttered old-fashioned science laboratory. The female scientist says “Analogue instruments! Paper records! Chalk boards! I thought you'd agreed to modernise the laboratory?” The male scientist replies “That's what i'm so excited about: we have moved to cloud-based storage for our data!” They step out onto a balcony. She says: “Please tell me you haven't built a library zeppelin” This is exactly what he has done. It floats across the sky and he adds “It's got a fax machine!”

My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com

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1 week ago

The drawing for this (and some other pieces are) up now at: www.tomgauld.com/art-for-sale

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1 week ago

Thank you!

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1 week ago

That’s very kind. Thanks Nick!

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1 week ago
Contact — tomgauld.com

It’s not, I’m afraid. Buy it you email me I can suggest a possibility www.tomgauld.com/contact

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1 week ago
A small girl wearing a rabbit costume and blue coat carries a book as she walks to school. Her mother (head out of shot) wheels her baby brother along in a pushchair. The baby says "Peter Rabbit may be the 'Hero' of the story, but surely the obedient, widowed Mrs Rabbit is a more effective symbol of the oppression inherent within Mister McGregor's regime" The girls looks furious and snaps "Mum!! He's critiquing my world book day costume from a marxist perspective again!"

A cartoon reminder that tomorrow is World Book Day (In the UK anyway). Originally for the @theguardian.com

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1 week ago

Thanks! I’m happy for you to share the cartoons on here.

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1 week ago
A gothic castle in the transylvanian mountains. A great bear of a man, waring a stovepipe hat and carrying a cane: "Now that you are my bride, you will never leave this castle!" His new bride replies "Wow! Your library is amazing!" He continues "Beyond the castle is a high wall with no gate, and beyond that is a deep. Dark forest with no path." She pulls a volume from a great bookcase, "I suppose it's my library too, now we're married." He goes on "The forest is crawling with ravenous wolves, malignant birds and the spirits of long-dead travellers." Ignoring him, carrying a pile of hardbacks "So many books! I can't believe My luck!" He has sprouted wings, claws and cloven hoofs. "When the sun sets, I transform into a wild beast and soar into the night, seized by a terrible bloodlust!" She sits, examining her books as he flies out the window "Ok. I'll stay here and read. See you in the morning"

'Castle'
One of the limited-edition prints in my shop
www.tomgauld.com/shop

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2 weeks ago

Thanks! Yes, I do. I like working on the drawing as a whole (words, pictures, panels) on paper.

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2 weeks ago
Three panels showing a bench on a small hill in London on a grey drizzly day. A man in a fedora carrying a suitcase arrives, then he is joined by a woman carrying an umbrella and a man in dark glasses reading a newspaper. They all look shifty and hurriedly converse: "Good." "Very." "Agreed." Then they all walk off down the hill. Caption: Every month, the Espionage Book Club discuss a classic work of spy fiction at a clandestine meeting. To minimise the risk of exposure, infiltration or surveillance by hostile agents, conversation is restricted to the essentials.

My cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

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2 weeks ago
Post image Post image Post image

With huge thanks to @financialtimes.com for featuring our forthcoming book Woman Alive in their #htsi section - as introduced by Graham Norton and illustrated by the fabulous @tomgauld.bsky.social
This book will be published next weekend on #internationalwomensday

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2 weeks ago
Two scientists look at a monitor attached to a large apparatus consisting of pipes, tanks, vessels and hoses. The first scientist says "I don't get it. The reaction is running perfectly, but we can't account for 7% of the heat." The other says "Have you Asked the Professor?" The first replies "We're not supposed To disturb him when He's in his office." On the other side of the apparatus, one of the pipes goes through a wall into another room where it warms the water for a hot tub in which the professor relaxes.

My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com

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2 weeks ago

I think it's due about the same time. Perhaps they just haven't got the preorder link up yet?

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2 weeks ago

Thank you!

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2 weeks ago

I've never heard it before, but it does fit the book. Which is really good.

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2 weeks ago
A drawing by Tom Gauld. A moonlit scene of an american suburban landscape. We can see seven very similar women (or the same woman seven times): one in a car, one reading a book on a bench, one looking out from a dark building etc. A drawing by by Tom Gauld. A moonlit scene of an american suburban landscape. We can see seven very similar women (or the same woman seven times): one in a car, one reading a book on a bench, one looking out from a dark building etc. Four isolated figures appear by moonlight in a scene with grass, two trees, a building, and a path. Cover of the book 'People from Bloomington' by Budi Dharma. Four isolated figures appear in a scene with grass, two trees, a building, and a path.

A pencil drawing, an alternative design and the original and moonlit versions of my cover for Budi Darma's previous book.

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2 weeks ago
A book cover for 'Olenka' by Budi Darma, translated by Tiffany Tsao. The image is a drawing by Tom Gauld. A moonlit scene of an american suburban landscape. We can see seven very similar women (or the same woman seven times): one in a car, one reading a book on a bench, one looking out from a dark building etc. A closeup of the book cover of 'Olenka' by Budi Darma, translated by Tiffany Tsao. The image is a drawing by Tom Gauld. A moonlit scene of an american suburban landscape. We can see seven very similar women (or the same woman seven times): one in a car, one reading a book on a bench, one looking out from a dark building etc.

I drew a cover for 'Olenka' by Budi Darma, translated by Tiffany Tsao. It's out in July but you can preorder it now. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/760272/olenka-by-budi-darma-translated-with-an-introduction-and-notes-by-tiffany-tsao/

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2 weeks ago

Some sketchbook doodles leading up to the cartoon below. Sadly there was no space for Kate Bush in the final artwork. #wutheringheights

The original art is now here: www.tomgauld.com/art-for-sale

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3 weeks ago
Title: "Literary ecologists celebrate the successful reintroduction of rare species to the Yorkshire moors." Image: The sun is going down on a bleak windswept moor, various figures and trees are each labelled as one of the following: 1. Classic literary Cathy and Heathcliff 2. Young, carefree Cathy and heathcliff 3. Sexy Hollywood Cathy and Heathcliff 5. Ghost Cathy, tormented Heathcliff 5. Spooky tree

My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com

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3 weeks ago

🙏

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3 weeks ago
The original ink drawing of a cartoon by Tom Gauld Panel 1. A graveyard: the gravedigger sits on a pile of earth. Hamlet stands before him, holding a skull. Hamlet: “Alas, poor yorick! I knew him, professor Horatio.” He tis looking at a lab-coated figure. Prof. Horatio: “Actually, my analysis suggests this skull belonged to a young woman from the late Neolithic era.” Panel 2. Leaving the graveyard Hamlet: “Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing.” Prof. Horatio: “What’s that, my lord?” Hamlet (angrily): “Dost thou have to spoil everything.” The original ink drawing of a cartoon by Tom Gauld A large Regency house. Two sisters named Emilia and Charlotte talk on an upper floor. "Mister Blackwell has come to call again." says Emilia as she looks out of the window "Oh, how I despise his uncouth manners and electric bicycle!" Charlotte says "Sister, you will end up a spinster if you insist on a historically accurate suitor." and continues "The romance novel has changed, Emilia, and so must we." Emilia replies "Easy for you to say. You are engaged to the richest werewolf in the county!" They are walking through the house. Charlotte says "Look at Cousin Lucy: She is quite plain, yet made a most advantageous match with the dragon queen of nalthrax." "True." says Emilia opening the door. The tall, solid figure of Mister Blackwell stands at the door wearing a top hat and tailcoat: "Ladies, I triumphed In my ice hockey match and won ten thousand a year in sponsorship! Miss Emilia, will you be my bride?" he is holding a hockey stick. Emilia swoons into Charlotte's arms. The original ink drawing of a cartoon by Tom Gauld Panel 1: Some social scientists (five stick figure portraits of scientists) Economist Archaeologist Geographer Psychologist Anthropologist Panel 2: Some antisocial scientists (five stick figures scuttling out of the panel) Introverted Astronomer Solitary Mathematician Reclusive Biologist Misanthropic Chemist Withdrawn Physicist The original ink drawing of a cartoon by Tom Gauld Panel One: A sportscaster speaks to a television camera "You join us just in time for the annual booksellers versus librarians tug of war." Panel Two: We see the participants warming up as he continues... "Two very strong teams this year, they’ve both been in training since February. As always, the real skill in this match is not to start chatting about boo-" Panel Three: "Too late!! A pair of librarians are discussing the new Margaret Atwood! A crowd is forming! The booksellers are joining in! It's all over!!" We see all the participants chatting. Panel Four: The sportscaster finishes up to the camera: "The rope lies untouched! The discussions continue! We have a draw for 325th year in a row! Join us again next year!" End.

I've put a few original drawings from recent cartoons up for sale on my website: www.tomgauld.com/art-for-sale

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3 weeks ago

It’s not specifically about one thing, more about general trends.

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1 month ago

😁

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