Chris Madden Cartoons

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  • Badger illustration

    badger drawing by chris madden

    An illustration of a badger

    Badger drawing or painting

    A deliberately distorted image of a badger. The graphic art approach to this image of a badger is because the shape and markings of badgers lend themselves to the graphic style. It would look good as a wood block print or similar craft image .
    This drawing was created due to the current debate about culling badgers to try to stop bovine tb.
    Cartoon reference number: a409

  • Flying crow chasing an insect – illustration

    crow chasing dragonfly art

    An illustration of a flying crow chasing an insect
    A digital painting of a crow

    A cartoon crow that looks rather sinister and menacing

    Crows are amongst my fovourite birds

    An illustration or clipart about birds, crows, flight.

    Cartoon reference number: a404
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  • Drawing of a flying crow – taking off from a branch

    crow flying from branch - drawing

    A drawing of a crow in flight
    Illustration or sketch of a crow

    A drawing of a crow taking off from the branch

    This is an impressionistic drawing, hopefully capturing something of the dark, sinister presence of crows, which is one of the things that make them such impressive creatures (along with their great intelligence too).
    Cartoon reference number: a401

  • Reindeer Christmas card cartoon or illustration

    Santa and inflatable reindeer

    Reindeer christmas card cartoon

    A cartoon of a reindeer for use on a Christmas card

    This cartoon reindeer can be used as a Christmas card or any other form of Christmas use.
    If it is used as a high-volume commercial Christmas card a royalty based payment agreement is necessary.
    Cartoon reference number: a397

  • African elephant logo

    logo with African elephant - with map of Africa as ear

    African elephant logo

    A logo about African wildlife, featuring an African elephant with a map of Africa as its ear

    This illustration may make a suitable logo for a wildlife organisation or environmental campaign group campaigning against the killing of elephants for the ivory trade.
    A logo on the theme of “Save the African elephant”
    Ref a638

  • The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing

    the fox knows many things - cartoon

    The fox knows many things but the hedgehog knows one big thing.
    Cartoon or book illustration

    The saying is attributed to the ancient Greek poet Archilochus
    The phrase was adapted by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin for his essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox”.
    An image about ways of thinking, personality types, thought processes, fables, psychology.
    Cartoon drawn: 2012
    Cartoon reference number: a366

  • The tortoise and the hare – Aesop’s fables

    the tortoise and the hare aesops fables cartoon

    The tortoise and the hare – Aesop’s fables

    Illustration for the tortoise and the hare from Aesop’s fable, with the hare sitting on the tortoise’s back while reading the book of Aesop’s fables.

    Cartoon reference number: a365

  • Person wearing a snail shell as a hat

    snail shell hat illustration

    Illustration of a person wearing a snail shell as a hat

    This picture doesn’t mean anything specific. I just made it up. Having said that, it obviously has hidden unconscious meaning.
    This hat may be a fashion item or a helmet.
    It may imply that the wearer is a slow thinker, with a snail brain. Slow thinking isn’t necessarily a bad thing by the way – it might mean considered thinking rather than rash impulsive thinking. Maybe you were being rash to jump to the conclusion that slow thinking might be bad!
    An illustration about thinking, unusual headgear, molluscs.

    Cartoon reference number: a361

  • Illustration – origami horse leaping out of a book

    origami horse illustration

    Illustration: origami horse leaping out of a book

    A young girl riding on the back of an origami horse

    The origami horse in this illustration represents the horses depicted in children’s fiction aimed at young girls. The horse is made out of folded paper that represents the pages of children’s fiction.
    The way that the child is riding off on the horse (almost flying) represents the flights of fancy and fantasy created by fiction and literature, and the sense of adventure and escapism.

    Cartoon reference number: a347

  • Thinking, Fast and Slow – a tortoise and hare Cartoon

    tortoise and hare thinking fast and slow cartoon

    Thinking, Fast and Slow.
    Tortoise and Hare Cartoon

    A cartoon of the tortoise and hare from Aesop’s fables.
    The hare is reading the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

    Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, is about the theory that the cognitive functions of the brain operate in two distinct systems, one that operates impulsively and on reflect and one that operates on a more thoughtful and considered level. Both are necessary for survival, with the impulsive system making the snap decisions that are needed to keep you out of trouble.
    In my cartoon the tortoise (representing the fast, impulsive part of the brain) is sitting on the back of the tortoise, with the implication that it’s trying to be a bit less impulsive and a bit more thoughtful.

    A cartoon about psychology, evolutionary psychology, the mind, fables.

    Cartoon reference number: a344

  • Snail on fire – environmental illustration

    snail on fire

    An illustration of a snail with its shell on fire

    Burning snail image

      This is a disturbing image, without any specific meaning in mind, but nevertheless very evocative.
    It could be an environmental illustration symboliseing the destruction of the ecosysten or the environment.
    The fact that a snail is a slow creature could symbolise the way that nature cannot run away from the destruction of the environment that is occurring.
    The image is a digital painting, based quite closely on photos of snails so that it looks realistic (which is important for the impact of the image).
    The image could be used in environmental campaigns or media articles and reports about the environment.
    Created: 2012
    Cartoon reference number: a342

  • Insect cartoons – house fly cartoon

    fly in armchair reading book - cartoon

    Insect cartoons – house fly cartoon

    Cartoon of a house fly reading a book (or a magazine)
    The book is a pulp fiction horror book

    An anthropomorphic cartoon of a housefly sitting in an armchair, reading

    Part of the humour in this cartoon is that the housefly is sitting in such a ‘homely’ setting, and is obviously not an unpleasant creature at all.
    Notice the pattern on the chair cover – composed of insects (where the human equivalent would show flowers), and the piece of cake, which is going nicely mouldy.
    This cartoon is in a similar vein to a Gary Larson cartoon from his Far Side cartoon feature. However, the similarity is coincidental, as I’ve been producing cartoons like this since before Gary Larson became established. It’s a sort of zeitgeist thing, where different people working in the same field produce similar work at the same time, because it’s in the air.

    A slightly different version of this cartoon first appeared as a greetings card published by Paperlink

    Cartoon reference number: a338

  • Anthropomorphism cartoon – an animal reading about anthropomorphism

    anthropomorphism - animal reading - cartoon

    Anthropomorphism cartoon – an animal reading about anthropomorphism

    Cartoon showing a rhinoceros reading a book about anthropomorphism, which is anthropomorphic

    Cartoon about rhinos,anthropomorphic projection
    Cartoon reference number: a326
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  • Gardening cartoon – insect repellant

    gardening humour insect-repellant

    Gardening humour – how to repel midges

    How to repel midges when outdoors

    Midges are a pest in the garden and outdoors. They may be small but they go around in swarms and their bites can drive a person to the point of distraction. However, a slight breeze is all it takes to get rid of them.
    This cartoon shows a method of producing such a breeze.
    Cartoon reference number: a665

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • halloween lanterns in garden to scare cats – cartoon

    halloween lanterns to scare cat cartoon

    Autumn gardening cartoon – halloween cartoon

    Cartoon showing a gardener painting halloween lantern faces onto his prize pumpkins.

    He is painting the halloween faces onto the pumpkins in an attempt to scare cats away so that they don’t damage his garden (such as by using his freshly dug seed beds as a cat toilet).

    Cartoon reference number: a272

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Creepy crawlies on garden flowers cartoon

    bugs on flowers cartoon

    Garden insects cartoon

    Cartoon about garden insects on flowers.

    A gardener looking closely at a flower and noticing the tiny insects that are living on it that had been unnoticed until he examined the bloom closely.
    The gardener is saying ” It’s wonderful how every spring I’m newly surprised by the incredible shapes and colours of the flowers in the garden – and of the insects that are hiding between their petals.”
    A cartoon about garden wildlife, secret life in the garden, invertebrates, nature, natural gardening, organic gardening, eco-friendly gardening.
    Cartoon reference number: a288

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Frogs spawning in garden pond – garden gnomes cartoon

    frogs spawning garden gnomes cartoon

    Garden wildlife cartoon and garden gnome cartoon

    Cartoon of a garden pond that has garden gnomes round the edge holding coils of barbed wire in order to keep cats away from the pond

    The garden gnomes are being used to protect the frogs and fish in the pond from the local cats.
    Cats are a problem around garden ponds, especially in the frog spawning season.

    Garden gnomes are normally holding fishing rods, spades, wheelbarrows or other gardening implements. Gnomes holding barbed wire is a novelty.
    Part of the joke is that this particular type of garden gnome is actually useful rather than just being decorative.

    Cartoon reference number: a265

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Vegetable gardening cartoon – cabbage white butterfly cartoon

    cabbage white butterfly cartoon

    Vegetable gardening cartoon – a cabbage white butterfly in the veg patch

    Cartoon showing a girl seeing a cabbage white butterfly in her parents’ vegetable garden

    She is saying “Daddy – a lovely white butterfly has just landed on your cabbages!”

    A cartoon about the innocence of childhood, garden pests, gardeners’ banes.

    Cartoon reference number: a250

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • Gardening cartoons – butterflies are like flying flowers

    butterflies are like flying flowers - cartoon

    Gardening cartoons – butterflies are like flying flowers

    Cartoon showing butterflies in a garden

    The gardener is saying “I like to think of butterflies as aerial flower displays”

    A cartoon about attracting insects to the garden, butterfly gardening, garden design.

    Cartoon reference number: a249

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Garden bird feeder and bird seed cartoon

    bird feeder and bird seed cartoon

    Cartoon about garden bird feeders, feeding stations and bird seed

    Cartoon showing a bird feeder full of bird seed

    The gardener is asking his wife if she has seen his prize marrow seeds

    The implication is that the gardener’s wife has used the prize vegetable seeds as bird food.

    Cartoon reference number: a248

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Bird nesting box cartoon – a bird box with classical facade

    bird box with classical facade cartoon

    Cartoon about garden birds and bird nesting boxes

    Bird nesting box cartoon – a classical facade for a bird box

    A gardener nailing a classical facade in front of a hole in a tree that’s being used by a bird as a nest

    A cartoon about attracting birds to gardens, bird box design, wildlife merchandising.

    Cartoon reference number: a247

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Cartoon about garden birds and bird nesting boxes

    Bird nesting box cartoon

    Cartoon about garden birds and bird nesting boxes

    Cartoon showing a gardener looking at a bird that is nesting in a birdbox in his garden.
    The bird is building a nest in the nesting box and is carrying nesting material to the nest.

    The man is thinking “Isn’t that one of my prize delphinium seedlings?”

    Birds as garden pests taking seedlings.
    The cartoon also about the subject of being taken advantage of – the gardener has thoughtfully and kindly provided the bird with a nesting box, but the bird has then proceeded to take the gardener’s plants. Of course in real life the bird wouldn’t realise what it was doing, but this is a cartoon, and in cartoons animals are often as conscious of their actions as humans are – in fact they are humans in animal form.

    Cartoon reference number: a246

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Bird cartoon – attracting birds to your garden with a bird table

    autumn bird table bush cartoon

    Cartoon about attracting birds to your garden with a bird table

    The gardener has put a bush that is full of ripe berries onto the bird table to attract birds

    A cartoon about encouraging wildlife in the garden, bird feeding stations, bird feeders.
    Cartoon reference number: a243

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Insect pests in gardens – cartoon

    ants garden pests cartoon

    Garden pests cartoons. Ants in the garden

    Cartoon about garden insect pests – ants eating food on a garden table

    Cartoon showing a man relaxing at a garden table, but with a column of ants eating his cake on the table. The man is reading a manual titled “How to get rid of ants”.

    A cartoon about insect pests in gardens, ants attracted to sweet food in a garden.

    Cartoon reference number: a239

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.
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  • Wildlife gardening cartoon – a nesting box for robins

    robin bird box - cartoon

    Garden humour – putting a nesting box for robins

    Cartoon showing a gardener putting a bird box in a tree to encourage birds to nest in his garden

    The joke is in the fact that there’s a robin building a nest in the packaging or packing box that held the nesting box kit rather than in the nesting box itself.
    Robins are well known for building their nests in unusual places, such as in discarded kettles, tin cans etc.

    Cartoon reference number: a218

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • Joke about the arrival of summer – the first swallow and first hay fever sneeze

    first swallow and first hay fever sneeze joke

    Cartoon about the arrival of summer – the first swallow arriving at the same time as the first hay fever sneeze

    Showing gardeners in a garden seeing the first swallow of summer and hearing the first hay fever sneeze at the same time.

    Traditionally it’s the sound of the first cuckoo that heralds the summer, however cuckoos are now becoming rarer. Meanwhile, hay fever is becoming more common, so the sound of a hay fever sneeze is replacing the call of the cuckoo as the harbinger of summer.
    A cartoon about allergies, seasons.
    Cartoon reference number: a207

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • Garden cartoons – cats watching frogs spawning in a garden pond

    cats watching frogs spawning - joke

    Garden pond cartoon. Cats watching frogs spawning in a garden pond

    A cartoon showing cats staring into a garden pond in which frogs are spawning

    A cartoon about wildlife in the garden, encouraging wildlife, cats catching birds and animals in the garden, deterring cats, frogs’ breeding season, spring in the garden.
    Cartoon reference number: a204

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • Using Christmas decorations as bird scarers

    using christmas decorations as bird scarers joke

    Christmas cartoon. Using Christmas decorations as bird scarers

    A joke showing a gardener hanging up spare Christmas decorations to scare birds away from the seedlings in his garden

    A cartoon about bird deterrents, protecting seedlings, birds as garden pests.

    Drawn: Dec 2010

    Cartoon reference number: a199

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • Cat toilet cartoon

    cat joke - looking at seed bed

    Cat cartoon. A cat looking at a freshly raked seed bed in a garden and thinking of using it as a toilet

    One of the problems of cats in gardens is that they often use parts of the garden as a toilet

    A cartoon about cats, litter trays, gardening, toilets, seed beds, deterring cats.
    Cartoon reference number: a198

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.

  • Cat cartoon. A cat trying to catch birds at a garden bird table

    cat catching birds cartoon

    Funny cat cartoon. A cat trying to catch birds at a garden bird table

    A humorous illustration about the problem of cats stalking birds in gardens

    A cartoon about garden wildlife, bird tables, feeding birds.

    Drawn: July 2011

    Cartoon reference number: a197

    See my book of gardening cartoons here.