Doodles from the Bubble

An Experiment

2012-03-01T01:00:00.000Z

Don't quote me on this.

The Limits of Thesis Depression

2012-02-23T01:00:00.000Z

Once again, it snowed when I drew this. And then forgot it might not still be snowing two weeks later.

With a Little Help From My Friend

2012-02-16T01:00:00.000Z

I drew this when it was snowing, maybe it isn't snowing today, sorry. Artistic licence.

The Productive Procrastinator

2012-02-09T01:00:00.000Z

You know you hate your thesis when cleaning the toilet begins to feel like a particularly attractive alternative.

Magnetic Pride

2012-02-02T01:00:00.000Z

Next to the shopping list, just to remind yourself that Kantian Ethics are less necessary to your life than butter and jam.

Not Quite Dr No

2012-01-26T08:06:00.002Z

(To be fair, it's often more fun than writing The Thesis.)

Ring ring

2012-01-19T01:00:00.000Z

Hello, everyone - I have an announcement to make. I'm sorry to say that the number of weekly strips will from now on be reduced to one.

It's not because I suddenly need to work more (though my supervisor could beg to differ), or because I'm adopting triplets, or because I've got a six-figure publishing contract to fulfill (I wish), or because I've finally decided to learn bar chords on the guitar (though that would be good).

It's because since I started doing these strips twice a week, it's been extremely difficult for me to justify spending extra time drawing and painting other things. So I want to reclaim 3 hours of the 6 I'm currently spending on the Doodles every week, so I can devote them to improving my artwork and colouring, trying other formats, doing some illustration, etc.

So I might do extra strips here and there but for now I'm settling on a weekly strip every Thursday (also in The Cambridge Student).

Hope you don't mind too much, and thanks for reading my Doodles!

Clem x

Christmas Time

2011-12-25T01:00:00.000Z

Alright everyone, I'll see you on January 12th for the first Doodle of 2012! Until then have fun. I won't. I'll be writing stuff I should have been writing but I was too busy doodling.

Journey to Success

2011-12-22T01:00:00.000Z

It's all about having the right skills set.

Early Teenage Crisis

2011-12-18T01:00:00.000Z

It's going to be a fun Christmas holiday for Jenny.

(Almost) Independent Thought

2011-12-15T01:00:00.000Z

As [my supervisor] shrewdly observes, [my advisor] is absolutely right to point out the excellence of [my external examiner]'s theory.

The Rise of the Overdiplomaed

2011-12-11T01:00:00.002Z

send-your-bourgeois-parents-on-a-guilt-trip.com should be a Thing.

Life of Sisyphus

2011-12-08T01:00:00.000Z

If only you could just submit that.

Blind Justice

2011-12-04T01:00:00.000Z

Tu quoque, Dave!

Eight Weeks Later

2011-12-01T01:00:00.000Z

Jenny takes it philosophically. Some students have seriously studied Epicurus's philosophy and decided to adopt it.

Parental Anxiety

2011-11-27T01:00:00.000Z

Autobiographical? HA! NOOooo... *sorrymumanddad*

A Cracking Comic

2011-11-24T01:00:00.000Z

Merry Cambridge Christmas!

Early Start

2011-11-17T01:00:00.000Z

I'm not including myself in this. Sorry.

Sleepy Genius

2011-11-13T01:00:00.000Z

It's getting dangerously close to week 5 for Rob.

Week Five Nostalgia

2011-11-10T01:00:00.000Z

Maybe we could call it 'Year Five Blues'

Testing the Questionnaire

2011-11-06T01:00:00.000Z

Hamilcar is sort of the literal embodiment of SurveyMonkey.

Statistical Package for Suspicious Studies

2011-10-30T01:00:00.000+01:00

His Ethics & Risk Assessment checklist might be a little bit trickier than Jenny's.

Sweet Supervision

2011-10-27T01:00:00.001+01:00

Thankfully, Jenny hadn't hidden razor blades in the sweets.

Bedside Supervision

2011-10-23T01:00:00.000+01:00

Taste the Difference

2011-10-20T01:00:00.000+01:00

First published in TCS Michaelmas Issue 4

To the non-Cambridge people who might be reading this blog, Lord Sainsbury is our new University Chancellor.

Corrupting The Youth

2011-10-16T01:00:00.000+01:00

Probably the first time Tim was preferred to a philosophy essay.

Calculated Risks

2011-10-13T01:00:00.000+01:00

Papercuts and drinking too much coffee, arguably, are the main risks of this sort of enterprise.

A Friendly Warning to Freshers

2011-10-09T01:00:00.000+01:00

Just so your parents know what you're doing with that student loan money.

Keen Banter Day

2011-10-06T01:00:00.000+01:00

What will YOU sign up for and be on the mailing list for the next three years of your life without ever having the motivation to email the person and say you want to be taken off it because you've never been remotely interested in what the hell they're doing every Saturday afternoon?

Small Reasons To Celebrate

2011-10-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

Crunchy potato should only be allowed in crisps.

Indistinguishable From Magic

2011-09-29T01:00:00.000+01:00

This is one of the only autobiographical ones. Apart from the last two panels. And I only have an iPod Touch.

Unwanted Readers

2011-09-25T01:00:00.000+01:00

That is the ghosts' absolute favourite game. There's not much else to do in a library.

Thou Shalt Not Torture

2011-09-22T01:00:00.000+01:00

The library is a treacherous place.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree: A Definition

2011-09-18T01:00:00.000+01:00

Recently I found a book that was literally covered in notes from a visibly annoyed reader, culminating in 'HOW??? can you say that???'

Library Fever

2011-09-15T01:00:00.001+01:00

Not only he'll fail his PhD but also everyone else's.

Worthwhile Preparations

2011-09-11T01:00:00.000+01:00

One day I'll convert my whole PhD thesis to Wingdings.

The Next Stage

2011-09-08T01:00:00.000+01:00

He'll reach Acceptance some day. So will we all. Maybe.

Engaging With the Audience

2011-09-04T01:00:00.000+01:00

And we're back for a second year of comics (many) and fan mail (probably not that much)! hello everyone!

The One With the Theory

2011-09-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One With the Dress

2011-08-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One With the Cat

2011-08-25T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One With the Bear

2011-08-21T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One With the Baby

2011-08-18T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One With the Puns

2011-08-14T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One With All the Costumes

2011-08-11T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One When Naomi Saw Santa

2011-08-07T01:00:00.000+01:00

The One When Bertie Visited

2011-08-04T01:00:00.001+01:00

See you later in September

2011-07-31T01:00:00.000+01:00

J.K. Rowling, if you read this: sorry for the bad news on your birthday. Hope you have a good one.

Phenolemonology of the Ferrero

2011-07-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

I'm not being paid by Ferrero for this free publicity, by the way. Mr Ferrero, if you come across this website, send me 30 boxes of Rochers and I'll call it square. Grazie.

(Heart)breaking News

2011-07-24T01:00:00.000+01:00

As I write these words, news of Amy Winehouse's death have just been tweeted...

too late.

Idleness Exposed

2011-07-21T01:00:00.000+01:00

They didn't really drown her. They just threatened her with massive Playmobil-land destruction.

The Cave Revisited

2011-07-17T01:00:00.000+01:00

Ok, this is the last, for now, of the Cave series...

Outside In

2011-07-14T01:00:00.000+01:00

Seeing them in pencil is almost like seeing them naked. Not PG anymore!!

Curiouser and Curiouser

2011-07-10T01:00:00.000+01:00

'So not only I live in an artificial world, but the artist can't Photoshop to save her life!'

(preempting criticism: ur doin it rite)

Just A Story

2011-07-07T01:00:00.000+01:00

To be continued...

On the Tip of My Tongue

2011-07-03T01:00:00.000+01:00

The one on... you know, where you say... that thing about...

Slippery Slope

2011-06-30T01:00:00.000+01:00

Definitely should be a new trend in academic presentations.

All's Well That Starts Well

2011-06-26T01:00:00.001+01:00

Those who know me and who still have doubts as to the autobiographical dimension of these cartoons (they're NOT) will realise that this could not be further from autobiographically accurate.

TCS May Week Special!

2011-06-23T22:05:00.005+01:00

...It's the May Week Special! In which Jenny, Tim and Hamilcar go to a May Ball. You can download it HERE

And thanks to the wonderful Zoah Hedges-Stock, Editor Extraordinaire of the best Cantabrigian publication that is The Cambridge Student, I had the privilege to draw not only the front cover but also the back cover! So once you've read the front page, scroll down to the last.

And don't forget to read everything in the middle.

See you on Sunday for normal service. Meanwhile, please check out the new blog/podcast that I am launching with my friend Lauren, Kid You Not Podcast! It's about children's literature, but not as you think you know it. Children's literature, as some of you will know, is basically my life - as an academic, as an author, as a reader - and in Kid You Not I'm trying to get people interested in this wonderful, fascinating topic. Please subscribe to our iTunes feed, and share it if you like it!

Enjoy the new summer

Clementine x

Special Extra! extra special

2011-06-19T01:00:00.000+01:00

Just to help you wait for the May Week special, here's a little thing I excavated from my drawings drawer: the very (very) first appearance of (almost) Tim and Jenny in The Cambridge Student! At the time (2008 I believe?), I was doing cartoons to illustrate news stories. That one was about Emmanuel College organising a May Ball on the theme of 'The British Empire', which was seen by many people as colonialist.

When I drew Jenny and Tim for the first time a year and a half later, and still for TCS, I remember I'd enjoyed drawing 'Jennifer' in that cartoon and drew her similarly. Tim became much less obnoxious, and got blond hair!

See You V. Soon!

2011-06-12T01:00:00.000+01:00

Yep, sorry, people, that's how it is I'm afraid. I made a huge May Week special for The Cambridge Student which will cover both FRONT AND BACK COVER of the wonderful newspaper (be sure to pick it up!!), so as a result I'm giving myself a holiday and Tim and Jenny time to get ready for the event.

See you on JUNE 24th for the MAY WEEK SPECIAL!

Sensitive Tim

2011-06-09T01:00:00.000+01:00

Tim's ego and leg ended up bruised.

A Question Of Taste

2011-06-05T01:00:00.000+01:00

Dear newcomer to this blog, welcome. You won't understand this strip if you haven't read that one. In fact, you should even start at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start.

Sweet Dreams

2011-06-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

But don't forget - on the stroke of midnight, the carriage turns back into a pumpkin...

Some Things Take Time

2011-05-29T01:00:00.000+01:00

Tim's tactlessness exposed.

Aping the Idols

2011-05-26T01:00:00.000+01:00

Squeeze those gluts and engage the powerhouse! Hamilcar's getting ready for the Ball.

Heavily Realistic

2011-05-22T01:00:00.000+01:00

It could punt if it was a pole-ar bear...

It's Just an Optical Illusion

2011-05-19T08:00:00.000+01:00

Say bye to Bertie! he's going back to his attic to do maths.

The Incredible Truth

2011-05-15T01:00:00.000+01:00

FYI, Bertie is playing the new Nintendo 2DS. Amazing.

On Beauty

2011-05-11T21:29:00.000+01:00

I love fruitflies because they're like small X-men but without the pyrotechnics.

That awkward moment when a scientist tries to act normal

2011-05-08T01:00:00.000+01:00

Once I went to a friend's place and he was a scientist and on his desk was a book which was solely devoted to Rubik's Cube algorithms. True story.

An Alien Guest

2011-05-05T01:00:00.000+01:00

Next time, the Arrival of Cousin Bertie. Arts & Humanities students, tremble.

An Eye for Detail

2011-05-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

Dunno how he managed to forget these huge flowers. It looks like my parents' Ikea armchair.

For Dust Thou Art

2011-04-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

First published in The Cambridge Student Easter Issue 1, 2011

If I could be bothered, I'd turn this into an epic Da Vinci Code quest.

Yes - No - Don't Know

2011-04-24T01:00:00.000+01:00

Not sponsored by Ibuprofen. Or maybe it is. Who knows?

Some say the world will end in metaphysics

2011-04-21T01:00:00.000+01:00

Don't worry, Tim's fine. It's only watercolour fire. Wait, what?

The Meaning of Life

2011-04-17T01:00:00.000+01:00

Your guess is as good as mine.

Oculus Reparo

2011-04-14T08:00:00.002+01:00

Poking a bit of fun at myself here. I'm aware that Jenny is basically Hermione Granger in another setting. But childhood readings have that influence on you... as I very well know. Speaking of which... SHAMELESS PLUG: Come to the Open Day for the MPhil in Children's Literature at Cambridge on MAY 12TH at the Faculty of Education (184 Hills Road), 2-4pm to find out more about our course. Click here for our Facebook Event.

Philosophy in the Bathroom

2011-04-11T17:52:00.003+01:00

Next time, naked Tim wearing The Gay Science.

Sorry for the delay!

Disenchanted

2011-04-07T01:00:00.000+01:00

Can't watch Dangerous Liaisons without thinking of the smell.

Teaching Duty

2011-04-03T14:59:00.005+01:00

Or, How to spend a nice Sunday afternoon marking student essays. Sorry for the late posting! I was on holiday. Shocking I know.

Pictures inspired by this page !

Lol Cat

2011-03-31T01:00:00.000+01:00

Talking animal: I promise this is the first and last time.

Truth Will Out

2011-03-27T12:00:00.000+01:00

I don't know what it is about houmous that makes it 'middle-class'. Presumably a chickpea can only grow in close proximity to a V-neck jumper.

Blood, Sweat and Tits

2011-03-24T01:00:00.000Z

Of course, this is a slight exaggeration. Most delivery pictures on Facebook don't include a shot of the head just coming out (because they're difficult to take).

End of Term Blues

2011-03-20T01:00:00.000Z

Seeing all these pregnant ducks makes me nostalgic.

Impractical Reason

2011-03-17T01:00:00.000Z

That's why philosophers are always skeletal.

No Strings Attached

2011-03-13T01:00:00.000Z

To be continued: next time, the End-of-term party...

Milky Way to University

2011-03-10T09:00:00.001Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 8, 2011

Just imagine if she's pregnant with twins!

Don't Be a Nutter, Just Eat Nutella

2011-03-06T01:00:00.000Z

Sometimes we take things too seriously in Academialand. Happy Pancake Day!

Peaceful Protest

2011-03-03T08:39:00.002Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 7, 2011

For those who don't know, last week 2 students who were peacefully protesting against cuts were illegally arrested and peppersprayed in Kings' College by the police.

On the shoulders of giants

2011-02-27T01:00:00.000Z

BONUS GAMES: Name that Philosopher! Level of difficulty: 1.

Not Even Remotely

2011-02-24T09:00:00.000Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 6, 2011

Unfortunately this strip is completely untrue. The dress is out of stock. (SO I'VE HEARD. NOT THAT I CHECKED.)

The Harsh Truth

2011-02-20T01:00:00.000Z

True story. I'm still crying.

By the way, this is the fiftieth comic!

The End of an Era

2011-02-17T09:00:00.000Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 5, 2011

I think there's an ex-Vice Chancellor out there who must be dancing with joy at her narrow escape.

The Empirical Mind

2011-02-13T01:00:00.000Z

Formal Hall: a place where misunderstandings between disciplines get cleared up... or not.

Valentine's Dead

2011-02-10T08:28:00.005Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 4, 2011 - Co-written by Matthew Topham

Dear readers,

I'm afraid that for once (and I promise it won't happen again (soon)) this is fairly incomprehensible to you if you don't read The Cambridge Student. But if you don't, why not? You can download all the issues in PDF!

Matthew Topham is my TCS 'neighbour' - he writes the column opposite my weekly comic - and this week we paired up in a metajournalistic way to combine his wry statements with my ink and watercolour.

QED.

Taking this opportunity to thank you (yes, you) for visiting the blog - you may not leave comments but I can see you on Google analytics... (ooh creepy) and recently there's been more and more of you. So thank you! please come back. Next time the strip will be fully comprehensible for the non-TCS-literate.

Clémentine

Outside the Box

2011-02-06T01:00:00.001Z

http://www.gender-agenda.org.uk

Yes, I know, shameless promotion. All hail Gender Agenda, the official CUSU Women's Campaign magazine, which I am co-editing. The printed issue is being launched today, 2-5 at the Café Project on Jesus Lane. Come, grab a copy, drink, eat, and listen to feminist poetry and feminist music!

If you can't make it and you want me to UMS a copy to you, drop me an email at womens-genderagenda@cusu.cam.ac.uk

Sophie's Choice

2011-02-03T09:00:00.000Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 2, 2011.

I'm not saying a pole can't empower. Just look at all the punters.

Every little helps

2011-01-30T01:00:00.000Z

Barclays don't care that you spent 392340 hours working on that article as long as they get the hundred quid.

It's a life of Sisyphus, my dear friends.

The Examined Life

2011-01-27T08:26:00.002Z

First published in TCS Lent Issue 2, 2011

Not having exams is great but at the same time it's a bit of an anticlimax. You get to May Week and you realise you have no reason to celebrate. Well, right, you've handed in your thesis but it's just not the same feeling. So then you don't really feel like going to May Balls anymore. Or maybe that's just the '4 years+ at Cambridge' syndrome...