Following National Pet Day last week, we caught up with Rupert Fawcett, one of our talented creators who has been a part of our Creator Community since the very beginning. His relatable cards have sent giggles through our office, and they’re a hit with our customers too, with Rupert recently reaching over 100k thortful sales! Let’s find out a little more about the genius behind the cards…
Tell us a little about yourself?
Born and raised in London, I have been a professional cartoonist for thirty years and had twenty-eight books published. I’ve created various cartoon properties over the years including Off the Leash and On the Prowl, which focus on living with dogs and cats; I also post Off the Leash animations on YouTube.
Additionally, I’m also an illustrator and animal portrait artist in a completely different drawing style. My wife helps me run the business and my daughter is involved in the design and creation of my greeting card ranges.
Where do you get your inspiration from? Are you a pet owner yourself?
I was brought up with dogs and currently have a young whippet called Daisy. I am sometimes inspired by particular things I see but at other times the ideas just seem to pop into my head.
Do you have a favourite comic to date?
One of my favourite Off the Leash cartoons shows a couple in bed which is smothered in dogs and the woman is saying ’David, are we normal?’. I love the idea of a passionate dog lover questioning their sanity. When I first posted it on Facebook I was deluged with comments and photographs from people saying ‘So, other people do this too? It’s not just us!’
What made you decide to sell through thortful?
Another artist very kindly introduced me to Thortful when they were just getting started and it has worked out really well. They are a fantastic innovative company who really respect and take care of their artists. It feels good to be published by a philanthropic company which has an ethos which is not all about profit and sincerely wants to give something back to society.
What advice would you give to other creatives starting up?
Try to be original and keep banging on doors, I received over eighty rejection letters before I first got published in 1989!
Are you Team Cat or Team Dog? Either way, Rupert has you covered for your next occasion with his card ranges!
