The ability to make people laugh is powerful stuff. Artist Robert Duncan, from Long Crendon, discovered this at a very early age. Not only did it feel good when people laughed at his work, but the result made him feel good too. Besides, as he discovered while still at school, being capable of generating laughter is a great way of attracting the girls. So although he went to art college in the early 1960s and was taught to be a serious artist, it was his ability to draw cartoon characters and put a smile on the face of those who admired his drawings that spurred him on.

His first exhibition at Thame Museum went on display last year and proved so popular that he was invited back. His cartoons (and yes he insists they are cartoons not drawings) are on show at the museum until July 21. This year Robert is presenting a range of prints of his cartoon work, as well as canvasses of his Wallspace images, which he sees as a combination of his artistic ability and computer wizardry. He has also added a few conventional paintings just to show us all he can paint landscapes too.

The results appear to be very adept oil or watercolour images, but they have in fact been created by computer, drawing on the influence of his professional work during the past 50 years.

Creating a cartoon is not just a matter of doodling a few fluid lines; as Robert says, you need a good knowledge of anatomy. You have to know how far you can bend your little people before they begin looking odd. It looks simple, but be assured it is not. He spends a considerable amount of time getting his figures right.

Much of Roberts work is commissioned. He will create cartoons as ordered, though naturally he enjoys the freedom of coming up with something just for the sake of it — something that will make people laugh as the cartoons in his second exhibition do.