You, or more likely your kids, may better know him as Cartoon Dave from his segments on Toasted TV, It’s Academic, Disney Channel and in the Sunday Telegraph over the past 15 years.

The Springwood resident has taught his cartooning secrets to over 100,000 kids in his workshops, happily accepting outrageous requests to create on his whiteboard. Yet the harmless dolphin still makes his knees tremble slightly.

“Every time I draw a dolphin it just looks like a really goofy, happy shark. I’d rather make him aggressive and give it massive fangs and have things spurting out its mouth and make it a shark, it’s a lot more fun. Dolphins are just too friendly,” said Dave.

What started as a passion for entertaining friends and family has slowly grown to include the television appearances, novels and picture books, with animation and video game projects in the pipeline.

The 39-year-old stresses to kids that modest artistic skills are no barrier to breaking into the business.

“As a teenager I used to draw every day. It wasn’t because I was fantastically brilliant at it but just because I enjoyed it,” said Dave.

“Honestly, show me anyone who can write their name and I’ll have them drawing their own groovy characters in under an hour.”

It wasn’t always clear to Dave that cartooning could be a career. He bounced between various jobs in his early-20s, even taking a turn as a door-to-door non-stick saucepan salesman.

His advice for anyone keen to try their luck as a cartoonist is to grab a handful of their drawings and show them to as many people as possible.

“All it takes is one person to like what they see . . . Take what you love and run with it. Practice it, and search for ways to make it a part of your life”

While Dave has unfortunately decided to pack up and move to Queensland, Mountains kids have one last chance to join one of his ‘Extreme Cartooning Events’ before he leaves.

An all-day workshop for children eight years old and over will be held at Penrith Library on Saturday, November 21 from 10am-4pm. For more information go to www.cartoondave.com