Seymour was endowed by Nature with a keen sense of the ludicrous, and this, aided by a knowledge of drawing, enabled him to execute designs of so humorous a character that his productions were immediately welcomed by the proprietors of such publications as _Figaro_ and _Bell's Life in London_, to which were thus given a vitality and a popularity they did not previously possess. Although at first the recompense was but scanty, hardly sufficient, indeed, to procure the necessaries of life, yet Robert Seymour felt it was the beginning of what might eventually resolve itself into a fairly remunerative vocation. His talent speedily brought him profitable commissions for more serious publications, while his pencil was simultaneously employed in sketching and drawing amusing incidents, especially such as related to fishing and shooting,--forms of sport which constituted his favourite recreation. Living at this time in the then rural suburb of Islington, he had many opportunities of observing the methods of Cockney sportsmen, who were wont to wander thither on Sundays and holidays, and whose inexperience with rod and gun gave rise to many absurdities and comic fiascos, thus affording the young artist abundant material for humorous designs. Until 1827, Seymour confined his labours to drawing for the wood-engravers. He now essayed the art of etching upon plates of steel or copper, simulating the style and manner of George Cruikshank; he even ventured to affix the _nom de plume_ of "Shortshanks" to his early caricatures, until he received a remonstrance from the famous George himself. Having attained some proficiency in both etching and lithography, he determined to make practical use of his experience, and in 1833 designed a series of twelve lithographic plates for a new edition of a work entitled "Maxims and Hints for an Angler," in which the humours of the piscatorial art were excellently rendered; he also executed a number of similar designs portraying, with laughable effect, the adventures and misadventures of the very "counter-jumpers" whose ways and habits came under his keen, observant eye. These amusing pictures, drawn on stone with pen-and-ink, and published as a collection of "Sketches by Seymour," achieved an immense popularity, and were chiefly the means of rendering his name generally familiar.