The cartoonist in 2009

Preparations for the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival 2009 are well under way.

This year's festival theme is The Science of Nature to coincide with the town's year-long celebration of Shropshire lad Charles Darwin’s birth. This year also coincides with the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book On the Origin of Species.

The Guardian’s Steve Bell will be exhibiting his unique take on “Anthropomorphism”; expect monkeys, Dubya, penguins, Blair, Brown and more.

There will be an exhibition of historical science cartoons from the nineteenth century that Darwin himself is likely to have have seen. These have been borrowed from collections at the University of Kent at Canterbury, the British Museum print room and the National Cartoon Museum. Curation is by Adrian Plant at the Shrewsbury Museum and is underway now.

And there will be a visiting exhibition from internationally regarded Czech cartoonist Miroslav Bartak who draws jokes from the miracles of modern science.

A spokescartoonist for the organising committee offered Bloghorn this quote:

"The funding is, as ever, as tight as grandma on the absinthe, but the all-hands-to-the-wheel attitude of the stout yeomanry on the ground will bring a fat ray of sunshine into next April’s showers. The festival weekend is the 24th-26th April 2009 although the exhibitions will run through April."

Bloghorn would like to urge any commercial enterprise interested in associating their name with the potent mixture of large crowds, extreme levity and high seriousness to contact the organisers from here.

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent
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Scarfe comes to Shrewsbury

The cartoonist Gerald Scarfe is touring the UK with his show Scarfe On The Road. It comes to the Shrewsbury Music Hall on the 4th of September

Scarfe is one of Britain’s most popular caricaturists and is political cartoonist for the Sunday Times. For more details on this illustrated talk, which spans his 40-year career, see the above flyer (click to enlarge). You can book tickets here.

Shrewsbury is no stranger to cartooning as every April it hosts the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival, the foremost event of its kind in the country.

The PCO: British cartoon talent

Cartooning in the media: It's not all bad news

PCOer Royston Robertson says we cartoonists need to lighten up about media coverage of our profession

There’s no doubt that cartoons are enjoying an unusually high profile in the British media at the moment.

We’ve seen acres of coverage for the launch of new kids’ comic The DFC (left), the 70th anniversary of The Beano and Phill Jupitus’s comic strip programme on Radio Four. There has even been a graphic novel serialised in The Times.

So, are cartoonists happy about this? Not a bit of it.

I agree with Neil Dishington, who wrote on this blog yesterday that the Phill Jupitus thing was nothing special, but is that because we’re cartoonists and therefore he’s preaching to the converted? I think it’s likely that many listeners would have found Jupitus’s sincere enthusiasm about comic strips quite infectious.

Isn’t it a good thing that shows like these exist? Is it not the case that the only thing worse than the media talking about cartoons is the media not talking about cartoons?

But they misrepresent cartooning, some cartoonists cry, it’s obvious they don’t know what they’re talking about. Well, maybe. I’m sure I heard James Naughtie talking about "animators" at The Beano on the Today show on Monday, but is there a single profession that doesn’t think it is often misrepresented by the media? I know journalists who think the media misrepresents them.

Another common complaint is that any media obsession with cartoons is just a passing fad. Again, that may be true, perhaps they’re using cartoons to cheer us up amid all the credit crunch stuff, but then that is the role of most cartoons. And let’s not forget that the media treats many subjects in a faddish way before moving on to the next thing.

And as for the grumbling over celebs such as Jupitus drawing cartoons, cartooning has always been something where everyone wants to have a go. That's because it's fun. We often encourage that attitude, at events such as The Big Draw and the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival.

All you can do is keep on doing good cartoon work and hope that those who commission cartoons for publication will realise that it is best to go to a professional.

The PCO: Professional cartoon talent

Snapshots from Shrewsbury - the bigger picture

First person testimony on how it feels to try and make something this big in less than ten hours comes from PCOer Pete Dredge.

’For the majority of our working year we toil away in solitary isolation, hidden away, apparently unloved and unsure of our worth. Two days in Shrewsbury's town square working on a big board in front of an appreciative audience and we leave with enough ego to see us through the next twelve months. Thank you people of Shrewsbury."

Click the picture to enlarge it.
It's British cartoon talent

Cartoon workshops: inky fingers and flying pickles

Workshops and cartoon "clinics" were a major part of the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival as usual this year, and PCO members Andy Gilbert, Paul Hardman and Tim Harries were at the forefront, helping members of the public to develop their cartooning skills.

Here's Tim Harries on how he ran his "Create a Comic Strip" workshop:

"I explained the mechanics of producing a three panel strip, from character design, story refinement to actual drawing techniques. This was all duly noted and I suspect roundly ignored by several of the more boisterous participants, judging by the finished strips. I'm not complaining mind you, invariably the strips produced that day were energetic, great fun and frankly bonkers.

"Children have a terrific ability to just get on with the business of drawing, unencumbered by any doubts regarding their artwork. The young chap finishing off his 12-panel creation Bob the Flying Pickle was in no doubt that Bob was indeed a pickle that flew. More critical eyes would have perhaps renamed him 'Bob the wobbly squiggle' but that's missing the point. Fun was being had, ideas were being explored and pickles were indeed flying. And you can't say fairer than that."



Photos by Gerard Whyman.

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Snapshots from the Shrewsbury cartoon festival

It does get about - British cartoon talent

Snapshots from Shrewsbury

PCOer Kipper Williams at work on a Big Board during the recent cartoon festival. Bloghorn will be publishing more reportage from the event shortly.

It's British cartoon talent

Cartoons in the Arts section

After a weekend exploring the subject of "Art" at the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, it was good to see The Guardian dedicating several pages of its G2 Arts section to cartoons yesterday.

Hillary Clinton by Barry Blitt, from The Guardian

The paper carried an article looking at the work of cartoonists attempting to get to grips with depicting US presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. Cartoonists were canvassed on how they approached their subject and the paper carried lots of images.

You can read the article and see the cartoons here:
National lampoon

UPDATED: Click image to enlarge



And here is some British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival video report from the Shropshire Star

Here is a link to a nice video report on part of the cartoon festival. This was produced by journalist Richard Tisdale who works at the Shropshire Star newspaper. Thanks Richard.
It's British cartoon talent

The many friends of cartoonists

Cartoon events are all about spreading the news of great pictures.
The festival organisers would like to thank, via Bloghorn, the many writers, bloggers and journalists who have supported the promotion of the festival and the cartoonists who make it.
It's British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival is a big hit

Bloghorn would like to offer some applause to the official organisers and sponsors of the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival, as the main event weekend has just passed by. More than 40 cartoonists attended and with a little light herding they provided the public with a large range of activities over three days and at numerous venues.

We shall be publishing some reports on those activities and celebrating some of the art and entertainment from the Shrewsbury festival here on Bloghorn.

British cartoon talent

The living UK cartoonists

PCOer Bill Stott writes:

We're good at celebrating the work of dead cartoonists in the UK, but less adept at flagging up good living ones. True, some live cartoonists are celebrated, but not many. Only recently, the media fate of visual humour was placed in the hands of the Hayward Gallery on London's South Bank. The curator of the resulting show chose not to feature any cartoonists, living, dead, or even those just a bit off colour. Instead the job of representing visual humour in the UK was given to some other people who turned in deeply unfunny, clunky pieces of preciousness, technically, described as art. We say, Enough! We also say find a joke (sometimes) by going here - or to, yes, you guessed it, Shrewsbury.

Bloghorn notes that you'll probably find Bill Stott there too.

British cartoon talent

Cartoon workshops at the Shrewsbury festival

Tim Harries running a cartoon workshop Click image to enlarge

Cartoon workshops are a key part of the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival, and PCO members Tim Harries and Andy Gilbert will be running two of them.

Tim will host a workshop called Create a Comic Strip on Saturday (April 19) at Shropshire Wildlife Trust, 2pm–4pm. This is aimed at children aged 8 to 12 and families.

Andy’s workshop is called Animal Antics and is aimed at younger children, ages 6 to 11. It’s designed to help them to draw cartoon animals. This workshop is also on Saturday, from 10.30am - 12.30pm, and is held at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery.

Both are drop-in workshops and are free, with no need to book. Children must be accompanied.

There are other workshops at the festival plus a Cartoon Clinic, where budding cartoonists of all ages are invited to bring their work for a critique and some tips from the professionals. See the events section of the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival website for more details.

British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival - In The Soup with Gordon Brown

Caricature of Prime Minister Gordon Brown appearing in cartoonist Dave Brown's one-man show at this year's Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival. Cartoon courtesy of Dave Brown. Click to enlarge the image.

British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival - But is it Art?

PCOer Alex Hughes submitted this caricature of Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the "But is it Art?" show at this year's Shrewsbury festival. Click the picture to enlarge it.

British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival - But is it Art?

One of PCOer Mike Turner's contributions to the "But is it Art?" show running at the Shrewsbury Festival.

British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival - But is it Art?

A contribution for the "But is it Art?" show from PCOer Ken Pyne. The show is currently being exhibited in Shrewsbury until the end of April. Click to enlarge the picture.

British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival and the UK Cartoon Museum

The curator of the UK's national Cartoon Museum Anita O'Brien has contributed an exhibition to the Shrewsbury festival this year. This cartoon from Steve (Bestie) Best is one of the many on show now. You can click the cartoon to see a larger version.

British cartoon talent

Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival - Ralph Steadman on Martin Amis

Among the exhibits in the caricature show at this year’s Shrewsbury cartoon festival is this drawing of author Martin Amis by Ralph Steadman.
British cartoon talent

A Shrewsbury Big Boarder writes - about drawing

PCOer Pete Dredge writes about making a Big Board for the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival:

I've been in training for weeks now, aiming to be at peak fitness for the Big Board Challenge at Shrewsbury this month. Yes, the "knee-bending, back-stretching, squat-thrusting and magnum marker pen-clutching" exercise DVD has been dusted off once again in preparation for this most unnatural of acts for the normally indoor, horizontal A4 practitioner of the cartoon art. Rather like a finely tuned Test cricketer being asked to adjust to the Twenty20 version of the game, the entire spectacle is rather more entertaining for the uninitiated than for the true connoisseur of the art!

British cartoon talent