Here is my Big Board cartoon from 10th Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, which took place at the weekend. You can see, right, that I used a homemade template, Banksy-style, to get the "Buffering" icon right. I wasn't going to risk mucking that up.
This year I went for a very loose look and had it finished in about three and a half hours. A crucial decision was to apply the acrylic paints straight after the pencilling, then ink the lines. It saves having to re-ink when you paint over lines.
What I love about the festival is getting feedback from the public, not something cartoonists usually experience. It was good to hear the recognition as I drew. Many women and children claimed that this was familiar behaviour from their husbands/fathers.
But you can't please all of the people: a different version of the "Buffering" cartoon appeared in the main festival exhibition and when I arrived at the private view somebody was trying to explain it to the Mayor.
"Do you ever get a hollow feeling when you've looked forward to something for ages and then it finally happens?"
This Daleks cartoon also featured in the exhibition and was a seller. I seem to have drawn quite a lot of Daleks at Shrewsbury over the years (always a hit with the kids) and this one seemed appropriate with the festival theme of "Time" and the upcoming 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. It was also included in a
feature by the BBC on ten years of the festival. The exhibition runs until May 6 then it goes on tour (
details here).
As ever, as well as the live drawing and attending of exhibitions, there was much drinking, singing and carousing. But the least said about that the better. Feel free to add a caption to this picture.
Photo: Clive Goddard. I think. Frankly, there are so many pics of half-cut cartoonists flying around online right now, it's hard to keep track.
