May Blog

I’m typing this underwater, watching my soon-to-be-banned hosepipe drift slowly by………………………….

However, the naff weather didn’t stop the annual Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival happening, 19th – 22nd April. Caricaturing, HUGE cartoons, great exhibitions, a giant, LIVE 30 foot cartoon strip and music, music, music all went down a treat with intrigued shoppers and cartoon buffs alike.

Some shoppers took “intrigued” to another level……….Whilst inking my 8foot by 5foot board, a couple lurked behind me. He said, “Its quite good, that” She said, “But you probably get all your ideas off the internet, don’t you ?” You’ve got to make a decision at this point. Do you enter into an explanation about where ideas come from, or do you smile and grit your teeth. I choose the latter. And it can happen repeatedly. I always carry spare teeth.

Later, whilst drawing quick cartoons in the market, I heard a male voice shout, “Irene ! They’re over here !” Viewers had been a bit thin on the ground, so this was encouraging. Then I heard the same male voice, but louder this time. “IRENE! THE TOILETS ! THEY’RE OVER HERE !” They pushed past, oblivious to the efforts of scribbling cartoonists. Maybe later, rude Mr Smallbladder wondered about the black felt-tip pen stroke on the back of his mac.

Meanwhile, back in the real world – the one Mr Cameron says we’re all in together – its getting harder and harder to find new cartooning jobs. But the only way in cartooning is to keep on keeping on – send, send, send – whether its to known cartoon users like Private Eye [No luck there for ages. I don’t think Mr. Hislop likes me] or Centipede Fanciers’ Gazette – eventually somebody will bite.

Whether Messrs Murdoch will get bitten remains to be seen, and there’s bound to be lots more corporate ducking and weaving at the Levinson Leveson enquiry before its over.

I also notice quite a few more references in the media to the country being run by posh boys who don’t understand Real Life.

This is encouraging because [a] its true and [b] even though it’s a long time before the next Election, we might get rid of them. Oh joy !

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