i was an independent, radical political cartoonist for online progressive sites and for the student print media from 2000-05 at which point i gave up the work in the face of undeniable evidence that i was totally wasting my time. some of the cartoons are still good and, with my objective eye, i would venture to say three or four are classics.
the collection represents a peculiar snapshot of history as the protest movement reacted to afghanistan and iraq II. for a moment we thought we could make a difference. then it all just carried on as before.
i started out using a dip pen and watercolour, pretty much in the mould of Guardian editorial cartoonists, then progressed to using digital colour. later on, when i got really angry about Iraq, i started scribbling in pencil and using the first draft as the finished article.
in all that time i sold only three cartoons - one about the labour party and terrorism to Peace News, and two more to Zmag about the Israeli wall and the Goliath thing. With the rest i worked for free and i was happy to do so, setting my own agenda, knowing i was on the side of the righteous.
one time newspaper editor and radical journalist, John Pilger, was a big influence on my work. he said at one point that if he were ever to edit a newspaper again i would be the person he'd want as editorial cartoonist. a great compliment at the time tho we've since parted ideological company somewhat (see early essays for an explanation)
click thro the slideshow below or let it play on automatic
the collection represents a peculiar snapshot of history as the protest movement reacted to afghanistan and iraq II. for a moment we thought we could make a difference. then it all just carried on as before.
i started out using a dip pen and watercolour, pretty much in the mould of Guardian editorial cartoonists, then progressed to using digital colour. later on, when i got really angry about Iraq, i started scribbling in pencil and using the first draft as the finished article.
in all that time i sold only three cartoons - one about the labour party and terrorism to Peace News, and two more to Zmag about the Israeli wall and the Goliath thing. With the rest i worked for free and i was happy to do so, setting my own agenda, knowing i was on the side of the righteous.
one time newspaper editor and radical journalist, John Pilger, was a big influence on my work. he said at one point that if he were ever to edit a newspaper again i would be the person he'd want as editorial cartoonist. a great compliment at the time tho we've since parted ideological company somewhat (see early essays for an explanation)
click thro the slideshow below or let it play on automatic