The PCO Artist of the Month for December 2008 is Denis Dowland.
Denis’s output ranges from traditional gags, or, joke cartoons to “conceptual absurdism” (his description).
He tells Bloghorn that from a young age that he was always drawing;
“As a child I was perceived as a gifted artist, due mostly, I imagine, to my favouring pen and ink which perhaps isn’t the most instinctive medium for a young child. My work covered surrealism and assorted weirdness until the late 80s when a sadly short-lived mini boom in new-wave satire, for want of a better term, and an awakening to the possibilities of the graphic novel inspired me to produce a number of faintly surreal and twisted short stories for the more forward-looking magazines of the day.
“It did not turn out to be a living proposition, however, so I started producing gag cartoons, mostly unpublishable due to size and/or subject, for individual buyers, until the frustrations of word of mouth existence made me call it a day. We had to wait 10 years for the digital revolution to re-open the doors and persuade me to have another go.”
There will be more from our interview with Denis next Friday.
The PCO: Great British cartoon talent
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