How to draw a virus: spare a thought for the Covid-19 cartoonists

Written by Guy Venables originally for The Spectator (with a smattering of bonus content cartoons): While stumbling the 30 yards from bed to work, the freelance gag cartoonist is usually trying to decide which of the hundreds of news stories to draw a hilarious cartoon about that day. It used to be one of the […]

Not the 2020 Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival

Cancelled poster by © Roger Penwill Glenn Marshall writes: This weekend would have seen the main events of the Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival  but sadly, like so much else, it has had to be cancelled. One of the organisers, Roger Penwill, commented a few weeks ago when the postponement was announced “We felt that we had no […]

Political Cartoon Awards 2019 – The Results

The winners! Peter Schrank standing in for Peter Brookes, Photo © Kasia Kowalska
 Clive Goddard writes: Another year of backslapping and mingling with strangers has been and gone at the glitzy Poltical Cartoon Awards. This time the whole event was forced to decamp from its usual palatial venue due to ‘the impending election’ causing everyone to cram […]

The London Cartoon Show

Poster illustration by © Christopher Burke Clive Goddard writes: Coming very shortly to a library near you (if you live in, work in or are visiting that London): A free exhibition of cartoons on the theme of London, past and present, drawn by members of the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (PCO). Be it kings and queens, […]

Herne Bay Cartoon Festival 2019 – Bumper bonus photo album!

The traditional festival team photo at the start of the day. Last Sunday saw the annual live drawing event on the Herne Bay pier as part of the Cartoon Festival which this year was themed around the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Our chief PCO paparazzo Kasia Kowalska was dispatched to record that […]

Air Show

Back on planet earth, away from the lunar orbiting Herne Bay Cartoon Festival, Helen Wilde & Terry Sole are putting on an environment-flavoured exhibition on the theme of ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ at  One New Street Gallery. As in previous years the exhibition is a mixture of art, cartoons, illustrations and the odd marshall. There’s lots […]

Book Marks exhibition

Poster cartoons by © Sarah Boyce, The Surreal McCoy & Noel Ford. Clive Goddard writes: An exhibition of cartoons on the theme of books, literature and libraries drawn by the UK’s finest and funniest cartoonists. Appropriately enough the show will be taking place at Westminster Reference Library from June 3rd to 22nd and is free […]

Rejection dejection

Photo ©  Mika Schick The Surreal McCoy writes: When you give a talk on rejection the main worry of course is that no one will turn up. Thankfully quite a few people did attend a recent evening entitled The Art Of Rejection hosted by three members of the PCO at Westminster Reference Library in central […]

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival photo album

The ‘Plan B’ Shrewsbury Square. Photo © Tat Effby. Glenn Marshall & Jonathan Cusick write: With Storm Hannah due to roll in threatening rain and high winds the marquee company wouldn’t put up the festival’s gazebo roofing. Fear of airborne ‘para-boarding’ cartoonists made the festival organisers hastily arrange a Plan B for Saturday, which involved […]