Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival 2019 preview
April 13, 2019 in Comment, Events, General
It’s only two weeks until Shrewsbury International Cartoons Festival. This years theme is ‘Animals’ and has a very full programme. This year all the speakers happen to be Procartoonists members.
Friday 26th, 7.30pm
Fist up on the Friday night The Guardian’s Steve Bell will share his lifelong close-up study of ‘Political Animals’, from Tarzan Hesletine to Leopard May on Friday 26th April. Tickets are £10 and can be booked online via this link. A donation will be made from the event to Guide Dogs UK.
Saturday 27th April, 10.30am
On Saturday Beano and Private Eye regular Zoom Rockman will be hosting a strip cartoon workshop. Zoom first started drawing his strip ‘Skanky Pigeon’ for the Beano when when he was just 12 years old!
Saturday 27th April, 11.00am
An exploration of the world of cartooning with ‘Fintan Fedora’ author, cartoonist and PCO Chair-human Clive Goddard.
Saturday 27th April, 1.30pm
After his earlier session Clive will be back again with more Fintan fun at new venue.
Saturday 27th April, 11.00am
The Surreal McCoy presents a preview of her audio-visual graphic memoir based on her Iraqi-Jewish family’s memories of their lost homeland.
The Wolf of Baghdad explores themes of displacement, refugees, identity and belonging.
After presenting an excerpt of the work, Carol will give an illustrated talk on the making of it and take questions from the audience in a Q and A.
Tickets can be booked online via this link.
Saturday 27th April, 12.00pm
An animal cartoon masterclass with Radio Times caricaturist Jonathan Cusick. Jonathan is also one of the festival organisers. You’ll be drawing using exhibits from the gallery, as Jonathan says ‘The great thing is the animals will not be moving’.
Team Goddard creating a big board at last years festival.
On Saturday a menagerie of cartoonists will be be going animalistic drawing on big boards and caricaturing in the town square.
Throughout the weekend various exhibitions will be running including ‘Drawn To Be Wild’ at The Bear Steps Gallery and ‘The Lizards of Oz and Other Creatures’ an exhibition animal related cartoons by Australian cartoonist. More details on the festival website.
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by Glenn Marshall
Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival photo album
May 6, 2019 in Comment, Events, General, News
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 us decamping to the local Darwin Shopping Centre (every third business in Shrewsbury seems to contain the word Darwin)
A distant Steve Bell in front of a crowded audience. Photo © Jonathan Cusick.
Before that, on Friday evening Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell returned to the festival and spoke to a packed and enthusiastic crowd at the University Centre. Surveying his use of animals throughout his career, he picked out highlights including the penguin from his ‘If’ strip and ended with a few live drawings including his toilet-headed Trump. After twenty minutes of audience questions he signed copies of his latest book. A real treat for cartoon fans and definitely one of the highlights of the festival.
Saturday morning at John Cusick’s cartoon animal drawing workshop using exhibits from the Shrewsbury Museum collection. Photo © Jonathan Cusick.
Zoom Rockman cartoons stripped bare teaching how to draw his Skanky Pigeon character. Photo © Kate Lennard.
There were also well attended indoor talks by The Surreal McCoy and TWO by Clive Goddard (above) nothing to do with folk wanting to get out of the bad weather. Photo © Alison Patrick.
Meanwhile in the basement level of Darwin Shopping Centre dry and warm cartoonists began creating. Here Shrewsbury based cartoonist Tat Effby took to the big boards like a duck to water. Photo © Clive Goddard.
Luke Crump with one of his incredible ‘doodle style’ creations. Photo © Clive Goddard.
The Surreal McCoy hot-footed over from her ‘Wolf of Baghdad’ talk to fit in a board before hot-footing off again to join the ‘festival music ensemble’. Photo © Clive Goddard.
Jeremy Banx and Noel Ford mid-boards. Photo © Tat Effby.
Tim Harries & Rich Skipworth colouring in. Photos © Tat Effby.
John Landers’ snakes on a plain surface. Photo © Clive Goddard.
Pete Dredge caricaturing Pa Marshall plus Jonathan Cusick really going with the animal theme. Photo © Tat Effby.
The 30 second rehearsal before the launch of The Shrewsbury Cartoon Players and Puppeteers inaugural performance of ‘The Animals Went In Two By Two’. Photo © Tat Effby. The Noah’s Ark was ironically moved indoors even though it would’ve been perfectly suited to the biblical weather conditions.
Royston Robertson featuring in the festival write-up in the Shropshire Star.
The festival produced a book of the ‘Drawn To Be Wild’ exhibition cartoons which is still available here price £9.95 + postage.
Thanks to all the organisers and sponsors for another successful festival that went down a storm.
Tags: Banx, Big boards, cartoon festival, cartoons, Clive Goddard, festival, Glenn Marshall, Jeremy Banx, John Landers, Jonathan Cusick, Luke Crump, Noel Ford, Pete Dredge, Rich Skipworth, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival 2019, Shropshire, Shropshire Star, Steve Bell, Tat Effby, The Surreal McCoy, Tim Harries, Wolf of Baghdad, Zoom Rockman 1 Comment »