Why does no one want to be a cartoonist any more? The lack of new blood doesn’t bode well for the industry’s future
Written by Nick Newman for (and courtesy of) The Spectator with bonus cartoon content. ‘Nightmare!’ is how The Spectator’s cartoon editor Michael Heath has been describing cartooning for at least 30 years, but it’s truer now than ever. Eighty years ago, cartoonists were so celebrated that waxworks of Low, Strube and Poy were displayed in […]
The Round-up
Kasia Kowalska writes: The next exhibition to at the Cartoon Museum in London is titled Never Again and will be on the subject of cartoons drawn during the First World War. It will run from 11 June to 19 October. Until then, there is still time to catch the Spitting Image 30th anniversary exhibition, which ends on 8 June. Private Eye’s […]
The Round-up
The death of Nelson Mandela inspired poignant tributes from UK cartoonists, among them Peter Brookes in The Times (above), Peter Schrank in The Independent and Christian Adams in The Telegraph. Elsewhere, the South African cartoonist Zapiro tells the BBC a personal anecdote that demonstrates Mandela’s appreciation of satire. Congratulations to Len Hawkins, who has been […]
Special report: 50 years of cartoons in Private Eye
Fans of Private Eye cartoons were in for a treat this week, as editor Ian Hislop and cartoonist Nick Newman took to the stage for two separate events looking back over 50 years of visual humour in the magazine – where they picked out a few favourite gags and discussed the challenge of selecting the […]
Human rights in cartoon form
Amnesty International has come up with a memorable way to remind people about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: it has issued the document as a booklet illustrated with cartoons. Know your Rights is published in conjuction with Waterstones and features 14 cartoonists, including the Procartoonists.org members Tony Husband, Fran Orford and Royston Robertson, illustrating […]
Cartoons for sale
“Ask anyone you meet in the street what the most popular feature of The Spectator is, and they will reply in unison, ‘The cartoons, of course’,” says Michael Heath of the magazine. Of course, he is a cartoonist and the magazine’s cartoon editor, so he would say that … but the Bloghorn agrees heartily! Following […]
Heath on Heath
Michael Heath, cartoon editor at The Spectator is interviewed over at the magazine’s arts blog. Bloghorn doffs its cap to Mr Heath, who has been commenting on the way we live, in his merciless cartooning style, since 1954. But we can’t quite agree with his pessimistic view of the cartooning profession. The talent is certainly […]
Cartoonist of the Year nominations
The nominations for the Press Gazette’s British Press Awards have been announced. The event takes place on Tuesday 31 March. There are seven people in the running for Cartoonist of the Year, and they are as follows: Steve Bell, The Guardian Dave Brown, The Independent Michael Heath, The Mail on Sunday Stan “Mac” McMurtry, Daily […]