Inkspot 51 by Australian Cartoonists' Association

President’s Parlay www.abwac.org.au 1300 658 581 ACA Board Patron Vane Lindesay (03) 9523 8635 President Peter Broelman 08 8255 9939 president@abwac.org.au Deputy President - (NSW VP) Paul Batey 0414 857 996 nsw@abwac.org.au Membership Secretary Mick Horne (08) 9527 3000 treasurer@abwac.org.au Secretary Kerry-Anne Brown (03) 5446 2224 secretary@abwac.org.au Treasurer Grant Brown (03) 5446 2224 treasurer@abwac.org.au Vice Presidents Rolf Heimann (Vic/Tas) (03) 9699 4858 vic@abwac.org.au Sean Leahy (Qld) (07) 3325 2822 qld@abwac.org.au Dave Allen (SA/NT) (08) 8370 9010 sa@abwac.org.au Jason Chatfield (WA) (08) 9247 4087wa@abwac.org.au Inkspot is produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists’ Association. PO Box 318 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

ACA AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS National Cartoonists Society President Rick Stromoski Secretary Rick Kirkman www.reuben.org Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain President Terry Christien Secretary Richard Tomes www.ccgb.org.uk FECO President-General Marlene Pohle Secretary-General Peter Nieuwendijk www.fecoweb.org Inkspot Insomniac: James Kemsley Inkspot Poofreader: Steve Panozzo Inkspot contributors: Peter Broelman, Kerry-Anne Brown, Jason Chatfield, Gary Clark, Clive Collins, Chad Corley, Jeff Danziger, Len Findlay, Dave Gaskill, Lindsay Foyle, Rolf Heimann. Tony Lopes, Chris Kelly, James Kemsley, Steve Panozzo, Nick Stathopoulos, Ian C. Thomas, Chris Wilson, Paul Zanetti

Covers Simon Schneider (Knight) Jason Chatfield (Rigby)

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Chris Wilson

Number 51 Summer 2006

Dear Peter, This is purely a note to thank you for the manner in which the Association looked after us at the Ballarat Stanleys. The venue and organisation were excellent, even though I had slight problems with mobility, but I’m pleased to report my “Uncle Dick” statue now holds an exhalted position in our house here in the bush. Please forward thanks to all the members for their hospitality, and hope some time soon they’ll visit us in this area for a glass of the local products, and a touch of Sou’ West hospitality. My congrats to all your members and I hope that the Association thrives through your presidency. In great appreciation, Paul Rigby. Paul wrote several letters to cartoonists he met in Ballarat before he passed away the next day. A gentleman to the end. At the age of 82 and confined to a wheelchair Paul came to The Stanleys with Marlene, his wife of 50 years, all the way from Perth to do what cartoonists do best - say g’day to other cartoonists. One highlight for me was our Friday night outdoor BBQ after the exhibition opening of “Get Serious” at the Ballarat Fine Arts Gallery. While the BBQ was in full swing Marlene sneaked away to get Paul to join us. They stayed for hours. Wow! They’ve lived in London and New York, met politicians, entertainers, business people - the works and here they were having a whale of a time with a bunch of .... us! For that I am eternally grateful that The Stanleys provided me and those who attended the opportunity to meet Paul and Marlene with a can of VB, a steak and a salad with a bit of music blaring away. RIP Riggers! The Stanleys weekend was fuller than a goog! A big thank you to Rolf

Heimann and George Haddon who led the Stanleys charge. The “Get Serious” exhibition was brilliant. To see non-cartoon artwork by cartoonists (I call it the “dark side”) made me realise how insular my own art existence is. Thanks to all those cartoonists who sent their works in. It was a real treat. The Friday night BBQ should be a regular feature at Stanley weekends. To see 50 cartoonists and partners relax and chat the night away was brilliant. What’s more the BBQ was free - but there’s a very good reason for that. Kerry-Anne Brown, ACA Secretary, in her own indominatable style scored all the food for free! So a big thankyou to KA for her efforts in making the BBQ a success. The AGM the next day was a stock standard affair. I begged for questions. Roger Fletcher asked “when’s lunch?”. The draft minutes of the AGM are available to members by emailing me direct: president@ abwac.org.au. The conference started with Paul Rigby recounting his worldly travels. David Spencer from Wacom followed up with the latest from Wacom (with Corel software) - http:// www.wacom.com. Many thanks to the special guest speakers; Peter Viska for his animation discussion, Ranald Macdonald offering insight into The Age, Rolf Heimann for his look at cartoons gone wrong, Rod Quantock’s hit and run and, of course, Jim Bridges for his display of cartoons from The Age. Also a big thankyou to our sponsors - The Age, The Daily Telegraph, Thomson Education Direct, Corel, The Australian, Wacom, The Herald Sun, and The Sydney Morning Herald. This year has been a record year for sponsorship. We have also been supported by the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Auspac Media, Atlantic Syndication, Viscopy, KPMG, Ballarat City Council, Copyright Agency Ltd, Little Hare Publishers, P&O, d’Arenderg Wines and the National Museum of Australia. A big thank you to our corporate sponsors and supporters for their assistance this year. The 23rd Stanley Awards will be held in Wollongong in 2007. Work has already commenced. If you would like to assist I invite you to to join the Stanleys 2007 Team and chip in to make it an enjoyable weekend. Contact the ACA Board to register. Cheers,

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Your new ACA board 2007-2008 Peter Broelman President Peter Broelman became President of the ACA as punishment for creating dumb editorial cartoons. Peter joined the ACA in 1988 and has served in varying capacities from South Australian Vice-President, Inkspot editor, Secretary, Membership Secretary and Acting President. On no account did he ever claim to know what he was doing. Peter continues that fine tradition as President of the ACA for the next 2-year term. He is open to suggestions, preferably in brown paper bags in dark carparks. Ask for “Nigel”. Peter believes if it wasn’t for the ACA he’d have a real job, a big house and a nice car. Paul Batey Deputy President - NSW/ACT VP Paul Batey is a freelance cartoonist who specialises in satirical Photoshop cartoons and article digital illustration. Paul’s cartoons have featured in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The New Matilda and The Best Australian Political Cartoons annual compilations. His popular blog, DailyFlute.com, won the award for Best NSW Blog in 2006. Many people have been put off their Sunday morning breakfast by Paul’s appearances on the Talking Pictures segment of ABC’s Insiders program. Paul believes England will retain The Ashes. Grant Brown Treasurer Grant is a freelance cartoonist from Bendigo and has been a member of ACA since the early 1990s. He has his own cartooning business and is a keen cricketer. He regularly holds workshops at schools. As a gadget collector, you will catch him sitting at his computer searching out the latest electronics during his downtime or playing cricket with his kids. Strengths: Never grew out of playing with crayons. Weakness: BBQing abilities. KerrY-Anne Brown Secretary Kerry lives with her cartoonist husband Grant in Bendigo and runs her own bookkeeping business. With a strong background in Administration, particularly at Board level, she has predominately worked within the State and Local Government Sectors for the past 17 years. Kerry enjoys co-raising her three children and is actively involved in their activities. Strengths: Organisation and personable nature. Weakness: A nice drop of red and men who like playing with crayons. Jason CHAtfield WA VP Jason is a freelance cartoonist based in Perth. As a rookie editorial cartoonist, he produces produces weekly editorial cartoons for 5 newspapers including the Fremantle Herald and Perth Voice. Jason also works as a live caricaturist at corporate events as well as producing privately commissioned caricatures from his Tuart Hill studio. In 2005, Jason won The Australian Bill Mitchell Award at the Stanley Awards in the Blue Mountains, where he was also smocked by the board of the ACA for his contribution to the association. DAVE ALLEN SA/NT VP Dave Allen first studied architectural drawing. He then moved to the South Australian Department of Education as an artist for it’s distance education program and later to the Adelaide Advertiser. In 1986 he decided to concentrate on cartooning. His work soon featured in The Bulletin, Women’s Weekly, Post and other magazines. Dave became interested in children’s features when James Kemsley asked him contribute to a puzzle page called Kid Stuff. Dave eventually took over Kid Stuff which now appears in papers in Australia and many other countries around the world.

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

SEAN LEAHY QLD VP Sean Leahy began his career at the age of 17 in Perth on The West Australian in 1975. In 1983 he moved to Brisbane’s The Daily Sun and then in 1985 on to The Courier-Mail. He also writes and draws the nationally syndicated Australian comic strip Beyond The Black Stump. In 2004 he studied animation and cartooning in the USA and UK on a Churchill Fellowship. He is a three-time nominee for journalism’s Walkley Award for Best Cartoon and has published eight books. Rolf Heimann Vic/Tas VP Born in Germany, Rolf was 15 when he escaped from the East prior to the construction of the Berlin Wall. At 18 he saw an advertisement to attract German migrants to Australia and decided to emigrate. His first cartoons appeared in Nation Review in 1975, followed by Punch, Playboy, Penthouse and The Age. Rolf is the Australian FECO President. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Gold Stanley as Cartoonist of the Year. Mick HornE Membership Secretary Mick is a freelance cartoonist working in a “semi-retired” mode. He enjoyed his time doing editorial cartoons for a couple of Perth newspapers and, although envious of some mainstream Editorial Cartoonists, does not miss deadline pressure. He now dabbles in computer enhanced cartooning and a bit of book illustration. He joined the Board nine years ago as WA State VP, and has been our Treasurer for the last four years. Being released from the Treasurer’s shackles, he intends putting more time in with the family, and less on the computer.

Secretary’s 2006 AGM Report

he AGM was opened on Saturday, November 4th 2006 at 9.10am, Doherty’s Lodge, Ballarat. The new ACA logo has been decided - retain the original design by Doug Albion with a slight modification. Sponsorship has been extraordinary this year with five newspapers on board. Corel and Thomson Education Direct continued their support/sponsorship. ACA Finances remain steady with an operating surplus. We saw a focus on publicity with the ACA deciding to sponsor the TAFE Design Students exhibition and investigating a proposal to sponsor a paper in the Solomon Islands using a local cartoonist. We also have a presence with PANPA and the CCGB’s Jester and make regular contributions. Membership numbers are holding, with 200 full/life members and 40 associates. Inkspot appeared to be a passionate issue with the question raised whether to keep the hard copy print or move to PDF. A colour PDF is already available as a download from the ACA website. A vote was called with the majority voting to retain the hard copy and the option of PDF. We saw a new Board elected for the ensuing two year tenure – President, Peter Broelman; Vice President/VP NSW, Paul Batey; Secretary, Kerry-Anne Brown (ex-officio); Treasurer, Grant Brown; Membership Secretary, Mick Horne; Vic/ Tas VP, Rolf Heimann; SA VP, Dave Allen; WA VP, Jason Chatfield; and QLD VP, Sean Leahy. James Kemsley maintains an ex-officio position as immediate Ex-President, in accordance with the Constitution. There was a big thank you to outgoing office bearers, and we ended with Clown Doctors being selected as our Charity for 2007.

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Steve Panozzo

LINDSAY FOYLE pays tribute to an Australian cartooning icon Paul Crispian Rigby Born Melbourne Victoria 1925 Died Busselton Western Australia 15 November 2006

he working day hadn’t started well for me. The mobile phone rang just as I was about to cross the road to go into the office. It was James Kemsley, the past president of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association. He was normally busy drawing Ginger Meggs at that time of the day. He had bad news. Paul Rigby had died the previous night Rigby had been with us in Ballarat less then two weeks before. Rigby was the star attraction at the 22nd Stanley Awards and conference. He’d talked for almost two hours to the cartoonists at the conference, about cartooning and his life. He would have talked another two if we’d let him. Conference timetables don’t allow for people to go on forever, even if they are super stars. The ACA gave him the Uncle Dick that night, more properly known as the Jim Russell Award for his contribution to cartooning. Russell had drawn The Potts for over 60 years and Uncle Dick was one of the characters in the comic. It’s the highest honour the oldest cartooning association in the world can bestow on someone, and it includes life membership. Rigby wasn’t a stranger to the Stanley Awards. He’d flown in from New York to be at the first awards in 1985 (page 5). He was the after dinner speaker, before the awards presentation. On the night he lent his straw-boater to Bill Mitchell, then the editorial cartoonist on The Australian who waved it above his head as he tap-danced across the stage to collect his Editorial/Political Cartoonist Stanley. Rigby remarked in 1994 - after Mitchell’s death - he was still waiting to get the hat back. Over the years Rigby received many awards himself. He won Walkleys in 1960, ‘61, ‘63, ‘66 and ‘69. There was also the New York Press Club award in 1982, and in 1983, ‘84, ‘85 and ’86 the Page One Award for Cartoon of the Year. And in 1999 Prime Minister John Howard presented him with the Order of Australia. While he hadn’t been well in Ballarat, spending most of his time in a wheel chair and only just managing to walk with the aid of a stick and helpers, he had assured us all he’d be around for a long time to come. Rigby was born in Melbourne in 1925 and grew up in Sandringham. After leaving school he studied art at Brighton Technical School while working as a commercial artist. During World War Two he served in the Middle East and Europe with the Royal Australian Air Force. After the war he returned to Melbourne, via Fremantle, completed his studies in commercial art and took on teaching art. In 1949 Rigby decided to go to Europe, as many did in that era. He only got as far as Perth before the money ran out. He played tennis in the West Australian Championship and took a job in commercial art and was soon illustrating for The Daily News and Western Mail. On June 18, 1952 he became the editorial cartoonist on The News, following the departure of Lew Saw for Canada. Rigby’s cartoons were run on the back page along with a column written by Kirwan Ward. The two soon developed a

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symbiotic relationship that took them on many adventures that were reported in The Daily News and recorded in numerous books. During the 1960s they were also appearing in The Daily Mirror in Sydney. Rigby told the cartoonists in Ballarat that during this time - in the days before fax and email - he’d find ways to send cartoons back to Perth from all over the world. He’d convince pilots or cabin crew to take them back, or just post them. He only had one no-show. He’d slipped an envelope with a cartoon in it under the door of a post office, very early one morning. There was a note and some money attached and he asked for it to be posted. Many years after, he received a letter form a builder who was demolishing the post office. He’d lifted the floor covering near the door only to find the note, cartoon and money underneath. In 1968 Rupert Murdoch took control of the News of the World in London, a Sunday newspaper with a circulation of six million. In November the following year he also took on The Sun, a struggling London daily. As part of his revamping of these two newspapers he convinced Rigby to move to England to cartoon for both papers. Originally it was for six months, but he stayed five years. Rigby is credited with playing a large part in the success Murdoch had with The Sun, which became Britain’s biggest-selling daily newspaper. Back in Australia Murdoch poached Frank Benier from The Sun in Sydney, who filled the hole Rigby left behind in The Daily Mirror. Rigby’s cartoons appeared on page six in The Sun - the editorial page - and his style went over well in Britain. He always drew a small boy and a dog somewhere in his detailed cartoons and it became a game with the readers to find them. In some of the pubs the cartoons where cut up into 200 pieces and were sold with a prize going to the person with the piece that showed the dog. Rigby’s cartoons were also being syndicated by the German Springer group and were run in many European newspapers. In 1974 Rigby returned to Perth, syndicating cartoons back to Europe and North America and his cartoons ran in a number of newspapers in Australia including The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. In 1977 Murdoch convinced Rigby to move to New York to cartoon for six months for the New York Post, of which he’d just taken control of. Rigby’s departure had a domino effect in Australia. Alan Moir filled in on The Daily Telegraph for three months while waiting for Bill Mitchell to arrive from Perth. At the time there were journalists on the Telegraph who thought if a cartoonist didn’t draw like Rigby they shouldn’t be drawing cartoons and told Alan so. Their thoughts didn’t scare Moir and he was soon off to Queensland and The Courier-Mail before heading south again to The Sydney Morning Herald. (Continued on page 7)

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Cartoonist drew last line in mirth by LEN FINDLAY

(reproduced by kind permission of The West Australian)

THE

little urchin will be shedding a tear. The dog will be waiting mournfully for him to return. But Paul Rigby will draw no more.

Dean Alston

The best cartoonist this country has produced died late on Wednesday night in Busselton Hospital at the age of 82 after a heart attack at his Margaret River home. A second attack in hospital meant that his wonderful pen would never again be put to use righting the wrong and pricking the pompous. “He was my reason for getting into political cartooning,” said The West Australian’s cartoonist Dean Alston, one of the few who can be mentioned in the same breath. “He is the No. 1, the best-ever in Australia,” said Jason Chatfield, vice-president (WA) of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association who was with Rigby just last week in Ballarat, Victoria, where Rigby was given the Jim Russell Award for lifetime achievement. “He was the king — and not just here,” Chatfield said. “This year he put me on to some cartoonists in New York and when I met them they told me that in their eyes, too, he was the best.” Alston remembered: “When I was 10, I was walking on the crosswalk at Foy’s department store in Perth and this distinguished-looking man, but dressed in Hush Puppies and a checked coat, was walking towards me and my father said: ‘Do you know who that is. That is Paul Rigby.’ I thought he was a god.” For a long time, in Perth, in London and in New York, Rigby was a cartooning god. For 20 years from 1949, he shared the back page of Perth’s Daily News with Bernie Kirwan Ward, who wrote the words, and with the urchin and the dog, which he slotted into every drawing, often forcing the reader on a visual hunt. They — all four of them — travelled the world and they found the humour of the world. The daily double of Ward’s column and Rigby’s cartoon made sure that The Daily was read from the back. “One day he would have politics, the next day the Cockburn Sound regatta,” Alston said. “He chronicled the happenings of what was a small town.” But the big time awaited. In 1969, Rupert Murdoch came calling. The mogul had bought the ailing Sun newspaper in Britain and desperately needed to give it a lift. Rigby gave it a rocket trip.

After one wonderfully accurate and devastating cartoon of outgoing prime minister Ted Heath appeared, Mr Heath, not a man with much small talk, said to Rigby at a function: “Mr Rigby, I believe you have killed me.” “Don’t worry,” came the jaunty reply. “I am doing (PM-inwaiting) Harold Wilson tonight.” That Mr Heath thought it funny showed how important Rigby was in Britain. Soon it was another, even bigger stage for the man born in Victoria, on October 25, 1924, but who loved WA and was equally loved in return. He returned to Australia in 1977 but Murdoch asked him to go to the US, to his New York Post and its companion, The Star. He was a huge success and when he quit it was his son, Bay, who took over his position, in direct competition with his dad, who had joined the New York Daily News. “First one up gets the drawing board,” said Bay, who was living with his parents at the time. Both papers used to run page one banner headlines, “Rigby to be with us,” in the News and, “Rigby’s here on Page Six,” in the Post. In 1992, Rigby returned to his old job at the Post when Bay quit. He retired in 2000. John Hartigan, chairman and chief executive of Murdoch’s News Limited, said last night: “Australia has punched above its weight with its rich and colourful history of cartooning, and Paul Rigby was undoubtedly the master. A true legend.” Everyone from those Daily News days remembers the LimpFalling Club. That was a group of journalists who would go to a bar and begin to drop suddenly and silently to the floor in succession. Rigby was a leader. Former columnist with The West Australian Bill Bailey said Rigby’s partnership with Bernie Kirwan Ward “made up the most outstanding collaboration that most of us have ever seen”. “I tended to avoid him in bars,” Bailey said. “Those encounters either took years off your life or put years on it.” Over his distinguished career, Rigby, in addition to his five Walkley Awards, was given the New York Press Club Page One award four times and the Press Club Presentation for Graphic Arts. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1999. He was in The West Australian’s WA’s 100 Most Influential People. Rigby is survived by his widow Marlene, their children, Nicole, Pia, Peter, Bay and Danielle and five grandchildren.

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

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Paul with colleagues at the first Stanleys in 1985 at Sydney’s Wentworth Hotel where he was guest of honour. (Left to right): unidentified, Ron Tanberg, Paul Rigby, John Spooner, Corrie Parsonson, and James Kemsley.

Photo - Grant Brown

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to come down to New York from Murdoch’s Boston paper, the Herald. No one much cared one way or the other, New York being used to such ruses being played on it, but this error cost Hoge a good bit of money and proved to all who still needed proof that he didn’t really know what he was doing. Needless to say he was reminded of his error every day, on page six, and News staff members would often laugh loudly at the Rigby cartoon, especially if Hoge was within earshot. I left the News shortly thereafter, and missed much of the fun. But it went a long way to prove that cartoons can develop readership, and that publishers are... well, you can fill in whatever word you think most apt. It also confirmed many of our prejudices and valuations of Australians, which remain, you will be proud to learn, and admiring although mixed review. I can attest to this, having served for a few months with an Australian unit in Vietnam. I never felt safer although I never knew why. Anyway, all best wishes and condolences to the Rigby family, Paul Rigby

To all at the ACA - I knew Paul for a longish time in brief periods, seeing him at meetings here and there. He was one of the most enjoyable persons ever. But he was also responsible for a great trick played on the publisher of the New York Daily News. The News was then owned by the Chicago Tribune company back in the 80’s, and the Tribune company has a long history of hating newspapers in general and especially the ones they own. The chairman of Tribune was a man named Brumbach, who in addition to his other hatreds, hated New York. He sent James Hoge, formerly of the Sun-Times, from Chicago to be the publisher of the News, in the hopes that he would put the final nail in the coffin. Hoge could spend money like most people breathe, and he set about saving the News by spending the place white. Murdoch’s New York Post had Paul’s cartoons on page 6 every day, and I remember seeing New Yorkers searching through Paul’s infinite detail to find the little man and his dog, before throwing the Post away in the customary disgust for everything else in its Genghis Kahn reporting. Hoge found out that Paul had secured his retirement points from the Post and offered him a secret job as soon as he could quit. In what he thought was a triumph of legerdemain, Hoge arranged for Paul to come to the News. They built him an office with a window at the old 42nd street News building. On the day of the great (secret) switch, the News proclaimed “Rigby’s Here!” in a banner over the masthed. Unfortunately, the Post had the same banner, because Murdoch had arranged for Paul’s son Bay

Jeff Danziger New York USA Jeff Danziger is an independent cartoonist with the New York Times Syndicate. During the Vietnam war, not that, he was assigned briefly with Australian Forces as an intelligence officer and interpreter.

It is with shock and great sadness on hearing the news today on the passing of Paul Rigby. It was only 10 days ago that I was shaking his hand and receiving the Gold Stanley from the master himself in Ballarat (left). How fortunate were we to have him amongst us, unbeknown at the time, for this last occasion. It was the only time I had ever met Paul, yet I had known his work all my life. As I recounted to Rigby himself at the Stanleys, the first book my father ever bought me was of Paul Rigby’s cartoon annual of 1967. I was six years old. I still have the worn out tattered pages of this much loved and influential paperback on my book shelves. Then there were the scrapbooks I created full of

his cartoons cut from the Daily Telegraph in Sydney where I grew up. They were poured over everyday, copied an imitated in school book margins, on note pads and in spiral-spine sketch books in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the code of cartooning that Rigby possessed. It was an honour to stand beside Paul Rigby and the modern day master, John Spooner, at Ballarat and receive the Cartoonist of the Year award. To stand amongst them was like standing on the shoulders of giants. I salute that giant Paul Rigby. My greatest sympathies to his wife Marlene and family. Mark Knight Cartoonist- Herald Sun Melbourne

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

and used blue wash, just like the rest of us had been beaten into doing, and thus the unions muttered and once more moved back from the demarcation fence. Although our paths didn’t cross for some time after I left The Sun, I was very aware of his presence in cartoon magazines and fan-mags, plus his illustration work popped up here and there in CARTOONIST PROfiles, when Jud Hurd ran a series of Paul’s brilliant Far-East illustrations. As far as I was concerned, the thing I shall remember Paul for was his superb work for the America Cup book, published to celebrate the year that Australia wrenched the trophy from the firm grip of the USA. It was a stunning piece of work that shone from every page. It was also drawn from the heart, with all the exuberance of patriotism without any of its mawkishness. In The Sun, among many of his drawings I particularly remember his beautifully detailed ‘exploded’ view of a spaceship’s interior during the 70s Space Race, and that faked accuracy that only a master draughtsman can get away with I’m sorry we’ve lost him, Somewhere out there, there’s a little lad in a kangarooskin bowler hat, and his dog, looking lost. Clive Collins Hadleigh Essex, UK

(Lindsay Foyle on Rigby continued) Rigby was happy on the Post - where again his cartoons ran on page six - til 1984 when he had a falling out over working conditions of some Australian employees. He packed up his paintbrushes and there was talk of returning to Australia, however he moved to the New York Daily News instead. Paul Rigby returned to the New York Post in 1992 and after drawing an estimated 15,000 cartoons over 50 years, retired in 2000 and settled in Florida. However Florida didn’t provide the idyllic life he and his wife Marlene were looking for. They

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Clive Collins

It came as a series of shocks when Jason Chatfield e-mailed to tell me that Paul Rigby had passed away. The first shock being that he’d been such a fixture in the profession that it seemed impossible that he’d be gone, and the second shock came when I was told he was 82. I’d not seen Paul since a NCS Christmas Party in New York back in 95 or 96, when he’d been in the midst of the fun and I realised that he still looked the same as the previous time I’d seen him, when we’d shared that small office on The Sun in Bouverie Street way back in 1969. Some people are lucky not to have the curse of visibly ageing like the rest of us, so I naturally assumed he’d always be around. When I’d first known Paul (as those of you with a memory and access to back copies of Inkspot may recall) The Sun had just opened to an excited and anticipating Fleet Street, and Paul didn’t disappoint. His vigorously drawn 8-column cartoons crowned the page and drew in the fans, though he made few friends in his runin with the UK print unions, notorious for their obstinate resistance to change, who had never encountered Grafix Board before. As far as they were concerned, he was taking work away from Their Man, Whose Job It Was To Lay The Dots. Paul didn’t bother to argue with them, he simply changed his way of working,

Clive Collins is an international awardwinning cartoonist. He has been a contributor to Playboy (US) since 1972, currently working for CMP Information Group; The Diplomat Information Group; Reader’s Digest (UK); drew for Punch (1964-92 when it was still funny), then 1996 until closure; ex-Chairman, and now Life vice-President of The Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain; Member of the NCS; Cartoonists’ & Writers’ Syndicate; FECOUK; He is on the advisory board for International Journalof Comic Art and Secretary of the British Cartoonists’ Association.

returned to Australia in 2003, opened a gallery and settled in Margaret River about 4 hours drive south of Perth. In the morning of November 15, 2006 Rigby suffered a mild heart attack at his Caves Road property. His condition worsened in the afternoon and he was taken by ambulance to Busselton Regional Hospital where he suffered another heart attack and died at 7.10pm. Rigby is survived by his wife Marlene and five children: Nicole, Pia, Peter, Bay and Danielle.

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Paul Rigby

New York City’s a big place. But Paul Rigby was bigger. Larger than life. At least in the eyes of this then-20 year-old in the Big Apple. It was 1981. I was introduced to ‘Riggers’ late one smokey, alcohol-fuelled night at the legendary Surry Hills, News Ltd watering hole, The Evening Star, by veteran larrikan journo, Col McKay. McKay was an old Rigby mate from way back in West Australia. About to embark on my first trip to the States, NYC was to be my first stop. “You’re going to The States!” exclaimed McKay. “I’ll let Rigby know ya comin’....”. And then he reached over to the red phone in the corner of the bar and made a call..... collect, if I recall right. After a few characteristically laconic words, McKay handed the phone to me, and with his usual grin invited me to, “Say g’day to Rigby.” A polite, bemused man on the other end uttered a few warm, friendly words in what seemed to be a drowsy state. We agreed to see each in a week or so and we hung up. I asked McKay, “Is he okay? He sounded a bit foggy.’” “HELL NO.....IT WAS FIVE O’CLOCK in the Faaaaar*%$#....kin’ MORNING!.... Hahhhaaaaahaaaaaahhaaaa....Rigby hates it when I do that”. When I got to New York City it was early evening, the day before the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade, unbeknown to me. The one day of the year when the town is literally dissected in two at 5th Avenue. After arrival in NYC, and negotiating my way to my dodgy hotel (that’s another story), I called Rigby. We’d meet at a bar the next day. The problem was, I discovered the next day, you couldn’t cross 5th Ave due to the parade, which barricaded the city between my hotel and the bar. I managed to locate Rigby on a phone who was in no hurry and offered a solution. “Wait until the parade ends and I’ll see you then.”. Sounded fair to me. Simple even. And it gave Rigby more time at the bar. For the next few days I enjoyed the wonderfully warm hospitality of the Rigby family. Chip-Off-The-Old-Block, Bay Rigby (Rigby Jnr, or ‘Baby’ Rigby, shortened to, and known as ‘Bay’ Rigby) was my age so we hit it off immediately. Just a couple of aspiring kid-cartoonists loose in the Big Apple. Bay had inherited the old man’s party-gene, along with cartooning skills. There wasn’t a disco, nightclub or bar worth going to where ‘Bay’ didn’t know the doorman, or was able to flash his ‘RIGBY, NEW YORK POST’ ID to get in. At that time Bay didn’t actually work at the New York Post (but did so later), so I asked him how he scored the NEW YORK POST media pass. “I made it”, he casually claimed. “Worth its weight in gold.”.

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I never did pay to get into a nightclub back in Sydney after that. Wink, wink. But they had trouble believing I was Rigby. After a day at my dodgy hotel, I was told to ditch the dive, and invited stay at the Rigby apartment on Roosevelt Island, a memorable cable-car ride across from Manhattan Island. The view from the Rigby pad to Manhattan was a panoramic picture postcard. At night Manhattan’s lights were a Hollywood movie set. But the memory of the warmth, fun and uncomplicated hospitality of this closeknit family lasted forever. Late nights and later mornings. (Correction, early mornings and early afternoons.) Rigby senior had more energy, stamina, good humour and drinking prowess than folk half his age. He would’ve been around mid-to-late 50s at that time. I’ve no idea when he ever had the time to draw his cartoons, because we always seemed to be making times to meet up with him at all hours of the afternoon, or evening, for more good times at various favourite haunts. Rigby would have had to have drawn his Page Six cartoon in the mornings while we were still recovering from the night before. Mind you, my recollection is that Rigby was with us for most of the night before, during which, Rigby would practice his ‘limp-falling’. For those not familiar with this highly-specialized art form, here’s the drum: •Liberally knock-back copious amounts of Australian ale •Place one’s self on a bar stool and •Engage in meaningless conversation with some unsuspecting cove. •Then just as the small-talk is getting serious / boring, collapse off the stool onto the floor, as in “ I just carked it.”. •Then lie still on the floor while the bar goes quiet, with whispers of, “Is he okay?”, “Should we call an ambulance.”, “I think he’s dead”. •Then leap to your feet and split your sides laughing. •Observe shock and awe of suddenlysober eye-witnesses. This long-lost, unique Australian sport found its origins in Perth, where Daily News journos, photographers and cartoonists perfected it and formed a club, The LimpFalling Club. Rigby was its greatest ambassador, taking the sport worldwide. There’s still a school of thought it should have been an Olympic event. More gold medals for Australia to be sure. Later, Bay confided to me that his dad hadn’t done a limp fall for years, and Bay was quite concerned his dad might have hurt himself. Rigby, though, looked to me to be having a blast! One morning, a day or two before I was due to depart New York, a conversation with Rigby at his Roosevelt Island digs, resulted in him re-scheduling my itinerary. He picked up the phone and called his mate in DC, fellow Aussie cartoonist, Pat Oliphant.

After leaving NYC, I found myself on a flight to Washington DC where I was met by and picked up by Australia’s other ‘most successful international cartoonist’, Oliphant, who had left Adelaide in the late 1960s to become the most influential, respected and feared (by politicians) cartoonist in the US. Oliphant gave me the unofficial tour of the town, including lunch at a local bar, where I learned he had drawn several days’ cartoons that morning so he could fly off to a conference later that evening, fitting in a bit of hosting and tour-guiding in his ‘spare’ time before departing. A courtesy to his mate, Rigby. Oliphant is without doubt the most widely emulated cartoonist in America. He is spoken about in great reverence by other American cartoonists. A ‘god’. I was given this impression first hand, because that trip later also included meeting with the likes of popular US cartoonists, Mike Peters, Jeff MacNelly, Dick Locher, Milt Prigee, Steve Sack, Bill Schorr and Paul Conrad among others. Most had never met Oliphant and had accepted me with great hospitality when they’d heard on the cartooning grapevine I was coming, after spending a day with the great man in DC. Whenever I called ahead to introduce myself by phone, they all knew who I was. I was given the Spanish Inquisition. But when a young Oliphant was learning his trade in Adelaide in the 1950s, he kept a keen eye out across the border of SA and WA at the rise and rise of the superstar, Paul Rigby on the Perth Daily News. Oliphant’s early cartoons are very ‘Rigby’. The cartoonist who was to later give rise to a whole generational movement of modern American editorial cartoonists himself drew admitted inspiration and influence from Paul Rigby. So it can be rightly chronicled that Rigby had an influence on most modern American cartoonists, even though they themselves did not realize it. By the time Rigby hit New York in the late 1970s, Oliphant was the entrenched superstar having worked in the States since winning a cartoon competition in the Denver Post in 1964. Speaking of influence and inspiration, it’s fair to claim there’s a better-than-even chance there would be no Paul ‘Hoges’ Hogan if it were not for the existence of one Paul ‘Riggers’ Rigby. Rigby’s influence extended through to Australian television and film history but is not widely recognized as such. Tall story? Exaggeration? Utter crap? Well bear with me on this one. The late great Bill Mitchell, close friend and confidant, and ex-WA cartoonist, told me he used to knock about with a young Perth newspaper journo called John Cornell back in the West. For those who recognize the name, yes, it’s the same John Cornell better-known to TV viewers as ‘Strop’, the dimwitted sidekick moron mate of Hoges. The thick-as-two-bricks Strop

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character could not be further removed from the canny, sharp business brain of John Cornell who played the role. The young journalist Cornell found his way to Sydney from Perth where he landed work in television and subsequently as a producer on an early version of A Current Affair, pioneered and hosted by the young Mike Willesee. To break up the boring political interviews and seriousness of the news, it was suggested by the exPerth journo that A Current Affair needed a ‘Rigby’ on TV. A TV cartoonist, to do for the news program what Paul Rigby did for The Daily News. Only an ex-Perth journo knew and appreciated the power of Rigby. Cornell sold the idea to Willesee. So in 1971, the hunt was on for a newsfunny man on TV. It just so-happened that in 1971, a 32 year-old rigger working on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was bemoaning to his mates about the harsh treatment handed out by the judges to aspiring stars on the talent spotting TV show, New Faces. The rigger decided, just for a joke, to enter the program himself, as a knifethrowing tap-dancer. He intended to be bad but something caught the eye and he was invited back, again and again. His name was Paul Hogan. Hogan was spotted by Cornell and Willesee and invited on to A Current Affair to make some funny observations on the week’s news. They had found their ‘Rigby’, and got more than they ever dreamed. Especially Cornell who went on to become Hogan’s manager, business partner and best mate and together they went on to conquer the world, as we know, did the real ‘Rigby’. The real deal was too modest to boast of such accomplishments, but it’s a fair bet newspaper, TV and film history would be very different if there were no Paul Rigby. What a legend.

Paul Zanetti Mudgeeraba Queensland Photos top to bottom: Rigby Senior and Rigby Junior, Bay, in the studio of their Roosevelt Island apartment. At The Southern Cross Hotel Cartoon Bar mid 80s in Sydney, Three generations of Daily Telegraph cartoonists, Paul Rigby, Paul Zanetti and Bill Mitchell. Outside one of Rigby’s favourite New York watering holes Flanagans. (left to right) Paul Zanetti, Paul Rigby, Adam Brooke and Bay Rigby. EDITOR’S NOTE: The Life and Times of Paul Rigby by Mick Horne can be found in Inkspot #41, Winter 2004. A full colour pdf version can be downloaded from: http://www.cartoonists.org.au/Inkspot.htm

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P a r z The 2006 Walkley Awards

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Alan Moir has collected his second Walkley, taking out the prestigious award for cartooning, at a gala ceremony in Melbourne’s Crown Palladium. The Award for Excellence was for Moir’s There’s a cartoonist on the bus (below) which was drawn during the furore over the Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. The incident eventually led to more than 60 deaths. Reversing the usual roles of

the characters, Moir depicted suicide bombers running in panic from the bus. His idea encapsulates the ridiculousness of the fuss about the Danish cartoons. The judges commented Moir’s cartoon captured the extreme global response to the Danish caricatures and illustrated perfectly how sensitive and volatile the world of religious extremists can be. The style is energetic, tough and yet does not take sides… and it’s funny! Melbourne’s Matt Golding and The Age’s Ron Tanberg were also nominated for the award.

At the 2006 News Awards, which are open to all editorial staff on all of News Limited’s newspapers, magazines and news websites in Australia and the South Pacific, Melbourne ACAer Simon Schnieder, took out the much sought after Artist of the Year gong! The black tie function was held at the National Gallery of Victoria’s Great Hall. Among the guests were El Supremo Rupert Murdoch and his mum. The Nine Network’s Mike Munro, a former News Ltd copyboy was the night’s MC. The Artist of the Year category includes illustrators, cartoonists and graphic artists, such as Scott ‘Boo’ Bailey, Eric Löbbecke and Peter Nicholson. Apparently a fantastic night was had by everyone. We’re not certain whether Glenn Milne was there or not! Still on the subject of major cartooning awards, the inaugural Michael Collins Caricature Award was a huge success with over seventy entries from more than forty artists around the country, who were vying to win over $5000 in cash and prizes.

The Australian Financial Review’s Karl Hilzinger, received the Walkley for Excellence in Artwork for his DVD Piracye illustration (below).

Imaginative and well executed, the judges commented that “this exceptional piece of artwork is a powerful image that demonstrates Hilzinger’s artistic ability”. The Ages’s Robin Cowcher and Judy Green were also finalists in the category. The coveted 2006 Gold Walkley was awarded to the ABC TV’s team of Liz Jackson, Lin Buckfield and Peter Cronau, for their Four Corners report Stoking the Fires.

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The standard of the entries was overwhelmingly high, which made judging very difficult. Winners were announced on 18 October at Crowne Plaza, Perth. First prize went to NSW’s Judy Nadin for her depiction of US President George W Bush. Judy won a glass statuette and $4000. Second Prize went to perennial prize-winner The Australian Financial Review cartoonist David Rowe, for his depiction of irreverent Aussie icon, Sir Les Patterson. David received $1000 along with his trophy. The student prize for 2006 went to WA’s Paul Meyer for his excellent caricature of the late Slim Dusty. Paul walked away with a copy of Corel Painter IX.5, worth over $500 as well as a trophy. Sharpen your pencils for next year, folks - there’s more where that came from!

The last meeting for 2006 of the Victorian Chapter was held at Dimattina’s in Carlton and featured a DVD show of the recent Ballarat Stanleys as well as musical entertainment by resident composer Peter Foster, who brought in his keyboard. Victorian members finally had a chance to hear Foster’s Cartoonists Song. The year 2007 may be too short to accommodate all the events planned by the Victorian Chapter which includes a trip to the Art Gallery in Bendigo and a special celebration of the often omitted State of Tasmania and its contribution to Australian cartooning. Rolf Heimann has already finished a film about Stanley winner Geoff Hook, who started his career on the apple island. Vics will drink a toast – with Tasmanian apple cider – to the beautiful island to the South and hope that Tasmanian members can find a way to participate. The Victorian chapter of ACA has only two Muslim members – and guess who won the raffle for a bottle of wine at the recent Victorian get together? Bakimurattop, who is also a member of the Turkish Cartoonists’ Association. The raffle was enacted in memory of the late Paul Rigby, whose cartoons started a tradition in London pubs, where his cartoons were torn into a hundred pieces, put into a hat, and the one who drew the bit with the little dog won the prize. Victorian cartoonists have decided to make this a annual tradition in memory of Rigby. Luckily, members Bakimurattop and Dr. Levent Efe, in the tradition of moderate Turkish Moslems, enjoy good food and wine; in fact they agreed to organise a Turkish night, with Turkish food, Turkish music, and especially Turkish cartoons. Turkey has a number of excellent cartoonists, all practically unknown in Australia. The event will take place on Tuesday, February 6th, at the home of Rolf Heimann, 170 Mills Street, Albert Park. Members are already looking forward to it. Let Rolf know if you intend coming along to what will be a great night. SA’s Mike Atchison has thrown open his home for the traditional Adelaide Friday coffee mornings the last few weeks for ACA members. The turnouts have been quite good, maybe it was the free coffee, cake and fresh buns prepared by his wife Olga. Many lively and arty discussions have taken place ranging from the future of cartooning to “why the Stanleys can’t be held in the Barossa Valley or Stirling in South Australia!” The SA group once again got together for a Christmas brunch at Mike’s. More coffee mornings and lively discussions are planned for 2007 and a trip to see an animation studio are slated for next year.

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A GREAT night was had by all and an early morning had by some when NSW members of the ACA met up at the Hotel Clarendon at the end of November. The night/morning was organised by new NSW VP/ACA Deputy President Paul Batey. About 30 - 40 punters turned up including luminaries such as Warren Brown, Eric Löbbecke, Jon Kudelka, Tom Jellett, Lee Shepperd, Reg Lynch, David Follett, Ian Dalkin, Richard Jones, Brad Wightman (who had a very thick skin), Matthew Martin and many many more. Thankfully there was plenty to talk about and the evening didn’t quite sink as low as drawing caricatures on soggy beer mats with a biro. The next social is planned for the latter part of March, and should be a biggy.

Watercolor, oil and etching, gentle washes, cross-wise hatching; pencil, pen and brush and knife, and turpentine - that is the life of Spooner the Cartooner. Crowds and clouds and wine-dark sea, islands off the Promont’ry, weathered rocks and weather cocks, wretched prisoners in docks, well-fed judges, starving kids, hoboes, drifters on the skids, unwed mothers and dictators, roses, crocodiles and gators, all the hues of life’s rich salad are presented on the palette of Spooner the Cartooner. How he bowls and how he catches! Never misses cricket matches. (Seem to him exhilarating?!). Then he takes his children skating, soccer, dancing and karate. Even has a caffee latte with some friends, though time is short. Always deadlines of some sort for Spooner the Cartooner. Now he’s sixty. Yet he’s fit! Full of vigour, full of wit. Healthy, not yet gone to fat; Ingrida can attest to that. Likes to give to charity, Drinks only occasionally, Cig’rettes? Always kept his hands off. We’re so proud to be the friends of Spooner the Cartooner.

The third Riggers’ Award, (above) sculpted after Paul Rigby’s famous cartoon signature characters, the little urchin and his dog, has gone to former ACA WA VP Greg Smith. A popular choice. The West’s unique gong for outstanding contribution to Western Australian cartooning has in the past gone to Phil Faigen and Mick Horne. Well done, Smithy! Coffs Harbour’s ACA stalwart Hec Goodall has been presented with a much-deserved life membership from the NSW Fauna and Marine Parks Association. He can add this latest award to his collection - he holds an honorary fellowship with the Australian Museum and a life membership to the RPCA. Hec helped establish the NSWFMPA, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and drew an intricate commemorative cartoon which took several days to complete. Not surprisingly, there have been more than a few requests for copies.

Peter Broelman

One of the hot topics in the bars and other nooks and crannies around Ballarat during the recent Stanleys was the 2007 Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival. Early last year Dean Alston, Steve Panozzo and James Kemsley attended the 2006 edition and had an absolute ball with their British colleagues in the small Tudor village not far from Birmingham. It seems a few more ACAers are going to try and attend this year having been regaled with stories of Noz and Kems’ adventures. 2007’s theme will be Trade - interpreted in its widest sense. The 8ft by 6ft cartoons live for the public in the market square will be back. The participants’ cartoon exhibition is Mind Your Own Business and the other exhibitions will show the Works of Albert (Albert Rusling) and the late Dave Fellows. The dates are April 20 - 22. Anyone interested in attending should drop a email to organizer Roger Penwill at roger@penwill.demon.co.uk.

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Shellie Kelly from the Bunker Cartoon Gallery reports that there have been chuckles galore from visitors at the new exhibition titled Cartoon Selection from our Collection comprised of rotated works from 2001 – 2005. Trusty volunteers continue to catalogue the 13,500 cartoons held at the Bunker, and the sponsoring businesses around town are appreciating the framed works especially chosen for their office walls. Chris Kelly goes international! For ACA members not in-the-know, Inkspot is available as a full-colour pdf download from the ACA website. Once our newsletter is in the mail to members the pdf is posted on site and notification of its availability sent FECO, the CCGB and NCS. Inkspot continues to get a lot of positive feedback on cartooning sites around the globe but probably nowhere as much as the UK. A request was sent to the editor of The Jester, the CCGB newsletter, that content such as the Inkspot feature Ask The Doctor would be a great inclusion in their monthly magazine. Negotiations were concluded and as from February CCGBers with also benefit from Kelly’s talent.

Roger Penwill

John Spooner is sixty! Yes, the master artist recently knocked up 60 years, his highest score to date, or so we are reliably informed. Close friend Lofo aka Rolf Heimann couldn’t let the day pass without setting the occasion to verse.

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George Haddon

If you weren’t fortunate enough or able enough to make it to Ballarat, LINDSAY FOYLE has the details of the Stanley goings-on in the biggest little city in Victoria. 2006 and all that! hen the Stanley Awards started there was a dinner and the chance to catch up with some other cartoonists. Things have evolved and now the diner event has become a weekend marathon. Ballarat was the destination this year and over 120 made it to the event which started with a bus tour on the Friday afternoon. There was a visit to the Eureka Centre, which is as close to the site of the Eureka Stockade - where the rebellion of 1854 took place - as it is possible to be. There aren’t records of the precise location but it was very close to where the museum stands. Next was a visit to Lake Wendouree, which wasn’t there because of the drought, but there was some wet ground. The bronze busts of past prime ministers at the nearby Botanic Gardens were interesting. Then it was off to Creswick and the local museum where there was a display of photos and

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things that reflected the times when the Lindsay brothers were growing up in the area. It was the day after the body of a murdered girl had been found in the local dam, but we didn’t go there. We did see a local school art exhibition and there was a very entertaining concert on bamboo instruments. The bus whizzed around Creswick showing where the Lindsay family home had been, where a local church had been and where some other old buildings had been. The promised Artists Trail wasn’t inaugurated as it wasn’t there and soon after that we weren’t either as the bus had taken us back to Ballarat and the Fine Arts Gallery. The Get Serious exhibition of paintings by members of the ACA was worth the trip to Ballarat on its own. So too the separate exhibition - The More Things Change - of old cartoons from the gallery’s archives. As might be expected from, a gallery in the area where the Lindsays and Dysons came from the Ballarat Fine Arts Gallery has a long history of collecting cartoons. However the collection isn’t just of their work and represents some of the best cartoonists who have worked in Melbourne over the past 100 years, and just might contain the best collection in the country of work by Les Tanner. The welcoming speech from the Mayor, Councillor David Vendy set everyone up for a courtyard BBQ back at Quest Meadows hotel later that evening. Possibly the most amazing event of the weekend was the smiling faces at the AGM the next morning. Remarkably many of those same faces had been smiling at the BBQ the previous evening and it’s hard to imagine how they cameup looking so fresh after such a short sleep. The conference kicked off with one of the best-known cartoonist in the world, Paul Rigby. He made the trip from Western Australia to give us a wonderful two hours as he talked about his life and cartooning. He would have happily gone on longer - and maybe we should have allocated all day to him - but others were queuing up to talk too. Ranald McDonald - who had run The Age for many years - followed Rigby and gave a talk that many in the newspaper industry would have been happy to pay $1000 to hear. Others followed, including Rolf Heimann, Peter Viska and Russ Radcliffe from Scribe publishing. Ross McMullin gave a talk on Will Dyson and Rod Quantock ended the day talking about political satire. While the conference is intended to be a prelude to the Stanley Awards this year the standard set was amazing. It could not have been better. Quantock was MC for the Stanley Awards dinner that evening and seemed to just continue his talk on satire. A rousing Ballarat video-dity by Rolf Heimann and Peter Foster got the evening underway. There was more than a touch of irony when Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight was been named Sydney Morning Herald Editorial/Political Cartoonist and then The Age Cartoonist Of The Year, 2006. Paul Rigby was presented with the Jim Russell Award for his contribution to cartooning. Roger Fletcher was also honoured with a video clip celebrating thirty years of his much-admired adventure strip Torkan. Other Stanleys went to Tony Lopes (Comic Strip Cartoonist), Matt Golding (Single Gag Cartoonist), George Haddon (Humorous Illustrator), Peter Sheehan (General Illustrator), Tony Bella (Digital Illustrator), Eric Löbbecke (Caricaturist) and the Wacom conference drawing was won by Warren Steel with the cartoon drawn on the night (themed “gold”) won by Matt Golding. Cricket - the next day - concluded the activities and one of the best Stanley Awards weekend the ACA has conducted. Congratulations to the winners and the organizers.

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Photo - Grant Brown

Gold Diggers of 2006 (left to right): Matt Golding, George Haddon, Mark Knight, Eric Löbbecke and Tony Lopes. (Missing: Tony Bela and Peter Sheehan).

Stanley Award Nominees 2006 (recipients in bold italics)

Corel Humorous Illustrator Reg Lynch Ian Sharpe Tom Jellett David Follett George Haddon

The Herald Sun Caricaturist Peter Broelman Matt Adams John Tiedemann Eric Löbbecke Tom Jellett

Wacom Digital Illustrator Rolf Heimann Tony Bela Michael Perkins Michael Dutkiewicz Simon Schneider

The Australian General Illustrator Michael Perkins David Rowe Sturt Krygsman Peter Sheehan George Haddon

Thomson Education Direct Single Gag Cartoonist Andrew Weldon Matt Golding Will Goodwin Jon Kudelka Dean Alston

The Daily Telegraph Comic Strip Cartoonist David Fletcher Tony Lopes Gary Clark Roger Fletcher Michael Atchison Sean Leahy

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The Sydney Morning Herald Editorial/Political Cartoonist Jon Kudelka Vince O‚Farrell Mark Knight Peter Broelman David Pope Best cartoon of the conference using a Wacom tablet and Painter IX.5 software Warren Steele

The Australian Cartoonist of the Year 2006 Tony Lopes Peter Broelman George Haddon David Rowe Mark Knight Jon Kudelka David Pope

d’Arenberg Wines Cartoon on the Night “Gold!” Matt Golding Jim Russell Award for contribution to Cartooning Paul Rigby www.cartoonists.org.au

Neil Matterson

Damn you, Bill Leak and Michael Leunig!

You (and some others) would have been great drawcards for our exhibition of painting by cartoonists in the Ballarat Fine Arts Gallery, organised to coincide with the Stanleys. The idea of calling it Get Serious came from Gordon Morisson of the Gallery, who fully supported the event and made sure of a thoroughly professional display. What made the exhibition so interesting was the variety of styles and subject matter. Who would have suspected that Adrian Paterson – a cop – did delicate flower paintings! There had been rumours that Neil Matterson did naked ladies in ‘odd’ situations – now we had a chance to see what that meant. The gallery had agreed to a display of 30 paintings, and despite our constant harassment throughout the year the initial response from cartoonists was so poor that at one stage we thought of calling it all off. But suddenly, literally minutes before we left for Ballarat, the paintings flooded in, and some late – and very worthy – contributions had to be left behind. Jim Bridges was once again Mister Reliable, endlessly phoning cartoonists and collating bios. And it was worth it. Even without Leak and Leunig (doesn’t that have a nice ring: ‘Leak & Leunig’ - could be a company of eccentric marine designers) the general quality of the work was worthy of a first class art gallery, which the BFAG undoubtedly is. Apart from a core of substantial works by established and previously exhibited artists like John Spooner and Geoff Hook, there were those by cartoonists who simply agreed to ‘have a go’. Bev Aisbett deserves the ‘Start laughing, this isn’t serious’ prize: the computer gremlins omitted the cartoon on her biosheet, but Bev knew the solution – at the drop of a hat she drew one into the blank space. Running concurrently with the Get Serious exhibition – and planned way ahead of it, was the gallery’s own show of ‘The more things change’, consisting of cartoons from the gallery’s very own extensive archives. Both exhibitions served well

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to bring the public’s attention to the depth of our work and encouraged all of us in the knowledge that cartoonists don’t just work for next day’s paper to end up as wrappings for old chicken bones and potato peels, but that we are part of the nation’s art scene and provide records of unique historical value. We believe that the idea of accompanying the works with short notices was a good one, and we would have liked to include more comments by the artists about the intellectual origins of their works. A good example was Will Goodwin’s painting of the poet Les Murray reclining on a Ruby Sofa -Will supplied the poem that inspired the painting. It has sometimes been said that cartoonists are frustrated painters who could not make it in the hard world of ‘real’ art, just like many journalists would rather write novels than report on agricultural shows and football injuries. This may be so, but I am sure that many cartoonists feel like me: Our art touches more people and speaks more directly than paintings that change hands for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and when we indulge in actually paint-and-brush work, we do so without pretences or hopes of government grants and rave notices. Most of us are amateurs when it comes to painting, and the childlike innocence of Sunday painters was evident in more than a few works. I have previously observed that the fraternity of cartoonists is a much warmer one than the one you find among ‘real’ artists and writers. Theirs is a cutthroat world with higher income at stake, pervaded by backstabbings, intrigues and feuds. We are inclined to see life as a series of cartoons, not to be taken too seriously (well, there may be some exceptions). The feedback to the exhibition was nothing but positive, and more than once did I hear the suggestion that we ought to do it again, maybe as a regular feature of the Stanleys. The gallery and the Ballarat Council who supported the event financially, deserve our sincere thanks; the show was definitely one of the highlights of this year’s Stanleys. To this I have three words to say: Told you so.

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Cartoonist of the Year 2006

MARK KNIGHT Lindsay Foyle on the Melbourne Herald Sun’s editorial wizard

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cartooning.” Later when Bruce Baskett was editor Knight would show him up to three cartoons for him to choose which would be run. The Herald and The Sun News-Pictorial were merged to form The Herald Sun in 1990 and the first cartoon Knight drew for the new paper coincided with the day Collingwood won the grand final. Knight drew a quick cartoon and took it around to have it approved by Baskett. When he walked into his office he found Rupert Murdoch and News Limited chief executive, Ken Cowley there. Knight stopped in his tracks and asked, “Who would like to look at the cartoon first? Everybody deferred to Murdoch and I passed it to him. Thank heavens, he laughed.” “I still love drawing,” says Knight. “I draw for the fun of it all the time.” It paid off for him as he has collected the Single Gag Cartoonist Stanley 1993, Editorial/Political Cartoonist Stanley 1995 and Walkley Awards in 2003 and 2004. He thinks the key to political cartooning is “People have to laugh. A cartoon should be informative, challenging and, if for a brief moment when a reader looks at that drawing and laughs, hopefully they’re also taking some message away with them,” and who could argue with that?

Mark Knight

hen you’re on a roll there are good days and there are better. Mark Knight is on a roll. Last year his book The Mark Knight Collection was published. This year he picked up the Political/Editorial Stanley in Ballarat followed by the Cartoonist of the Year Stanley for cartoons he’d drawn for the Herald Sun. Victoria has been good to a boy born and raised in Sydney. He grew up in Lakemba, attended Wiley Park Primary School, then Narwee Boy’s High and says there hasn’t been a time when he didn’t love to draw. He started his cadetship in the Fairfax art department, filling in the black squares in the crossword grids. He went to East Sydney Technical College and studied life drawing, painting, drawing and etching. He says the day he had his first cartoon published in The SunHerald, “was a heady one. I had been submitting political cartoons to the chief sub-editor in the hope that they’d

get a run.” It was 1980 and he was still in the first year of his cadetship. Soon, he was getting cartoons published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review too. Knight had a few cartoons published in The Sydney Morning Herald in 1984 when a replacement for George Molnar was being sort. The job went to Alan Moir and later Knight said he thought he was too young at the time to have handled the job. Soon after, Patrick Cook told him he was moving on from The Australian Financial Review and suggested Knight apply for the job. The editor-in-chief Paddy McGuiness put him on, telling him “Comrade, the only requirement I have for a cartoonist is that they make me laugh.” Knight had been cartooning on The Australian Financial Review for three years when Rupert Murdoch took over the Herald and Weekly Times. He lured the SMH’s Eric Beecher to The Herald to be editor. Beecher, in turn, enticed Knight to Melbourne to work on the paper. Knight said, “I threw myself into Melbourne life and tried to absorb the strange but fantastic city.” On The Herald Beecher would “look at a cartoon and ask me why I had taken that point of view and we’d talk about it. He made me think more about

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Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

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Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

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Forget about The Ashes as the Bancks XI clinch a thrilling victory Tony “Ritchie” Lopes reports on Showdown III Photos by Jason “Braddles” Chatfield

After lunch, The Bancks XI n recent times White Flat applied their keen cricketing Oval Ballarat has been skills to chase down the given a drastic multi required target of 93. The million-dollar facelift. It Maileys tried various tactics to has gone from a small ground unsettle the Bancks’ batsmen, with a creek running through some of them verbal - for it for gold panning, to a instance, “Can’t Bat, Can’t world-class venue offering a Draw”, “You’re as funny as modern concrete grandstand a house brick” and “My cat that when filled to capacity, caricatures better than you” can hold in excess of 80,000. just to name a few. However Although not quite a sell out, it was all in vain as the Bancks the spectators who were on boys cruised to victory with hand to witness the Stanleys only 1 ball to spare. match between the Bancks XI Many performances from and Mailey XI are calling it the both teams were certainly greatest clash ever seen. worthy of honour. The batsmen, As numbers were short Grant Brown, Roger Fletcher, for this anticipated fixture, Will Goodwin, Matt Golding many of the cricketers were and Peter Broelman all forced to take the field despite showed that they are potential failing final fitness tests, which non-excitement machines, included walking a straight while the bowlers toiled hard line after the previous night’s The Kemsley connection of cartoon celebration and lack of James, Jed, Seb & Hywel any apparent sleep. managed 4 wickets between Despite little preparation them while other wickets and lack of ability many players were shared between Dave had, the cricket on display Follett, Simon and Josephine was still thrilling. At times the Schneider, Jason Chatfield crowd could hardly contain Gary “Swampy” Clark primed and looking the part and Gary Clark who all used themselves. In fact many before going out to score 1 the stiff Sovereign Hill breeze spectators left wondering why nicely. no Australian selectors were on hand to see the match. After the match, Mailey captain Grant Brown said the defeat The Bancks XI won the toss and sent in the Mailey boys, which proved a bad decision as the Mailey top order were in was disappointing. “I am still proud of my players” espite having swashbuckling form. With some good contributions from the never won a Stanleys match. “Things have not gone well for us tail, the Maileys made a respectable 93. This was a challenging - so it’s back to the drawing board... literally!” During the post match conference both captains praised total considering the wicket prepared by curator Rolf Heinmann the standard of cricket on show, especially considering many wasn’t conducive to a high scoring affair. TV crews were also present, unfortunately they weren’t on display had been out of mainstream cricket most of their interested on what was happening in the middle, but rather lives.They also agreed the standard of umpiring from Marie Allan Salisbury’s movements, which was a shame as the high Fletcher rated a mention, and if the ICC were ever looking for standard of cricket was worthy of an appearance on Network a replacement for Darryl Hair, Marie certainly did her chances no harm. Nine’s Cricket Show. The Bancks XI will now look to build on its success for 2007 Tensions later rose when players were forced back on the field after the lunch break with many players simply wanting to while selectors will need to discuss options for turning around eat more food, and who could blame them as what was on offer the form slump of the Maileys. This should bode well for next was sensational. A fabulous array of salad, barbequed meat and year’s match in Wollongong, which is already shaping up as the cheesecake. A big thank you must go to the Ballarat Rotary Club most anticipated clash since The Ashes. Bring it on! for organising this treat.

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Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

White Flat Oval – Bancks XI v Mailey XI Bancks XI won toss and elected to bowl Mailey XI Simon Schneider lbw b. Follett Grant Brown (c) retired Alan Rose b. S Kemsley Dalton Brown ct Jenvey b. H Kemsley Peter McAdam run out Dave Gibb run out Roger Fletcher ct Goodwin b. J Kemsley Gary Clark ct Brown b. S Kemsley Peter Broelman stp Jenvey b. Chatfield George Haddon not out Alan Salisbury DNB Sundries (10 byes, 7 wides) Total 8 wickets 20 overs Bowling Overs Will Goodwin 3 Stewart Jenvey 2 Dave Follett 3 Tony Lopes 2 Hywel Kemsley 2 Seb Kemsley 3 Daniel Priest 1 James Kemsley 2 Jason Chatfield 2

Wickets 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 1

Overs 2 4 2 2 1 4 1 2 2 2 2 1 1

Wickets 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1

17 93

Runs 21 11 17 2 3 4 11 6 8

Bancks XI Tony Lopes (c) retired Will Goodwin lbw b. S Schneider Hywel Kemsley ct Brown b. Brown Stewart Jenvey retired Peter Russell retired Peter De Hahn ct J Schneider b. Lopes John Ditchburn b. J Schneider Jason Chatfield b. S Schneider Jed Kemsley retired Matt Golding not out Seb Kemsley b. H Kemsley Sundries (16 byes, 11 wides) Total 6 wickets 25 overs Bowling Alan Rose Simon Schneider Grant Brown George Haddon Peter Russell Dalton Brown Jason Chatfield Gary Clark Jed Kemsley Jo Schneider Tony Lopes Peter De Hahn Hywel Kemsley

7 32 3 1 2 21 2 1 3 4

30 7 18 20 8 14 0 0 11 14 6 27 155

Runs 17 10 14 12 5 26 10 15 12 8 2 5 6

Bancks XI won by 62 runs - Duckworth/Lewis System Photos (top to bottom): George Haddon goes out to bat in his one-day jester gear. Local Ballarat boy Dave Gibb puts some fuel in the tank after adding 21 for the Mailey XI. Seb “Ginger” Kemsley with his “Thommo-style” action puts the heat on ACA president Peter Broelman.

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Player of the match: Jason Chatfield

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Dave Gibb - one of Ballarat’s familiar faces by Rolf Heimann

The market for cartoons is by no means exhausted, and Dave proves it. Many companies publish newsletters. Do they use cartoons? They often would if they only could get suitable ones. Cartoons are also ideal for Christmas cards or any special events. Everybody likes to see himself or herself caricatured. Just by phoning around and offering their services, budding cartoonists can get established. Dave estimates that he has taught some 28,000 students so far, and he is confident that he imparted more than the skill of drawing. Quite likely there are thousands of youngsters out there who don’t know it yet: one day Dave Gibb will come to their school and open a door they did not even know existed.

Clowning Around

by Rolf Heimann

he Clown Doctors are the current ACA charity, so it’s only fair that we should learn who gets our contribution, as modest as it may be. The most obvious question to ask is of course: Are they real doctors? And if so, can they be trusted? Would you want some fool with a red nose and rainbow wig - and a scalpel! - near your prostate? I surely wouldn’t. First of all, clown doctors don’t do prostates. The way I see it they scare the shit out of sick kids so they feel that chemotherapy isn’t so bad at all in comparison. Don’t those clowns know how scary they can be? They know. Peter Spitzer – a real doctor and chairman of The Humour Foundation – explains that this is part of a qualified clown’s skill: to recognize a child’s attitude towards them and adjust

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Dave Gibb

ave Gibb well remembers his first commercial job and the panic he experienced after committing himself to drawing caricatures at a local Tabaret. After six years in the army, as an ambulance driver, a medic, health inspector, factory worker, cleaner and office worker he had taken the plunge and turned his hobby into work. The year was 1994. It does not look like he regrets it. Now he is a familiar face in Ballarat; his business, in fact, is called Familiar Faces. It was not an easy road. Asked what qualities a cartoonist needs, Dave is quick to answer, “A thick skin”. Rejection slips have to drop off like water on a duck’s back. Now he not only draws caricatures at all sorts of events and from photos, he travels the country teaching and takes pride in the fact that some of his students have developed into competent cartoonists. He also offers his skills as a public speaker and recently became president of the Ballarat South Rotary Club. For him there is more to cartooning than drawing a person’s likeness. He tries to develop in his students the skills of observation and promotes self-awareness and confidence. Needless to say, he uses a humorous approach, with lessons titled like, “How to draw your teacher without getting detention.” Many youngsters with a liking for cartooning start by copying Tweety Bird and limit themselves to this type of drawing. Dave encourages them to develop their imagination and to tackle difficult subjects. To simplify difficult subjects is a skill not limited to cartooning - it is a life skill. Dave notes that art teaching is a much neglected subject in school. Often it is a science teacher who is given the job, which is seen as filling in time and considered of no importance, when in fact teaching art can be a launch pad for many important activities and interests. He has been asked whether he is afraid that training too many cartoonists will cut into the already limited market. His answer is, “You musty be joking! The more the better!” Not many of his students will actually become cartoonists, but all will benefit from practicing their skills, not only eye/ hand coordination, but the power of observation, interest in their subjects and not least of all the pleasures of being able to do something they thought they could never do.

the routine accordingly. You see, not any fool can be a clown. A top notch clown will use his gift to gradually convince a terrified child that he’s no threat at all, but simply good for a laugh, and laughter is after all, the best medicine. There are no set routines for clown doctors. “The humour is based on each person’s interest and responses. Because they lighten the serious side of hospital, our Clown Doctors benefit everyone – patients, family and staff.” So it says in their Annual Report. Yes, they have annual reports – they take their humour quite seriously. They continue: “Children in hospital can be anxious, frightened, in pain or just bored. What’s more, many children who are in hospital are seriously ill or injured and are in hospital for a long time. Clown Doctors can distract children during painful or daunting procedures, stimulate those that are in comas, be with them as they go to surgery, encourage them during physiotherapy, or simply help them forget for a moment that they are ill.”

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

PANPA

PACIFIC AREA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS' ASSOCIATION

Strip brief and call for gag contributions The strip will be based on a regular character set of newspaper types. The topic will be anything that is part of the newspaper industry from broad subjects like media ownership to the daily interactions of staff life. All gags should be told through

characters. I’m not looking for symbolic ideas, thanks. Gag ideas can combine some point with the humour or simply aim for good humour. The point of the exercise is to attract a readership and attention to the existence of cartoonists, media artists and the ACA. The characters will be created and develop as good gags contributions come in. Any ACA members who have inside experience of the newspaper industry, or just a have good gag based on some element of the newspaper business, are welcome to post, fax or email gags to me at the addresses below. Gary Clark Postal : PO Box 51 Everton Park Qld. 4053. Email : gary@swamp.com.au Fax : 07 33530466 Phone 07 33530422 The ACA is an associate member of PANPA.

Gary Clark

ecently a cartoon strip called The Paper (below) was created (and now runs monthly in the PANPA Bulletin) following a conversation with the then Editor Lynelle Johnson. The PANPA Bulletin had been running ACA members’ cartoons sporadically in almost every issue. However, most of the cartoonsalthough good - didn’t relate directly to the newspaper industry. Being a every targeted magazine, I agreed with in strip be created that could reflect the goingson of newspaper life and where possible make a point of our own. Having said that, the first cartoon from the drawing board was a bit off-beat: two deros on a park bench complaining that the only newspaper they could find to protect

them against a cold night were the glossy inserts. Still, it was a start and I expect future strips will move closer to the original strip concept. The space we are given for the strip also allows for promotion of the ACA via our logo and the line: “Promoting excellent use of media art”. Apparently this cartoon strip concept is not knew and is similar to one that runs in the Walkley Magazine. Well, that’s good. The more exposure the ACA has the better.

Another aspect to this is how quickly November rolled around again, with it seeming only a brief time ago that I was plodding through the mists of Leura, not at all knowing what to expect from this gathering of cartoonists and illustrators.

ello, cartoonists, illustrators and others who may have stumbled upon this column... I can only imagine the heights of revelry that were attained in Ballarat (or perhaps my imagination isn’t quite capable), but nevertheless I must say I regret missing the 2006 Stanley Awards.

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Indeed, the word ‘convention’ itself often conjures visions of geeky secrethandshakers and purposed, linguistic gymnastics to whom only those possessing the right sort of knowledge are privy. But I was quite pleased to find that the ACA isn’t that kind of bunch. Far from it, actually -- the feeling I got was one of inclusivity, and, contrary to the standard ‘convention’ proprietary customs, a willingness to share the celebration of talents with as many who were willing to take part. For that, I commend and thank you; I have no doubt that 2006 in Ballarat was no different. Furthermore, I would like to congratulate those who took home awards this year: Mark Knight, Tony Lopes, Matt Golding, George Haddon,

Peter Sheehan, Tony Bela, Eric Löbbecke and Warren Steel. All at Viscopy were shocked by the sudden passing of the iconic Paul Rigby. We pass our condolences on to Marlene and his family. Viscopy is honoured to provide our services to ACA members, and it is our aim to be more than just a service. We look forward to sharing the celebrations in the years to come. One final note -- we have added the services of a dedicated Membership Manager, Andrew Leslie, in the hopes that we may better serve you. If you have any questions about Viscopy membership or our services, feel free to contact Andrew on members@viscopy. com, or by phone at: 02 9368 0933. All the best, Chad Corley Distribution Manager Viscopy, Ltd

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Federation of Cartoonists Organisations

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FECO

The 25th Salon in Saint-Just-Le-Martel

usual, the welcome was warm and genuine. They were all there like 24 years ago when I came for the first time and it brought comfort to the heart. There are good habits one must be able to keep and this yearly meeting in SaintJust is one of them. The friendly links woven along all these years thanks to this national and international event, perhaps unique in the world, are the best present our friends in Saint-Just may have offered to us, cartoonists from all the world. This Gaulish village doesn’t fear the Romans who come round to visit them every year and these Romans, a bit mad too, we must admit, are nice invaders, not very dangerous ones except for the great men of this world who are often the targets of their sharp arrows. So every thing is O.K. The food is not very good, indeed, but we don’t care.The wine is not of the best vintage but who would whine about it ? We’re not there

just for the beer. More light is wanted here and there but one can bring his torch light. The sign-boards are not always easy to read but this helps us be better prepared to stand the risks and hazards on the road of France or else. The organisation of the space is somewhat ill balanced, the collective exhibitions being rather confined compared to the individual ones but we belong to a society in which the individual is definitely more important than the group. It is true that some spots remind us of the Parisian Metro at 6 o’clock in the evening but the human contact gains in warmness and conviviability and, thus, the group eventually prevails on the individual. And so the balance is reset. In a word, all is great except for what happens to go wrong. All this, actually, is a good thing because it will enable us to make the necessary improvement when passing from the “soft” stage, under the tent, on to the “hard” one , in the building that Frank Gehry is conceiving, according to what can be heard, with no confirmation from Saint-Just director Gérard Vandenbroucke. Last remark : too many cartoons kill the cartoon. Indeed, more space between the exhibition boards and less pictures on each would improve the presentation of the works and allow every cartoon to be seen and read more easily. We would

get a lot out of this, the exhibitors and the visitors as well as the organisers who, thus doing, would have less pictures to display. This evolution would imply, of course, to make a selection among all the delivered cartoons.The process would, then, mean spending a lot of time on it and making unavoidable drastic choices, likely to be considered as arbitrary by the authors. Of course, these choices would have to be fully assumed and rigorously made within a collective work under the responsability of an art director who would be strict enough but not too much though. This would urge the organisers to be more exacting for a cartoon delivery date which would leave them plenty more time to thoughtlessly cope with all the works of art they receive. So I expect all the FECO cartoonist members to send their ideas and suggestions, even the craziest and the less realistic ones, so that we can forward them to our friends in Saint-Just. A great collective reflexion trend will be the best way to partake of the efforts they make in the defence and free spreading of our favourite means of expression, the cartoon. Brito Translation: Batti

TIME CAPSULE... 1929

The founding fathers of the ACA enjoy a day out sketching in 1929. (Back row left to right) Harry Campbell, Dave King, Dan Russell, Cecil Hartt (first president of the Club). (Front row left to right) Jim Russell, Bill Pidgeon, Stan Cross, Ashley Cooper, Unk White, Frank Dunne.

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Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

ASK LINDSAY! ASK LINDSAY! ASK LINDSAY! Every week the ACA receives numerous enquires about cartooning. It generally falls to cartoon aficionado and ACA comic historian LINDSAY FOYLE to supply the answers

Joanna, I don’t have much on Virgil and I’m not sure who is looking after his estate. But here is what I have and I hope it’s of some help. Virgil Gavan Reilly Born 1892. Died 1974 Sydney, New South Wales. Virgil Reilly was a small man who regarded himself as one of Sydney’s oldest leprechauns. He was born in 1892 the son of the local postmaster in Creswick Victoria. In his early in his career he worked as a commercial artist in the motion picture industry. In 1920 he took a job with Smith’s Weekly where he drew illustrations and cartoons but is best remembered for his Virgil Girls drawings. His illustrations that ran with a collection of Ken Slessor’s poems in Smith’s Weekly were published in a book Darlinghurst Nights in 1933. Like all of the artists on Smith’s, Virgil had a continuous love-hate relationship going with Frank Marien, the paper’s editor. One Friday afternoon, Virgil complained to Marien he had so much work to do he wouldn’t be able to complete it. Marien believed he could and after an argument he locked Virgil in the otherwise-deserted art department. Marien then announced he was off for dinner and would consider letting Virgil out when he got back to inspect his drawings. After dinner, Marien forgot about Virgil and headed off home. Virgil didn’t spend his time locked in the art department drawing, but in refreshing himself from a bottle of whisky that had been lying idle. Around midnight Marien got a phone call from the police. The imprisoned Virgil had built a pyramid out of some tables and had turned some rolled up paper into a torch, which he applied to the sprinkler system. When they came on, a fire alarm went off at the fire station. The fire brigade and police rushed around to what they thought would be a fire, only to discover the less-than-sober Virgil imprisoned in a now very damp art department.

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

After Smith’s, he worked as a political cartoonist for the Daily Mirror and then Melbourne Truth. Virgil was the first winner of the Walkley Award in 1958 for a cartoon he drew to illustrate Legacy Week. In 1968 a fire destroyed his Potts Point flat, which he shared with his wife Anna. The other artists in Sydney established a Virgil fund the help him recover financially. He died in 1974 after falling from the window of his flat. He was 82.

#### Hi, I’m trying to locate an artist named VINES. I’m wanting to secure use of copyright for a book I’m publishing. I’ve had in my file for about 10-15 years so

only older people might know of him. I was told long ago that he worked for the Brisbane Courier Mail but I can’t find anyone there who knows of him. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Rick Morse You’re probably referring to Mac Vines, who worked on The Telegraph and Sunday Mail back in the days when Alan Moir worked on the Courier-Mail. He might still live in Brisbane somewhere, Samford Valley maybe. He should be in Phone book or contact Ken Blanch or Lawrie Kavanagh on Courier-Mail.

####

Virgil Reilly

I’m sorry to trouble you, but I thought the ACA might be able to help with contact details for an illustrator named Virgil Reilly, who did a lot of work for Smith’s Weekly in the 1920s and 1930s. Let me know if you can help with this one, Many thanks, Joanna

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Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

It seems Ye Old Dart is more draining than usual writes the ACA’s & CCGB’s DAVE GASKILL

Dave Gaskill

eeting up again with The Three Doodlers from Down Under, Alston, Kemsley and Panozzo brought forth promises to write a few reflections on the current state of cartooning in the UK. So if you can bear to hear a few whinges from an accidental Pom read on. Go on - you’re used to it. First of all it’s 18 years since I left Australian cartooning in your own capable hands so I cannot make current comparisons. I know from Inkspot and the Stanleys Year Book that irreverence still abounds and I don’t detect the dead hand of editorial interference, but I could be wrong. Here, add to interference a large dollop of indifference. Papers will drop an editorial cartoon on a day they want the space or reduce it to postage-stamp size. They may, as the Mirror and London Evening Standard have done, drop the cartoon altogether. Another cartoonist hits the streets looking for work. Columnists rule OK ! The Good, the Bad and the Tacky infest the pages. TV-manufactured “ New

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Celebs“ unable to put one letter in front of another have their vacuous thoughts deciphered for them and committed to page by an underpaid hack. “We’ve got Melony Bigboobs from the Watchin’ Paint Dry show doing a column, who needs a cartoonist ? “ Well certainly not some editors, nor I’m sorry to say, the Great British Public. A cartoonist to so many means somebody who can draw Donald Duck. Mind you, old Walt didn’t do too badly out of this ability. That editorial cartoonists need a newspaper is a given but whether a newspaper needs a cartoonist is not so certain any more. As mentioned there are now a number of papers effectively cartoonless. Others pay scant regard and seem to use them more out of habit than commitment. Sadly it is at the “lower” end (yes the British class system is still alive and well) of the market where the cartoon is disappearing fast. The “ upper “ end still treats the cartoon and its practitioners with a good degree of respect. The rub is they are low circulation and thus escape the attention of the average punter. It is in this peculiarly British environment that a cartoon apartheid exists where work of those at the “lower“ tabloid, or redtop end, is not usually afforded the same recognition as those at the “quality“ broadsheet end. I can’t recall this being the case in Australia, where the cartoonist was judged by, his work and not the paper it was in. To their credit the Heavies leave the cartoonist to do their job unhindered and this can lead to some excellent work that owes nothing to backbench busybodies. How much better if the mass-circulation papers allowed their cartoonists such freedom. To leave them to select the subject they want to have

a bit of fun with, have a go at, ridicule, skewer or throw on the barbie. Thanks to global warming we can do this now in the land of the long drab grey cloud. They don’t. They can ignore your offerings and instead they suggest some “brilliant “ idea chundered up over the Editor’s cornflakes. Probably by the wife or hubby. Complete with accompanying matchstick men drawing, it’s subtly suggested that THIS is what you will be drawing. Or your accepted idea will have the caption altered making the cartoon ineffectual at best, pointless at worst. Fed up with the editorial meddling? Try other spots in the paper where your caricaturing and cartooning skills may yet work their wonders. Fat chance. Some anonymous computer graphics whizz has been hired at low cost to produce a mish mash of severed well known heads atop dysfunctional bodies amongst a scene culled from a scrapbook. All the severed heads avoid eye contact with each other. And beware the right-on trendy art directors who adore all things hideously drawn. Fight against this dilution of the cartoonist’s art and purpose and you’re out. Can’t these people take a joke? Know your place and you could survive paid but unnoticed ‘til the day the bean cruncher cometh. Newspapers are failing and no amount of celebrity columnists will halt their slide. Nor will cartoonists, but at least we’d all go down laughing. ( Unless you’re one of those who insist on making a sombre and heavy political point.) Well enough of this. I can’t sit around whinging all day - I’ve got to sign on at the dole. Dave Gaskill a member of the British Cartoonists’ Association and also a member of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association. He has successfully plied his trade in both countries.

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Michael Collins

CariCature award inc.

COMPETITION CLOSED! We would like to thank everyone who submitted artwork for the inaugural Michael Collins Caricature Award to win in over $5000 in cash and prizes. We received over 70 entries from more than 40 artists around the country. The standard of the entries this year was overwhelming and of world class quality making the judging very difficult. The winners were announced at the awards night on October 18th at the Crowne Plaza, Perth. First prize went to JUDY NADIN for her depiction of US President George W Bush. Judy won a glass statuette and $4000. Second Prize went to Financial Review cartoonist DAvID ROwe, for his depiction of irreverent Aussie icon, Sir Les Patterson. David received $1000 along with his trophy.

The student prize this year went to WA’s PAUl MeYeR for his excellent caricature of Slim Dusty. Paul walked away with a copy of Corel Painter IX.5, worth over $500 and a trophy. All pieces were exhibited at the Kurb Gallery in Perth from October 18th for two weeks, and are all online for bidding at: www.mccaward.com

A big thank you to all who entered.

All proceeds from sale of artworks go to the Heart Foundation. Special thanks to our main sponsor, Australia Post, as well as Crowne Plaza Perth, the Australian Cartoonists’ Association, Corel Australia, Australian Teaching Aids, Blue Moon Realty, Donaldson and Warn and Kurb Gallery.

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Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

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4ILL THE NEXT )NKSPOT THEN INFO CHRISKELLY NET AU www.cartoonists.org.au

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MONEY

Don Hatcher, SA Vane Lindesay, Vic

30 Mark Guthrie, QLD

Jack Edmunds, NT

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Peter Foster, Vic

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

Phillip Day, QLD Rolf Heimann, Vic

Tim Mellish, QLD

James Kemsley, NSW Thank you to everyone who contributed to YVO. UNFORTUNATELY space constraints didn’t allow us to use everything emailed. We hope you enjoy those which did find space. the subject for issue #51 will be

“TRANSPORT” Please email your submissions to inkspot@abwac.org.au

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

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The Arrival

Story and illustrations by Shaun Tan Publisher: Lothian Pages: 128 RRP: $39.95 Reviewed by Nick Stathopoulos

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here persists a genuine belief by some that picturebooks should exist purely for the entertainment of young children; an attitude that has generated some critical consternation directed towards the efforts of Shaun Tan; whether working in collaboration -- with John Marsden (on The Rabbits) and Gary Crew (on Memorial) - or writing and illustrating for himself (The Lost Thing, The Red Tree). The award-winning children’s picture-book author and illustrator was in Sydney recently, promoting his latest book, The Arrival. What’s interesting is that the eager crowds that patiently queued for hours to have their copies personally inscribed were predominantly adults. That’s not surprising. Tan’s sophisticated graphic style and complex adult themes have always appealed to adult sensibilities. However, the primary audience for his work, to date, has always been considered juvenile. The Arrival therefore represents an ambitious departure for Tan -- both in scale, and in format -- because this is not so much a picture-book for children, as a comic-book for grownups: a graphic-novel. The graphic novel has long been legitimised by the works of Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Sin City), and Art Speigelman (the Pulitzer Prize winning Maus). But whereas these works are heavily text driven, Tan prefers to tell his story in purely visual terms, dispensing with text altogether. This has a twofold effect: it quickly draws the reader into the alternate universe, and forces them to engage and empathise with the protagonist’s plight. It may take a few pages to become acquainted with this style of story telling, but the reader easily adapts, creating a deeply immersive and powerfully moving experience. Achieving this result was no easy matter. Running at a massive 128 pages, the entire format was revised numerous times, with an initially simpler cartoon style abandoned in favour of a more realistic one. Each exquisitely pencilrendered panel was digitally treated to resemble a faded photo in an aged and battered album, a process that took

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over five years to complete. It was worth the effort; as this verisimilitude makes it easier to accept Tan’s often surreal and metaphoric world. Narratively, The Arrival deals with issues of migration and displacement, when the protagonist; a father (portrayed by Tan himself), leaves behind his wife and young daughter, and journeys to a distant and strange country in search of a better life, free from the threatening and oppressive shadows that mysteriously float through the streets of his homeland. On arrival, he is put through humiliating inspections and confusing bureaucratic procedures. He finds a place to live, endures dehumanising menial work, bumbles through embarrassing faux pas, and even makes the occasional whimsical discovery -- always maintaining a sense of wonder throughout. As he progressively finds his place in the new world, he meets other refugees and immigrants, all of whom impart useful information and recount their stories. It is here that Tan’s visual storytelling excels, using traditional comicbook devices to propel the plot forward, without them ever distracting from the story. Eventually, the father is touchingly reunited with his family, and his daughter goes on to help another new arrival, creating a sense of narrative symmetry. The Arrival is a quietly mane work of great artistic integrity; the product of a skilled and original visual storyteller at the peak of his talent. If you’re not already one of the legions of fans, take a look at this book, and be thoroughly converted. -NS

Best Australian Political Cartoons 2006 Edited by Russ Radcliffe, published by Scribe 192 pages 200mm x 180mm $27.95 ISBN: 1921215 119

Make Cakes Not War

By Judy Horacek, published by Scribe 144 pages 200mm x 160mm $27.95 ISBN: 1921215 070 Reviewed by Rolf Heimann

he emergence of SCRIBE as producers of consistently high quality cartoon books is certainly one of the most positive developments in Australian publishing for years. Cartoonists who have received rejection slips will be familiar with the excuse that cartoon books are notoriously

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007

unprofitable, yet far from shrinking back, SCRIBE seems to be extending its list year by year. For this they deserve our full support. Commissioning editor Russ Radcliffe admitted at the launch of the book Best Australian Political Cartoons 2006 that the selection process will be open to attack. There are now 31 cartoonists represented, which shows that SCRIBE has risen to see wider horizons – or that more cartoonists clamour to be included. Not all cartoons are strictly political, and I have no objection to that. Variety of themes and styles add to the book’s enjoyment. Only a few years ago I irritated people by saying that Australian cartooning was at a low point when compared to the era of Norman Lindsay and Stan Cross. This is no longer the case. I know that I’m showing my age when I call Jason Chatfield, Peter Broelman, Matt Golding, Mark Knight and David Pope newcomers, but there’s no doubt that these ‘newcomers’ - and others - have become better and better each year. This is a book I will show proudly to foreign friends; Australian cartoonists can once again hold their heads high on the international scene. We no longer depend on a mere handful of stalwarts like Spooner, Nicholson, Petty and Atchison. Criticism where it’s due: It is becoming acceptable to some cartoonists (and some good ones too!) to cut out photos and paste speech clouds over them. It can be argued that the message and the impact are there, and this is what matters, but by the same token I’d hate to see writers cutting out paragraphs of odd text from magazines, combining them and then have the montage accepted into to a collection of Best Australian Writing. Few cartoonists are consistently at their best, and I know how much they can be under pressure. Even Alan Moir (undoubtedly one of our greatest) should think in future: ‘This may be included in the SCRIBE book, so I’d better take it a step further...’ Success can come too early to a genius. Stanley winner and one-time Artist of the Year David Rowe does spectacular caricatures, yet his cartoons are often flat and undramatic, especially when reproduced in black only. Who dares lecturing from the floor to a chap who’s already high on a pedestal? Yet his work could be much improved by structuring dramatic contrast into his compositions. Vince O’Farrell and Geoff Pryor are masters in this field without sacrificing their own style and becoming Oliphants. ZEG and John Ditchburn are welcome true newcomers to the pantheon of Australian cartoonists – and here I gleefully discovered the mistake without which no book is complete. Ditchburn’s name has not been included in the contents page. It is my experience that every book has at least one mistake, and discovering it always gives me great satisfaction and relief: I no longer have to look for it and can enjoy the ride.

It did not take me long to find the mistake in Judy Horacek’s book Make Cakes not War, and that out of the way, I could enjoy it almost from the start. Judy Horacek’s drawings are wonderfully simple, and so are her gags. There are childlike discoveries of linguistic ambiguities and double-entendres, which you hadn’t been aware of until Judy pointed them out as matter-of-factly as she presents bizarre situations that suddenly seem only half impossible. Now there’s the sort of gag Judy would hook her artistic claws in: What’s half impossible to some will be half possible to others. How to turn that into a visual gag? I don’t know, but Judy Horacek would surely find a way. She’s got the knack. These colourful depositions of a playful and alert mind will appeal to anybody with an intellectual sense of humour – and who would be so oafish as not admit to having one? When abroad, I am sometimes asked whether we have any female cartoonists. We do, I always say, and I name Mary Leunig, Kathy Wilcox, Joanne Applegate, Fiona Katauskas, Mitch Vane (yes, he’s female) and others. Judy Horacek, having published six cartoon collections and having illustrated an award-winning children’s book (Where is the Green Sheep?) has long risen from the category ‘and others’. She’s one of our best. And the mistake? Check out page 94 and the typical Australian misspelling of a common sea creature of the order Actiniaria. -RH

Passionate Nomads A Collection of Arabian Adventures by Philip Bentley 44 pages A4 B&W $15 Second Shore / Paper Tableaux, Melbourne, September 2006 Reviewed by Ian C.Thomas

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his book has quietly set a new creative benchmark for local small-press comics, in the content, the artwork and innovative approaches to graphic storytelling, but most of all in the writing. Passionate Nomads tells the tales of four real women who travelled, lived and loved in the Middle East of the 19th century - Jane Digby, Isabel Burton, Aimee Dubicq de Rivery and Isabelle Eberhardt. The text is entirely written (and sometimes adapted) by Philip Bentley, former editor/writer of Fox Comics and

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Inkspots many years ago, and currently producer of the Word Balloons comics magazine. It draws on the skills of a range of Australia’s very best comics artists, both past and present. However, it is Bentley’s professional historianship that is often to the fore - as detailed in the Foreword and Appendices, he has been inspired by Lesley Blanch’s The Wilder Shores of Love as source material, both directly and tangentially. Bentley and his team of artists tackle the material in graphic narrative form in a way that incorporates – but is in no way restricted to - traditional comic forms. The material has evidently served to inspire this as a long-term project some pieces originally appeared in Fox Comics, and are here found integrated into a fuller context. We begin the book by following The Amorous Adventures of Jane Digby through different eyewitness accounts (of varying reliability) recounting Jane’s adventures in travel and love. Using a range of characters’ voices and different artists makes perfect narrative sense – it’s an innovative approach to group comic-making that pays off completely for the reader! Scenes from my Life Lady Isabel Burton is a diary of the life of the wife of the explorer Sir Richard Burton – an honest, solid account that reveals a lot about the narrator. The most abstract and fanciful piece is probably The Odalisque and the Tumbler, well served by Maria Pena’s minimalist snapshots of Middle Eastern harem and travelling circus life. Rounding out the quartet, Mektoub recounts the life of Isabelle Eberhardt, in at once biographical and spiritual terms. Evocative grey-wash pictures and two different runs of text fragments are skilfully deployed, lending the piece a sense of mysterious resonance. Indeed, the ambiguities of real life and history are the keys to this remarkable graphic book. As the initial print run is very limited, I strongly recommend checking out the online samples, and purchasing this excellent Australian graphic work while you still can!

Streich’s caricatures and Windsor’s lyrics make for an interesting coupling - the illustrations often compensating for some rather twee (or awkward) rhymes. The caricatures themselves are largely “straight” stylised versions of realistic representations, particularly with women (and men with very regular features) who can be notoriously difficult to draw. With some of the subjects, Streich has also either had to contend with a dearth of visual and anecdotal reference or react to the temptation of representing historical characters with a more cartoonish appearance - for example, Ned Kelly is only seen as a cartoon character wearing his famous armour and Johnny O’Keefe’s head is replaced by a clockface. So too with some of the more “caricaturable” faces, such as Bob Hawke and John Howard. I like Streich’s palette - he tends to generally favour the olivey-brown end of the scale, with brightness popping up to lend a little splash here and there. Even red is a rather muted claret, whilst blue tends to be more prussian than cobalt. Colours are clearly rendered on the computer over ink and nib linework in a very attractive and unique style. For me, one can take or leave the verse, but the book is more a published exhibition of (primarily) caricatured notable Australian figures throughout our rather short history. And it’s a nice show indeed. -SP

Samples at: http://www.users.on.net/~dmerritt/nomads/ Available from: http://www.phasetwocomics.com

-ICT

Ned Kelly and the odd rellie by Gerard Windsor Illustrated by Michel Streich 115 pages, colour, $19.95 University of Queensland Press ISBN 0 7022 3578 4 Reviewed by Steve Panozzo James Cook Gave New Zealand a look. “Ah, I’ll give you a hoy When I discover Bondoi.” Thus begins this strange little book, full of quirky verse and illustrated with a unique style which has become a hallmark of Michel Streich’s work. Although not known for his caricatures, Michel does seem to capture the essence of the subjects more often than the actual likenesses which is, I suppose, in keeping with the tone of the book itself. It’s all about style rather than factual content... poetic licence, if you will.

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Rolf Heimann is the Vice-president of the Victorian Chapter of the ACA and a Gold Stanley recipient. He cartoons under the nom-de-plume of Lofo. Ian C. Thomas is a regular reviewer for Inkspot. He currently draws Magazine and Moth & Tanuki in the Manga comic OzTAKU. Nick Stathopoulos iis a Sydney based artist and illustrator. He is currently working on a feature film about the life of aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira, for which he wrote the screenplay. Steve Panozzo is the a former president of the ACA and runs his own freelance cartooning company Noz Productions.

Inkspot #51 Summer 2006 - 2007