Inkspot 85

Inkspot

INKED: AUSTRALIAN CARTOONS OPENS IN CANBERRA

BIRD’S EYE VIEW

CARR

MOIR

NADIN

THE LEDGERS

NICHOLSON

BALD ARCHY PRIZE

PITT and Mr SQUIGGLE

35th ANNUAL STANLEY AWARDS, CANBERRA, 6th-8th DECEMBER, 2019

Issue #85, Autumn 2019 www.cartoonists.org.au

ACA Board

Patron VANE LINDESAY

President JULES FABER president@cartoonists.org.au

Deputy President DAVID BLUMENSTEIN david@experienceillustration.com

Secretary STEVE PANOZZO steve@noz.com.au

Treasurer MARTINA ZEITLER treasurer@cartoonists.org.au

Membership Secretary PETER BROELMAN peter@broelman.com.au

Committee: ROBERT BLACK robert@robertblack.com.au

NAT KARMICHAEL comicoz@live.com.au

IAN McCALL mccallart@bigpond.com.au

JUDY NADIN judynadin@optusnet.com.au

CATHY WILCOX cwilcox@fairfaxmedia.com.au

Affiliated Organisations

National Cartoonists Society

President: Bill Morrison www.reuben.org

Cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain

Chairman: Noel Ford www.ccgb.org.uk

FECO

President-General: Peter Nieuwendijk www.fecocartoon.org

Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (PCO)

Chairman: Clive Goddard www.procartoonists.org

Your Inkspot Team

Editor: Nat Karmichael

Editorial Team: Phil Judd & Steve Panozzo

Contributors: Terry Anderson, Matt BissettJohnson, David Blumenstein, Warren Brown, Dave Budden, Mike Cooper, Jason Chatfield, Julie Ditrich, Jed Dunstan, Jules Faber, Rod Emmerson, Lindsay Foyle, Christophe Granet, Rebecca Hetherington, Dave Heinrich, Pauline Hook, Jeff Keane, Darren Koziol,Tony Lopes, Matthew Martin, Ian McCall, Alan Moir, Judy Nadin, David Pope, Gavin Ryan, Simon Schneider, Phil Somerville and Peter Viska

Cover Art: Cartoon by Judy Horacek

Inkspot is produced four times a year by the Australian Cartoonists’ Association in January, April, July and November.

Deadline for next issue is 14th JUNE

PO Box 5178

SOUTH TURRAMURRA NSW 2074

ABN 19 140 290 841

ISSN 1034-1943

Australia Post Registration PP 533798/0015

Presidential Palaver

Summer’s finally over and autumn is slowly making strides into winter. I mention this because climate seems to be the hot-button issue with an upcoming election. Personally, I’m converting my electric heaters to burn coal because it’s good for humanity, and I’ll have to give up circle work in my ute because electric utes just can’t cut it. But while all that nonsense continues to exhaust us, don’t despair! Kick back in your studio and get into this issue of Inkspot, which is, as usual, chock to the gills with the good stuff. Alternately, get out of the house! There are things to do out there! In March we held a very successful President’s Night in Sydney to which nearly fifty ACA members, family and public guests came to listen to a great variety of speakers including cartooning giants Glenn Ford, Nicola Scott and Cathy Wilcox. Encouragement Award recipient Anton Emdin kept most people awake with a talk about those MAD movie parodies. A great night was had by all. Or, get along to the Ledger Awards! The ACA is sponsoring these awards that celebrate Australian comic book excellence. This year they’ll be held at the NSW State Library on 26th April from 6.30pm. This is a fabulous night for the

Natter

Just a quick word to thank some of the people behind the scenes of this issue of Inkspot. I’ve had a lot of computer issues this year: first my computer crashed, then my internet/NBN went down for over four weeks. The preparation of this edition has been hampered as a result. Many thanks to Steve Panozzo, who took on some of the extra editorial duties; and to Barney and Gordon, who allowed me use of their computers. To some of the contributors whose stories I was going to run, and had to abandon, due to these domestic dramas: my apologies. I’ll try and run the stories next time....

In other news, the last edition of Inkspot featured an obituary of Larry Pickering Lindsay Foyle has informed me that he does not wish to be identified as the

Australian comics community which continues to grow due to the influence of cinematic comic book film and, of course, there’s Free Comic Book Day. This is another great event for lovers of comic art, held annually on the first Saturday in May. This year it’s on 4th May (which is also Star Wars Day - May the 4th be with you!) so visit your local comic book shop(s), pick up some free swag and support the shops that support us.

Wherever you are in Australia, you can always create an ACA event of your own! Just let us (the Committee) know your idea. There may even be funding for it. Anyway, enough from me. Get reading!

author of that piece. I perfectly understand and unreservedly apologise to Lindsay for all the distress that article caused him.

With reluctance, we’ve decided to retire the competition The Last Word. Despite the rather generous prize of $100 to entice the wittiest caption, the competition floundered through lack of entries. My thanks - again - to Lindsay Foyle for sourcing the historic Bulletin cartoons over the life of the competition.

Happy Down Under New Year!

Happy (almost) New Year!

... I am still here in Australia.... I just couldn’t go home... Unfortunately, I’m kidding...I have finally caught up on all my work and slightly recovered from the holidays. I wanted to thank you all for the help and great experiences that you were instrumental in providing me. It made for a once in a lifetime trip and I will certainly never be able to equal it...

I do hope to return in the near future (since it took me 60 years for the first one, it’s gotta be sooner than that!). The whole thing was wonderful and getting to participate in the Stanley Awards was very special... Thanks, again!!!... I hope the New Year brings you all great joy and fun new adventures... much love always!

Jeff Keane

LAGUNA HILLS CA USA

Hooked on a Feeling

Thank you so much for the six copies of the Inkspot Spring 2018 edition. We all appreciate so much that each family will have a copy for their collection about their father. To us it is stunning in the real sense to have Geoff remembered by his colleagues in this way.

The covers, the cartoons, the wonderful contributions by Lindsay, Tom, George, Mark and John, the letters from Steve and Ian give us the best memories of him. Deep gratitude to all of them.

Geoff would have been very impressed with the layouts - probably called something else now! Always his bane in the old days when he was trying to make it in the cartoon world!

Your support has been wonderful and we wish the ACA to go ever onwards and upwards. After Geoff died you would never know how much I appreciated those phone calls and emails. The cartoonists’ contingent at his funeral gave us the strength we needed at the time. Please give special thanks to everyone involved.

Of course the first thing we go to in our daily news is the cartoon in whichever media we’re following. Strength and courage to all cartoonists and to their minds, arms and fingers in holding such a difficult line these days! Fondest and best wishes to all,

Pauline Hook (and Family)

MOUNT ELIZA VICTORIA

Presidential Plaudits

I just received my Inkspot (#84) in the mail. Congratulations on your reelection. I wanted to drop you a line to commend you on your “Parlay” this issue. A lot of words have been spoken about diversity in the ACA over the past decade, but very little action has been taken (I realise it’s easier said than done).

I’m glad the ACA is moving in the right direction and I trust you’re the right man to make it happen. The experience you have with the ACA positions you perfectly to navigate these waters. They’re lucky to have you. Cheers mate, and congrats on what sounded like another successful Stanleys. I hope you can be involved in the NCSFest next year. Dave Blumenstein will be a good emissary in 2019!

Jason Chatfield

Vice President, National Cartoonists Society

INKED

Go behind the scenes at the opening of Inked: Australian Cartoons, now on at the National Library of Australia, curated by our old friend, GUY HANSEN

8

ONE BIRD’S VIEWPOINT

9

ACTING PRESIDENTIAL

10 24

FEATURES 5

LEDGERS PREVIEW

In an Inkspot exclusive, NAT KARMICHAEL give us a taste of what to expect at the 2019 Ledger Awards!

SQUIGGLE AT THE MINT!

The Royal Australian Mint celebrates Mr. Squiggle’s 60th birthday with a set of coins and an exhibition

THE GREAT SURVEY!

The results are in. DAVID BLUMENSTEIN has analyzed the responses and you will be shocked at the results!

THREE MOIR CHEERS!

All the shenanigans from the 2019 ACA President’s Night - with photographic evidence, too! 26

A profile on our latest living Hall of Fame inductee, ALAN MOIR

Peter

Auckland Angst

A few months ago, I found myself giving the opening talk at the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists’ conference in Sacramento. My thirty-minute presentation was split into two segments – the current state of editorial cartooning in New Zealand, and then Australia’s. I knew full well that there were friends and acquaintances in the audience who were highly critical of Mark Knight’s Serena cartoon. It’s a tale of two cultures and traditional media footprints that no longer end at the city or state boundary, but instantly become a global commodity. My talk on the Australian side was a well-researched: visual timelines of events beginning with Bill Leak, his cavalcade of work, the fatwah and the like, up to the point where it all went to custard. Then on to his book launch, his death and a picture of Mark and I at Bill’s postfuneral drinks. I then went on to explain the media dynamics of Sydney and Melbourne – essentially a tale of two media cultures. This led to a volume of Mark’s political work, and then moved to his distain of poor form on the sports field, whether it’s golf, Aussie Rules or tennis. This also included the pressures that Australian and NZ cartoonists are under to produce quality work daily, some being published over six or seven days a week. There would be very few, if any, in the US who work at this pace. Mark’s name didn’t really ring a bell in the audience, until I finally put up the Serena cartoon. Then I showed, matter of factly, the News Corporation response, right up to the day of my presentation. This put the whole thing in perspective, and a few dead rats were swallowed that day. I spent fifteen minutes on this subject, but the rest of the week talking about it.

The rise of extreme politics (and the ever-changing social dynamics of our communities in which we all live) has filtered through to cartoonists. Over the many years I’ve been in this game, I’ve met – and stayed in touch with – cartoonists from South Africa to the UK, Europe, Asia, the US and Latin American countries. The overwhelming majority of these cartoonists and visual satirists are all in one camp and support each other – except for Australia.

Like all cartoonist organisations, the ACA is a dysfunctional family. But it’s a shrinking dysfunctional family that is divisive rather than supportive. It’s one that is much easier to walk away from and move on to a better world. You have a problem – fix it.

Rod Emmerson AUCKLAND NZ

President’s Night Was Terrific!

I just wanted to say what a terrific time I had at the ACA’s President’s Night on Saturday, 2nd March! The speakers were great and it was interesting to learn about their respective disciplines as well as their back stories.

I’m always fascinated in the core values - such as persistence - that drive people to create and to become professionals, and it was on display in abundance with these wonderful speakers. The event was well organised and it was great to see different generations within the greater ACA family, pitching in to help.

Importantly, for an introvert like me – who usually needs to be dragged to social events! – it was welcoming, fun and engaging. I’m looking forward to attending more of these evenings in the future if the ACA is planning them.

Julie Ditrich LEPPINGTON NSW

Early Praise for Budden Tribute

Thanks for Inkspot and the brilliant tribute to my late father, Earl Budden. Thank you, ACA!

Dave Budden BALGOWLAH NSW

No Delight For Turkish Cartoonist

You will I’m sure be aware of the most recent news regarding Musa Kart, the 2005 winner of CRNI’s Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award and the current laureate of Cartooning For Peace, the Swiss Foundation’s International Press Drawing Award.

Like a number of former employees at the Cumhuriyet newspaper, Musa’s appeal against a criminal conviction handed down in 2018 for “supporting a terrorist organisation while not being a member” has failed. He will therefore be required to return to prison for one year and sixteen days, having already been jailed (quite illegally) for nine months, pre-trial in 2016/17.

As unacceptable as this is, it is certainly a far shorter sentence than the maximum twenty-five years sought by prosecutors. CRNI gives no quarter in its defence of Musa’s innocence; none the less we feel an appeal for clemency is appropriate. This is an election year in Turkey and the ruling party’s crackdown on critical voices within academia, the press and media is set to continue. Ours may be a slim hope. However I encourage the Australian Cartoonists’ Association to express solidarity with colleagues in Canada, the USA, Mexico, UK, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa and New Zealand in urging Australia’s diplomatic mission to Turkey to exert its influence in defence of Musa Kart.

With best wishes,

Terry Anderson CRNI Deputy Executive Director Regional Representative (Northern Europe)

INKED

Australia’s Cartooning Heritage Goes On Show in Canberra in

IMAGES

On 6th March, 2019, the National Library of Australia opened it’s latest exhibition, Inked: Australian Cartoons, a judiciouslycurated display drawn from the NLA’s collection of some 14,000 cartoons, featuring works from 1788 to the present day.

Following the triumphant discovery and delivery of Stan Cross’ 1933 masterpiece “For Gorsake, Stop Laughing: This is Serious” to the NLA in 2015, it made sense for the cartoon to feature as the centrepiece of a major cartoon retrospective. And “For Gorsake” is indeed given pride of place, having gone through a painstaking preservation process, alongside other mementoes of Cross’ career, including his autographed artists’ smock and commemorative card from the then Sydney Black and White Artists’ Club upon his retirement from Smith’s Weekly

Among those attending the launch were cartoonists Rocco Fazzari, Lindsay Foyle, Judy Horacek, Matthew Martin, Steve Panozzo, David Pope, Geoff Pryor and Cathy Wilcox, with support from ACA stalwarts Jim Bridges

Curator Guy Hansen’s book based on the exhibition, also called Inked: Australian Cartoons, is currently available online through the National Library’s website. The show continues until 21st July.

PHOTOS BY STEVE PANOZZO

THE GUY INKED behind

by GUY HANSEN

Inked: Australian Cartoons is the Library’s new exhibition about the history of Australian political cartooning. Drawn from the Library’s extensive collection of over 14,000 cartoons, the exhibition travels through time from the 1780s back to the present, providing a series of snapshots of major events and personalities from Australian history. The exhibition includes examples of early satirical hand-coloured prints that sold from print shops in London in the 1780s, satirical drawings done by early settlers, cartoons prepared for colonial publications such as Punch and The Bulletin, as well as numerous examples of artwork from major newspapers and magazines in the twentieth century. In the final section of the exhibition you can find more recent cartoons documenting the turbulent years of the Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments.

Taken together, this is a wonderful archive of Australian cartooning and Australian history. Delving into these works is like discovering a series of time capsules. Each point to events and controversies that briefly came to the surface of the news cycle. These cartoons capture these twists and turns in the Australian story in a truly memorable way. Stories of war, the dismissal of a prime minister or a crash in the economy - all can be frozen in time in a single image. These images appear like fossils embedded in a cliff face that remind us of the evolution of Australian politics and society.

Fossil traces, however, are notoriously incomplete. Not all animals and plants are preserved in the rock face. In the same way, not all cartoons have been preserved in collections like that of the National Library of Australia. Indeed, cartoons are

Curator Guy Hansen and “For Gorsake”

Stan Cross’

by their nature ephemeral creations. Completed to be reproduced in newspapers or magazines, the original is often lost or destroyed. Those that survive represent just a small sample of the millions of cartoons drawn for the print media.

In this exhibition I have attempted to be a cartooning palaeontologist. I have surveyed the Library’s archive with a view to finding examples of cartoons which help us understand how cartooning evolved in the Australian context. Using these examples, I attempt to tell a story of how the impulse to do satirical drawings came to Australia with the first European settlers and has continued ever since.

While the collections do not contain examples of all the artists who worked in Australia, and many of them have only a small sample of the overall output, there is sufficient material to allow us to begin to see the pattern of how Australian cartooning has changed over the last two hundred years. I contend that cartoonists initially provided amusing illustrations for magazines and papers, but that over time they developed their own voice for commenting on the news. By the second half of the twentieth century, many cartoonists had emerged as fully fledged social commentators. Artists such David Low Will Dyson, Bruce Petty, Les Tanner and Alan Moir demanded, and received, the right to maintain creative control over their work. This opened the door for other artists to emerge as independent commentators.

This exhibition is a celebration of the last two hundred years of cartooning in Australia. Cartoons are more than just visual gags which provide a momentary diversion. Like the work of filmmakers, writers and journalists, they hold up a mirror to Australia and invite us to reflect on what is going in our society. They help generate the cultural capital which makes our society work. At their very best they capture the zeitgeist or puncture the spin of politicians. Please enjoy this journey though Australian history with some of the best cartoons from the collections of the National Library of Australia.

Guy Hansen is Director of Exhibitions at the National Library of Australia. He has curated over a dozen cartoon exhibitions and published a number of cartoon anthologies. Inked: Australian Cartoons continues at the NLA until 21st July.

Stan Cross’ autographed smock

One Bird’s Viewpoint Bunker Hosts All-Female Cartoon Exhibition

by JUDY NADIN

A couple of months ago the National Cartoon Gallery’s Manager Margaret Cameron emailed me about opening an all-female exhibition, Bird’s Eye View, to be held at the Bunker as a part of International Women’s Day. I was delighted to be involved in the celebrations and eager to paint two new caricatures. I decided on Wentworth MP, Dr. Kerryn Phelps and liberal icon and trailblazer for gender equality, US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, as I felt these two strong

women should be a part of this collection. Notwithstanding that, from a caricaturist’s eye, they both have great faces!

Upon entering the main gallery of the Bunker, I was overwhelmed to see the walls jam-packed with amazing works from Australian cartoonists. Judy Horacek, Joanne Brooker, Dee Texidor and Martina Zeitler were amongst the 155 works that were hung. I took a trip down memory lane, as some of my works dated back to 2006.

Marg had asked me to say a few words to open the exhibition and, as anyone who knows me knows, I have a complete aversion to public speaking. But some things are just too important to let those fears get in the way. I wanted to talk a little about my paintings, but more importantly, I wanted to express the need for women to support and encourage other women – their mothers, daughters, friends and co-workers.

In the last couple of years it’s become apparent that there is still a substantial need for further societal shifts in regards to women and equality. This was showcased in the live streaming of All About Women - “designed to make you think and push your boundaries, All About Women is a vibrant day that asks questions about gender, justice and equality” - from the Sydney Opera House. AAW included the following panels - “Me Too: Year Two”, “Feminism in the Arab World” and, my favourite of the day, “Leading White Female”. This last panel was made up of Australian politicians Julia Banks, Julie Bishop, Linda Burney and Sarah Hanson-Young. Sarah HansonYoung was hilarious and outspoken, while Julie Bishop was eloquent and likeable, but naturally managed to dodge quite a few questions from journalist Jacqueline Maley. To my delight, Julie served her famous death stare on quite a few occasions, which made me laugh because I kept thinking of Peter Broelman’s cartoons.

It was a wonderful day of celebration and the National Cartoon Gallery staff and volunteers outdid themselves! Bird’s Eye View runs until 28th April.

The Bunker starting to fill up!

Judy’s portrait of Dr. Kerryn Phelps

Judy Nadin and Margaret Cameron

A Night Out in Lindfield President’s Night is a King Hit

A solid crowd of 45 people piled into St. Alban’s Church Hall on 2nd March in the leafy Sydney suburb of Lindfield for the 2019 President’s Night.

The President’s Night has a long history in the life of the Australian Cartoonists’ Association. It’s the cartooning version of a Royal Command Performance and ACA President Jules Faber’s decree was met with enthusiasm! Attendees were treated to no less than 4 informative and inspiring talks: from Dub Leffler, Glenn Ford, Anton Emdin, and the twin team of Cathy Wilcox and Nicola Scott. There was, literally, something for everyone.

Leffler, whose career has encompassed everything from animation, murals, teaching and now children’s books (Sorry Day) gave us the grand tour of his life and travels from his beginnings in Quirindi (including, it seems, long spells in Antarctica, owing to a few PowerPoint frames showing nothing but white space). His indigenous experience imbues his artwork with a deep appreciation and connection to the land.

Emdin took the audience through his experience of working with MAD, offering glimpses of his fascinating work process. Ford, despite recovering from a recent illness, nevertheless bravely took us through recent changes at Frew Publications (publishers of The Phantom) under his stewardship and previewed some exciting upcoming projects.

Wilcox and Scott then held court, examining cartooning from the female point of view, all of it interesting, relevant and informative. In Nicola’s case, working in comic books, she found interesting parallels with Anton’s experiences. Cathy’s insights on the newsprint industry proved to be a fascinating counter-balance and both fielded numerous questions from the audience.

On top of all that, food was plentiful and tasty, prepared by the team from Kiwi & Rooster and the proceeds from the raffle covered the cost of hall rental. Here’s to the next Sydney event!

ABOVE: Nicola Scott and Cathy Wilcox during their talk

RIGHT: Our fearless caterers taking a well-earned break

BELOW LEFT: Anton Emdin fields questions from the floor

BELOW RIGHT: Christophe Granet, our resident technical genius, keeps the audio-visual side of things on track

BOTTOM LEFT: Dub Leffler regales the audience with his creative journey around Australia

BOTTOM RIGHT: Glenn Ford talking all things Phantom INSET: El Presidente, Jules Faber

WORDS BY STEVE PANOZZO • PHOTOS BY LINDSAY FOYLE

It’s not often that Inkspot gets to bring you an exclusive! It is our honour to reveal, before any public announcement, the recipients of the Ledger of Honour Awards.

“The Ledger Awards?,” we hear you ask. To save you looking for Inkspot #82 (where we brought you glowing coverage of the 2018 Ledgers), here’s a bit of background...

There has been a steady grassroots momentum in comic publishing within Australia over the past ten years. There are several reasons for this phenomenon:

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW!

Inkspot Announces Ledger of Honour Winners

by NAT KARMICHAEL

the advent of reasonably cheap digital printing, the proliferation of comic specialty shops in most of Australia’s capital cities, and the desire of Australian cartoonists to write and illustrate local stories they want to share. If you’ve ever ventured to Supanova, Oz Comicon or any other comic gathering, you’ll realise that there have never been more Australian comic books available to read!

Seeking to “acknowledge excellence in Australian comic art and publishing”, our 2017 Jim Russell Award recipient, Gary Chaloner, felt there was a need for him to give back to the community that

has given him so much over the last forty years. So, for the best part of the past six years, Gary has quietly fostered the Ledger Awards, watching with pride as it transformed from a small idea into a major comics event in this country.

Due to pressing work commitments, Gary has passed on the running of this year’s Ledgers to Tim McEwen. Tim’s contribution to the comic art community in Australia is legendary, and his Platinum Ledger Award win last year was heartily deserving (some would say overdue). As a previous winner, Tim knows that the expectations of the local

industry are on his shoulders.

“It’s a lot of work for just one night, because it’s a celebration of the Australian comic scene, where people come from all over the country to acknowledge the best proponents in this specialist art field,” he says. “It’s like a mini-Stanley Awards ceremony, in a way.”

This year the Australian Cartoonists’ Association is one of the sponsors of the night and ACA members are welcome to come along and support the event. There were over 120 individual entries this year, and this will soon be narrowed down to a shortlist prior to the night, before the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards are presented.

Unlike the Stanleys, these awards are chosen by specially-selected committees. As a lead judge on one of the committees, I am honoured to be able to announce here in Inkspot, and before anywhere else, the winners of this year’s Ledgers of Honour. These two awards recognise and honour those Australian comic book greats from the past – those still living, and those who have passed away. Previous winners have included May Gibbs and John Dixon Short biographies of the winners will be detailed on the night, so it can be a fun, educational night as well. And now... the moment you’ve all been waiting for... (drum roll please):

The Ledger of Honour (“Living Ledger”) winner this year is long-time ACA member (and 2016 Jim Russell Award recipient), Gerald Carr.

The Ledger of Honour (Deceased) goes to Stanley and Reginald Pitt.

The 2019 Ledger Awards will be presented at the State Library of New South Wales (Gallery Room, Mitchell Wing) on Friday, 26th April at 6:30pm. Please do come along – you can say the ACA sent you! Entry to the Ledger Awards ceremony is free.

The

meticulously put together by Bruce

, will be available after the ceremony detailing all winners.

Ledger Annual, a limited edition magazine souvenir of the event

Mutard

Nat Karmichael

LEFT: Brigette by Gerald Carr (1993)

RIGHT: Flash Gordon and his allies by Stanley Pitt (1972)

Reg and Stan Pitt in 1997

Gerald Carr at the 2016 Stanley Awards

Schneider wins Bald Archy Prize

Victorian caricaturist Simon Schneider has won the 2019 Bald Archy Prize for Satirical Art, ahead of a field of finalists that included ACA members Judy Nadin, Steve Panozzo and Mark Tippett.

Bald Archy founder Peter Batey made the announcement on 19th March at the Sofitel Darling Harbour Hotel, the venue for the Sydney leg of the exhibition’s national tour. Schneider wasn’t able to pick up his $10,000 prize after his flight from Melbourne got unexpectedly cancelled.

“I thought about painting Geoffrey Rush because he had such a great face for caricature,” said Schneider.

“I had a lot of fun painting Mr. Rush and was over the moon with the win. It’s great to be a part of a competition that showcases the wonderful art of caricature.”

Batey began the competition in 1994 as a spoof of the Archibald Prize. Previous winners include Nadin, Eric Löbbecke, Matt Adams, Xavier Ghazi and Rocco Fazzari. After the Sydney showing ends on 28th April, the Bald Archys travel to Deniliquin (3rd May-1st June), Brisbane (7th June-7th July), Leura (12th July-4th August), Coffs Harbour (at the Bunker, 9th August-1st September), Melbourne (6th September-6th October), Corowa (11th October-3rd November) and end their run in Temora (8th November-1st December).

For more details, visit www.baldarchy.com.au

Food For Thought From Matthew

Former Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Matthew Martin recently illustrated a new children’s book, Lenny and the Ants, by Jessica Chapnik Kahn. It has been published by OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue charity, which collects excess food from commercial outlets and delivers it directly to over 1,300 charities.

“It was a different but really enjoyable experience illustrating a book for OzHarvest as opposed to a regular book publisher,” he said. Together with Lenny the ‘Roo, children go on a journey to discover a whole new way to think about food. There are even recipes to try. The book sells for $40 and proceeds from the sale of the books go to OzHarvest.

“It felt great to be contributing the the amazing work of OzHarvest,” said Matthew. “The clever funny story by Jessica has an important message and I loved the responsibility of making it visible. I hope children and their parents will enjoy the book, and its message, for many years to come.”

Visit www.ozharvest.org/lenny

WARREN DEFENDS “RACIST” CARTOON

In February, following in the seemingly unending wake of Mark Knight’s “Serena” cartoon, The Daily Telegraph’s Warren Brown drew a cartoon depicting a turban-wearing man chasing a female doctor, with Independent Federal MP Dr. Kerryn Phelps standing between them, holding the yet-to-be-adopted MedEvac Bill, saying “Would you mind not doing that until I’ve got the bill passed?” The cartoon drew a hostile response from many quarters, with many quick to play the racism card, given that the cartoon was shared widely on social media without many people knowing the story it related to (the story inspiring the cartoon was a Daily Telegraph “exclusive”).

Commentary by WARREN BROWN

I’m not worried at all about the cartoon.

This hammering of News Corp cartoonists is all a bit tiresome now and, of course, the cartoon was taken completely out of context. I think cartoons now need to come with a set of instructions and disclaimers when they go into print.

The story was a Daily Telegraph exclusive. In the thick of Dr. Kerryn Phelp’s MedEvac Bill, an asylum seeker from Nauru, receiving medical treatment in Australia, gropes two female nurses. When he’s reported, he threatens them. Police arrive and he’s charged with common assault: sexually touching a person without consent and stalking or intimidating with intent to cause fear or harm.

The point of the cartoon was in the timing; while the bill debate was going on the very thing that was raising doubts, “... but what if the medivac bill allowed undesirable people into Australia?...” happened. No doubt this case would be an untimely distraction for Kerryn Phelps. Hence the cartoon.

As for the figure chasing the nurse, he’s no different to any other asylum seeker I’ve drawn, only this one has menace. This is a cartoonist’s thinking (my thinking anyway): the cartoon would look

different if he wasn’t menacing. It’d look like a Benny Hill chase or one of those English seaside naughty postcards from Blackpool. We’re talking about sexual assault. The cartoon is not about race - it’s about crime.

But, of course, it was tweeted with no context. The story, after all, was hidden all over the front page, page 5 and was the subject of the editorial. But all that conveniently got lost in the Twittersphere. And, of course, I’m branded a racist – like those other racists, Bill

Leak and Mark Knight. Somehow, I’m demonising a race of people.

Actually, I’m depicting someone who’s performed a criminal act, drawn in much the same way I’ve drawn bikies or Australian flag-wearing thugs in the Cronulla riots.

Twitter went off. People wanted me sacked. Some comments about me were hardly surprising (“can’t wait to see his name in the obituary column”). I was described as using “tropes” (I love that word) like the Nazis did in the 1930s, and so on. Nazis! Good grief.

Clementine Ford started a campaign advising Twitter-types how they can easily petition the Press Council. Tim Soutphommasane was on ABC’s The Drum, calling the cartoon racist. The Arab Council’s demanding an apology from the Editor...

Has anybody contacted me to discuss it? No - nobody. The verdict’s a done deal. Anyway, I’m not fazed, only disappointed in how people can get worked up over such a thing.

Warren Brown

Editor’s note: Inkspot sought permission to publish the cartoon in question. The request was politely declined.

ONE HELLUVA NIGHT!

Matt Bissett-Johnson’s latest animated short, One Night Only, has won the Grand Jury Gold Award for Best Animated Film from the 2019 West Coast Film Festival. One Night Only also won an Honorable Mention from the Queen Palm Film Festival in the category of Best Short Animation. It was also a finalist in the bi-monthly Aphrodite Film Awards (an IMDB qualifying festival) and a finalist for the LA Edge Film Awards.

Matt’s other muti-award winning short, Mysterical Planet, will be screened as part of the Melbourne International Animation Festival at ACMI in Federation Square in July and also at the Australian Animation Festival in Wagga Wagga in May! Great news, Matt!

your view on...

JED DUNSTAN (South Australia)

TONY LOPES (New South Wales)

compiled by phil judd

thanks to everyone for your contributions... the response has been so overwhelming, we have more Pollution cartoons to come!

CHRISTOPHE GRANET (New South Wales)

PHIL SOMERVILLE (New South Wales)

PHIL JUDD (Queensland)

“Everything’s Upside Down These Days”

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT RELEASES MR. SQUIGGLE COIN SET

In February, the Royal Australian Mint (in conjunction with Woolworths) released a seven-coin set celebrating the 60th anniversary of Mr. Squiggle.

The character - a whimsical, elfin character with a pencil for a nose - was created by Norman Hetherington so he could combine his two loves, drawing and puppetry. First airing on 1st. July, 1959, Mr. Squiggle and Friends was only intended to run for six weeks, but it’s almost intsant popularity kept the show on air for forty years. The last show, by now co-hosted by Norman’s daughter Rebecca, aired on 9th July, 1999.

Norman, who received countless awards, was presented with a longoverdue Jim Russell Award in 2009. He passed away in 2010 and Rebecca is now custodian of Mr. Squiggle himself, more than several other puppets and countless thousands of drawings.

A small part of Norman’s legacy is now on show at the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra until 28th July in a modest display called Mr. Squiggle, The Man From the Moon, timed to accompany the release of the coin set. Bill Steamshovel is there, as is Gus the Snail, Rocket and Blackboard. Also included is a volume of the original hand-written scripts (from the early days, before Norman’s wife, Margaret, started typing them), letters from viewers, an original screen-used drawing plus information boards and several photos.

You’ll have to look around, but you should still be able to find some coin sets available. They comprise four $2 coins, two $1 coins and a unique one cent coin (quite unusual, since one cent coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1992).

Rebecca says there is a little bit of her father in all of the puppets, but especially in Mr. Squiggle.

“There’s the hair and the eyes,” she laughs, “and Dad was a kind man, kind of otherworldly himself; he did see things a bit differently.”

Thank the stars he did.

TOP: The seven coin set released by the Royal Australian Mint

TOP RIGHT: A drawing based on a squiggle sent in by Sarah White from Kingsley, Western Australia

ABOVE: Rebecca Hetherington admires the portrait of her father by Kate Rae, on loan from the National Portrait Gallery

Norman’s handwritten script for the 25th May, 1960 episode of Mr. Squiggle and Friends

Mr. Squiggle, Rocket and Blackboard uncharacteristically confined behind glass

Bill Steamshovel and Gus the Snail

THEY’RE GOING TO PUT ME IN THE MOVIES!

by DARREN KOZIOL

A few months ago Nat Karmichael posted on the ACA Facebook page about a new programme called “Adaptable”, run by the Queensland Writers’ Centre in collaboration with Screen Queensland, who were looking for scripts and stories to be adapted into film or television. Following the link, I submitted some of my stories from my Dark Oz comic books, Decay and Retro Sci-Fi Tales.

A few weeks passed and... success! One of my short stories was selected as having the potential to be adapted into film, and I was asked to pitch it to the Adaptable crew.

According to the Queensland Writers Centre’s website, they and Screen Queensland launched the Adaptable initiative partly in response to data that shows that only 10 to 15 percent of Australian films are adaptations (compared to 60 to 70 percent in the US). Research has shown that films adapted from existing intellectual property, such as books, perform consistently higher due to audience recognition.

So, what happened next?

After a couple mentor sessions over the ‘phone, I prepared a pitch. At the time of writing, I am due fly to Brisbane to meet film and TV producers in late March. This is very exciting: I’ve never had this opportunity before! I can’t say which story was selected yet – that must be kept confidential in case they choose to option it.

There will be some great people to network with, and lots of other writers pitching their stories. We will each have sessions, with selected producers matched to our work. There will also be plenty of time to mingle and network with everyone on the day. Even though there was one specific story of mine selected for the pitching session, I will be taking other works to show them. Over 100 amazing artists from all over Australia have illustrated my stories, so I want to show off their work, too - I am one of the few writers there working in visual storytelling. I will be showcasing the work of Ben Sullivan, Dave Dye, Jeff Edis, Dragan

Vignjevic, Michal Dutkiewicz, Tristan Tait, Matt Kyme, Jason Paulos, Martin Gammon, Dan Lynch, Steve Lehmann, Katrina Young, John Ciarfuglia, Matt James, Sean Krauter, Steve Colloff and many more (including several international artists who have illustrated my stories over the years).

The programme is for the producers to meet the writers, and we can only show our own stories – so for that reason, I won’t be presenting stories from other writers that

have worked in my comics. Dark Oz comics provide the biggest showcase for local artists, which means that a lot of Australian artists will have their work seen by some of Australia’s top film & TV producers.

I have produced a special limited edition 60page ‘sampler’ comic of stories from Decay and Retro Sci-Fi Tales to give to the Adapt able producers as well as flyers (sampling work from Aussie artists) to give to every one who is there.

Fingers-crossed; wish me luck! And thanks, once again, to all the incredible artists who continue to bring my stories to life!

TOP: An example of classic cheesecake-style retro fiction, Marilyn first appeared in Retro Sci-Fi Tales #1 and has reappeared in several stories since;

ABOVE: The Ties That Bind, with art by Steve Lehmann

RIGHT: Another page from the “Adaptable” sampler comic

where are they now?

The fifth in a series of “catch-ups” with hard-to-find cartoonists as they sit down and have a chat over a cuppa with IAN McCALL. This issue: PETER NICHOLSON

environmental restoration work along the Beleura Cliff path. Every month, the volunteers come for a few hours and do maintenance, planting, garden bed construction, weeding, rubbish removal and watering to help save the cliffs from erosion. However, Peter is the backbone of this group. During the days in between the Friends meetups he keeps the jobs going.

I recently sat down with Peter Nicholson to learn more about him and his work.

I first met Peter at The Age back in the late 1980s. More recently, Peter and I chatted at John Spooner’s book launch. I came to realise that he spent a lot of time at his grandfather’s old holiday home working with the Beleura Cliff Friends Group in Mornington. As part of my retirement, I went along to join the volunteers, and learnt about the amazing amount of work Peter does with the group. He manages the team work, seeks out grants, and works closely with the Mornington Council to plan and run the teams of people who assist with the

When I sat down for lunch with Peter, we looked at the environmental work that he has achieved, but we also talked about his past work as a cartoonist. Peter had studied Law at University, although he didn’t quite finish his degree. During this time, in 1969, he started submitting cartoons to the Melbourne University newspaper, Farrago. He also started contributing cartoons to Nation Review. In 1975, Peter worked for the Australian Financial Review but in 1976, The Age offered him a contract to draw cartoons. He then started doing some simple political animation spots for This Day Tonight.

In 1979 Peter, with his family, took off to Italy for a year to study art. When he returned to Australia, he resumed drawing cartoons for The Age, before beginning the next stage of his amazing career. Inspired by Honore Daumier, he started creating sculptured caricatures, then moving into puppetry. In 1987, he set up a mini film set in his sculpture studio next door to his home. In the tradition of the hugely success-

ful Spitting Image in the UK, Rubbery Figures was a highly successful blend of puppetry and animation that ran in 5minute blocks on ABC-TV for 13 weeks in 1987 and 1988. The show moved to the comedy programme Fast Forward on Channel 7 in 1989 and 1990. The Rubbery Figures puppets were also used in a range of advertisements. Whilst creating these shows, Peter continued drawing for The Age

Peter worked an incredibly hard day. He was working in the studio with his team, before having to race off to The Age for the news conference at 6pm, completing his cartoon by 10:30pm and going home to be ready for the studio’s filming the next day. After Bill Mitchell passed away in 1994, The Australian offered Peter a job, so he started work there.

Peter has also been responsible for sculpting bronze busts of former Prime Ministers installed on Prime Ministers Avenue at Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Peter’s sculptures are of Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, John Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

A four-time Walkley Award winner, “Nicho” still finds time for his art despite all the environmental work on his plate, most recently filling in at the AFR over Christmas.

Ian McCall

Peter Nicholson, standing on the edge of his back verandah, overlooking Beleura Cliff and Mornington Harbour

With character voices by impressionist Paul Jennings, Rubbery Figures was instantly successful

Nicholson’s bronze bust of Malcolm Fraser in Ballarat

Life’s a Pitch Getting Your Animation Series Off the Ground

by PETER VISKA

After cartooning for years, you have just thought of a great idea for an animated TV series that is going to make your fortune... now what? Well, hang onto your vision as we introduce that pathway to success.

A great idea usually entails characters, a universe, an easy to explain concept and then a story engine that propagates episode stories. The show needs a style, your characters need to be designed and described, the universe needs to fit the concept and of course there needs to be stories...lots and lots of stories. As a creator you need to decide on your target audience, the format or length of each episode and if possible, the cost. Is it for pre-school, kids, tweens, adults and so on?

Then you need to find someone beside family and friends to listen to your great idea. Welcome to the wonderful world of PITCHING. In the world of animation, you need to pitch your idea to buyers using any tools you can think of to win them over. The tools are usually flyers, booklets, animated teasers and lots of drawings. Buyers can be local networks, international territorial networks or global networks. There are hundreds of them!

The good news is that there are international markets where buyers go to listen to pitches to find the next big thing... and if you are lucky enough one of them will like your idea and offer you a Letter of Interest. There is a long way to go after that, but it is a good start.

The main markets that buyers attend are KIDSCREEN in Miami (USA) in February, MIPTV in Cannes (France) in May, MIFA in Annecy (France) in June, CARTOON FORUM in Toulouse (France) this year, but changes each year, in September, MIPCOM in Cannes (France) in October as well as the Asian Animation Summit in Seoul (Korea) in November. The markets are quite expensive to attend as each has an entrance fee, then you need to add airfares and accommodation. Some are intimate, some are big, and Mipcom is huge (with 14,000 attendees). Some allow you to pitch to a room, others work best with one-on-one meetings.

To try to arrange meetings with buyers you need to need to reach out to them around a month before the event to book a specific time (usually 30 minutes) on a specific day/date at a specific meeting point. Some will ask to see the material in advance. At the market you finally meet and away you go with your pitch.

In the coming issues of Inkspot, I’ll be detailing some Australian projects and the visuals that have been pitched recently. In this issue you can see some of the Viskatoons material that was used for pitching over the years.

ABOVE: A range of Viskatoons pitching booklets and flyers

ABOVE RIGHT: Inside the pitching flyer for Sprockets

RIGHT: The pitching rundown for Billoard Boy

JUDY NADIN

interview by PHIL JUDD

When did you first start drawing/cartooning? Do you have a first memory?

I’m pretty sure I first started drawing when I was around 3 or 4 as most children do. My Mum was very encouraging & kept everything; I still have my drawings all these years later. I would draw cartoon characters from the TV and Disney characters from a book I had. I would also draw little pictures for the Sunday paper & my Mum would send them in. The prize for getting published one or two dollars. My Mum was obviously using me to finance the family!

I can also remember when I was in first class, my Mum sent me to an adult art class. I can’t remember much other than the teacher just encouraged me to do whatever I wanted.

What was your first break in the business?

I’ve had a number of defining moments in my career. My first break was winning a colouring-in contest at the age of 6. The prize was a blue tricycle! As a teenager I was heavily influenced by Mort Drucker from MAD, so I started drawing caricatures of my favourite pop stars & tennis players. After a while, I started getting commissions. That was exciting to be getting paid for what I loved to do! I went to art school for a bit when I finished my HSC & then left to work as a graphic designer, so that was my first big step into making a living from creating. During my career as a designer I probably went for about 10-or-so years not doing much caricature work, just the occasional commission. Around 2004, Jo Brooker was teaching a caricature class in

Newcastle, which I attended; it inspired me to return to my great love of satirical illustration. Through Jo, I heard about the Australian Cartoonists’ Association, the Rotary Cartoon Awards & the Bald Archy Prize. Taking that class was a turning point for me. About 9 years ago, when I decided to become a freelance artist, the majority of my work at that point was design. After my 2010 Bald Archy win, I was approached by Channel Ten & others & that’s when I had the opportunity to do a lot more commercial caricature & illustration.

What category of cartooning does your work cover? What formats do you use?

I’m a caricaturist, but I also do commercial illustration & cartoons. For my digital paintings, I paint in Photoshop using Brush 24 with the Pen Pressure on because it gives me control. I also use Kyle Webster’s brushes because they are painterly & the brush strokes are realistic. With my traditional paintings, it’s acrylic or oil on canvas.

How do you generate your ideas?

There are a few different ways I create my ideas. For caricature commissions, I just work with information the client has given me & attempt to capture a good likeness and put a humourous spin on it. For political caricatures, I obviously look at what’s happening in the world & for illustrations I usually have a client directing me & we work together. What I really try & do is capture the essence of my subjects, so people can feel it’s them. It’s just not what you’re looking at, it’s how it makes you feel.

What comes first - the drawing or the writing?

I don’t write as such, although I do continuously jot down ideas on scraps of paper. With my drawings I usually do a rough of the face, another rough of the composition, a final sketch & then the painting.

What materials, technology and methods do you currently use to create your work? Any favourites?

I use a WACOM Cintiq and work in Adobe Photoshop & Adobe Illustrator for my digital work. The Cintiq allows me to work quickly; these days, deadlines on commercial jobs are

insane and it’s super easy to make changes. I also paint and draw traditionally, so I work in watercolour, acrylics & oil.

Have you ever won any awards for your work?

Aside from my tricycle, my first caricature win was at the Rotary Cartoon Awards in 2004. I received the Merit Award for my painting of Barry Humphries. I was so excited to get that phone call from Tom Hamilton-Foster. That night, I met James Kemsley, David Rowe, Neil Matterson & a heap of other guys; not long after that I joined the ACA. I have been fortunate to have been awarded another 9 times at the Rotaries. I won the Michael Collins Award in 2006 and the Bald Archy in 2010 and in 2014. Being voted the Caricaturist of the Year at the Stanley Awards in 2016 and 2017 was a career highlight because it’s voted on by my peers. My Mum was so excited when I came home and showed her the Stanley Award. The cute thing was she kept forgetting, so I kept telling her and she was over the moon every time.

What’s the best thing that has happened so far in your cartooning career?

As I said in my last answer, winning a Stanley was very special. I also get satisfaction if a client is really happy with a job. I gain personal satisfaction if I think I’ve painted something that I’m also really happy with. I have also had the opportunity of meeting a lot of wonderful people through cartooning.

Any advice, tips or insights you could offer your fellow cartoonists or those aspiring to be?

Work hard, practice lots, don’t give up when your work is rejected. I try & improve, I do workshops with great artists, I have an online subscription with Schoolism so I’m constantly taking their courses. In January of this year, I did an intensive 5-day Oil Painting Workshop with David Kassan and Shana Levinson. It was amazing and I learnt so much! I just want to learn and improve. I love great art, I go to a lot of galleries and exhibitions and this inspires me to want to create. Even if I don’t connect with it, I still respect the process. Get inspired, make sure you do something for yourself outside of ‘work’ stuff.

Do you have any favourite Australian cartoonists?

Where do I begin? I love so many of the cartoonists for varying reasons. If I’m forced to choose one it would have to be David Rowe. He is a caricature master, his work is powerful and funny and I view each work as a little masterpiece... and he’s really good at painting fabric folds.

I love Peter Player’s work, it makes me belly laugh. I LOVE LOVE Glen Le Lievre’s work.

Who would you say are your five favourite cartoonists that inspire you?

Mine are all caricaturists: Jason Seiler, Sebastian Krueger, Mort Drucker, Jota Leal and David Rowe. They’re all superb caricaturists with incredible painting skills.

What are your favourite five comic strips, books or films that have inspired and motivated you?

I have a bookcase stuffed full of art & cartoon books, beautifully-illustrated children’s books, so this is going to be hard.

BOOKS

Sebastian Krueger’s Stars - this book is falling apart because I’ve looked at it so much. I purchased this book many years ago; SK was a caricaturist and a fine artist and that really appealed to me.

Tom Richmond’s The Mad Art of Caricature - this is a book from a caricature genius that breaks everything down. I’m always looking at it.

ABOVE: Two steps in Judy’s caricature of late Amercian stand-up comedian Patrice O’Neal

BELOW: Judy’s challenging portrait of Led Zeppelin’s front-man, Robert Plant

FILM

Disney/Pixar. I love animation.

TV

Sky’s Portrait Artist of the Year - this is a series on Foxtel Arts and I’m obsessed with it. Each episode has about 12 artists painting 3 celebrities in 4 hours. I also loved National Geographic’s series Genius: Picasso.

I don’t really read comic strips. I love The Far Side and Insanity Streak.

Any obscure cartoonists you can suggest checking out?

I’m not sure if this guy is obscure, but Thomas Fluharty is amazing. He’s a drawing machine & his dog caricatures are superb. I feel I learn a great deal from staring at his work in terms of pushing & pulling to create more humour in my work.

Where does your current work appear?

I have current work that appears on footy cards & posters. I did album covers for Beccy Cole, Catherine Britt and Kelly Brouhaha. I’ve done cartoons for IVF Australia and my favourite job is when I get to do a cover for Rhythms magazine.

Where can we find out more about you, your business and your work?

I have an Instagram account, I’m on Facebook and there’s always my website (www.judynadin.com)

What are you currently reading, cartooning or general-wise?

I like to read autobiographies so I’m reading the Jimmy Barnes book Working Class Boy and Boy George’s Take It Like a Man, which is hilarious. I’m going to paint a serious portrait of cabaret singer Libby O’Donovan for one of the art prizes this year and I just finished my entries for the 2019 Bald Archy Prize.

What music do you enjoy?

If I look at my iTunes, the list starts with ABBA, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Bananarama, The Beatles, Beccy Cole and Bruno Mars. So, I love all kinds of music. I try & go to as many great concerts as I can; I think I’ve seen most of my favourites (that are still alive). I still can’t believe I didn’t buy tix to see The Eagles or The Rolling Stones.

Do you listen to anything whilst working?

Yes, I listen to music constantly when I’m painting. I turn it off when I’m doing design work.

Do you have any other special talents besides cartooning? Or talents you’d like to have?

I can play the piano. I got to 8th grade by the time I was 17 & stopped. I can’t play very well at all these days. Melinda and I make songs up all the time and sing nonstop, some may say we are pretty bad... so maybe it would be good if I wasn’t quite so pitchy!

“Work hard, practice lots and don’t give up when your work is rejected”

This caricature of US President Donald Trump won Judy Cartoon of the Year at the 2017 Rotary Cartoon Awards

Judy’s artwork for the cover of Catherine Britt’s 2018 album, Catherine Britt & The Cold Cold Hearts

What We’re Learning From the ACA’s Latest Survey - and What We’ll Do With It

The 2019 Cartoonists’ Survey by

DAVID BLUMENSTEIN

Having been elected the ACA’s Deputy President (and thank you for that), I wanted to better understand where the ACA sits in the wider cartooning/comics/illustration industry. The Committee was supportive, so I designed a survey asking questions about the work of cartoonists today. All up, about half of the ACA’s financial members responded.

But this survey went out beyond the ACA, to the wider cartooning/illustration community. We heard from book illustrators, animators, comic artists, graphic scribes... the next step will hopefully be to speak to some of the respondents about how they’d like to see the ACA develop. But this survey is a start.

Here are a few early themes I’m seeing in the data, including direct quotes from respondents.

Theme 1: You don’t have to be making a living at it to be a “real cartoonist”

The first thing I did was to sort the respondents into types. See Fig. 1 below:

FIG. 1: ARTIST TYPES

All-In: people making most or all of their money from drawing or drawing-related work. Part-Time: people making some of their money from drawing but who see themselves as cartoonists/illustrators. Many have an arts day job, or make money in other arts fields.

Moonlighter: people making some money from drawing but who might or might not consider it their “calling”; they have a day job and freelance on the side. May release creative work through publishers.

Hobbyist: people making little or no money from drawing. May be retired, aspiring or students.

Non-Artist: people who aren’t artists, or who dabble, but identify strongly with the “scene”/industry.

Most cartoonists are not “all-in” on their career. Many make virtually no money from their art. Fig. 2 illustrates it well.

“I haven’t got anything like a career; merely a thing I can’t stop doing”

What do these people want from a cartoonists’ association? “Hobbyists” want recognition of their value. “Moonlighters” and “Part-timers” want help getting work and improving their skills.

“Have an award for amateur submissions”

“Provide resources for new artists getting into the comics scene, and resources for established hobby artists who want to make the change to professional artists”

“Help me get in touch with people for work experience, as a mentor to help me break into the industry or to collaborate with others so my ideas can get out there”

Theme 2: “Cartoonists ain’t cartoonists”

Many people we would consider to be cartoonists don’t agree that they are!

“I identify as a manga or comic artist which I would consider different to cartoonist”

“ “Cartoonists” sounds more exclusive to gag or political cartoons”

If you’re not trying to be a David Rowe, or an Eric Jolliffe, why would you join a “cartoonists association”? Surely that’s designed for them? The ACA is perceived as being about political cartoonists, newspapers and nostalgia. A main reason ex-members gave for leaving the ACA was “not fitting in”.

“I couldn’t find anything relevant to compliment my work”

“It felt like the programming [at the Stanleys] wasn’t designed for me - which is odd, given that I’m a working Australian cartoonist”

Some of our respondents had looked into joining the ACA but decided against it. Of these, 43.1% indicated this was because they didn’t see the ACA as relevant to their work, or couldn’t see enough benefit to them. 12.1% cited cultural differences.

“I was a member of the MEAA and ArtsHub and the ASA, but what [the ACA] offered me as against what I had to pay was not worth it”

“I wasn’t completely sure... how it would be different from, or better than my current network”

On average, you’re either making no money or your entire income from your art. Many of those making no money, however, are among the more productive, passionate and prominent members of our community.

“... it seems to be full of mostly older dudes who have no connection with the work I do”

According to you, though, we don’t want it this way.

FIG. 2: HOW MUCH OF YOUR INCOME IS DERIVED FROM YOUR ART WORK?

Theme 3: ACA members want a young, diverse Association

Overwhelmingly, the main thing members would like to change about the ACA is to have a more diverse membership

See Fig. 3 below:

“Open up and try to encourage more cartoonists, comic artists, animators to join”

“There are many different genres of cartooning and comics that are flourishing right now outside of the ACA’s purview and there is no reason why their creators shouldn’t be members. Expand on what an artist is”

Both current members and artists outside the ACA see engagement with, and support for, young/emerging artists as a high priority for an association like ours.

“Listen to the youngest members. They understand the new technology that will be used to create future work”

Theme 4: Cartoonists outside the ACA want a union

When asked to imagine how an Australian cartoonists’ association” should serve its members, many cartoonists outside the ACA described the kind of assistance a union would provide. See Fig. 4 below:

“Help negotiate pay and union stuff for full time workers and also help out freelancers with quoting, getting paid, paying tax etc.”

“Provide information and advice relevant to the job, such as freelancing, contracts, how to deal with difficult clients, professionalism, copyright, where to go for legal advice, etc.”

Also important was the promotion of members’ work, social events, networking and professional development activities.

Theme 5: Cartoonists are everywhere, but the ACA isn’t

Several ex-members cited the ACA’s concentration in Sydney and Melbourne as a reason why they left. It’s also a major complaint from current members.

“More learning opportunities and ways to connect the flyover cities and regions with areas where there are more opportunities. I don’t really get the chance to get to Melbourne often enough but I’d love to meet colleagues when I do get there” “Living rurally means most of the benefits from membership are in major cities”

“More WA meetings (but I don’t want to run it!)”

That last comment is reflective of our main obstacle – if members aren’t willing to take ownership of local events, it’s hard to be a national organisation (and we have gone backwards in this regard in the last few years).

Our ACA

The number one way illustrators are learning about the ACA is not from our website, our Facebook group or from reading Inkspot - it’s from speaking directly to ACA members.

When people ask you about the ACA, what do you tell them about it? Not everything I say is complimentary.

The results we’re seeing here confirm for me that we have challenges as an organisation in providing value to a new generation of members (including Hobbyists and Moonlighters), but by far our most difficult challenge is changing our culture.

Some of you reading this will naturally think, “Bugger anyone who doesn’t want to join because they don’t like the culture.” This might be reasonable thinking for members of a social club, but not for the peak body of an industry in flux. It’s time to stop badgering people we think should be in the ACA and focus on the actions we can take to make the ACA something worth their joining.

Happily, this survey data is full of good ideas!

David Blumenstein

FIG. 3: WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO CHANGE ABOUT THE ACA?

FIG. 4: WHAT WOULD “YOUR” ACA DO FOR IT’S MEMBERS?

AUSTRALIAN CARTOONISTS

HALL OF FAME

Alan Charles Moir moved to Australia from New Zealand in the early 1970s, took out Australian citizenship, but secretly continued to support the All Blacks (though in more recent years not-so-secretly).

He studied art in Auckland, but did not work as a cartoonist in NZ. He offered cartoons to Trevor Kennedy, then-Editor of The Bulletin, in early 1973 soon after arriving in Australia and was accepted as a regular contributor. This was soon after the election of the Whitlam Government, which supplied him with a regular source of inspiration and late nights of research into the complications and contradictions of the Australian political system, about which he was pretty ignorant.

He joined Brisbane’s Courier-Mail in 1979 as the daily cartoonist during the height of the notorious Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Russ Hinze régime, which became for him virtually a daily battle with Editors, government Ministers and - sometimes - the Board of Directors. A great learning experience! At one point, then-Police Minister Hinze came to the Editorin-Chief’s office, demanding that Moir stop depicting him as an unshaven bulldog. The cartoonist half-jokingly said, “Well, I could draw you as a rabbit or mouse...” Hinze frowned and then growled, “Stick to the bulldog.” So, he stuck.

This lasted for 5 years and 42 days into 1984, when he was lured to the Sydney Morning Herald. He became the inaugural Cartoonist of the Year (the Gold Stanley recipient) at the thentitled Bulletin/Black and White Artists’ Awards in 1985 (an accolade for which he has always been very proud) and has since been the recipient of the Stanley Award for Editorial/Political Cartoon in 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Moir won the Walkley Award for Political Cartooning in 2000 and 2006 and received a Churchill Fellowship in 1999 (to study Australasian cartooning in the UK in the early 20th Century). He was invited to give a lecture on the history of western political cartooning to the Australian Senate in 2006, as an explanation of the response to the Danish Prophet cartoon controversy. He has published about a dozen books of cartoons, and his cartoons on international subjects are currently syndicated regularly by the New York Times Syndicate. His greatest influence was, and still is, the great NZ-born cartoonist of the first half of the 20th Century, David Low; clipped, simple, but usually devastatingly prescient.

After arriving in Australia, Moir was captivated by the laconic and deceptively simple cartoonists of the time, mainly work-

ing from Melbourne and very political; particularly Bruce Petty, Patrick Cook, Michael Leunig, Peter Nicholson and Ron Tandberg. Unique anywhere in the world, he feels their influence has carried through, directly and indirectly, to the latest generation of witty acerbic cartoonists.

Moir has four grown up children: Nick, Virginia, Miranda and Bridget (none of whom has become a cartoonist), and lives with his wife Diana on the NSW South Coast.

He uses felt nib pen, charcoal and coloured pastel, rubbing it into art paper, occasionally ‘strengthening’ the colour with Corel PhotoPaint software. Although losing his Tuesday to Friday cartoon spot on the SMH due to deep cost cutting, he has retained the Saturday job and has developed a subscriberbased private website for the weekday cartoons (www.moir. com.au) which he says is, “growing slowly but firmly”.

He feels this is the way of the future as newspapers continue to collapse from the inside.

“It’s back to where it all began in the late 18th and early 19th Century”, he says, “when cartoonists like Hogarth, Gillray and the Cruikshanks used to print their cartoon comments and sell them in their London shop-fronts. Only now, it’s via the internet.”

Two of the proudest moments of his career have been quite recent, first with his induction into the Australian Cartoonists’ Association’s Hall of Fame, to be named alongside many of his greatest lifetime cartooning heroes and second, the inclusion this year of one of his SMH cartoons in The Oxford Illustrated History of the World

Alan Moir holding his coveted induction trophy to the Australian Cartoonist’s Hall of Fame

Making One’s Mark in History

by ALAN MOIR

The Oxford Illustrated History of the World was published on 10th January 2019 and launched in Oxford on 10th March. The book “encompasses” (to quote the blurb) “the whole span of human history. It brings together some of the world’s leading historians... to tell the 200,000-year story of humankind - from the emergence of Homo Sapiens through to the 21st Century. It investigates the environmental convulsions, the interplay of ideas (good and bad), the cultural phases and exchanges, the collisions and collaborations in politics, the successions of states and empires...” Phew. Weighty stuff: the reference book of reference books!

So, when about a year ago, they sought my permission to use a 2012 cartoon from the Sydney Morning Herald, I was gobsmacked, immensely proud, albeit a little bemused.

Bemused because it is the only political cartoon in the book! There were plenty of paintings and photographs selected, but only the one cartoon. There were scores of great cartoons from the last 200 years that could have been used, including several from Australasians, but perhaps they wanted a fresh look. I remain deeply honoured.

I had considered going to the launch at Oxford in March, to catch up with some of the other artists included, but as I was the youngest by about 150 years, I thought conversation and drinks might be a little dull. I gave it a miss.

12 Years of Fun All in One Book

ValeAustralian writer and politician Peter Coleman passed away at the end of March. A widely published journalist for over 60 years, he was editor of The Bulletin (1964-1967) and of Quadrant. He wrote 16 books and had a short but distinguished political career in both NSW State Parliament and in Federal politics as the Member for Wentworth (1981-1987).

According to former Deputy Editor Lindsay Foyle, Les Tanner famously drew a cartoon for The Bulletin in January 1967, relating to the hanging of Ronald Ryan: “He drew the Victorian premier Sir Henry Bolte with a hangman’s rope saying he did not bow to mob violence, only mob support. In the same issue was an editorial written by Coleman. Sir Frank Packer (who controlled The Bulletin) objected to both and demanded the issue be pulped.”

For 12 years, The Toowoomba Chronicle newspaper has included the weekly Peter Patter column written by Peter Hardwick with the complementary cartoons by Gavin Ryan.

Almost 600 columns later, a book with some of the favourite patters has hit the market. The first volume is great for a laugh, whether it be at the writer’s outrageous life experiences with his middle-aged mates or his humorous look at current affairs and news. It’s been a labour of stress and good natured fun the for the accidental columinist and his sidekick cartoonist who have regaled Chronicle readers with the real life experiences of a gang (Peter and his mates), widely considered to be Toowoomba’s oldest teenagers.

The Chronicles of Patter was launched at Toowoomba’s National Hotel and became the social event of the year. Sales have exceeded all expectations, so a second volume is likely in the near future. It is available at various newsagences in Toowoomba and surrounds, or can be purchased at the Toowoomba Chronicle office (109 Neil Street) and posted out. It retails at $9.95.

However, Packer had not thought about the airmail delivery to other cities, where it appeared on the newsstands. Nor had he thought about the subscription copies. The cartoon and editorial achieved even greater prominence when ABC-TV ran a story on it that night, under the banner of censorship of the press, much to the glee of both Tanner and Coleman.

Soon after, Coleman realised he was no longer wanted, going into law, then politics and was very active in the Liberal Party. Tanner did not last long at The Bulletin either. Coleman and Tanner stayed good friends and in 1967 collaborated on the book, Cartoons of Australian History. There are still copies floating around in second-hand book shops.

Tanner died in 2001 and Coleman died 31st March 2019.

Gavin Ryan (left) and author Peter Hardwick at the book’s launch party

Peter Coleman (1928-2019)

Stanley Pitt’s

’s

Gordon (1972) - for more, see pages 10-11

NEXT ISSUE: TRIBUTE TO JOHN RYAN (AND MUCH MORE!)

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 40 years since John Ryan wrote Panel By Panel, for many the last word on Australian comics. Recently, footage from the 1960s has been recovered, featuring Ryan, Jim Russell, John Dixon and Robert Clark. We’re planning a special tribute, so if you have any memories of John, please get in touch with us at comicoz@livecom.au

Adelaide’s comic book veterans celebrated the launch of issue 11 of Universe Gun at Greenlight Comics recently (above).

Universe Gun was created by Mike Cooper six years ago. Issue 11, subtitled Blue Sun, goes off on a unique tangent, featuring the work of no less than six guest artists: Greg Gates, Darren Fisher, Jonathan Munro, Michal Dutkiewicz, Dave Heinrich and emerging local artist Haylee Snook.

“In the world of Universe Gun, superhumans get created on this alien satellite called the Life Star, and trained in virtual realities before being let loose on the real world,” explains Cooper.

“For #11 we get to see a new superhuman, Wundastar, being created and trained. In the context of the story, her virtual reality’s been created by committee.”

“It is a unique comic,” offers Heinrich. “The most unususal and progressive I’ve read for a long time.”

Universe Gun: Blue Sun is available now. For further information, visit www.universegun.com

The Australian Cartoonists’ Association wishes to extend grateful thanks to our generous sponsors for their continued support for Australian cartooning Inkspot

take on Alex Raymond

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