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James Mason and Carolyn Nicoll met up with The Yorkshire Post’s acclaimed artist, Graeme Bandeira, to chat about his sometimes stark, but often colourful cartoons, that have captured the mood of the county, the country and beyond.
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lorence Nightingale is just one of many famous faces to have inspired football fanatic and creative cartoonist Graeme Bandeira in recent weeks. Whilst the coronavirus crisis has proved to be a challenging time for many, for others, like Graeme, it’s been positively productive. Shining the spotlight on serious situations and then raising a smile with his satirical sketches, this Yorkshire artist has captured the attention of admirers across the globe with his impressive illustrations. Born in Middlesbrough, raised in Hemlington and now living in Harrogate, Graeme recently discovered that his family roots are perhaps ‘a bit rum’. “I found out on Father’s Day, when we were all looking through old photos, that my great-grandfather was from São Paulo in Brazil. He’d been part of the merchant navy, turns out he was a rum smuggler too and that’s how he actually ended up in Middlesbrough,” explained a bemused Graeme. Well, that creative ancestral ‘ambition’ on an international scale has perhaps rubbed off on his great grandson, but in a good way. “Ever since I could hold a pen I’d be drawing on curtains … on anything. It’s so therapeutic and enjoyable and it’s constantly been a great way to get a message out there,” says Graeme. “I’ve always drawn, through school, art college and university, followed by freelancing for agencies in London. However, when the digital era came, I made the decision to continue working with pen and ink. It’s the medium I love and that I still use to this day, but when the internet arrived, work started to dry up. Then it all turned around again when I started working at The Yorkshire Post, serving the ad department, creating cartoons and here I am still doing it.” They say a picture paints a thousand words and Graeme’s much-loved illustrations have featured everyone
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from celebrated sports stars, to recreating royal occasions and portraying politicians in a humorous way. “I met Boris Johnson and showed him the cartoon I’d done of him as a wrecking ball. He was actually really good fun and quite self-deprecating. When he saw the picture he laughed and said ‘I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!’.” Graeme’s brilliant illustrations have brought a lot of laughter and joy to many over the years, but in recent times his pandemic pictures have been more poignant and thought provoking. As an artist his aim has been to capture the human side of the catastrophic crisis, the real workers on the fragile ‘front line’, from the dedicated delivery drivers to the staff stepping into the unknown, cautiously cleaning corridors not knowing if the contagious coronavirus could be closing in. Of course the real heroes of the last few months have been the NHS staff, always appreciated, but certainly now, more than ever.
HIS BRILLIANT I L L U S T R AT I O N S H AV E B R O U G H T A LOT O F L A U G H T E R A N D J OY. Over the years Graeme has produced thousands of illustrations, but after 100 days of lockdown, putting his heart and soul into trying to capture the mood of a nation, he could quite easily choose a hundred cartoons to talk about, one for each day, but here are his thoughts on some of the most memorable.
yorkshire.com
