The Advertiser Back in the heady days of the early 90s, the Advertiser (Adelaide’s only local newspaper, apart from the Sunday Mail) was a broadsheet. For an illustrator such as me, this presented a great opportunity. I spent quite a bit of time working as a casual artist working in the art department illustrating various editorial stories on all sorts of topics. These were usually done in fairly short time frames, such as an hour or so. I had a great deal of fun doing these ‘illos’ (bit of industry slang there) and it was fun working in the Art Department as well. On occasions the Features Editors would come in for a spot of office cricket and usually destroy a poster or two. The artists were a colourful bunch, and decorated the place with all sorts of crazy things, including a working model railway at one time. The office door was decorated with a large footprint; commemorating the time that one-time editor Piers Ackerman kicked it in during some outburst of temper. Now that the paper has gone tabloid, there seem to be fewer opportunities for illustration work, which considering the talent they have had there over the years and still do, is a pity. The work here has been scanned from my ‘Tiser scrapbook and is therefore not the best quality. Unfortunately the newsprint on the other side of the paper has a tendency to show through. This shows the problems of reproducing from newsprint! I liked doing this one as it was something a bit different to my usual style. I started off with a light blue wash under everything to give it a cold depressed feel. This was a trick I first learned from Michael Hague, who describes doing this in his illustrated version of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. Media: Pen & wash       This was a fun picture to do on various occupations. The chap dressed as Napoleon is actually not portraying an occupation but is actually the patient of the psychiatrist sitting next to him. Look for the vet examining the cow’s backside. Things like this are a delight to try and sneak past editors. Media: Pen & ink   This was a fun one! Initially it started out quite nasty, with a huge spike being hammered through the top of the man’s head, but this was seen as rather violent. So was the large screw right through the ears. However, this image sells ‘headache’ quite well. Media: Pen & ink       Caricature of Phillip Brass. This was taken from a photograph and followed the unofficial caricature ‘rules’ (exaggerate two features, such as nose and chin). Media: Pen & ink   This story was hard to illustrate, because of space and too many things to choose from. In the end I decided that it was more about the delight journos get from wacky headlines, and so went with that. Media: Pen & ink       This cartoon was supplied to me as an idea, and I had to simply illustrate it. I had a lot of fun with the faces! Media: Pen & Ink   I had a great deal of fun putting together this ugly bunch of suits. Many of the faces are taken from a artists photographic reference and tweaked to make ‘em extra snooty. Media: Pen & Ink       This one went back and forth quite a bit between the Features Editor and myself. I kept getting carried away and wanting to draw a demonic face with horns, or at least a wolf. Restraint won the day and what you see is the final result, which I think works quite well. Media: Pen & Ink   This was rather a sad story, based on the abortion scandal over the raped Irish schoolgirl. Media: Pen & Ink       This one was fun to do. I quite like the idea of the sick computer’s bedspread being a keyboard. Media: Pen & ink   This illo went with a large article about the Queen of England coming to South Australia to open the Lion Arts Centre on North Terrace. This was regarded as somewhat odd for such an establishment figure to open such an arty left wing place. Again I had fun drawing all the art freaks, and including two of the ‘Tiser artists just for fun (the tall guy at the back and the little guy down the front with the propeller on his cap). However I had to ‘disguise’ them, as employees of The Advertiser are not to be depicted in any such illustration. Media: Pen & ink       This is really just for a bit of a laugh. My mother is a keen royalist, and I grew up in a very pro monarchist household. Consequently my mum informed me that the Queen collected cartoons of herself and that I should send her a copy. So I did, and here’s the letter to prove it! Media: Letter   One of Kerry Cue’s stories describing a talk in Sydney’s Australian Publishing Industry Book Fair on Sex in Writing. She refers at one point to Babar the Elephant, so I decided that he and his wife had come down to Sydney for the talk. They look a bit tired. Media: Pen & ink       “But my brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man!” This was an article on hair removal for faddish American men. The lines coming off the stud’s body are not smell lines but heat haze lines because he is so HOT! Or so he thinks. Note the word Esau on the hairy dude’s shorts. Media: Pen & ink   Temper tantrums are always entertaining, especially when not your own! Media: Pen & ink