Shropshire Star

Thousands flock to Shrewsbury's international cartoon festival

From Australian political cartoonists to caricaturists from Market Drayton, some of the world's top artists travelled to Shropshire for the International Cartoon Festival.

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Thousands of people visited Shrewsbury's Square to learn more about the art behind cartoons.

Cartoonists of every description lined up for a chance to present their best work to fans in the sun, live drawing for the gathering crowds.

It was part of a weekend of events, which also included exhibitions of work from America, Ireland, Belgium and the UK.

Families also had the chance to improve their drawing skills at workshops held throughout Saturday.

Among those exhibiting their work was Wilbur Dawbarn, who has drawn cartoons for, among others, Private Eye, The Times, The Dandy and The Beano.

The 50-year-old has been coming to the Cartoon Festival for the last 10 years, and travelled from High Wycombe to take part in again.

"I come virtually every year, and it's always a lovely weekend," he said.

"It's a lot of fun. Most of the time we're stuck at home in our studios. It's a bit of a lonely life.

"It's lovely to speak to people, show the cartoon, have them laugh ideally - it's a bit different. It's also great fun to hang out with the other cartoonists, we always have a good time when we get together."

Chris Ryder from Shrewsbury
Chris Ryder from Shrewsbury
Chris Ryder from Shrewsbury
Noel Ford from Herefordshire
Wilbur Dawbarn from High Wycombe
Maria Scrivan from USA

Wilbur said Shrewsbury was a beautiful place to hold the Cartoon Festival.

"I love this town. The timber framing, the wonkiness of them. My lines are quite wonky, I'm not interested in drawing straight lines so, to me, some of the buildings are like architectural cartoons.

"People who have come from further afield have told me it's like walking through a fairy tale. It's a great town."

For Ken Krimstein, it was the first time attending the International Cartoon Festival.

He said the long trip from Evanston, Chicago had been well worth it.

The 59-year-old, best known for his work for The New Yorker and Wall Street Journal, said: "My friends are cartoonists and they told me I should come and I do as they say. I love all these English cartoonists and I wanted to get to know them better.

"Shrewsbury is the most stupidly beautiful town I've ever seen in my life. It looks fake. i can't believe how beautiful it is, which I why I have been working it into my cartoon.

"I've never worked this large. I never usually work in colour either, but I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm going to do this from now on - i'm going to have to find some really big magazines."

Ken said the festival was a chance to meet with different kinds of cartoonists.

"They have this festival every year so I'll definitely be coming again."

Dean Alstoon, 67, travelled from Perth in Australia to take part.

The self-confessed Anglophile has been coming to the festival since the beginning, and using it as a springboard to explore the country.

Having been the cartoonist for The West Australian since 1986, the chance to draw for crowds in Shropshire was a welcome chance to relax.

"I've only missed it one time, in 2010, when the volcano stopped my flights," he said.

"I've known this crew for 20 years. I like them and I like England.

"Because I'm a political cartoonist, I have to work very quickly to deadlines. It's totally different today. This is relaxing. Newspaper cartoons are pressure, it's a good kind of pressure, but it's pressure. This is great.

"I always enjoy it here. I always find English people very polite. Australia goes with the landscape, it's very brash. England for the most part is very polite."

It wasn't all travellers from overseas. Some of the cartoonists took the opportunity to take part in a festival right on their doorsteps.

Chris Ryder, from Market Drayton, is a caricaturist who first was inspired to go full time by the Cartoon Festival itself 10 years ago.

Now the 50-year-old returns each year to help inspire the next generation.

"It's lovely for all the cartoonists to get together. We can swap ideas, see what everybody is up to. We've got cartoonists from national papers, we've got international cartoonists, and it just creates such a fantastic atmosphere In Shrewsbury," she said. "It generates quite a big income for the town as well.

"It encourages and inspires budding cartoonists of the future. They can come to see the techniques and see the humour."

When she first visited the Cartoon Festival about 10 years ago, Chris was inspired to take her caricatures to the next level..

"Six months later I had handed in my notice," she said.

"I'm chatting to young people when they come up to be drawn. They tell me they like cartooning and drawing too."

Most people who have their caricature drawn enjoy the final product, she said.

"Hopefully I generate a laugh or a smile. My ambition in life is to get a smile on someone's face. If I can bring some joy to someone's day I've been successful."