Colour. A wander down memory lane.

I began contributing regular cartoons/caricatures to Isaacson Publications in Melboune during the 1970s, They had a stable of trade magazines covering a wide spectrum of business interests including Travel, Aviation, Health, Hospitality, Technology and Media. They also published The Sunday Observer, this city's first sunday newspaper. Starting with TravelWeek, a fortnightly newspaper, I  eventually had op/ed. cartoons, caricatures, cover illos and/or comic strips running in all of the above periodicals at one time or another continuously until 2005.

In the early days, all of the work was tendered in Black and White with use of editorially determined spot colour emerging gradually during the 8o's. All of my stuff was delivered by hand to the Isaacson printing plant and editorial offices, then in Prahran. I absolutely loved those visits which enabled me to learn about the ways and means of print publication in general and, the voodoo of graphic imaging in particular. Most of all, I adored the ability to wander among the roaring presses lured by the wonderful smell of printers' ink!

In 1993, the editor of TravelWeek asked me if I'd like to 'have a go at full colour' graphics. Always up for a challenge, I responded with  'yes, why not?' ... without really thinking about the ramifications of such an unplanned change. For instance, I didn't immediately realize that 'full colour' in those days meant virtually doing a hand-drawn piece thrice ... pencils, inking, then colouring either directly over the basic art, or using an overlay to protect the line work. Time consuming! I figured quickly that  permanent inks would be the best  colouring medium ... but had no extensive experience of using them. What paper/board to use also confronted me early as well... but, somehow the accompanying ed. cartoon found its way into the TW issue of February 3rd, 1993. My adventures in regular colour had begun.

Incidentally, in those says I liked to draw big. This original artwork was 250mm deep x 340mm wide. I initially pencilled the caption across the bottom of the piece outside the 'bleed marks', expecting the plate-maker to convert it to type-set. Instead he simply went over my pencil work with a marker (which did not enhance the inaugural work IMHO). I've included it within the graphic myself for the purposes of this display.