In a new regular feature for First Drafts, our cartoonist of the month is Clive Goddard.
First, give me your autobiography in 100 words or so
I was born in Berkshire at the beginning of the swinging sixties and therefore missed all the swinging by being at school and by being in Berkshire. As an avid reader of Look & Learn magazine (a sort of print version of Blue Peter, full of educational articles about Marie Antoinette and blast furnaces) I discovered the cartoons of Roland Fiddy, Asterix strips and Don Lawrence’s beautifully drawn "Trigan Empire." Of the three it was Fiddy’s drawing which inspired me most and I set my mind to becoming a gag cartoonist.
A mere 30 years later I actually did. A long story involving not going to art college, bereavement, needing to pay rent and having hungry children. I didn’t really try cartooning properly until I was 37, and had finally gone to art school. Even then I was studying graphic design and illustration as it seemed a more vocational choice. But not having a job gave me so much time that I began submitting cartoons to the nationals and started selling them fairly quickly. A revelation! All you have to do is stick your drawings in an envelope and post them!
Incidentally I got to meet my hero, Roland Fiddy at an art fair in Chelsea before he died, and told him he’d been my inspiration. He was, of course, very modest and self effacing, and slightly horrified that someone around 40 had seen his work in their childhood.
How and when do you work?
One of the reasons (other than having to attend pointless meetings and achieve "Investor in People" status...) I was so glad to escape regular employment for the joy of self-employment was that I would no longer have to work the dreaded 9 to 5. Never again having to be woken in the morning by Sarah Kennedy is a pure and unending joy. Left to my own devices, which I am most of the time now that my children (and wife) have grown up and left home, I don’t have to deal with mornings at all. I’ll happily work at my lightbox and in front of my computer screen for several hours a day, often until the early hours, accompanied only by music and the occasional mediocre bottle of red wine. And not a single meeting to go to.
How do you cope with the rejections that accompany cartooning?
A lot better than I used to. I no longer hide in the toilet for a week crying and whimpering. I’ve got it down to a few hours now.
Out of all the cartoons you’ve ever drawn, do you have a favourite?
I’m quite proud of my Tracey Emin private view gag, (you can make the image yourself) mainly because a lot of people have told me they like it and I’ve been able to sell it several times over. It’s strange but making money from an idea does tend to elevate it to the status of favourite. I like this (unpublished) one too,
Are there any topics which you don’t think are appropriate for cartoons?
Virtually anything can be made into a cartoon. I’ve covered subjects as unfunny as cancer treatment, Nazis, heroin addiction, war, death and estate agency, some of which have even made it into print. The important thing is to ensure that the butt of the joke is not the victim. It’s a case of finding an angle which makes a point but doesn’t cause uncalled-for hurt. Deciding what is, and what is not, uncalled-for hurt is down to the individual’s politics and conscience.
Has the internet been good or bad for cartoonists?
The internet’s effect on cartooning is one of those horrible double-edged metaphors I usually try to avoid resorting to. Some people might think it has has undermined the world of print, replacing publications and their associated cartoon opportunities, but it has also levelled the playing field for anyone wanting to get their work noticed. Admittedly a lot of it is terrible and will hopefully disappear without trace, but like punk rock in the seventies it has meant that anyone can have a go.
Of course, having the internet means I no longer have to get the bus to the library for reference pictures. That’s progress.
What advice would you give a cartoonist starting out today?
I’d offer the same sage, yet unwelcome, advice I was offered when I approached my school careers advisor aged 14: forget it! Get a sensible job. At the time I was extremely miffed, but obedient enough to go away and get a series of sensible jobs. In retrospect, however, the 20 or so years I spent not being a cartoonist gave me an invaluable reservoir of bitterness, angst, bile and gallows humour without which I wouldn’t be the warm, well-rounded human being I am today. Looking back at what I was drawing as a young pup I was just too young, inexperienced and idealistic to do anything worth publishing. Having these unpleasant traits beaten out of you is an essential part of surviving as a cartoonist.
The main occupational hazards in journalism are alcoholism and RSI. What are the risks for cartoonists?
There are all manner of mental illnesses involved with social isolation and attempting to see the funny side of things which aren’t the slightest bit funny. That and the obvious alcoholism and RSI. I did once cut my finger on a particulary sharp pencil but compared to say, iron foundry work, it’s a pretty safe occupation.
What do cartoonists talk about when they meet up?
The clichéd answer is that we all talk about the appalling lack of opportunity for newspaper and magazine cartoons as the market shrinks like a muddy African pond during the dry season in a wildlife documentary, leaving us all hopelessly gaping and flapping around like dying fish. (II believe the collective noun for cartoonists is "a whinge.") We then talk about how much better things were in the old days when Punch was still around in its original form and cartoonists were treated like rock stars, having endless recreational drugs and women forced upon them.
The truth, however, is that we get bored of the moaning fairly quickly, then drink a lot of beer and start competing to see who can make the wittiest and most inane remarks. The Shrewsbury cartoon festival is coming up in April, where the public can witness this odd group behaviour at first hand.
What's the best thing about being a cartoonist?
Apart from the obvious fact that I get to sit around at home thinking of jokes and drawing pictures, the best thing about being in the cartoon world is that I get to meet so many genuinely nice and funny people. Through events, exhibitions, my membership of the Cartoonists' Club of GB and now the Professional Cartoonists' Organisation I've got to chat and drink with such diverse luminaries as Steve Bell, Richard Jolley, Grizelda, Martin Honeysett, Hunt Emerson and Neil Kerber. I've become close friends with many others too, who I won't embarrass by listing here.
Oh, and receiving the gratis copies of Prospect too, of course!
