Murray Ball - What Is It Like To Be A Cartoonist?

Back in 1988 when becoming a cartoonist was a viable career Highgate/Price Milburn published Murray Ball - What Is It Like To Be A Cartoonist? Part of a series of books for young readers profiling successful New Zealanders in various professions. Ball talks about his early life in New Zealand, working as a cartoonist in England, and the development of his most popular strip Footrot Flats. The excerpted pages below show a day in the life of Murray Ball during the production of Footrot Flats.

Murray Ball - Junior All Black

New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange (Centre) and Murray Ball (Right)

Juliet Peter 1915 - 2010

 

When I was a young lad part of the education curriculum was provided by New Zealand School Journals which combined short stories, plays, poems and illustrations to help kids learn the fundamentals of reading.

Many New Zealand cartoonists have contributed artwork to the New Zealand School Journal including Dylan Horrocks, Trace Hodgson, Lorenzo Van Der Lingen, David Bromhead, Murray Ball, Tom Scott, Dick Frizzell, Conrad Freiboe, Rosemary Mcleod, Matthew Hunkin, Jared Lane, Mat Tait, Bob Kerr, Andrew Burdan, Tim Bollinger and very likely a few more.

 
I didn't know them by name as a child but do recall the particular appeal of journal illustrations by Murray Grimsdale and Juliet Peter. Their artistic styles were familiar to me from my budding interest in comics and cartoons. Grimsdale's work was colourful and cartoony, and Peter's all sleek black and white linework.

Juliet Peter on her early art education in an interview with Art New Zealand,


We were staying with an aunt and uncle who were still farming in Canterbury, and the aunt - a practical, wonderful person - said to me 'Now dear, what do you want to do?' I mumbled that I didn't know, and she said 'Well dear, you have talent. How would you like to go to the School of Arts in Christchurch?' I probably said that would be just too wonderful. Being a busy, knowledgeable, practical person, she went off to Christchurch and then there was a free, four-year place waiting for me at the School of Art. She found a place for me at a student hostel where someone had to withdraw owing to illness. In no time at all I was embroiled in working for a diploma in fine arts, and, well, that's the end of that part of the story

Juliet Peter's husband Roy Cowan was also a prolific illustrator of the New Zealand School Journal.


Fishink blog have biographical notes and a gallery of Peter's work including some of her ceramic pieces.

Read Art New Zealand's interview with Juliet Peter here.

Ian Dickson

 

 
Previous biographical notes on Dunedin born cartoonist Ian Dickson here. Selection of Dickson cartoons below from Men Only magazine published in England circa 1940s-early 1950s.

Parade Magazine

I previously featured Parade magazine here and a gallery of Tom Bishop Parade covers here.

H. B. K Hislop Publications

I'm on a 'working' holiday for the next week so will be posting 'small effort' galleries of various New Zealand cartoonists and publications from the mid twentieth century as well as some random bits and pieces as I dig them out of storage.

I've written previously about what little I know of Auckland publisher H.B.K. Hislop and their various publications. The following collection of covers are from Laughs which to my knowledge ran for ninety + issues.

 

English Comics Daily Diversion: Chick's Own March 15th 1952