Background
From the age of 11 my one aim in life was to be a cartoonist, so when 1
was 14, I started calling on the Editor of the Express & Star ( my local
paper with a batch of cartoons every week. After a year he obfered to
take me on to the paper as an apprentice for 6 years to his resident
cartoonist, and at 15 1 had my first cartoon published in the Express &
Star. At 21 1 became a fully fledged cartoonist and started submitting
cartoons to other publications and my first acceptance was from a small
magazine called Razzle, I took this as an omen and left the Express &
Star and in 1953 arrived in London and found an agent. But it was
tough at first and at one point 1 had to pawn almost everything I ouned,
even my overcoat in the middle of winter! Suddenly sales started to improve
and after selling a few cartoons to various magazines the Daily Herald
took me on for a pocket cartoon every other day. Eventually, I left the
Herald and set up on my own and things just took off from there. At one
stage I was drawing around the clock to fulfill commissions,
I take it a little easier now but 1 am still very busy, drawing almost
every day,
Work experience
Apprentice Cartoonist - Express and Star Wolverhampton
1945 -1951
I was lucky to have a formal apprenticeship under the resident talented cartoonist at the time called Arthur Arrowsmith.
Norman Artist Agency - London
​1951 - 1955
During this period i worked for an with an Artist agency. It was by then run by Muriel Norman, we partnered up with the business and later in life when we married in 1955, remaining married until very recently when my beloved wife passed away. She had carried on working as my agent throughout my career, as well as being a wonderful wife and mother.
2010 - present
2010 - present
Freelance self employed Cartoonist
1955 - 2012
This was by far the most successful time of my career selling to all the major national newspapers and many of the magazine.s It was an incredibly busy but very satisfying period. My work was also widely syndicated all across the world, including Europe , the USA and the Middle East.
Education
I was a sickly child suffering from St vitus dance, which meant that i effectively left school at 12. Being bed bound was hard but didnt stop me drawing whenever possible.
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Since retiring i still love to draw and paint and for more than a decade i was president of the local Petts Wood Art Club.