Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Gulf News
Dubai Walt Disney famously called it "a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time". The American businessman and Disney Cartoons founder was talking about his craft — cartooning.It is a tough art to master.
Ask the millions who slave away with brush and pen desperate to find that hairline balance between fantasy and reality to convey reason and thought. Newspaper cartoons have an added dimension — they are a tool to promote free speech and support content.
It is a realm of the weird and wonderful, where truth finds voice in colours and strokes.
The World Press Cartoon (WPC) body recognises the talent of these quiet masters every year by hosting selected works from around the globe at a special exhibition in Portugal followed by a book edition.
This year Gulf News had the maximum entries and selections — 10 illustrations from the main newspaper, three from XPRESS and one from Friday magazine. Four hundred artworks were picked from over 4,000 entries for the World Press Cartoon Sintra 2010 Exhibition.
The display is open to the public until July 4 in the Sintra Museum of Modern Art, Portugal.
"In the World Press Cartoon 2010 a number of themes are naturally assessed, [such] as the Barack Obama Nobel Prize and the death of Michael Jackson," explained salon director Antonio Antunes on the WPC website.
"We have more and more works in competition, new authors and new countries, what is creating a wide culture representation of different countries.
It is easy to compare the differences between countries with freedom of speech and others with restrictions."
In its sixth edition, the WPC focused on its "commitment to promote the cartoon while journalistic approach, award the merit and the talent of the best and promote the freedom of speech as a supreme human value".
We present conversations with our recognised artists...
Newspaper cartoons are a realm of both fantasy and reality. Gulf News' talented designers and illustrators share the challenges and inspirations that shaped their selected cartoons. Here they relinquish their brushes and graphic pens to talk to Readers Editor Anupa Kurian about their art.
What is the significance of the World Press Cartoon win for Gulf News?
It is a big achievement. We are the newspaper with the most entries selected, and one of our artists is the only one that had all [three] his works selected. It shows the talent of the team and the expertise they developed after years of practice. This recognition motivates us to keep giving our best every day.
How many entries have been published and how many did we send?
We submitted 22 illustrations and 13 were selected to appear in the book [and exhibition].
Why do you believe we were awarded with so many published entries?
We have very talented staff, they manage various techniques and illustration styles; apart from their illustration skills, they are able to understand a story and synthesise it into a strong concept that is simple to understand.
Most newspapers have a single style when it comes to illustrations/cartoons but Gulf News allows diversity of styles - why?
The UAE is a diverse country and we want this diversity to be represented in our pages. We set high quality standards for our illustrations but apart from that we want the voice of each artist to be heard. For me a page where all the illustrations have the same style is not consistent, just flat.
What does this mean when it comes to overall excellence of the product?
An excellent product is the result of excellent inputs from all the areas involved.
infographics artist Dwynn Ronald V. Trazo
There are no specific inspirations [for my pieces]. Whatever the story calls for or how I interpret it — I just visualise and execute.
My style is plain and simple line drawing. Being one of the many illustrators in Gulf News, I had to come up with something that I can call my own. There can be various techniques, the benefit of being here is the challenge of finding your own.[The selection] by World Press Cartoon 2010 means a lot to me as my works have made it through all categories — editorial (2009), caricature (2010) and gag (2010).
Illustrator Ador T. Bustamante
Inspiration is everywhere. For me, I love using metaphors for my artworks and a drop of twist as well.
The cartoon was meant to tell the reader the desperate need of Arab nationals and expats, just to get quality medical treatment. The paper plane is a good symbolic object that I thought would illustrate well the idea of convenience and the desperation of going abroad. The prescription note completes the twist as well as the people in it.
I am really fond of pop art and comics, so this is very influential on my style. The company is as revolutionary as the people working here. It has given me a lot of opportunity to really discover my style and explore possibilities.
WPC means a lot to me because this is the first international recognition that I have received.
Illustrator Luis Vazquez
Ador T. Bustamante by Danesh Mohiuddin
Miguel Angel Gomez by Luis Vazquez
Danesh Mohiuddinby Ramachandra Babu
Dwynn Ronald V. Trazoby Guillermo Munro
Nino Jose G. Heredia by Seyyed de la Llata
On the piece on Israel, well it was clear to me what I had to do. I had done the art for Gaza a few months before, and saw the images that where coming through the wire [news services] and the TV.
Even though we would like Israel to pay for war crimes we know that they get away ... and that was the story.
On the second piece, the story was about how the US and Bill Clinton had played into North Korea's hands. It was a choice for the Korean leader ... to put him like a rock star, his pose and his 1970s jacket, his hairstyle and omnipresent giant glasses with the atomic bomb going off. That is him playing his card in the nuclear debate.
My style was created in Chicago [US] while working for a newspaper there. I like the interaction of photo with digital illustration and sometimes ink. It is almost free-style in the sense that there are no real rules on colour. It would be more like an impressionist style in our times.
I don't do much illustration because I am mostly converting graphics, maps and charts and trying to do more infographics.
[In the World Press Cartoon event] you are in play against people who have been doing this for many years and competing with people who work on their illustration for weeks.
So to come in and get recognition on a style that I created and the fact that I do these illustrations under an hour means a lot.
Ramachandra Babu by Dwynn Ronald V. Trazo
Designer Seyyed Llata
Sometimes the difficult part is to find the right concept. My artwork is an illustration, not a cartoon. So, I have to grab an idea and develop a concept.
Usually I play with the words that can summarise the article. In this case my final concept was ‘fighting the clutter monster' — bad habits are our inner monster.
This specific illustration was a huge surprise, because also it was the first time I tried out this style, which is a mix between photo-illustration (taking parts of different pictures and creating something with them) and illustration in vectors. I am still experimenting in different styles, because I am really new as an illustrator.
When I joined Gulf News I was not an illustrator. I had some skills, but not like Gulf News senior illustrators. But I had the opportunity to practice and more importantly to learn from the seniors. That's how I have improved — 200 per cent in two years.
The recognition from World Press Cartoon 2010 is like my most precious award, because I don't have a background as an illustrator. I am very happy.
The inspiration comes from the old editorial cartoons, from the styles of the 1950s or 1960s, where the strong strokes and colour contrast were very notorious, [especially by] artists like Al Hirsfield and Miguel Covarrubias.I like to use black and white drawings with colour just to emphasise certain details.
Working in a newspaper means you are always under pressure, you need to develop your skills in speed and creativity.
It is always good to have recognition from the World Press Cartoon as part of your portfolio, along with recognition from colleagues is important.
Three of my works were selected by the World Press Cartoon 2010. One was in the category of caricature, which was of the South African leader Jacob Zuma. It was part of the newsmaker series published in Weekend Review.
Zuma is a populist leader and I decided to draw him as a man from his tribal background.
The other was in the category of editorial cartoon, of the US president Barack Obama. It was with an editorial comment about Obama's false promises. I showed the leader tangled in ribbons of promises.The third was in the category of gag cartoon showing Santa Claus' workshop at the North Pole.
It was for a satirical piece on global warming. The illustration is Santa Claus sitting on the roof of his workshop and elves are swimming around in the melting snow to save themselves from the flood.
My style of work is always focused on being transparent - to convey my message to the reader. Nothing complicated.Gulf News is our platform and the work is challenging enough to help us achieve art that wins us such recognition.
Illustrator NinoJose G. Heredia
My artwork that was selected was about the conflict in Sri Lanka and the ‘Tamil Tigers'.
My style is a modern type of rendition and working at Gulf News has honed my skill, especially by being given the opportunity to do at least three to four drawings every day.
Over the years that I've worked as an illustrator, personally I don't really consider myself as a cartoonist. I'm a realist illustrator.
Every day is a challenge for me doing editorial cartoons.
So the win from World Press Cartoon means a lot to me, just like other international competitions. It helps you to be more creative and competitive.
Infographics artistGuillermo F. Munro
Illustrator Ramachandra Babu
illustrator Danesh Mohiuddin
Compulsion: The article is about teenagers in Dubai getting addicted to texting. My inspiration came from everyday observation of people absorbed in their BlackBerrys and iPhones, and not interacting with their actual, tangible environment.
It seems like they are constantly distracted by their technology, to a point that maybe it becomes an addiction. It comes to a point where you are being controlled by your device, rather than the other way round. It seeps up your attention, time and energy. It takes you away from real face to face interaction with people and your environment. It alters your perception of reality, and does not allow you to see out of this online world. The Matrix movie is a strong influence for this illustration, as it discusses a similar theme, where technology has taken control of the consciousness of society.
The Tiger Woods Dilemma: The scandal that hit the sporting world in 2009. In this cartoon, Tiger is shown trying to hide a really big secret, but obviously it's too big to be hidden, and is shown bursting through the door as the scandal unfolds.
The dilemma is his wife and two kids standing in front of him in bewilderment. The carpet is an interesting detail that I added, and it represents his life, reputation and status. Its being creased and folded by the scandal.
I repeatedly read the story, thinking about it, writing down as many ideas as I can think of. I try and convert the words into pictures, and add the dimension that can only be added visually. I do a final sketch in pencil, and then go over it with a brush and ink. Then I scan the drawing, and colour it using Adobe Photoshop.
By Anupa Kurian
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
