Ch ch ch changes

Hopefully one of my favourite cartoonists, Wilbur, won't mind me nicking one of the themes he returns to every now and again on his blog- about how a style changes over the years.

I recently dug up what I think is the first cartoon I had published in Punch magazine, probably 10 or so years ago. I suppose you could say the drawing has a certain scratchy appeal, but I don't particularly like it. I was determined to use steel nibbed dip pens, because all my cartoonist heroes used them- most of the time I stabbed myself with them and dripped ink everywhere.

Not long after it was published the magazine folded- ok, all magazines fold, I mean shut down for good. Anyway, I also shut down my cartooning while the exciting world of IT Support took over my life.

Just recently, having dived back into the turbulent sea that is cartooning, I think I'm finally getting to a style I like- dip pens have been replaced by electronic stylus and computer, and stabbed fingers and ink smudges are no more. The majority of the drawings on this blog are in what I think is my new style. An interim style is what could be called my Rotring period- the first lot of cartoons I had published as I restarted cartooning were drawn with Rotring technical pens. Some of these cartoons are still only just being published, thanks to the delay between acceptance and publication- for example, this one in Reader's Digest...

It does appear, when you compare the styles in different magazines, that there are two 'Len' cartoonists-or maybe I have a split personality...?

(Who said that?!)