The PCO at the Big Draw

PCO members will be taking part in “Transports of Delight” at St Pancras International Station in London on Saturday (October 18). The event is part of the annual, month-long Big Draw campaign, which is designed to get the nation drawing.

The PCO will be running cartoon workshops at the event and taking part in the ever-popular Battle of the Cartoonists. Under the expert stewardship of the PCO’s Festival and Exhibition Co-ordinator, Pete Dredge, a crack team of volunteers has been assembled for the day’s activities.

Workshops by members Paul Hardman, Chichi Parish, Robert Duncan, Tim Harries and Terry Christien (plus guests) will take place between 10am and 5pm. Come along if you want to learn how to draw cartoons, caricatures and comic strips.

The Battle of the Cartoonists kicks off at 3pm and runs for two hours. The PCO team, featuring Robert Duncan, Kipper Williams and Royston Robertson, and captained by Pete Dredge, will take on Private Eye, The Guardian and the Independent.


The PCO's 2007 Battle of the Cartoonists team in action

Previous Big Draw attendees will know that the winning team is decided via extremely vocal public approval, so please come along and do bring any loudhailers and male voice choirs you have lying around. And how will you know who the PCOers are at the Big Draw? Oh, we've thought of that ...
Yes, red is most definitely the new black. This is the Team PCO T-shirt to be worn by workshoppers and the Battle of the Cartoonists team. Team captain Pete Dredge told the Bloghorn: "Some unscrupulous attempts at 'tapping up' team members by other team leaders have been firmly stamped on, and I'm confident my lads will deliver on the day."

Activities will take place in The Circle – 2nd side entrance on St Pancras Rd and opposite the German Gymnasium. The dedicated area will be marked out with artificial grass and picket fencing for that summery October feeling. Hope to see you there.

The Big Draw: Get involved

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent

PCO Professional Cartoonists at London’s Big Draw 2008

Breaking News on Bloghorn...

The PCO team for this year's London Big Draw event is confirmed. Team skipper, Pete Dredge (Private Eye regular) will be leading Robert Duncan (Not particularly orange cards), Kipper Williams (The Guardian) and Royston Robertson (Prospect, Readers Digest, Private Eye) into the suitably absurd Battle of the Cartoonists.


The 12 feet long, two-hour epic PCO banner from 2007, hung up, or out, to dry.

You can find details and a report from Bill Stott on the 2007 event here.

PCO members will also be running workshops throughout the day, featuring the many coloured skills of Tim Harries, Chichi Parish, Matt Buck, Andy Davey and Paul Hardman among others.

We will be publishing more details in the run up to the big day on Saturday 18 October.

It's British cartoon talent

Cartoon exhibition: Pont of Punch

Cartoon by Punch cartoonist Pont. (Click to enlarge)

An exhibition entitled Pont: Observing the British at Home and Abroad runs at the Cartoon Museum in London from April 23 until July 27.

It features more than 90 classic cartoons about the quirks of the British by Graham Laidler, better known as the Punch cartoonist Pont.

The Cartoon Museum is at 35 Little Russell Street, London. It is open Tue-Sat, 10.30am-5.30pm; Sun 12pm-5.30pm. Admission: £4, £3, free to students and under-18s. Visit the Cartoon Museum website.

British cartoon talent

PCO Procartoonists - The Big Draw 2007 - Anonymous writes...

Bloghorn has received some anonymous feedback to our activities at the recent Big Draw in Covent Garden. Thanks to the middle person concerned for passing it on. Bloghorn is most grateful.

Team PCO hard at work - from the left, Alex Hughes, Neil Dishington, Bill Stott(c) and Roger Penwill

The task the teams were given in the Battle of the cartoonists was to ’create the most sensational banner’ to a theme of High-Life, Low-life.

Select (publishable) and verbatim quotation from our anonymous correspondent follows;

The PCOs initially lacked the studies panache of Martin Rowson's colouring and the sharp wit of Private Eye. Their drawings appeared in a vague and piecemeal way but there was much interaction between the evident team leader and his team, which definitely paid off. The skillful use of colour enhanced the drawings and gave the different styles of drawing a coherence, which added to the banner's effectiveness. The layout and style was that of a comic which gave it integrity and a strong identity. I think this was the best!

Anonymous concludes;

A banner, by its very nature has a function as a standard or ensign denoting identity aand this is where the PCO and Private Eye romp ahead [of The Guardian and the Independent]. Their banners reflected the identities of their organisations very clearly. Of the two, the PCO banner had the greater visual coherence and presence. I would have marched under it and it should have won.

The finished PCO banner hung up, or out, to dry.

Thankyou, Mr or Mrs or Ms, anonymous.

British cartoon talent

The Big Draw 2007 - pictures

Team PCO at work-the picture gives some idea of the up and down nature of the artist-watcher relationship inside Covent Garden’s covered market.

Eventual winners - Team Guardian at work. From left from right, Steve Bell, Tim Pond, Andy Davey and Martin Rowson.

Three-quarters of team Independent. From left to right, Tim Sanders, Lucy Rogers and Matt Buck, regrettably, the multi-skilled Dave Brown has managed to get himself off camera.

Private Eye worked in a lot of detail
Many thanks to PCOer Chichi Parrish for the further photographs.

British cartoon talent

PCO Procartoonists - The Big Draw 2007

A news entry in which we learn how to coordinate a team of four cartoonists, all with different ideas, into making a 12 feet long banner in under two hours.

Team skipper, Bill Stott, reports thus;


The finished PCO banner hung up, or out, to dry.

The PCO Big Draw banner team, Roger Penwill, Alex Hughes, Neil Dishington and Bill Stott, arrived on time, splendidly turned out in new PCO T shirts (trousers were their own choice), at Covent Garden on Sunday 14th. The place was awash with sophisticates, and, in the Private Eye team area at least, best bitter.
The Big Draw event fairly hummed when at full scribble ; cartoonists everywhere, helping and hinting, and the public generally proving yet again that they love cartoons.

Using military precision and forty seven swear words, your team dealt swiftly with the first problem – that being the banner’s actual length – NOT 12 metres, as we’d been told, but 12 FEET. That meant the jettisoning of several good gags including Dish’s one which features the entire cast of Wagner’s Ring cycle. Undeterred, and calling on all their Shrewsbury Big Board experience, Team PCO produced a cracker. Compere for the event, Andrew Marr, confided that he liked ours the best. So there!

Sadly we’d reckoned without localised skullduggery. The Guardian and Private Eye teams had brought with them hordes of rowdy troops, doubtless bribed with free tube tickets and promises of double helpings of tiny post- drawing canapés, and as the banners were judged on volume of applause... erm...PCO didn’t win. But then, moral victories are sweeter. (Quite so says BLOGHORN - and we thank you Mr Marr.)


Competition compere, judge and cartoon fan, Andrew Marr, gives the result to the Covent Garden crowds.

The whole Big Draw event was a vibrant advert for our job, a sartorial triumph for the PCO team, the ingenuity and skill of the Independent, Guardian and PCO teams (but not the Private Eye team who cheated and had FIVE drawings on their banner and not four – you know who you are, Steve Way), and not least for the organisers who all did very well, but who should perhaps take an Imperial/Metric conversion course.

So – bring it on for 2008 ! When Team PCO plans to be supported by 250 recently ASBOed Tranmere Rovers football fans.

BLOGHORN would like to add something to Bill’s report - the PCO actually had members in all four of the teams - ourselves, Private Eye (hello to Ken Pyne), The Guardian (congratulations to Andy Davey) and the Independent (hard cheese to Matt Buck) so, some part of the PCO won anyway.

The best British cartoon talent
Thanks to Ger Whyman for the photographs

PCO Procartoonists - The Big Draw 2007

Apart from the Big Draw workshops, which we helped to provide for the general public, there were also some feature events in which our members took part.
One of these was the Battle of the Cartoonists in which four teams of artists had to make a huge piece of banner artwork in under two hours. The theme, which was given by the Campaign for Drawing, who organised the festival, was High life and Low Life.
Cunningly, the organisers and the Covent Garden management, Capital and Counties, arranged for the four teams from the PCO, the Guardian The Independent and Private Eye to do this in the sunken courtyard of the indoor Market. This meant that while the teams drew away down below, hundreds of spectators could watch it all happen from above. And for evidence of life down below, here's a picture of the PCO team hard at work. from left to right Alex Hughes, Neil Dishington, Bill Stott and Roger Penwill.


Bloghorn will be publishing Bill's full story of the day tomorrow. Bloghorn should also thank Ger Whyman for his usual excellent array of photographic imagery, the foghorn is duely grateful.

The best British cartoon talent

PCO Procartoonists - The Big Draw 2007

The PCO put itself on show at the weekend at the Big Draw. A big thank you to all the members who helped run the workshops that filled large parts of Covent Garden market over last weekend. Particular hat-tips to Anne and Andy Gilbert and Tim and Nikki Harries who man and womanfully worked the crowds and encouraged our future readers to develop their natural love of drawing and jokes. Other names and faces of PCOers fighting the good fight were Chichi Parrish (who also ran a workshop), Ger Whyman, Royston Robertson, Andy Davey, Terry Christien and Matt Buck.*
Our big banner team fought their corner in the gladiatorial battle of the cartoonists and there will be a full report from Team Captain Bill Stott following this message. They also crossed swords with the Beeb’s former political editor, Andrew Marr, but more of that anon.

Bloghorn says watch this space...

The best British cartoon talent


* Please tell me if I lost anyone in the crush!

PCO Procartoonists - The Big Draw

Today and tomorrow PCO Procartoonists will be out in force working at London's Big Draw. Get the details here and here.

The best British cartoon talent

PCO Procartoonists - show work in London

This terrific photograph of Margaret Thatcher by Roger Bamber* is a part of an excellent show on political imagery at the Design and Copyright Society in London. PCO members Ken Pyne, Mark Nesbitt, Andy Davey, Terry Christien and Matt Buck all have work in the show. The Kowalsky gallery is at 33 Great Sutton Street, London and the show is on until the end of January. Full details are on the gallery page at their website.

* Maggie Gets Her Hands Dirty, May 1983 by Roger Bamber.© Roger Bamber 2007.

Interestingly, the photo never saw the light of day after Roger took it, as Mrs T was campaigning in the 1983 election campaign at the time, and the image of her holding a pile of crap was thought rather too unfortunate to be publishable. Clearly, spin did not begin in 1997.

While we are talking exhibitions, the PCO is also going to be well represented at the annual Big Draw in Covent Garden this weekend, on October 13th and 14th. There is a massive amount of drawing and joke related activity going on, over both days, and the PCO is heavily involved. Do come along and enjoy yourselves.


The best British cartoon talent

PCO Procartoonists - The Big Draw

The PCO will be fielding a team of cartoonists at this year's Big Draw event on Sunday October 14th.

Part of the annual festival of drawing is being held in London's Covent Garden this year and the PCO team have been invited to participate in the 'Battle of the Cartoonists' where professional artists bid to outdo each others’ creations in an art time-trial. Our competition is going to include cartoonists from The Guardian and Independent newspapers and Private Eye magazine.

The Big Draw is one of the activities of the national Campaign for Drawing.


Here is a picture of last year's event at Somerset House which took place when the PCO was little more than a twinkle in the eye of some cartoonists...

In the run-up to this year's big day, Bloghorn will be posting a few more photographs and we'll obviously, also be reporting on our activities after the event itself.

Bloghorn must thank PCO member Gerard Whyman (Ger) for the photographs of last year's event and recommends clicking a W for Whyman here