Cartoonist Colin Shelbourn guest blogs about how he uses Derwent Studio 33 pencils to create his fantastic illustrations.
The Derwent Studio 33 pencil; it’s slim, perfectly formed and the secret weapon in a cartoonist’s armoury.
When drawing for newspapers, the deadlines are tight. In the case of a front page cartoon it can be as little as three hours. This includes reading the headlines, sketching at least four ideas, discussing them with the editor and then drawing the finished artwork. As part of this process, the Studio 33 is indispensable.
It’s the best blue pencil in the world and it has magical properties.
When scanned in black and white, blue lines disappear. They simply don’t register, which means I can sketch the final artwork with in blue pencil and go straight to ink without the need to erase any lines. This saves a huge wodge of time plus it avoids wrecking the paper surface and subsequently creating a splodgy inky mess.
The printed result is a finely-crafted cartoon of elegance and tranquility; the frantic, blue pencil scribbling beneath the surface is hidden from view.
But the magic of the Studio 33 doesn’t end there. It extends into the wild, where it prevents conflict, altercation and unseemly behaviour.
Drawing in trains, cafés and at live events is tremendous fun but carries a risk: I’m a cartoonist so when I sketch someone, the results may not be flattering. An ink or 4B pencil cartoon can be spotted from several yards away but the magic blue pencil is invisible. This gives me plenty of time to spot an incoming victim and turn the page before they arrive. Oh look, I wasn’t drawing them at all, it was my shopping list.
Colin Shelbourn is a professional cartoonist. He can be found extolling the virtues of the Derwent Studio 33 pencil to anyone who will listen, but usually at workshops or in the pages of his new book, Drawing Cartoons (Crowood Press). www.shelbourn.com
© Colin Shelbourn
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