Introducing an occasional interview by the Galway Cartoon Festival with cartoonists from around the world. This month is The Kingdom’s own Ciaraíoch.
Name: Ciaraíoch for doodling.
Where are you from? – D’Kingdom of Kerry.
When did you become interested in drawing cartoons? – I’m not sure if it was the start of it, but the biggest thing that drove my initial interest in it was definitely Don Conroy on The Den, so I guess when I was around five or six.
Who are your big influences? – Style-wise, I’ve always loved and tried to learn from the work of Martin Brown and Chris Riddell, and more recently people like Rob Guillory and Sydney Padua. Content-wise, it’s been more influenced by things I’ve learned from activists and various writers, particularly on issues like feminism and social issues in Ireland.
Where were you first published? – The UCC Express, back in 2011 or 2012-ish.
What’s your favourite cartoon (single panel or strip)? – At the moment, Oglaf has top spot for art and humour.
What materials do you use? – Paper, pencil for the initial sketch, and then ink (black pens and usually Copic markers.)
On a scale from 1-10, where 1 is the thing you hang wet clothes on and 10 is the thing Gandalf rode in on, how are you at drawing horses? – I’m a panto-horse in terms of horse-realism ability.
Did you scribble in the margins of your books in school? – Margins and everywhere in between.
Do you have any advice for aspiring cartoonists? – Draw whatever you enjoy doing, whether it’s issues you care about personally or things you yourself find funny. Don’t pander and don’t worry too much about “drawing skills” – the idea is the most important thing, anything goes, and any style goes, there are no rules.
Where can we find you online? @Ciaraioch on Twitter and Instagram.
[You can see archived interviews here. We hope to host a monthly interview with cartoonists around the world, both established and up-and-coming. If you’d like to feature please get in touch.]
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The Galway Cartoon Festival is 4 this year. Despite the pandemic we are still planning to host a physical exhibition.
Our ability to fund-raise has been severely curtailed.
If you’ve ever enjoyed an editorial cartoon please bung us a fiver.
https://fundit.ie/project/galway-cartoon-festival-2020
More details of our fundraiser can be found at the link above and we have a tiered reward system! PLEASE HELP US MAKE 2020 HAPPEN!
