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Never a dull moment in the cartooning playground

A blank piece of paper has countless possibilities: you could write music on it, you can draw and paint a masterpiece on it, some sign off important or stupid deals on it and of course some roll it and smoke junk.

A blank piece of paper has countless possibilities: you could write music on it, you can draw and paint a masterpiece on it, some sign off important or stupid deals on it and of course some roll it and smoke junk.

As a cartoonist, I can't live without it. I hope and pray each time I go to a stationery joint that they have it: a beautiful crisp 200gm white, 40-page A4 sketchbook, and if they don't there will be hell to play.

Yes, cartooning is my world, my playground and I'm going to tell you almost all about it this time. It starts with a simple blank piece of paper.

People love cartoons. So do I, especially editorial cartoons, the ones that appear on the editorial pages of newspapers. Yes that page with too many words that some people dread to read, and that's exactly why it has a witty visual opinion to catch your eye so you can laugh while reading the "important stuff".

Well I'm the culprit, the cartoonist, the guy with a pencil and ink stains in his right hand, the guy whom the politicians love to hate or sue.

It is the coolest job on the planet after Obama's. Basically politicians and scandalous celebrities are my employers and the president of the country my boss. Without them, I wouldn't have a job. I'm just joking.

Anyway, I lampoon, provoke and torment off-track politicians for a living so you can have at least one smile or mild laughter a day, instead of worrying about recession, your job, crime, baby, mothers, your cat or THAT raise you're never going to get.

I choose to laugh at life, laugh at myself and do my best to make you laugh while challenging our political system, our leaders and informing you at the same time.

I'm not the one to blow my horn, but what the hell, I'm up there with best, thank you Sowetan.

Now, what does it take to be a cartoonist and why do we do it? Well the why part is easy, everybody needs a good laugh, insight and knowledge as a daily dose. However, to be a good cartoonist, you need to have a sense of humour or believe that you have it and need to look at life differently, upside-down or in three dimensions.

Basic art education is key and daily and broad reading essential. It's important to know what you're making fun or otherwise your sketch book pages will always be blank. Furthermore, you need to be outgoing, love politics and have a passion for drawing in general.

You must be wondering though, how I get away with making fun of politicians? I mean I've drawn them naked, big headed, as animals and clowns. Have I ever been sued or recalled like The Big Man at Shell House? No.

But I've had close calls. However, my editors always protect me from myself, not that I want to be sued but I think it would be cool. I wouldn't mind going to court for doing my work, instead of being there for traffic fines, but I certainly don't want to cause riots through careless drawings.

And like you, I do have my favourites. At the moment I enjoy drawing Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema, Helen Zille, Robert Mugabe and Barack Obama. These "respected politicians" always keep me busy as they always supply me with so much ammunition and my ink bottle is never dry. Without them, politics would be very boring.

In a nutshell, the world of us cartoonists is without doubt the best because there is never a dull moment, provided you have your blank piece of paper, 2HB pencils, Indian ink, an eraser and a sharp sense of humour.

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