Last updated at 11:58, Sunday, 03 July 2011

SCHOOL children have always dedicated more time to filling text books with doodles than the work that is supposed to go in them.

• Related article Q&A with Colin Shelbourn, cartoonist

IN THE PICTURE Cartoonist Colin Shelbourn

But who would have thought that those amusing pictures of funny-looking teachers could be the touch paper for a career and a livelihood.

Windermere-based freelance cartoonist Colin Shelbourn has been sketching friends, colleagues and acquaintances, as well as complete strangers, for three decades, and his distinctive drawings are recognisable to people around the country.

Also an author and illustrator, he has worked with such celebrated clients and publications as Hunter Davies and Private Eye.

“I’ll never forget my first cartoon that went in Private Eye,” says Colin.

“It was a picture of four shops in a row against an American city backdrop, and the shops all said ‘Diner’ on the front, and then at the end was Batman.

“When you read that back you’ll see it.”

His famous sense of humour has made his family-friendly style a hit with visitors to the Lake District since the 1980s.

Following a spell writing space comics for DC Thomson & Co – “cashing in on the Star Wars craze” – Colin took on a freelance job for the Brockhole visitor centre near Windermere.

Prolific British writer and journalist Hunter Davies was in the area preparing his first Good Guide to The Lakes book, and Colin’s boss put him forward for a researching role.

He says: “I ended up doing a lot of the writing for the book, as well as researching.

“From there I got involved in writing Lap Maps. They are mainly for families, with the technical information on the back.

“I realised nobody was doing a simple, easy guide to the Lake District, and I pitched the idea to an old school friend of mine, Robin Sadler, who is more of a businessman, and then we went ahead with it.

“They are easier than Ordnance Survey maps, and they’re for people who are only in the area for a few days and they want to know where the key places to visit are.

“I’ve done guides to the main areas in the Lakes, and also places like the Yorkshire Dales, Northumbria, North Wales, Devon and the Borders, as well as maps of the UK with all the haunted houses, all the famous TV and Film locations, and the best places for garden visitors.”

The majority of Colin’s work is created as part of a commission, except for his ‘Cardtoons’ series of postcards which have now accrued several million sales.

And for Colin nothing is out of the question.

“I was actually Britain’s first regular radio cartoonist,” he says.

“It’s not as mad as it sounds – I was with City Talk in Liverpool, and I would draw cartoons throughout the show based on what a panel was talking about and post the best on their website.

“I’ve also done a workshop with Virgin Media staff, where I had to teach them how to draw cartoons that they could use as part of their day-to-day job. That wasn’t easy – I thought it would have been easier just to give me the job.

“But more and more companies are commissioning me for seminars and lectures, things like that.

“I’m drawing away on a flipchart while a presentation is going on. The thinking is that it takes a complicated idea and makes it catchy and simple.

“And it works. With something like financial planning, the drawings can make it easier to understand, and they also raise a few laughs at the same time.”

The next project for Colin is a series of online workshops, teaching internet users the art of drawing a cartoon.

While trial runs with contacts on websites like Twitter are already under way, general members of the public will be able to join in by the autumn.

“People post their variations of what I draw, and then the others comment on it,” he says. “You do get ideas from each other, and it’s good fun. At the moment it’s just friends but from around September, you’ll be able to take part anywhere in the world.”

• Colin Shelbourn’s instructional book Drawing Cartoons is available now.

For more information on his work visit www.shelbourn.com.

First published at 13:30, Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Published by http://www.in-cumbria.com