From Noodling to Doodling
Or: How I gave up a career in music for the more secure life of cartooning
By Noel Ford - Part One
M
y father was a great impromptu
storyteller with a wonderful sense of
humour, and my mother was a talented
amateur singer. Inheriting a talent for storytelling, humour or music, would have been
nice but as things worked out, I received
a bit of all three, which made choosing a
career a difficult proposition, especially for
a four-year-old, which was when I began to
consider such things.
M
y earliest choice was to be a comedian
(well, I came close – though instead
of a stand-up, I became a sit-down). Then
I figured being a singer would be nice; a
short-lived ambition, though I did win the
school ‘singing prize for unbroken voices’ –
an achievement which turned out to be the
peak of my singing career.
W
hat became my main ambition later
on in life, to be a cartoonist, was
clearly lurking in the background because,
looking back, it presented itself in a number
of ways. I have distinct memories of drawing
cartoons in chalk, on the pavement, at a
very early age and I can also remember
some of the others I drew at the time,
more conventionally on paper. For instance,
a cartoon of a mother and child: Child:
“Why are bananas nice?” Mother: “Because
you like them.” Okay, I like to think I have
improved a bit since then. I was also the kid
who was brought out to the front of the
class to tell stories, made up as I went along,
and illustrated simultaneously with chalk
drawings on the blackboard.
A
t this stage, things definitely seemed
to be leaning towards the cartooning
The Stormbreakers playing an early gig at Hartshill
High School, circa 1961. Who is that cool guy on the
right in the cowboy boots? That would be me!
www.thecartoonistsclub.com
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