Artist Spotlight #1: Tom Gauld

Artist Spotlight

I really enjoy picking up other artist’s books, checking out their social posts, and visiting exhibitions. It keeps me up-to-speed on new trends or ideas, whilst also topping up my ‘creative bank account’ (a phrase I often use and take into consideration, courtesy of Jake Parker).

Because of this, I’m a big fan of loads of other artists and makers, and want to share that with you guys. This is the first in several short blogs I’m going to write about an artist I admire, who inspires me, and who I think you should check out. Feel free to ignore me! But I promise you’ll be missing out 😊

Tom Gauld

Twitter gets a hard time for being the cess pit of the internet, with a lot of the ‘discussions’ there being deliberately divisive and often just nasty. However, there is gold to be found if you sift through the dirt, and in around 2009 I found a nugget; cartoonist and illustrator, Tom Gauld.

Tom’s style, and the wry humour in his artwork, grabbed my attention from the first moment I saw it. He’s a completely unique visual artist.

Work Biography

Tom is a fellow Scotsman! His work biography is incredible; whether it’s his regular column in The Guardian, his multiple illustrated New Yorker covers – a huge aspiration of mine – or his weekly cartoon strip for the New Scientist, I turn green with envy whichever way I look! He’s also somehow had the time to create eight books, including a children’s book, two graphic novels, and five compendiums of his cartoons from The Guardian and the New Scientist, and tour these across the UK and the USA.

The cover of book 'Mooncop' by professional artist Tom Gauld. Hardcover & gloss finish, in shades of blue & grey illustrating an astronaut type figure on a moon surface. The background of the photo is blurred, but shows some plants on a white shelf. — *Full copyright © 2016 Tom Gauld.*

Scottish Serendipity

Back in 2009 my wife, then girlfriend, Nic, turned 20 (she won’t mind me pointing out her age!) while we were on holiday with my family in the Italian town of Barga. As my gift to her, I booked us into the beautiful local B&B Casa Fontana. The owners, Ron and Sue, were so welcoming, and as is often the case in Barga (which is known as ‘the most Scottish town in Italy’ due to the huge number of Scots-Italians living there) we discovered they were Scottish too. As we got chatting over a drink looking out at their idyllic garden, I explained about my work and the art I create. I almost fell off my chair when they said that their son was an artist too…and asked if I’d ever heard of Tom Gauld?! I, of course, then had verbal diarrhoea about how much I love his work and asked them to let him know…!

The image shows the beautiful yellow painted building 'Casa Fontana', with nine windows framed with green shutters, a large brown front door with a semi circular window above flagged by two tall windows. Three people walk up the road in front of it. — *Casa Fontana, Barga. Image copyright © Graeme A Clark.*

Books

In 2013 I bought Tom’s comic compendium ‘You’re All Just Jealous of my Jetpack’ and read it from cover to cover several times. Unfortunately, when we got Pip as an eight-week-old puppy not long after, she decided she loved the book too, and took a chunk out of the top of the spine...!

The image shows the book 'You're all just jealous of my Jetpack' lying on a white marbled surface. The cover is red with an illustrated astronaut with a jetpack. brown spine. The top left edge of the spine has been chewed away by my dog! — *Full copyright © 2013 Tom Gauld.*

Luckily, Pip grew out of her spine chewing phase and I’ve added another four books since that have stayed in their intended condition! If you look at the listings of my Mug designs on Etsy, you’ll see Tom’s graphic novel ‘Goliath’ is part of the book plinth created for the mugs to sit on!

The image shows a mint green mug with a digitally illustrated Cairn Terrier in the center, sitting on top of a pile of 3 books. The top is orange, the middle is deep blue, the bottom is white and called 'Goliath' in red bold font on the spine. — *Cairn TEARRIER Mug. Image copyright © Graeme A Clark.*

Just last month, I picked up Tom’s new compendium of cartoons from The Guardian, ‘Revenge of the Librarians’. I’d really recommend everyone to get a copy of this book, or any of his publications. Tom’s work is really funny, whilst remaining intellectual at its core. I often chuckle away a comic strip of his, then google the subject to learn a bit more about it.

Spotlight

Tom’s talent and success comes from not only his clearly highly skilled artistry, but his unique brand of witty, cutting, and observant humour that runs throughout all of his work. Often his comic strip pieces take aim at a group (think writers, librarians, or us – the reader!) but with a humorous tone that emphasises the shrewdness of the observation as opposed to forming what feels like a critique or attack. His novels contain imaginative, atmospheric, and witty stories, where often what is left unsaid or conveyed in the more simplistic pages adds just as much to the narrative as the dialogue-full and detailed illustrated pages.

Where can you find Tom?

Check out Tom’s work on his website and social pages, and you can thank me later 😊

Website: tomgauld.com
Instagram: @tomgauld
Twitter: @tomgauld