© Matt Buck Hack Cartoons

One of the more active ’workers’ of the 8 foot by 6 foot Big Boards at this year’s Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival was Kate Charlesworth. She delivered some properly dynamic drawing. (And yes, that is just an excuse for the crazy construction lines left in the speedy pencil sketching I was doing while she worked).

© Matt Buck Hack Cartoons

My successor as Editor of the UK Procartoonists blog, Royston Robertson, deployed his very best concentration face as he nailed five jokes about HMV’s Nipper the Dog – appropriate to the festival theme of music.

© Matthew Buck Hack Cartoons

Dave Brown of The Independent delivered a great painting of the ‘Bum Note’ featuring Alex Salmond and David Cameron as well as delivering his traditional cartoonist as rock star stance. (He’s a drummer in his other life.)

© Matt Buck Hack Cartoons

I was rather meaner to the excellent caricaturist Jonathan Cusick who was deep in concentration as he caricatured the local MP, Daniel Kawczynski. This was a really interesting job for me and the intensity of Jonathan’s concentration as he looked reflected itself in the amount of lead I gave to my efforts.

Quite suitably, I was then properly shown up by the kind gift of a drawing made of me. It went to demonstrate some wisdom, it’s not what you put in, it’s what you leave out.

© Kasia Kowalska

My dubious hat tipped to Kasia Kowalska and everyone who contributed to the traditionally excellent event.