Bohemia Village Voice

Illustrator Stewart Buchan at home.

Local illustrator Stewart Buchan was interviewed this week, at his pleasant home, in Amherst Road, situated on the edge of Bohemia, overlooking Newgate Woods.
   As a schoolboy he was a keen draughtsman. He did O and A level art and a year at Oxford on a pre-diploma course. Then  on to Cambridge for a three year graphics course (“So I have a problem on boat race day.”) His art teacher at school said “Forget fine art – take a look at any magazine and see how much drawn material is included in them. You’ll always be able to earn a living as a graphic artist.”
  On leaving Cambridge he was ‘lucky’ (his word) to get employment with the Ford Motor Company and with the TV Times, and several women’s magazines. “I can turn my hand to almost anything in the graphic art field,” he said. “Just about the only thing I can’t do, is highly technical drawings of cut-away motor engines and the like.” What he does do, and does well, are cartoons and caricatures. Shown here are two he did for the TV Times, one of Eric Sykes, and one of Spike Milligan. Does he draw the sort of cartoons which appear in our daily papers? “No, I don’t do ‘captioned cartoons’ as they’re called, although I was commissioned to do a series of 13 cartoons for Punch – before it folded. Only three of the 13 were actually used, but I got paid for all thirteen.” 
  How does he get his work? “It all comes direct from publishers who have seen my style of drawings.” And how do the publishers get to know about him in the first place? “There is a trade publication called  Illustrators Contact, which is sent out to all the major publishing houses. I pay for a sample of my work to be included – it’s expensive, but worth it, as it brings in most of my commissions.”
  How much does he earn from one drawing? “Obviously it varies, but a small cartoon, such as the one of Groucho Marx, (see page 2) which was done for Harpers Magazine, I was paid £150. The Spike Milligan drawing was done for the TV Times, as part of a sixty drawing commission. They did an article on a different personality each week for sixty weeks.”
  How does he create each caricature? “I look at a number of photographs and create a sort of composite image – it usually takes me about three-quarters of a day to produce one drawing.” The Eric Sykes drawing was done for the same series.
  What music does Stewart like? “I like old fashioned, pre-war country music, such as the Carter Family and Bill Monroe. In the classical world, I like composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini and Vivaldi.”
  For recreation, Stewart plays the five-stringed banjo. “I used to play on stage – back in the ‘70s. I also love walking, I like to go for a ‘good stretch’, about four or five miles, especially when I’m on holiday. I also like to indulge in my passion for history wherever I am on holiday, visiting old castles and other places. I’m not at all interested in any kind of sport, but I do like chess, in fact, I played last night.” Is he a hot player? “I reckon I’m a ‘decent amateur’. I love the mental challenge, trying to outguess what my opponent will do. If I lose, I feel I could kick myself for making a silly mistake.”
  What about reading, telly and films? “I don’t buy newspapers any more, ever since The Times went tabloid, although I do buy the Saturday edition, just to test myself on the jumbo cryptic crossword – which I sometimes finish. As for television, I’m not a great fan. I was well into my twenties before there was a TV set in the house. I really don’t like the ‘reality’ shows. I like films, but only on BBC – the ads drive me potty, so I won’t watch them on commercial TV. I occasionally go to the cinema, but I’m definitely swayed by what the critics have to say. The last film I went to see was Shakespeare in Love.”
  What about books? “I’ve got a couple of thousand books, on all sorts of subjects, especially history, biography, art and reference books. I love reference books and will update them as necessary, for example I’ve just bought a new Chambers Dictionary, as I’d had my ‘old’ for over 8 years. I’ve got the complete works of Dickens and have read about a dozen of them.”
  Politics? “I’m not a flag waver for any political party. I always vote at all the local and general elections, but I only vote according to the issues, never just for a party. I’m a genuine floating voter.”
  Stewart used to live in Salisbury Road but now lives in Amherst Road, and is married to Anne. They have one daughter, Penny, who has a daughter of her own, Katy.
“ Stewart Buchan, 77, Amherst Rd,  TN34 1TX. 01424 435 922.

Eric Sykes - by Stewart Buchan.

Spike Milligan by Stewart Buchan.

Groucho Marx by Stewart Buchan.