Patrick Blower (born 10 January 1959) is a British editorial cartoonist and painter whose work appears predominantly in the

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

where he is the current chief political cartoonist. In 2023 he won the Political Cartoon Society’s Award for Political Cartoonist of the Year. He uses Blower mononymously when signing his cartoons for publication.

Biography

Early life and education

Patrick Blower was born in Brussels to an English architect father,

Michael Blower Michael Blower MBE AAdipl FRIBA FRSA (born 1929) is a notable British architect, activist for the preservation and restoration of England's cultural heritage and accomplished watercolourist and recorder of England's townscapes. Most of his buil ...

and a Belgian mother, Bernadette (nee Muûls) who met whilst both were working at Brussels World's Fair in 1958. He is the eldest of six children and was educated at

Farnham Grammar School Farnham Grammar School is now called Farnham College which is located in Farnham, Surrey, southern England. History The grammar school was created at some time before 1585 (the date of a donation being made by a Richard Searle "to the maintenan ...

and University College London where he read English Literature. In 2008 he gained an MA in Art & Space at Kingston University. He is a fluent French speaker.

Cartoons and illustration

Soon after university, he took a one-way ticket to California and worked his way to New York where he lived for 18 months. He supported himself with labouring jobs whilst painting and cartooning in his spare time. His first published commission appeared in the

East Village Eye The ''East Village Eye'' was a cultural magazine, published by editor-in-chief Leonard Abrams, in circulation from May, 1979 until January, 1987. Based in the East Village section of New York City, the publication covered a range of locally focus ...

. He returned to Britain and began freelancing as an illustrator after joining the government's

Enterprise Allowance Scheme The Enterprise Allowance Scheme was an initiative set up by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative UK government which gave a guaranteed income of £40 per week to unemployed people who set up their own business. It was first announced on 13 November ...

. His work has appeared in most British newspapers and magazines including The Times,

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

, Mail on Sunday, The Guardian,

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

and The Spectator. Blower succeeded

JAK Jak may refer to: Places * Ják, a village in Hungary People * Jak Alnwick (born 1993), English football goalkeeper * Jak Jones (born 1993), Welsh professional snooker player * Raymond Jackson ("JAK") (1927–1997), UK cartoonist * Jak Airport ( ...

as the Evening Standard editorial cartoonist in 1997, remaining there until 2003. Shortly afterwards, he conceived a time-lapse animation technique named Livedraw and went on to produce regular animated cartoons for BBC Newsnight and the BBC 10 O'Clock News in addition to drawing weekly animated political cartoons for The Guardian from 2009-2011. He was filmed by the BBC in 2019 as he drew and talked about the process of conceiving a cartoon to a tight deadline. He co-produced the animation How Pandemics Spread for the launch of TED Ed and also created the drawings for an animation which was at the centre of an award-winning exhibition commemorating the centenary of The Spanish Flu for the Florence Nightingale Museum. In 2017, he became a regular contributor to the

and succeeded as chief political cartoonist in 2021. In 2021 he won the Political Cartoon Society’s Strube Spoon for runner-up political cartoonist of the year. and in 2023, the Award for Political Cartoonist of the Year.

Painting

His work has been selected for exhibitions at the

Mall Galleries Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India * M ...

including the Threadneedle Prize exhibition and The Lynn Painter-Stainers show. His work was also selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2021 and 2022.

Personal life

Blower is widowed with three adult children and lives in London.

References

Bibliography

* ''Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Cartoonists and Caricaturists'', by Mark Bryant (2000) (Ashgate, Aldershot) ISBN 1-84014-286-3 * ''The Cartoon Century'', by Timothy S Benson (2000) (Random House) ISBN 978-1905211593 * ''Britain’s best political cartoons'', by Tim Benson (2021) (Random House) ISBN 978-1473596535 * ''Britain’s best ever political cartoons'', by Tim Benson (2021) (John Murray Press) ISBN 978-1529334395 * ''Cartoons from the Daily Telegraph Best of Blower 2017-21'', (2021) (Signature)

External links

*Biography of Blower from the British Cartoon Archive, University of Ken

*An archive of material is available at www.patrickblower.co

*A further archive of material is available at www.blowercartoons.co

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blower, Patrick British editorial cartoonists Living people People from Farnham 1959 births Alumni of University College London