Simon Drew (born 9 October 1952) is an English illustrator and cartoonist, noted for his quirky punning captions, often featuring animals, which he draws in a fine pen-and-ink style.

Biography

He was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

on 9 October 1952, and was educated at

Bradfield College Bradfield College, formally St Andrew's College, Bradfield, is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 11–18, located in the small village of Bradfield in the English county of Berkshire. It is note ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Drew read Zoology at

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

, and trained as a teacher at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, before teaching for five years in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

. In 1981, he established his own gallery in

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

for the sale of illustrations, paintings and the work of studio potters which, since 1985, has been short-listed by the British

Crafts Council The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary craft in the United Kingdom, and is funded by Arts Council England. History The Crafts Advisory Committee was formed in 1971 to advise the Minister for the Arts, David Eccles ...

for its high standards. His first book, ''A Book of Bestial Nonsense'', appeared in 1986. He has regularly produced work for

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

, including posters and stage designs, one of such pieces displayed a vanishing countryside. On 12 August 2011, Drew appeared in an episode of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's '' Come Dine with Me'', during which he won joint first place with two of the three other contestants on the show.

Politics

Drew stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate for

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

in the 2010 general election. His platform was mostly satirical, in reaction to the expenses scandal. He polled 390 votes, coming second to last of eight candidates.

Books

Drew's publications include: *A Book of Bestial Nonsense (1986) *Nonsense in Flight (1987) *Still Warthogs Run Deep (1988) *The Puffin's Advice (1989) *Cat with Piano Tuna (1990) *Camp David: Nonsense in Art (1992) *Beastly Address Book for Beastly Friends (1993) *Handel's Warthog Music: Nonsense in Music (1993) *A Pig's Ear (1994) *A Beastly Birthday Book (1995) *Great Mistakes of Civilisation (1996) *Bird Dropping (1996) *Dogsbodies (1997) *The Duck Stops Here (1998) *The Very Worst of Simon Drew (1999) *Illustrations for The New Book of Exeter Riddles (

Lawrence Sail Lawrence Sail (born 29 October 1942) is a contemporary British poet and writer. Biography Sail was born in London and brought up in Exeter. He studied French and German at Oxford University and subsequently taught for some years in Kenya, before ...

and

Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 7 February 1941) is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Prize and other recognition. Cros ...

(1999) *Spot the Book Title (2000) *Pie Aaaaaarrgh Squared (2001) *Book of Maritime Nonsense (2002) *Spot the Author (2003) * Quotations of Oscar Wilde (2004) *And So I Face the Vinyl Curtain (2005) * New Simon Drew Address Book (2006) * Book of Pointless Verses (2006) *Shepherd Spy: A Tale of Violence And Intrigue And Terrorist Sheep (2007) *The Plot Thickens (2008) * Ludicrous Limericks (2009) * A is for Aardvark (2010) * Gin'll Fix It (2011) * A Birthday Book (2012) *Golf: Fairway Fables (2013) *The Wisdom of Wine (2014) * Fowl, Fleas and Fancy Fauna (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drew, Simon 1952 births Living people Alumni of the University of Exeter Alumni of the University of Reading Artists from Reading, Berkshire English cartoonists English illustrators People educated at Bradfield College