Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman (born Wallasey, May 15, 1936) is a British cartoonist and caricaturist.

Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, and brought up in Towyn, North Wales, Steadman attended Ysgol Emrys Ap Iwan (high school), Abergele, East Ham Technical College and the London College of Printing and Graphic Arts during the 1960s, doing freelance work for "Punch", "Private Eye", the "Daily Telegraph," "The New York Times" and "Rolling Stone" during this time.

Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures and cartoons and also for illustrating a number of picture books. Awards that he has won for his work include the Francis Williams Book Illustration Award for "Alice in Wonderland", the American Society of Illustrators' Certificate of Merit, the W H Smith Illustration Award for "I Leonardo", the Dutch Silver Paintbrush Award for "Inspector Mouse", the Italian Critica in Erba Prize for "That's My Dad", the BBC Design Award for postage stamps, the Black Humour Award in France, and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards. He was voted Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1979.

Steadman had a long partnership with the American journalist Hunter S. Thompson, drawing pictures for several of his articles and books. He accompanied Thompson to the Kentucky Derby for an article for the magazine "Scanlan's", to the Honolulu Marathon for the magazine "Running", and illustrated both "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72." Much of Steadman's artwork revolves around Raoul Duke-style caricatures of Thompson: bucket hats, cigarette holder and aviator sunglasses.

Steadman appears on the second disc of the Criterion Collection "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" DVD set, in a documentary called "Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision", which was made by the BBC in 1978, of Thompson planning the tower and cannon that his ashes were later blasted out of. The cannon was atop a 153-ft. tower of Thompson's fist gripping a peyote button; Thompson demands that Steadman gives the fist two thumbs, "Right now."

As well as writing and illustrating his own books and Thompson's, Steadman has worked with writers including Ted Hughes and Brian Patten, and also illustrated editions of "Alice In Wonderland", "Treasure Island", "Animal Farm" and most recently, "Fahrenheit 451".

Among the British public, Steadman is well known for his illustrations for the catalogues of the off-licence chain Oddbins. He also designed the labels for Flying Dog beer and Cardinal 'Spiced' Zin', which was banned in Ohio for Steadman's "disturbing" interpretation of a Catholic cardinal on its label.

Steadman also illustrates Will Self's column in The Independent newspaper. Johnny Depp's anthology of songs, "" (2006) surprisingly contains two contributions from Steadman. He sings lead on "Little Boy Billee", and sings backing vocals on Eliza Carthy's song "Rolling Sea". Depp played Raoul Duke in the film adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".

Steadman currently lives with his wife in Kent, England.

Partial bibliography

* "The Little Red Computer" (1968)
* "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" (1970) (written by Hunter S. Thompson)
* "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1971) (written by Hunter S. Thompson)
* "Two Donkeys and a Bridge" (1972)
* "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972" (1973) (written by Hunter S. Thompson)
* "America" (1974)
* "Emergency Mouse" (1978) (written by Bernard Stone)
* "The Curse of Lono" (1983) (written by Hunter S. Thompson)
* "Inspector Mouse" (1980) (written by Bernard Stone)
* "I Leonardo" (1983)
* "No Good Dogs" (1983)
* "Quasimodo Mouse" (1984) (written by Bernard Stone)
* "Treasure Island" (1985) (written by Robert Louis Stevenson)
* "That's My Dad" (1986)
* "The Complete Alice" (1986) ("Through the Looking Glass" and "The Hunting of the Snark", written by Lewis Carroll)
* "The Big I Am" (1988)
* "No Room to Swing a Cat" (1989)
* "Near the Bone" (1990)
* "Tales of the Weirrd" [sic] (1990)
* "The Grapes of Ralph: Wine according to Ralph Steadman" (1992)
* "Still Life with Bottle: Whisky according to Ralph Steadman" (1994)
* "Teddy! Where Are You?" (1995)
* "Animal Farm" (1995) (written by George Orwell)
* "Gonzo: The Art of Ralph Steadman" (1998)
* "The Devil's Dictionary" (2004) (written by Ambrose Bierce)
* The Joke's Over (Book) (2006)
* "Psychogeography" (2007) (written by Will Self)

Gallery

Below are a number of illustrations by Steadman.

External links

* [http://www.ralphsteadman.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.kent.ac.uk/cartoons British Cartoon Archive has a database with over 100 cartoons by Ralph Steadman]
* [http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=1219&typeID=121 Article on Steadman's Oddbins catalogues]
* [http://www.gonzo.org/hst/ralph/whiskey/whiskey.asp?ID=4 Oddbins Steadman cover]
* [http://www.gonzo.org/hst/ralph/whiskey/whiskey.asp?ID=6 Another Oddbins Steadman cover from an unofficial Hunter S. Thompson website]
* [http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dingonet/Steadman.htm Illustration of Orwell]
* [http://www.ralphsteadman.com/01facts.asp Steadman t-shirts]
* [http://www.spikemagazine.com/0905-ralph-steadman-hunter-thompson.php Spike magazine interview]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1358516/ Internet Movie Database entry]
* [http://www.ohjohnny.net/newsmarch05.html News from Johnny Depp fan site]
* [http://www.flyingdogales.com/gonzo-ralph.asp Flying Dog Connection and Bio]
* [http://newhumanist.org.uk/736 Interview with Ralph Steadman by Laurie Taylor in New Humanist magazine]