Cartoonist / Illustrator / Artist
Professional
Channels and Networks
Peter D Brookes, CBE is a cartoonist who has produced work for numerous publications, including Radio Times, New Society, New Statesman, The Spectator, and, most notably, The Times, for which he has been the leader-page cartoonist since 1992.
In the mid-1970s, he replaced Chris Achilleos as regular jacket illustrator for Doctor Who novelisations from Target Books (he completed only four covers). He was also a cartoonist for the Radio Times, taking over the main back-page cartoon from Marc Boxer in 1979.
He had a short stint as a political cartoonist for the New Statesman, before returning to academia and lecturing at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Art. For a time, he worked as cover artist for The Spectator but, in 1992, he moved to The Times, as its leader-page cartoonist, at the invitation of its newly appointed editor, Peter Stothard.
Brookes starts his working day by listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 and reading the newspapers. He uses T. H. Saunders paper, on which he draws with Pelikan black ink and a dip pen, equipped with Gillott nibs, as well as watercolour and gouache.
There are three stages to the way I draw cartoons: first they are rendered loosely in soft pencil, then I overlay that with pen and Indian ink, and finally I add tone and colour with watercolour.
2016 was a fantastic year for me material-wise. It’s a bit ironic, but the grimmer things are in the world, the happier I am professionally.
Among his many awards, he has won the British Press Awards Cartoonist of the Year eight times, most recently in 2017.
In 2017, he was appointed CBE for services to the media.
I hesitated before deciding to accept the honour, but it does illustrate the importance of free speech.
I am glad to live in a country that recognises cartoonists in this particular way. There will be those who wonder whether Theresa May and others can justifiably say ‘we have got him now’. My feeling is very much that they haven’t. I am not going to stop hitting hard.
I link the award to my age. I think of it as a nice marker in the winter of my days. Having said that, I’m as keen as ever to come into the office on a daily basis. I’m as motivated and as interested as ever.
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