Steve Bonello has been creating sharp, satirical cartoons for The Sunday Times of Malta for these past 25 years. Paul Grech tries to find out what drives the artist.
“I don’t really know.”
The creative process is an extremely personal, complex endeavour and Steve Bonello is hardly the first artist to find it difficult to explain how he works. Still, his hesitation comes as something of a surprise. After all this is a man who has produced a cartoon for The Sunday Times every week for 25 years – not to mention a whole host of drawings. So, if there is someone who should have an established and documented working system, it is him.
As it turns out, this is in fact the case and all that was needed was a few moments of reflection. Indeed, far from being a capricious artist of myth, he is actually quite regimented in his approach.
“I use ‘to do’ Lists quite a bit,” he admits. “In fact, if I don’t take an item off my list after five days I start to panic somewhat.”
The process, however, involves more than that. Essentially he lets the canvas talk to him. “When I’m working, I’m lost in a world of my own. Sometimes, however, after working for 10 days on a project, I then have no idea what to do next. That, for me, is torture. Then I spend a couple of days sketching repeatedly, trying different ideas until something starts to emerge.”
Steve’s drawings are unique, both in style and execution. He freely admits that “I don’t really focus on the backgrounds. I know that I could produce and sell many drawings if I included more Maltese scenery in the background. But, to be honest, I can’t be bothered.” Instead, his focus is on the characters where he exaggerates commonplace habits and Maltese peculiarities.
It could also be argued that Steve doesn’t draw in the traditional sense. Instead, his style is closer to that of graphic novel artists who colour the panels. Where Steve is unique is in the way he does this; by painstakingly filling in the blank spaces with coloured lines. Shadows and movement are hinted at by drawing lines closer to each other.
Turns out that his is an extremely effective (if, by his admission, an occasionally tedious one) approach that results in extremely vibrant illustrations.
Still, his free use of colour does not signify that his subjects are necessarily happy ones. “It is my sketching that decides. Will it be something light or dark? Sometimes I am playful in my drawing because I feel playful.
It was the first time that I noticed that cartoons weren’t just some simple drawings, but that you could make a statement through them. It was my introduction to the idea that cartoons can be more than a simple gag; that they can be bigger than that
But I have to admit that I do like the dark side. I also like a bit of storytelling. A lot of my work is storytelling; it tells a tale.”
All of this is a big departure from his first attempts that largely involved drawing inanimate objects. “In secondary school I was fixated with building cathedrals. I used to draw churches and architectural drawings,” he says of those early attempts that were so similar to blueprints that “my teacher wanted me to become an architect”.
Experiment, rather than study, was his main mode of instruction. “I used to attend the School of Arts but that was largely because there was a group of people with whom I got on really well. We organised an exhibition in 1984, so by that time I must have felt confident enough to take part in an exhibition. Looking back, I think that I was a bit presumptuous.”
That year turned out to be a pivotal one for Steve. “I was in London walking along the Southbank. I could see that on the other side of the Thames there was some kind of celebration going on so I crossed to see what was going on.”
Serkin“There I came across a fantastic exhibition. I saw the work of Ralph Steadman – whom I had never heard of before – and it was something incredible.”
To say that Steadman, a British artist who was a favourite of Hunter S Thompson and provided a great the illustrations that went along with the great American writer’s work, had a deep impact on Steve
is something of an understatement.
“It was the first time that I noticed that cartoons weren’t just some simple drawings, but that you could make a statement through them. It was my introduction to the idea that cartoons can be more than a simple gag; that they can be bigger than that. To do this kind of work…” his voice tails off as he tries to convey the magnitude of Steadman’s work.
“He was a huge influence on me,” he says, eventually.
Rather than in the actual style of drawing, that influence is more visible in Steve’s social commentary, particularly that which comes through in his cartooning.
“The biggest advantage that cartoons have is, that while it may take 15 minutes to read an article you can get the message of a cartoon immediately. Obviously this creates its own challenges because in those 30 seconds you have to put your message across.”
“People either get it or it falls flat on its face!”
The biggest advantage that cartoons have is, that while it may take 15 minutes to read an article you can get the message of a cartoon immediately
The other big challenge of a cartoonist who, like him, has a regular column is the need to come up with ideas every week. “The ideas…I don’t know where they come from. I always say that the cartoon is there; a cartoon exists about any situation. You have to pick it up. Sometimes ideas come out of the blue.”
“Sometimes I have an idea for a cartoon that I leave simmering before I start working on it. Thankfully, I’m not under pressure over what I work on. I wouldn’t like it otherwise. Freedom to fire in all directions is nice.” Not least,
because this freedom allows him to do the kind work that he loves.
“I see myself as an observer. I don’t condemn or judge. I simply observe. It isn’t a case of being afraid but, rather, one where I don’t feel that I’m in a position to judge. I try to leave everyone feel free to make their own judgements.”
This article first appeared in last Sunday's edition of The Circle magazine.