Thursday 5 May 2011

The Far Side...


NOT CHARLTON RELATED. If you're a Charlton fan, you can certainly do with a laugh every now and again, so the other day I thumbed through a hefty volume of my favourite cartoonist's work. Gary Larson, a man known for his surreal and often twisted sense of humour, created a unique view on the world that was either loved or totally hated. Where the latter was concerned, his work often provoked strong outrage, particularly from animal lovers fed up of the bizarre situations he would depict animals in.

Larson never created side-splitting humour or even pictures that would make you laugh out loud (at least to me he didn't). His was a subtle, clever art form that more often than not made you actually question what you should be laughing at. Take the image above, which is my all-time favourite Larson cartoon. Is the punch line alone enough of a 'gag' or the very fact that two cows are sitting quite happily on a sofa in their own front room (I assume it's their front room)? Or perhaps it's the fact that they appear unable to work the phone but seem to be enjoying the luxury of watching a T.V. I love it, but then it suits my habit of thinking far to deeply about things!

But that's the point to Larson's work...it made you think on so many levels.

Larson retired some years back and I often think of how any artist (of such talent) has the discipline to put down his pencil and say he's not going to draw again. In Larson's case, his art was still in big demand from his loyal followers (of which I was one). I consider myself to be fortunate in having a talent to draw cartoons. Unfortunately, the ability to draw is one thing but I'd give anything to have as little as 10% of the imagination of an artist like Larson. Sadly, my pencil has long since been retired as I can't think of what to draw!

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