Ern Shaw and Sport

The following is a quote from Ern Shaw’s book on how to become a sporting cartoonist:

“Sport offers a wonderful opportunity to the cartoonist, but to be successful, a highly developed sense of observation, ability and imagination are essential. No artist can hope to make a success of sports cartooning until he has learned to draw the human figure in action."

"I began by visiting a billiards hall and watching the players in their various poses. This being a slower game than, say football or boxing; I had the time to register a pose and make quick notes in my sketch book.
Once you have become proficient in drawing the human figure in action and posses, and the ability to make recognizable caricatures of sporting personalities, you will at least have laid the foundation to become a sports cartoonist.

The camera can record incidents, like the shooting of a goal or a brilliant save but the cartoonist can observe such incidents from the press box or stand, and perhaps give them a more humorous “twist” and produce a pictorial version which would prove very entertaining to newspaper readers.”