Not only St. Trinians...

I wouldn’t call Ronald Searle an early inspiration of mine exactly, but as I was growing up he was always there making me smile and titillating me on a Saturday afternoon at the flicks.

Well not him exactly, but one of his creations transferred onto celluloid.

Of course it wasn’t all St. Trinians. There was much more to Mr. Searle than that. But it wasn’t until years later that I recognised the incredible clarity and thoughtfulness in the way he swirled and scratched his ink on paper.

Cartoons?
Perhaps.
Draughtsmanship?
Clearly.
Detail?
Yes - and the Devil’s in it.

Apparently he felt the same, feeling that his body of work was far more than St. Trinians, a lot more. And of course he was right. But for most he will always be the man who drew those black and white drawings of scruffy little girls in straw-hatted uniforms and eagle nosed spinster teachers.

And he did it brilliantly.

I’d settle for that.