Simon Drew (born 9 October 1952) is an English illustrator and cartoonist, noted for his quirky punning captions, often featuring animals, which he draws in a fine pen-and-ink style.

Biography

Drew was born in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 9 October 1952, and was educated at Bradfield College,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. Drew read Zoology at

Exeter University The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...

, and trained as a teacher at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

before teaching for five years in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. In 1981, he established his own gallery in

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the England, English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies w ...

, for the sale of illustrations, paintings and the work of studio potters which, since 1985, has been short-listed by the British Crafts Council for its high standards. His first book, ''A Book of Bestial Nonsense'', appeared in 1986. He has regularly produced work for

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

, including posters and stage designs, one of such pieces displayed a vanishing countryside. On 12 August 2011, Drew appeared in an episode of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's '' Come Dine with Me'', during which he won joint first place with two of the three other contestants on the show.

Politics

Drew stood as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate for

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

in the 2010 general election. His platform was mostly satirical, in reaction to the expenses scandal. He polled 390 votes, coming second to last of eight candidates.

Books

Drew's publications include: *''A Book of Bestial Nonsense'' (1986) *''Nonsense in Flight'' (1987) *''Still Warthogs Run Deep'' (1988) *''The Puffin's Advice'' (1989) *''Cat with Piano Tuna'' (1990) *''Camp David: Nonsense in Art'' (1992) *''Beastly Address Book for Beastly Friends'' (1993) *''Handel's Warthog Music: Nonsense in Music'' (1993) *''A Pig's Ear'' (1994) *''A Beastly Birthday Book'' (1995) *''Great Mistakes of Civilisation'' (1996) *''Bird Dropping'' (1996) *''Dogsbodies'' (1997) *''The Duck Stops Here'' (1998) *''The Very Worst of Simon Drew'' (1999) *''Illustrations for The New Book of Exeter Riddles'' ( Lawrence Sail and

Kevin Crossley-Holland Kevin John William Crossley-Holland (born 7 February 1941) is an English translator, children's author and poet. His best known work is probably the #Arthur trilogy, Arthur trilogy (2000–2003), for which he won the Guardian Children's Fiction ...

(1999) *''Spot the Book Title'' (2000) *''Pie Aaaaaarrgh Squared'' (2001) *''Book of Maritime Nonsense'' (2002) *''Spot the Author'' (2003) *''Quotations of Oscar Wilde'' (2004) *''And So I Face the Vinyl Curtain'' (2005) *''New Simon Drew Address Book'' (2006) *''Book of Pointless Verses'' (2006) *''Shepherd Spy: A Tale of Violence And Intrigue And Terrorist Sheep'' (2007) *''The Plot Thickens'' (2008) *''Ludicrous Limericks'' (2009) *''A is for Aardvark'' (2010) *''Gin'll Fix It'' (2011) *''A Birthday Book'' (2012) *''Golf: Fairway Fables'' (2013) *''The Wisdom of Wine'' (2014) *''Fowl, Fleas and Fancy Fauna'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drew, Simon 1952 births Living people Alumni of the University of Exeter Alumni of the University of Reading Artists from Reading, Berkshire English cartoonists English illustrators People educated at Bradfield College