About Me
Chris Wannell (aka X1L)
My name is Chris Wannell and I have several interests, but the one that is relevant here is drawing and cartooning. I started drawing a about six months ago using books borrowed from the library and have been reading up on cartooning techniques. I have now just started a correspondence cartooning diploma course with the London Art College.
I have been trying to work out what started my interest in cartooning and have come to the following conclusion. Throughout my childhood I had a great interest in comedies and collected tapes of “Tony Hancock”, “The Goons”, “Not The Nine O’Clock News” and many others, even now I avidly collect CDs of “I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue”, “Old Harry’s Game” and many others.
I always fancied the idea of being a stand up comic, standing in front of an audience and basking in their adoration as they hang on my every word dazzling at my rapier wit. Being realistic though, I realise that I would suffer from stage fright and would freeze as soon as the spotlight hit me.
Coupled with that, I have accute depression and problems vocalising my thoughts and hence am a slow speaker and get stuck getting some of the words out, so because of this I think a career as a comic is out of the question. Cartooning though is a perfect medium for a shy comic, as I don’t have to face an audience, and I don’t have to be a fast speaker and have plenty of time to look up any words that are causing me trouble.
I started off doing caricatures of famous people from magazines but have moved onto single panel cartoons which I started using a cartooning dip pen and black drawing ink but have moved on to drawing directly to the PC using a Bamboo Fun Graphics Tablet and Artrage 2 as a drawing programme so I’d be interested in receiving any comments on these, Hope you enjoy my work.
You can contact me at chriswannell@toonstopia.com, I am also on Facebook and you can follow my thoughts, some of which lead to cartoons on Twitter, see the above box and please follow me using the link on the right hand side, and for a bit more detail, check out my blog. See my cartoons here.
All the best
Chris Wannell (aka X1L)