Thursday

Police Training School – The Early Version

Now we’re going back! This is an earlier version of my Police Training School cartoon, drawn many years before the version I reworked and posted on the blog in 2016. 

It’s always interesting to look back and see how ideas evolve – sometimes the humour is the same, but the drawing style, character design or pacing changes quite a bit over time.

Early version of Police Training School cartoon by Nigel Sutherland

This earlier drawing was published in Revue newspaper on 11th April 1981, back when much of my cartoon work was still produced in pen and ink. 

The humour revolves around police recruits and the slightly absurd world of training exercises – even then, I enjoyed playing with the idea of authority meeting everyday human fallibility.

When I revisited the cartoon in the 2016 version, I kept the same comic idea but refined the visual style – a reminder of how both the humour and the artwork can evolve over time while keeping the same core idea intact.

Cards and Gifts for Police Officers >>

It’s satisfying to compare the two versions side by side. The early one has a loose, spontaneous energy that often comes with deadline newspaper work, while the later version benefits from a more polished composition and digital finish. 

Between them, they tell their own story of how a cartoonist’s approach can change over the years.

You might also enjoy “Firework Display” or my digital-age favourite, “Spider’s Website”.


Law & Order cartoons by Nigel Sutherland

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