Profile

I am Kevin Becken, living in Leicestershire. I draw detailed and personalised caricatures, cartoons, book illustrations, portraits. I use pencil, pen and watercolour.

I started drawing as soon as I could pick up a pencil. I won prizes from pre-school days, and throughout school I was always doodling. I once had my "Superguy" cartoons confiscated by the English teacher, and was reprimanded the instant she stopped giggling. I always did like Miss Westfold. Art and maths were my favourite school subjects. At 16 I was lucky enough to be invited to a special art class when the teacher did a courageous thing (in those days in a London Comprehensive) of hiring a stunning model to pose nude. I always did like Mr Fowler.

Art continued as a hobby as I developed a career in digital cartography (I was one of the pioneers in this digital revolution) and geographic information systems - a field that combines science, mathematics and visual media, and demands an eye for detail.

Drawing remained a hobby, but still life never held the same fascination as cartoons; it was rarely as funny or imaginative.

Since I retired in 2010, I have devoted more time to caricature and other illustrations, for books in particular.

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