Gray Jolliffe — Humorous Cartoonist, Wicked Willie

Cartoonist Gray Joliffe is known for his witty Wicked Willie series, as well as Chloe & Co, which appears in The Daily Mail. Born in the UK and raised in the US and the Bahamas, Gray returned to England to study architecture and then worked in advertising for many years. He began as a copywriter and graduated to creative director. Picking up a pen, and combining his doodles with a natural talent for wordplay, his illustration career was launched. As well as cartoons, he has created various pieces of art from canvases to shoes to items made out of wood. He’s also an aircraft nerd who loves doing a bit of DIY and listening to old rock and jazz.

Training

Gray’s drawing skills are self-taught, and he’s been doodling for over 50 years.

Approach

Back in the day, Gray would work with felt tips on layout pads, using Magic Markers when colour was required. The trouble, he found, was that the inks would fade after a few years. Today he draws his cartoon first, then scans it in, making edits and adjustments to the image and colouring it in Photoshop with the magic wand and the paint bucket tools. As well as client work, he also produces prints for sale which are output on matte art paper.

Key Software

Photoshop

Style

Wiggly lines, big noses, big round eyes and no ears are some of the key things you’ll notice in Gray’s style of cartooning. He has a keen ability to express emotions through facial expressions and although he doesn’t always use direct speech bubbles, there’s never any ambiguity about who is doing the talking.