Young Cartoonists of the Year Award

For all our students under 30 - it's time to enter the Young Cartoonists of the Year award.

The Young Cartoonists of the Year competition is in its 23rd year and attracts thousands of entries, giving budding cartoonists the chance to have their work judged by the best in the business.

Run by the British Cartoonists' Association, in association with London's Cartoon Museum, entries are now open for this year's competition.

Original entries should be submitted on paper by traditional mail to The Cartoon Museum, 63 Wells St, London W1A 3AE.

Animation and cartooning aren't quite the same thing, of course. But they are definitely cousins and, as an animator who has been dabbling in cartoons for many years, I can heartily recommend both.

The closing date for submissions is 15th March.

Queen's Counsel Wins CAT Award

Last night my cartoon strip Queen's Counsel was awarded "The Cartoon Art Trust Award for Strip Cartooning" at the annual CAT Awards - which are sort of like the Oscars for cartooning. The Cartoon Art Trust supports the Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, hosting the CAT Awards Dinner to raise funds for the museum and keep its doors open. At the dinner were some of the finest cartoonists in the UK - Matt Pritchett, Mac of the Mail, Nick Newman (who co-writes Private Eye), and plenty of politicians and lawyers to dig deep into their pockets to support the good cause.

Queen's Counsel Cartoons Published in China!

Queen's Counsel Goes to China

Animation Apprentice founder Alex Williams also does a cartoon strip which runs weekly in The (London) Times. It's a satire on law and lawyers called Queen's Counsel, and you can see the cartoons here. Alex's latest book, The Queen's Counsel Lawyer's Omnibus, has been translated into Chinese (who knew there were fans of QC in china?) and is now the subject of a kickstarter campaign to raise enough Renminbi to secure Chinese publication. To join in the kickstarter campaign, follow this link.

Alex Williams, founder of Animation Apprentice, talks about his latest book, The Queen's Counsel Lawyer's Omnibus

The Queen's Counsel Lawyer's Omnibus - 20 years in The Times

Animation Apprentice founder Alex Williams initially trained as a barrister, and since 1993 he has published a weekly cartoon strip Queen's Counsel in the law pages of The Times. Recently he published a new book, The Queen's Counsel Lawyer's Omnibus, a compilation of his favourite cartoons printed in the newspaper over the past 20 years. We asked him to talk a little about the book, and also about how a lawyer became a cartoonist and an animator.