Larry

Who was Larry?

Terence "Larry" Parkes was a popular cartoonist from the United Kingdom. His work, consisting largely of single drawings featuring an absurdist view of normal life, was published in many magazines and newspapers, particularly Punch and Private Eye. The pen name under which he worked was apparently inspired by actor Larry Parks.

Parkes's cartooning style was extremely minimalist. No speech bubbles or captions were used, and he often used a few lines to suggest the outline of some feature, such as an arm or a leg, preferring to concentrate on the main idea of the drawing. Especially in the early part of his career, when cartoonists were expected to produce polished work, he was frequently admonished by his editors to "fill in" his drawings before they would be published. As styles changed in the 1960s and 1970s, his more fluid, off-the-cuff style became his trademark. He was compared to Bill Tidy, both for his particular way of drawing people, and for the speed at which he could work.

In later life, he drew a series of cartoons depicting his usual subjects as if they were sculptures by Rodin on display in a gallery. Instead of "Rodin's Thinker" or "Rodin's Kiss" his art-lovers saw sculptures such as "Rodin's Babysitter" and "Rodin's Cleaning Lady". He extended this into parodies of other works of art, such as the Supper at Emmaus, his version being "the presentation of the bill". He also did the cartoon sketches that were used on Carry On film titles, and in the late 1980s provided illustrations for W H Smith's own-label stationery packaging.