Riposte Card No. 3: Uncouth umbrella!

Or, Norman Douglas by Graham Roumieu

It was two halves of a hoot to land illustrator Graham Roumieu to draw Riposte Card No. 3, published in May 2023. Graham’s gently demented oeuvre features several memoirs of Bigfoot, the shy sasquatch who has so much to teach us if we would only listen:

"Think outside box. Lose ten pound. Learn speak the French. Ballroom dance. Demonstrate superior knowledge of fine wine at dinner party in charming non-pretentious manner. Be Oscar Wilde of woods. It so hard. Brain size of apricot."

Graham chose to illustrate this wonderful line by Norman Douglas, a British writer from the early 20th century whose bestsellers were eventually eclipsed by his sordid private life. But oh, the quips:

“It seldom pays to be rude. It never pays to be only half-rude.”
— Norman Douglas

Here are are the three drafts Graham ably supplied:

And here’s his obligatory Riposte Questionnaire:

What’s your go-to item in a well-stocked stationery store?

If they carry the Fabriano pocket size blank page sketchbooks with the solid bright colour covers, I know I am dealing with a retailer of quality. If I go to an art supply store and they have a ton of sketchbooks with lines or grids, I am led to believe I am in an art supply store for people who aren’t very good at art.

Where do you go for inspiration and/or information?

You know those pointer dogs used for bird hunting who will just stand in a pose pointing at a bird in the bush until someone decides to shoot the bird or tell the very dedicated super-specialized dog the thing they are pointing at isn’t worth it? My process is kind of like both the dog’s and the bird’s in that analogy that makes less and less sense the more I think about it so I will stop thinking about it now. 

Who is the hunter? I dunno.

Is there one joke, witticism, or aphorism you live by?

There’s an old cartoon with a policeman kicking and shouting at a blind beggar to clear a path for a cartoonist. I don’t live by that at all, it just came to mind when you asked the question. Please don’t look it up. Please don’t judge me.

What's the best thing to put on toast?

More like what is wrong with people eating toast and not putting a plate under it? Just walking around eating toast like an anarchist.

What work are you most proud of, and how can people support it?

Please put at least a couple of humorous watercolourists on whatever the giant planetary escape ship gets called.

Also www.roumieu.com.