Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig, typically referred to as Leunig, is an Australian cartoonist, poet and cultural commentator. His best known works include The Adventures of Vasco Pyjama and the Curly Flats series. He was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia in 1999...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionCartoonist
Date of Birth2 June 1945
CountryAustralia
bit black carbon dip draw fact lovely mud people steel stick thanks
I give thanks for the fact that I can get this stick with a bit of steel nib on the end, dip it in some black carbon stuff, and draw on paper. Now, people did it the same way 2,000 years ago. And there's something lovely about that play, and making mud pies and a mess. That's a lovely privilege.
courts landed marks paper recall sorts
Over the years, my marks on paper have landed me in all sorts of courts and controversies - I have been comprehensively labelled; anti-this and anti-that, anti-social, anti-football, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-Semitic, anti-science, anti-republican, anti-American, anti-Australian - to recall just an armful of the antis.
cast change economic lose onto resources suddenly talents wits
Out of economic hardship can come change - we are suddenly cast onto our wits and our talents and our resources and our strengths, as we lose all the choices we once had.
ability delusional distract great life ourselves speed technology totally velocity whether
I think we live in delusional times, whether it's with a great ability to totally distract ourselves with technology, or with speed and the velocity of life.
time
I see a lot of my children. They're around the house all the time on the farm, you know.
function melancholy
I think melancholy is part of the natural condition, you know. Anyway, I think it's the artist's function to have their melancholy and not hide it, you see.
claiming difficult fear free history imagine lived people time
It is difficult to imagine any time in history when so many people claiming to be so free have lived in so much fear of being unattractive.
children surprising
My children just want to get at the world; it is so pleasantly surprising to witness that.
inner
Stay out of the loop, the club, the inner circle.
excellence stay
Stay away from excellence at all costs; it stinks.
life
Have I got the right to experiment with my child's life?
good school
I had many good teachers, but only three of them were school teachers.
bit characters frame impressive mystery putting
I have always loved contemporary dance, but it has always been a bit of a mystery to me. But choreography is very much like what I do when you are putting characters in frame on the page. It's so impressive what they do with their bodies. It's like painting: an abstraction.
became sort
I became a cartoonist because I'd sort of failed at everything else, really. I mean, it was by default.