Cartoons and Illustrations by Steve Bonello
Drawings & Graphics
Cartoon Strips
A sample of published, printed or exhibited work covering over twenty years.
Plus some newer completed work at the end...
Making Acid Rain (1987). Drawing in ink and mixed media from my first personal exhibition in 1988. Back then acid rain was all the rage - now we just talk of climate change. Same s**t I suppose. In retrospect I think there is much homage to Edvard Munch's The Scream in this one. In 1988 I was very lucky to see the best of Munch's work in Oslo; in particular a large room in the Norwegian National Gallery with about twenty of his most representative works, including The Scream, Madonna, and The Sick Child. Truly spiritual.
Work available as art print.
Le Strange / The Outsider (1987) Drawing in ink and mixed media. I think there is a huge Ralph Steadman influence running through this one...
(Private Collection Malta)
Old Woman and Cat (1988). Drawing in ink and mixed media also from my first personal exhibition in 1988. (Private collection Malta)
My Generation (1988) Ink and mixed media with a tentative self portrait on the left... (Private Collection Germany)
The King of the Road (1989) Drawing in ink and mixed media. (Private Collection Malta)
Proposal (1989). A large drawing in ink and mixed media shown in my second personal exhibition. The exhibition was entitled Proposal and Other Drawings and drew mostly favourable comment. (Private Collection Malta)
Bastions of the Faith (1989) Ink and mixed media (Private Collection Malta)
The Market at San Lorenzo, Florence (1989) Ink and mixed media. (Private Collection Malta)
It is difficult to go to Florence and not fall in love with the place. Apart from the wealth of art everywhere I have a soft spot for markets and this is my homage to one of the city's liveliest.
Distinguished Guests (1990) Pen, Ink and mixed media. (Private Collection Malta)
Show of Strenght (1990). My comment on the local political violence of the late eighties. Not a pleasant time to live in Malta even if you were politically uninvolved. This work contains a tiny element of collage since I pasted an actual newspaper on to the drawing. Rough translation - The party above any individual. (Private collection Malta)
The Combo (1991) Drawing in pens and colored inks.(Collection the Artist)
Inspired by the early days of the Malta Jazz Festival which included some great performers like Al di Meola and the late Michel Petrucciani.
Honourable Gentlemen (1993). Drawing in ink and mixed media. I was probably influenced by the daring assassinations of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino which had happened in quick succession in the previous year. (Collection the artist)
Big Time (1996) Drawing in colored inks on a circus theme. (Collection the artist)
In 2002 I designed a number of roadside billboards for MIC (the Malta-EU Information Centre). This one encouraged people to "unburden" themselves of any questions or dilemmas they might have about joining the EU. I believe they were the first cartoon themed billboards to grace our roads.
I did this illustration of Marie Benoit in 2003 to accompany her articles in The Malta Independent on Sunday. It appeared in print for a number of years. I always had a soft spot for Marie - she was the first person to publish an interview about me and my work.
I submitted this one for a Europe-wide competition in 2004. The theme was the enlargement of the EU - the biggest when ten countries joined simultaneously. I never won the coveted first prize but it was shortlisted and made it to both the traveling exhibition and the catalogue.
Illustration for Sunday Times (Malta) Property supplement from 2005
Logo design for Ramblers Association of Malta. I met some great people there and have very fond memories of RAM. Ramble on!
A design for a tee shirt I did for Hetronic (Malta) Limited in 2008.
Hobos Melitensis 2008 (Private collection Malta). A brief return to drawing in 2008 after a long absence. This was a reworking of a cartoon I had done for The Sunday Times a couple of years earlier. I returned to a variation on this theme when wifi was introduced in public squares. You can see the reworked cartoon under Editorial Work.
Arena 2011. (Private collection Malta) After a terribly long hiatus I finally cleaned my pens and started drawing again
with this piece which I enjoyed doing immensely.
Pen, ink and polychrome pencils.
In-Nemmiesa 2011. (Private collection Malta) Oglers in a Maltese countryside setting. My third completed work since returning to pen and ink
in the middle of 2011.
Blind Man's Buff 2012. First completed work for this year and the first time I used colored inks in a very long time - years in fact.
I used yellow, burnt sienna, vermilion, sepia and of course black. (Private collection Malta)
The Big Hug 2012 - Pen, Ink and polychrome pencils (Collection the artist)
The Citadel Madonna 2012 - Pen,ink and polychrome pencils (Collection the artist)
My first CD cover design. A successful and fun Facebook collaboration between Charles J Attard and Frank Buhagiar of the band Divine Sinners and myself. Divine Sinners launched the album in 2014.
"Ghal Dejjem" (Forever) 2013 - A drawing in technical pens and colored inks about love, old age and growing old together.
I think I'm getting sentimental... (Private Collection Malta)
The Two Judges (Sacco & Farrugia) 2014 - Technical pens and colored inks (Collection the artist)
"Clampu" (Muggy Weather) 2014 - Drawing in technical pens and colored inks (Collection the artist)
"My Russian Devotchka" 2014 - Drawing in technical pens and colored inks (Private Collection Malta)
"Vetrina" (The Shopwindow) 2014 - Drawing in technical pens and colored inks. Inspired by Malta's somewhat sordid daytime red light district...
"Full Moon, Empty Head" 2014 - Digital collage comprising my photography and graphic. A sort of homage to the great cartoonist Gary Larson.
"The Age of Discovery" 2014 - Drawing in technical pens and colored inks. The inspiration for this comes from diverse sources; pre-Renaissance stylized painting, the romanticism of world discovery, the pomp of royalty etc... etc...(Collection the artist)
Created by Steve Bonello