About Phil
Phil works as a full - time cartoonist, illustrator and animator through his business, Comic Express studio. He creates a wide variety of cartooning work including comic strips, single panel cartoons, humorous and straight illustration, puzzles, clip art, animation and caricatures.
Custom artwork in all these areas is his speciality and his experience spans working with the private, business and corporate sectors. Corporate work has included Graphic Recording, Live Cartooning, Mind Mapping and Image Branding.
Phil has had work in print for a wide range of magazines and papers and has a weekly Sunday strip in the Sunday Telegraph called ‘Pet Therapy’ read by over 3 million readers every week. His work has also involved being the colourist for other Australian comic strips including Swamp and Ginger Meggs.
He worked as an inbetweener and animator with Hanna Barbera in the 1980’s on Scooby Doo, the Bernstein Bears and a range of other series. He also worked for a year on the Footrot Flats movie ‘The Dogs Tale’.
Phil has currently brrn contracted to Scholastic Publishers Australia illustrating a new children’s book series, for 2019/2020, called ‘Puppy Diary’. This is with bestselling author Yvette Poshoglian of the ‘Ella and Olivia’ fame.
Awards
Phil was the proud recipient of three first prizes in the annual Coffs Harbour Rotary Cartoon Awards on the 1st September, 2018.
Overall at these awards, Phil’s talent has been recognised in winning five first prizes and two runner- up medals
This event is held at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery and received entries from all over Australia and other countries.
Phil was also nominated for Best Comic Strip artist in 2017 at the Australian Cartoonist Society 'Stanley' awards, with his strip Pet Therapy.
Some of Phil's Clients
- BMA Coal/BHP Billiton – Health Safety Education cartoon work for Conference
- Innamincka Petroleum Ltd – cartoons for trophy
- Brisbane Airport Corporation – live cartooning and mind mapping
- Queensland Education School of the Air – educational illustrations
- Rural Press Newspapers – Daily Comic Strip and Puzzles
- AusPac Media – puzzles
- Hello Marketing Advertising Agency – humorous logos
- de Pasquale Advertising Agency – Billboard for Air Train ("Spot the Difference" )
- Packer Advertising Agency - humorous cartoon logo
- Timber Queensland – original humorous Christmas cards for clients
- Scholastic Australia – Children’s Book Illustrations
- Newslimited Newspapers – Sunday Comic Strip (Sunday Telegraph: Funday SECTION)
- Newscorp – Puzzles
- APC Publications – Article Illustrations
- Darumbul Community Youth Services – Graphic Recording
- Curious Minds .Co – Graphic Recording
- Perpektivs Business Coaches - Graphic Recording
- Feros Care – Graphic Recording
- Macleay Landcare Network – Campaign Images and Logo
- Protec – Cartoon Diagrams for Conference
- Brisbane Airport Corporation – Live Cartooning and Graphic Recording
- Australian Army – Drawing training and Images for Cadet program
- Marilyn Humphries - Private Educational Book Commission – Children’s Limericks
- Sharny Russell Private Piano Instruction Book – Keyboard Diagrams
- Anton Richardson – Private Commission – Books for Legal Firm
- Lisa Herbet – Private Commission - Bottom of the Drawer Book
Lessons, Courses and Workshops
Phil has been teaching cartoon workshops for over nine years and has presented more than 950 live workshops to all ages.
He has produced a growing range of ‘How to Draw’ books which have proven very popular.
He has also been teaching drawing and cartooning to students, one on one, via the internet regularly in recent years.
Phil has recently launched a new online business venture called ‘The Easy Cartoon Drawing School’ teaching drawing and cartooning. They include short free lessons, mini-courses and longer cartoon courses. These are all self-paced.
- Queensland State Library
- Queensland Museum
- Queensland TAFE
- Camp Quality
- Physiotherapy Association of Australia -
- Brisbane City Council Libraries
- Gold Coast Council Libraries
- Sunshine Coast Council Libraries
- Morton Bay Libraries
- Scenic Rim Libraries
- Redland Bay Libraries
- Roma Regional Library and Gallery
- Roma Regional Economic and Community Development
- Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) OSCH Centres
- YMCA Australia OSHC Centres
- State & Private Primary Schools OSHC centres
- Various Art Stores (including Eckersley’s)
- Redlands Art Gallery
- Warwick Art Gallery, Australian Cartoon Museum Coffs Harbour (Formerly The Cartoon Bunker Gallery)
- Wesley Mission, City care,
- Queensland Cancer Council
- City Care Organisation Teenage Youth Programs
- Kids Friends Mentoring Program
- Camp Australia
- Centacare Oshc Centres
- School Plus Oshc Centres
- Jabiru Oshc Centres
- Amaze Education Oshc Centres
- Young Minds Australia Oshc Centres
- Helping Hands Oshc Centres
- Anglican Centacare Oshc Centres
- Warwick Shopping Centre (Rose City Shoppingworld)
- Private Group workshops
Magazine and Newspaper Clients
Interesting Facts about Phil
Phil was first published in 1981, when still at school. His first big print achievement was in 1988 in the Australian Woman's Weekly. He also achieved some regular cartoons printed in a gardening magazine at that time.
Phil has done a wide range of work between starting out as a animator/cartoonist and coming full circle to having his own cartooning business.
These jobs include landscape gardener, labourer, night stacker, carpet layer, delivery truck driver, Registered Nurse for ten years (in both hospital and community nursing settings) and working as a fully registered midwife for two years delivering over 200 babies!
His nursing experience travels from Geriatric, Operating Theatre, home palliative and disabled care, General medical and Indigenous community care.
He has experienced a lot more than sitting at a drawing board for his working life and seeks to invest this experience into his work and the opportunity to pursue again a passion he had from a young age.
Phil has also worked as a semi-professional musician mainly on bass and saxophone. He has taught himself up to 10 different instruments of which bass, guitar (different styles) and saxophones have been his main instruments for live performances. He has performed, with his wife on vocals, in a jazz trio over recent years at local jazz festivals and other live events.
Other instruments he has played include mandolin, banjo, flute, harmonica and dobro. Covering an interest in rock, surf, folk, bluegrass, irish/celtic, jazz, country, blues and other varying styles of music associated with the different instruments.