Ralph Steadman, artist and proponent of Gonzo Journalism and its inventor, Hunter S. Thompson, has spent a lifetime loudly informing the world that it is rotten to the core. This Orwellian British artist, who has been visually skewering the bad guys since his schooldays, has collected six decades worth of images that celebrate the grit and glory of a world continually going mad, in Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink.

After making a name for himself as a political cartoonist for Punch and Private Eye in 1960s London, Steadman arrived in New York City with his first book under his arm, and found the person he says he was meant to meet—Hunter S. Thompson. On one of his first assignments, in 1970, the two worked together on a piece about the decadence of the Kentucky Derby; artist and writer then embarked on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Published the following year, it put Steadman on the map; the rest is history, with images by Steadman telling it like it is, drawn large in this new book from Chronicle Chroma. The following statements are extracted from editor Steve Crist's interview with Steadman for the bookL

On American politics and politicians: It’s much more volatile, politics in the USA. It allows you to really explore the viciousness and the duplicity of the people because they are so committed to their “cause.” Maybe because the Wild West is really not such a distant past, and in the UK our history and politics have been shaped by hundreds or even thousands of years of struggle and chaos. American politics seem born out of the barrel of a gun. 

On drawing: I never pre-imagine. I just start drawing and things emerge from the approach. Forget style and learn to draw; that is really most important…go to life drawing…. The “creative process” begins with a mark on a white sheet of Cartridge paper (350 grams), pure white. Then the image takes over and leads me to God knows where, but THAT is Creation!  Left: Press shot for Alice in Wonderland, illustrated by Ralph Steadman, ca. 1967

On the "dirty water technique": [Around 2011] I started using my dirty water technique. I throw dirty water—from the water I wash my brushes in—down onto [my white 350 gram] paper and wait three days, at least, for it to dry, at least. Probably when the drawing, or painting, is nearing completion, then I do something spontaneous, and I either succeed, or its buggered! The surprising result, effects, encourage me to use my inventive aptitude, and it challenges me to draw something that simply would not be there before. There is nothing more challenging than a white sheet of paper….People ask me, don’t you ever make a mistake? I say, “There is no such thing as a mistake. A mistake is an opportunity to do something else.”

On working: Almost every day I draw, but I never know where it will take me….I start with a fresh sheet of paper and just take it from there. Few people believe that I work every day like some folks might at any office. I show up on time and put in my workday as much as any other worker. Still, drawing has been an incredible journey for me, and I am grateful to be able to push the limits each day. We have a complex and challenging world, and I feel it’s my duty to Confront The Menace—whether that be your local constable or the President of the United States. People can make change happen and the governments can be made to do the right thing—if we step up and demand it.

Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink (Chronicle Chroma, an imprint of Chronicle Books 2020) is available where books are sold. Info.
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