article by Kemal Ozyurt, TurkeyRasit Yakali, the Turkish press cartoonist, leads the life of a classical scholar whose apprenticeship to Semih Balcioglu (1928-2006) lasted almost a lifetime until the last few years of the master. As Mr Yakali points out in his introduction to his cartoonbook on Olympics, the idea to put the Olympic sports into cartoons originated with the master and was given to him in 2000 like a topic of dissertation in cartoons. Yakali worked on the theme, studied the subject in the library of the Olympic House, consulted the expert librarian, took his work to Mr Balcioglu to be reviewed and so produced 200 cartoons in one and a half years’ time with the hope that they would be published by the help of sponsors. Unfortunately, they were not for seven years, but were exhibited in three cities in Turkey thanks to sponsors. Finally, an old friend who runs a private chain of schools made them into a book possibly in 2007 (date of publication not indicated).
Well, Rasit Yakali has already been the author of six cartoonbooks collecting mostly press cartoons some of which brought him ten awards of journalist associations and nearly as many prizes in national and international cartoon competitions in Turkey, Cyprus, Italy, Taiwan, and Rep. Macedonia.
In this cartoonbook he not only jokes about the current disciplines like fencing, showjumping, or table tennis, but also puts humoristic insight into the historical background both of ancient Greek civilization and of Turkish traditional sports like polo, wrestling, and archery.
Though he complains nowadays of his trembling fingers while drawing, he still makes cartoons and teaches his skill enthusiastically to young children at school.
Learn more:
Rasit Yakali website
Weblog: http://rasityakalikarikaturokulu.blogspot.com/
His weblog on cartoon classes
Cartoonbook file (under construction)
1 comment:
great cartoons,
I like them hahahahaha !!!!!!
jan
Post a Comment