Some Tom Browne Comic Drawings from Brush Pen and Pencil

 

Tom Browne was a British illustrator and cartoonist. He was a nobody from Nottingham, who started out making a living as an errand boy at age twelve. He later became an apprentice to a lithographic printer and, while a teenager, sold cartoons to London comic weekly papers. Success and marriage and a move to London was in the offing. 

"At the time of the census of 1891, Browne was twenty and was living in lodgings in central Nottingham. He was described as a lithographic designer, and living at the same address were John Clarkson, a lithographic artist, and Lucy Pares, a lace maker, who was a visitor. Early in 1892, Browne married Pares in Nottingham.^[5]

"In 1890, Alfred Harmsworth had founded a new British comic book called Comic Cuts. Cheaply printed, it proved to be the ideal medium for Browne's bold drawing style. His comic strips soon became so popular that he moved to London and into a studio in Wollaton House at Westcombe Park. There, he turned out six full-page strips a week, but also produced illustrations for several British magazines. His cartoons appeared in Punch, The Tatler and other highly-rated periodicals of the day. In 1898 Browne became a member of the Royal British Society of Artists and in 1901 was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, which meant he could use the letters RI after his name.^[3]"

-- From Tom Browne's Wikipedia page. 

Meanwhile, in the 21st century I saw this Brush Pen and Pencil book, which was all about Tom Browne, at the Arundel, Maine flea market. It looked well-loved -- and, for good reason, the pen and ink drawings were terrific. I hadn't known of Tom Browne, but if I was buying Comic Cuts or some other London humor paper way back at the end of the 19th century, I sure would have. He created the iconic logo for Johnny Walker whiskey, as well as creating the early British strip "Weary Willie and Tired Tim." His style influenced other cartoonists including Leo Baxendale and Bruce Bairnsfather. 

He died at his home at the age of 39, after surgery for cancer. He left behind his wife, Lucy, and three children. 

Here are some of the cartoons, travel sketches, paintings and drawings from the Brush Pen and Pencil: the Book of Tom Browne by A.E. Johnson, "containing 57 examples of the artist's work in brush, pen and pencil." It was published in London by Adam and Charles Black in 1909. In the same Brush Pen and Pencil series: books about Frank Reynolds, R.I. and John Hassall, R.I.