The likes of Turner, Cocker and Hawley reflect Sheffield through their music, but one local artist has succeeded in a different way. Meet Pete McKee, the cartoonist who has built up a huge fan base by expressing his roots through an often underestimate art form…

McKee was just a kid from a local council estate who dreamt of making it big in a band. It wasn’t until his late 30s that he took himself seriously as an artist through the cartoons he’d been creating for years. Since then his distinctive artwork has become so popular and well respected that his diverse fan list includes Noel Gallagher, Lucas films and the creators of Family Guy. His work may be hanging on walls from London to New York, but I was able to meet up with the man himself here in Sheffield…

How would you describe yourself as an artist?
I do character studies of working class people from my past and from seeing people on the streets and in cafes. I like to tell stories in my pictures. You could class it slightly as pop art and it’s also cartoon like as well.

How old were you when you first took an interest in art and has it always been cartoons that you liked to create?
I can remember being about nine when my dad took me to an art exhibition in Sheffield and that got me hooked on the idea that you could earn money out of painting. I didn’t become serious about being a professional artist though until I was 38. Prior to that I’d done work as a cartoonist over 15 years, its cartoons that I’m very passionate about.

Spit 'n polish

You’re known for being inspired by your work class roots what are your main inspirations within them?
It would be because a lot of my pictures tell stories about my childhood it definitely is my working class upbringing and other things like music, that’s always inspirational.

For those who don’t know can you tell us the Noel Gallagher story?
I originally did a painting that I turned into a print of a boy sat on his bed learning to play a guitar to a Beetles record. I figured Noel would like that as a picture, that it would be a story he would be familiar with, so I sent him the print. He phoned me up a few days later to thank me. He thought it was fantastic and he’d got it hanging in his new house. It started from there really. He’s used my artwork for Oasis things and has got a couple of originals as well.

Would you say that’s been your biggest achievement so far?
It has been one of them but getting a cartoon published is an achievement in its own right or having an exhibition and selling a painting, I’m just as proud of that. It doesn’t have to be a massive thing, I’m just really touched that people like my work and want to get involved in it.

What do you like most about your own artwork and what do you think are the elements that make it so popular?
I like that I can relive my childhood again with my mother because my mother died when I was 7. I never really had an proper memories so now when I recreate my past I can have my mum in there. I think it’s popular because the images themselves was very simple and you don’t need an art degree to like them. They tell stories to people that they can relate to.

Have you won any prizes, awards or recognition for your work and how would you like to be remembered in 100 years time?
I haven’t actually won any prizes or awards. I very rarely enter my work into those kinds of things, apart from art from my sports cartoons for the Sheffield Telegraph. II’d just like to be remembered as a really nice bloke.

What would you say cartoons offer that maybe other forms of art don’t?
I try to avoid the tag of them being cartoons as that’s frowned on as real art, so the fact that I can blur that barrier between them being cartoons and real art and still earn money is good.

You have a weekly cartoon in the Telegraph, what do you do if you’re having a creative block?
So far I’ve never not been able to do a cartoon of some description. |Whether it’s a rib tickler is another story altogether. What’s helpful is for the Telegraph my illustration is based around a news article which gives me a starting point. It the past 15 years I’ve never missed a deadline and not produced a cartoon.

Some of your work has a bit of a British seaside postcard feel to it if you had to describe it to someone who had never seen it before what would you say?
I’d say it has a British seaside postcard feel. I do have problems trying to explain it. You could say for those who know Tin Tin, its Tin Tin comes to Yorkshire.

Your work always seems to have a humorous element; do you even do anything dark or serious?
The humour is a cunning devise. With a lot of my paintings, if you take away the quirky punch lines they’re often quite melancholic. They’re often people on their own in cafes or children on their own playing and it’s something from myself. There’s that side in everybody to feel alone sometimes but I’m quite an upbeat person. It’s an emotion in art that’s quite valuable because people do feel that and it’s the same with humour. They’re both valid emotions.

Boy with a fake tattoo

Which Sheffield characters have you illustrated and who’s your favourite interpretation and why?
Painting wise I did an exhibition relating to music. I did Richard Hawley who’s brilliant to do as he’s got a quiff, wears glasses and smokes. Also the Arctic Monkeys were good and Jarvis Cocker, whose got great features. Football wise, Neil Warrnock was always great to do as he’s a caricature in his own right.

You’ve had a lot of interest from high profile people and companies...we’ve heard a recent one is Lucas films. Can you tell us what they’re after?
I’m hoping that the Star Wars thing will go ahead and I believe it will be a couple of paintings on exhibition in America related to Star Wars along with work of other artists in their own styles. My style in quite distinctive and that’s what they liked about it, that idea of having someone quintessentially British interpreting an American subject and a futuristic one. One day you might see a painting of chewbacca sat on a space hopper, you never know.

What were you like at school and did you enjoy art lessons?
I was a dreamer at school and I’d loaf around in maths lessons, but I did with an O-level in art, pottery and drama, so you get the idea where my head was at. I would have liked to have been an actor but at the time it didn’t seem to be the type of thing a working class lad did. I left school wanting to be in a band and on top of the pops.

Do you think that qualifications are essential for a young person wanting to become a professional artist?
If you look at me you’d say no. I left school at 16 and worked in a factory because I was sure that I was going to be a famous musician. After a while I realised I’d have to find another way to make some decent money. I attempted to go back to university but failed so that left me to figure out how to make a living in art without an art degree. You don’t need an art degree to create cartoons, just a good imagination and a sense of humour. The rest comes with practise.

Mr Cocker gets a new jacket

Can you give us 3 qualities that you feel make a good cartoonist?
A good imagination is vital, practise at drawing and getting your own style as good as it can be, and above all, have a thick skin, because you’re going to be sending your work to people and they’re going to reject it. You’ve got to learnt it’s not a personal slur on you, it’s just not what they’re after at that moment in time.

What are you working on at the mo?
Commissions wise I’ve just finished a commission for the American cartoon series FAMILY GUY. The painting I’ve done features Brian the dog and will be released by 21st Century Fox as a limited edition print. I’ve also completed 4 paintings of the Arctic Monkeys that will be turned into post cards as part of a limited edition DVD box set of the Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo.

And I’ve been working on my new exhibition 22 views of Sheffield which will be launched at the Bowery on Division St. on the 24th of November and will run through till Christmas. It’s my first exhibition where all the paintings are about my home town and I’m self publishing a posh book to go with it, so I’m very excited.
Where can young people see your work?
There’s my new website which is now up and running. It has a more personal feel than my previous site and you can contact me directly and get my latest news. It’s www.therealmckee.co.uk.
Aside from my new exhibition I mentioned, which I’d love you to all go and see.

Interview: Amy Wagg