Hats Off! Ian David Marsden cartoon submissions to the 25th Euro-kartoenale Kruishoutem
As a cartoonist, there’s something magical about taking a theme and letting it evolve into visual storytelling. For the 25th Euro-kartoenale Kruishoutem, this year’s theme—“The Hat – Hats Off”—offered endless opportunities to blend humor, satire, and creativity.
I’m thrilled to be one of the 16 participating cartoonists from France, contributing five original cartoons to this international cartoon competition. Each of my works explores hats not just as accessories, but as powerful symbols of culture, evolution, and individuality.
Exploring the Evolution of Hats Through Cartoons
From ancient alien theories to playful nods at fairy tales, my cartoons for this year’s Euro-kartoenale cover a wide range of interpretations:
• “Crown Wars” – Two kings engage in a comical power struggle, measuring their wealth and influence with ever-expanding crowns that defy logic (and balance).
I am delighted to share some exciting news: I have joined the incredibly talented international community of cartoonists at Cartoon Movement. As a platform dedicated to showcasing editorial cartoons from around the world, Cartoon Movement connects artists with a global audience, offering fresh, insightful, and sometimes bitingly satirical takes on current events.
For those unfamiliar, Cartoon Movement is an independent platform that brings together professional cartoonists from across the globe. Founded with the goal of promoting press freedom and political commentary through cartoons, it provides a space where artists can share their work and engage with an international readership. The platform regularly features political and editorial cartoons tackling world affairs, culture, and social issues, offering a diverse array of perspectives through visual storytelling.
Through this collaboration, my Ian David Marsden editorial cartoons will now have the opportunity to reach a much wider audience—perhaps finding themselves being scrutinized, debated, and misunderstood in multiple languages before ultimately being used as placemats under coffee cups. I’ll be regularly adding new work to my page, and you can find my latest contributions here:
For those who enjoy a good editorial cartoon—whether it’s an incisive take on current politics, a visual commentary on society, or just an artistic way of saying “Well, isn’t this just a fine mess we are finding ourselves in again?”—I hope you’ll follow along.
I’m Ian David Marsden, an internationally experienced illustrator and cartoonist. I also provide an additional service. I create custom, commissioned cartoon portraits from photographs for all kinds of uses. Social Media cartoon avatars, wedding or anniversary gifts as framed artwork, company or sports teams, vanity projects such as custom stationery or stickers, even artwork which is then transformed into actual tattoos. High resolution digital files are provided to you which allow you to produce items from cups, t-shirts, magnets, stamps, letterhead, stickers. Want to advertise your business with a fun portrait of yourself or your team? Suprise a loved one with a cartoon featuring a memorable (or embarassing) milestone from your lives? Digital files or actual hand drawn, inked and colored original artwork on high quality watercolor paper as a super exclusive and elegant present.
Let’s not forget birthday cards, company, team or family Christmas or Holiday cards with custom seasons-related illustrations. Graduations, Awards, Invitations, Parties, Special Events…
Crafting Your Unique Tale
What sets these portraits apart is the level of customization they offer. It’s about capturing the essence of individuals, the soul of a band, or the heart of a family. For instance, a blues band desired to have each band member’s distinctive head portrayed with their instruments, all of them cruising in a classic VW van. Families often want their pets to be part of the picture, their house in the background, enterprises might want their company logo lovingly hand-drawn on the holiday card featuring their team portrait. When I say customization, I mean anything is possible—it’s your story, after all.
Cartoon / Caricature Illustration for Nebelspalter Magazine 02/2023 – Tor des Monats. Apparently Swiss Bundesrat Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said a few things that made the inhabitants of the Appenzell regions somewhat upset.
