John Byrne B.Des ANCAD

John Byrne has been a professional cartoonist, illustrator and writer for over 30 years. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, he has been based in the UK since 1993.

John’s cartoons and comic strips have appeared in a wide range of publications ranging from Private Eye and The Guardian to The Bookseller, Christian Herald, Media Week and the BBC’s in-house magazine Ariel. He has published numerous books for children and adults for publishers including Harper Collins, Random House and Puffin. His book ‘Learn to Draw Cartoons’’ has now passed its 10th edition, several of his books have topped the best-seller lists of retailers such as Waterstones and Amazon and at least two cartoonists currently working for National newspapers ascribe their early success to his 1990s book ‘Drawing Cartoons That Sell’. He has also designed and produced several highly successful self-published books on themes such as income generation for creative artists and on navigating the ups and downs of creative freelancing.

The original tutor at the Museum of Cartoon Art, John’s ‘Learn Cartooning Live’’ show has been a big hit at festivals and community events at home and abroad and Broadcast work has included stints as resident cartoonist on Nickelodeon TV as well as comedy writing for Virgin Radio, BBC radio 4, Channel 5 and World Service.

John originally trained at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin and at Bolton Street College of Print Technology also in his native city. Having forged his own career by doing several different jobs within the creative arts field, he also has a long track record of helping other artists and writers get their work into print via Cartooning, Fantasy Art and Children’s Book Illustration Extension courses, and of giving younger students the possible start via our YA1 and YA2 courses. (He is also an experienced SEND teacher).

John’s warm, encouraging and practical teaching works equally well for artists with future career ambitions and those who are exploring art as a hobby, and with cartoon, illustration and writing constantly moving into new markets offline and online, John believes that the personal contact and individual work with each student on our courses are one of the key factors which can make all the difference to success in this fun but very competitive field.

John lives in London with his family enjoys listening to music, reading, watching cartoons and reading comics and picture books, new and old and believes that being able to support LAC students as they create the cartoons, comics and books of the future is one of the best jobs in the world.