Sherffius Discusses Herblock Prize and Cartoons That Helped Him Win it

By: Dave Astor John Sherffius grew up in California as an admirer of Paul Conrad, the Los Angeles Times editorial cartoonist who was influenced by renowned Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herblock. Now, the chain has come full circle in a way with Sherffius yesterday winning the 2008 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning.

"I'm honored and thrilled," said Sherffius, who draws for the Boulder, Colorado, Camera and Copley News Service. "Any time you're associated with someone like Herblock, it's a great thing."

Sherffius, speaking during an E&P phone interview today, said he greatly admired Herblock's work and the stamina that enabled him to cartoon from 1929 until his death in 2001 at the age of 91. "He saw so much history," said the Colorado resident. "He covered the Depression, McCarthy, and even George W. Bush."

It was a package of 10 or so cartoons about the Bush administration that won Sherffius the $10,000 Herblock Prize. The cartoons included memorable images -- such as one featuring a 16th-century woodcut of waterboarding above the caption "Bush Adminquisition," and another of the president giving his 2007 State of the Union Address in front of a folded American flag (the kind given to families of soldiers killed in war) rather than a spread-out American flag.

"Sadly, I feel the administration has taken us on the wrong path for eight years," said Sherffius. "Bush and Cheney have been so bad in so many ways."

He did note that while the administration's actions make for excellent cartoon fodder, "I'd rather not have that much [negative] material. I live in this world, and so do my children."

Sherffius, 46, is the father of three kids -- ages 9, 7, and 3.

As his Herblock-winning entries exemplify, Sherffius' cartoons are often strikingly visual. Indeed, his images frequently have few words. "If you can understand a cartoon in a split second, that's what I'm aiming for," he said.

But Sherffius emphasized that good cartoons need good ideas and good writing to go along with the images.

Sherffius' work has had an almost-illustrative feel for years, but looks different than before. With color and computer-aided art becoming a big part of editorial cartooning, Sherffius a couple years ago scrapped the cross-hatching that used to be a prominent part of his drawing. But while a computer can save time in certain ways, Sherffius is so careful with his digital effects that his cartoons often take as long to create as when they were done completely by hand.

The cartoonist joined the Camera in March 2006 (as a regular contributor rather than a staffer) and was signed by the Copley syndicate at about the same time. He does five or more cartoons a week for the Boulder paper, with one usually local.

Prior to 2006, Sherffius worked as a graphic artist and cartoonist for The Ventura County (Calif.) Star from the early 1990s to 1998. Then he became the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's staff cartoonist before leaving that paper in late 2003 because of editorial differences.

Sherffius will receive the Herblock Prize on March 18 at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He's not yet sure what he'll say in his acceptance remarks, but does want to study the speeches of previous winners so he won't repeat too much of what's been discussed before.

The Herblock Prize was first awarded in 2004 -- with previous winners including Matt Davies, Tony Auth, Jeff Danziger, and Jim Morin. It's given by the Herb Block Foundation.