Anna Crichton
First woman ever to draw the OpEd cartoon in The New Zealand Herald’s 158 year history!!

Since 1863 the OpEd cartoon in the NZ Herald has always been drawn by a man…
until I had five cracks at it beginning on the 12th of April – five Tuesday spots taking over from the wonderful Rod Emmerson – giving him a much-needed break in the week.
I’ve drawn cartoons and illustrations for the NZ Herald for eight years – but this gig was different, and tough - one chooses one’s own topic, one has to be punchy and ethically careful at the same time, one has to be fast and meet short deadlines. I draw with an old-fashioned dip pen still, which is not a fast tool at all.
For three days or more before each Monday of actually sitting down at my desk and meeting the 5 o’clock deadline with ready artwork for the Tuesday paper, I was consumed by news – Stuff/Herald/Guardian/Bernard Hickey and more, I’ve never been so flooded with topical information - a confusing overload. What’s important? What’s entertaining? What’s the zeitgeist?
I know over time if I’d carried on, and if they continued to want me it all would have become easier – I’d have figured it out, I’d have bought a Wacom and become a digital whiz but I decided, after five Tuesdays, that I must call Rod and tell him “I have so much other stuff on and it’s all a bit too consuming”. So I let this amazing opportunity go, and the worst thing is I let the (female) side down.
I have such admiration for editorial cartoonist Sharon Murdoch of the Dominion Post, three-time winner of Cartoonist of the Year. I hope there’s another Sharon Murdoch out there who will one day punch satirical holes on the NZ Herald OpEd page.
Now there’s a guy doing Tuesdays – he’s good, and I imagine he’s a whole lot faster than me.