A Q&A with photographer, illustrator and Sheridan College alum Paul McCormack: His memories of Sheridan and the evolution of his work

July, 2024

Sheridan College Cartooning Program alumnus and Gamut contributor Paul McCormack graciously agreeed to a Q&A with GamutMagazine.org, recalling his time at Sheridan both in and out of the classroom:

How did you get into comics/cartoons, and what ultimately brought you to Sheridan College?

Paul McCormack: I don’t remember a time when comics and graphic stories weren’t part of my life. I was born in Scotland and emigrated to Canada at a young age. Being an immigrant, my exposure to comics from the UK and Europe came first and North American comics from Marvel and DC among others came later.

I grew up reading Asterix, Tintin from Europe and things like Oor Wullie (Our William) and other Scottish/UK comics. In high school I was drawing my classmates, from photos, and copying the art of Gil Kane, John Buscema, and others. One day a recent graduate of my school dropped by with his portfolio to chat with our Art Teacher. The grad was Erik Larsen. This was a revelation for me. People would pay you to draw comics?? Well! Sign me up!

A caricature commission. Art by Paul McCormack

Which years were you enrolled at Sheridan, and what was your involvement with Gamut (how many of the four issues did you work on, what did the work entail, etc.)?

PM:I enrolled in Sheridan College’s “Graphic Story and Cartooning Arts” program in the summer of 1977 and graduated in 1979. It was a two-year course, and this would be the last year it was offered. I submitted a single page illustration of a bald-headed caveman being attacked by a large cat. Why bald? I couldn't draw hair very well. If I do say so myself, this work was dreadful, 😊

Interior page from issue number four of "Gamut" from 1979, featuring a pinup by Paul McCormack. Screen capture from a video by Jeff Wilson

It’s known that many famous working artists at the time, including Will Eisner, Neal Adams, Bernie Wrightson and Mike Ploog, were lecturers at the college. Are there other notable professionals who lectured there at the time that Gamut was in production? Did you learn from/interact with any of them?

PM: I couldn’t add more to the list of guest artists that Jeff Wilson hasn’t mentioned. I recall the lecture by Will Eisner. He was doing a piece that might have been a future Gamut cover while talking to us. The second Mr. Eisner finished, Walter Hanson, the program co-ordinator, swept in and took it off to a safe location in his personal collection. 😊

Can you recall one or two fond memories or anecdotes from your time in the cartooning program at Sheridan?

PM: I recall our class was a fairly closeknit group. We formed our own pick-up Hockey team, many of us roomed together. We held a party early in second year where we taped large sheets of white paper with garbage bags behind them to the walls. We left a stack of Pantone markers on the dining room table and let classmates express themselves. The garbage bags were to prevent the markers from bleeding through and staining the paint. By the end of the night we had some amazing art, political cartoons (this was post Nixon) superhero art, some, well let’s just say it wasn’t for public consumption.

There were times when, like all students, we worked through the night to complete assignments. On one such occasion, my roommate Micheal and I arrived at the school around 6:00 AM after being up all-night working. Michael had his guitar with him. There were study nooks in the hallway with bare concrete walls and a two-story window. We started to sing to keep ourselves aware if for no other reason. Remember this is the 70s and we were two voices and a twelve-string. We sang Joni Mitchel, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Gordon Lightfoot, and Murry McLaughin until the crowd that had gathered blocked the halls.

Can you please describe your work after leaving Sheridan?

PM: Fresh out of Sheridan, I got a job as an in-house cartoonist and ‘repro’ artist for a screen-printing company. The repro artist’s job is to prep the art for printing, separating colours to different screens, etc. I stayed there for a time then went back to Sheridan to improve my skills (see “this work was dreadful” comment above). For the next three decades I worked as a Technical Illustrator and supervisor in the Aerospace industry. I would also do the occasional commissioned caricature mostly to keep my skills. I retired from that career as a Business Systems Analyst for Technical Publications. I would support airlines in implementing a digital publications delivery system for front line maintenance of aircraft.

An example of Paul McCormack's screen-printing work from 1980

What are you working on currently? I understand you're a photographer and graphic designer - how did your time at Sheridan help shape your work?

PM: Everyone’s work is a constant evolution, I started life as a cartoonist or ‘graphic story artist’, this evolved into being a technical communicator, still telling stories with illustrations.

Photography is a different medium, but I’m still trying to tell a story with an image. Photography and graphic design were minors in my second go-round at Sheridan. After retirement, I took up photography as a "work in progress." [Editor's note: examples of Paul's photography work can be viewed on his Instagram] I work for my wife who is an actual photographer and has taught me everything I know about photography. For more information please take a look at our website, we are commercial photographers in the Toronto area.

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Helena McCormack owns Inkwell Images and Design, providing photography, graphic design, web design and printing in the Toronto area. For more information, visit www.inkwellimages.ca.