AN inspiring, young East Cornwall artist has received a prestigious award in a national cartoon competition, writes Sally Shipton.

Holly Chadwick, from Metherell, will now have her work featured at The Cartoon Museum in London as part of her prize for receiving runner-up in the Young Cartoonist of the Year competition.

Twelve-year-old Holly was one of the youngest competitors, however, managed to beat more than 500 hopefuls to bag herself an award.

The competition, run by the British Cartoon Association, has seen many of its previous winners go on to become professional cartoonists for some of the country’s largest media outlets.

Martin Rowson, lead editorial cartoonist for The Guardian and chair of the British Cartoon Association, was one of the judges for the competition and presented Holly with her certificate when she visited London recently.

‘I’m so pleased,’ said Holly. ‘Art is my favourite subject at school and becoming a professional cartoonist is something that I really want to do.’

The young art enthusiast, who attends Devonport High School for Girls, originally sent her cartoon to Nick Newman, one of Britain’s leading satirical cartoonists. Nick recommended that she enter The Young Cartoonist of the Year.

Holly said: ‘I was sat around the dinner table with my family discussing what a “hipster” was when I had the idea for my cartoon — which was “hipster” guess who game.’

The ironic cartoon plays on the modern stereotype of the ‘hipster’ — a person who follows the latest trends and fashions, especially those regarded as being outside the cultural mainstream.

Holly’s keen eye for comedy considers the idea that ‘hipsters’ regard themselves as people who do not follow mainstream fashion, however in turn, have created another popular fashion. She demonstrates this irony by drawing each ‘guess who’ character looking the same — a male with a bun, beard and glasses.

Holly said that she especially enjoyed drawing comedic cartoons and that her inspiration came from the world around her.

Holly’s mum, Nicola Chadwick, said: ‘I am really thrilled for Holly, she has done so well. I didn’t realise how prestigious the competition was either — when we visited the museum I found out that previous winners have gone on to become professional cartoonists!’

‘Visiting the Cartoon Museum in London was such a lovely day out and I am just so proud of Holly and what she has achieved.’

Unsurprisingly, Holly’s endeavours have not stopped with the national cartoon competition as she is currently working on her very own graphic novel — the content of which Holly joked was ‘classified’.