Gerald Scarfe: 'Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are walking caricatures. There's not a lot you can add'

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/03/gerald-scarfe-cartoonist-this-much-i-know

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Schools were always frightening places to me. Most of my childhood was dominated by being bedridden or in hospital [Scarfe was severely asthmatic as a child]. My parents told me: "You'll never make your own living; you'll always be reliant on us." I was probably nine or 10. It certainly made me try harder.

An artist's job is to present a new view of the world, seeing things anew for other people. With people in power, I use the worst techniques I can find.

None of my career was planned. I'm self trained, and I've never had an agent. You've got to work extremely hard and you've got to have luck, unfortunately.

My strength lies in attack. I try not to meet my subjects, as there's a danger I might like them. I drew Malcolm Muggeridge who'd been very kind to me, and pulled my punches – it ended up crap.

The week after I drew Princess Margaret as a warthog in Private Eye I had dinner with her at Kensington Palace. Hypocritical, I know.

I learned to control my temper. When I was younger I smashed things. Now I avoid confrontation. I know what comes afterwards – the misery of having upset someone can last for weeks.

If people are crazy, you don't know how far they'll go. I saw awful things in Vietnam, and was hijacked in Northern Ireland by the IRA, who stuck guns into my back. One of the members saw my sketchbook and remarked, "Ah, you're a brave drawer." It was a surreal compliment.

Politicians don't give a stuff about being satirised. Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are walking caricatures; there's not a lot you can add. The Nick Cleggs are the hardest to do – bland, conventionally good-looking faces. You can't caricature someone who's not recognisable: it's a sign they've arrived.

I hate being out of control. I think it comes from the time I was nearly given a shot of adrenalin in hospital during a childhood asthma attack – they didn't know I'd just had one at home. The second shot would have killed me.

There's nothing like sheer panic for producing work. Half of my stuff wouldn't exist if not for the deadline. That's why I still love newspapers: it's squeezing the last little bit of toothpaste out of the tube.

News is fleeting, but some art lasts. I drew Tony Blair with the ball and chain of Iraq around his leg because he will have that for ever.

If you're up at 3.30am, you may as well start working. Early waking is my worst habit.

Bad news makes the strongest drawings. Blood, guts, the situation in Syria. But it is depressing at the same time.

I've had a lot of angry letters over the years. When I drew Mick Jagger in the 60s, 114 schoolgirls signed a letter to me which read: "Dear Mr Scarfe, for what you've done to our Mick we're going to get you and cut off your balls." They never caught me.

Gerald Scarfe is one of the curators for this year's Noise Festival (noisefestival.com)