Early Artworks

When Tex was a boy, he showed a lot of promise with sketching and art work in general. He was 14 years old when Grandad (Reg Bryson) decided to take him to a local advertising company, based in South Brisbane, to get a job as an advertising artist or 'ticket writer', which was a trade in those days.

A 'ticket writer' was a person who used their skills to make advertising prices to hang on products in supermarkets or department stores, and also advertisements in newspapers. Most of the people working for the organisation were freehand artists at the time, and a lot of their work was published in the Courier Mail.

Tex guesses that the person they met for the interview was the middle manager for the artists of the company.

"He said "I have a man's suit to be advertised. I want you to draw a picture of a man in a suit, and the price will be 3 pounds, 10 shillings and sixpence." I started drawing and after 5 minutes he told me to stop. I had barely drawn a set of trousers.

And he said you're too slow."

The manager then told Tex, "this is how we do it in the industry." He took a drawing from another newspaper, cut it out and stuck it on to the piece of paper. He added a price tag and said "that is the kind of speed we need". So as it turned out, it didn't matter whether Tex was a good artist or not, he just had to be fast. Needless to say, he didn't get the job. Before Tex's artistic career had begun, it was over.

This didn't stop Tex from continuing art as a hobby, and over the years the medium changed from pencil sketches in an art book through to realistic airbrush works. Unfortunately, a lot of his work was given away, although I have managed to find some photographs and old sketches. Grandma (Eileen) Bryson kept one of his original sketchbooks from when he was a boy, which included drawings copied from comic books or caricatures.

SJ