WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | An Ariail View: Cartoons by Robert Ariail

An Airail View: Cartoons by Robert Ariail
STATEWIDE (WIS) - For 25 years, he brought us his unique take on the Palmetto State in the pages of the morning paper. But like many who practice the art of editorial cartooning, Robert Ariail had to move on.

Now, we are happy to report Ariail's work will be featured on WIS and wistv.com!

The content is being distributed by United Feature Syndicate.

Ariail has won many national and regional awards for his work.

He's also been a finalist (the top three among nominees) for the Pulitzer Prize twice — in 1995 and 2000.

Ariail is a Columbia native and University of South Carolina graduate.

Though he hasn't had to deal with the demands of cartooning for a daily newspaper since March, Ariail is still working and, clearly, still having a good time skewering the many serious and silly sides of life in South Carolina.

"It's fun and I get to be creative every day," Ariail explained. "And it's different every day. I never know what idea I'm going to go after."

After a quarter century of award-winning work at The State, Ariail's job fell victim to the recession, and what many say is fundamental change in the newspaper business.

"The profession is in trouble. We're sort of the canary in the mine, if you will, for newspapers, you know? And I think it's...so many cartoonists have lost their jobs, and I think it redounds to the problems of the newspaper industry at large," he said.

Ariail's art remains widely distributed.

Working at his home in Camden, he turns out at least three cartoons a week and is syndicated in more than 600 publications.

"So many things in South Carolina make national news," he explained.

He has his own web site, robertariail.com, and his cartoons continue to show up in unexpected places, like on the cover of the Washington Post Weekly.

His freelance work includes logos, like one for the new state Farmer's Market.

But Robert Ariail admits he misses the opportunities, and the paycheck, that come with daily newspapering.

Ariail is syndicated to over 600 newspapers nationwide through United Media, and has published three collections of his cartoons. The most recent, Ariail!!!, was one of Columbia’s best-selling books in 2001.

Copyright 2009 WIS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.