Joan Morrison

• Born 1911 · Died 1969-03-18

Joan Morrison was an Australian cartoonist and book illustrator. Her earliest work was published in the Tasmanian Mail, in 1927 and 1929. She moved to Sydney to study with Rayner Hoff at East Sydney Technical College. Hoff stressed the importance of studying anatomy, especially for black-and-white artists. While still a student, she created illustrations for a Hans Christian Andersen book and won first prize for a figure study in the 1930 Australian Watercolour Institute's exhibition. In 1929, Morrison, along with Mollie Horseman, were the first two women to be appointed cartoonists by Smith's Weekly. By 1935 she was best known as the creator of the whimsical Morrison girl, "...a very imp of mischief with all the allure of audacious innocence." The Morrison girl took over in Australian popularity from Virgil Reilly's Virgil girl. Her cartoons were popular with men serving overseas in the Army, Navy and Air Force during World War II. Morrison worked as a freelance illustrator from 1950 on.