He's the face behind the iconic cartoon for the Western Advocate for a generation and now Paul Smith, better known by readers as Smithy, will hit a significant milestone on Friday.
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August 23 marks 50 years since Smithy penned his first cartoon for the Advocate, after former general manager Lou Shehade got in contact with him.
"We were friends and he knew that I did a bit of drawing so he said to me, 'What about doing a cartoon for the paper?'" Smithy explained.
- READ MORE: Criticism all in day's drawing for 'Smithy'
"The original cartoon was about the increase of beer, with the price of a schooner going up from 81 to 82 cents.
"In those days there was no inflation, nothing changed much. People's wages never changed."
Across the past 50 years, Smithy believes he has drawn almost 2500 cartoons, rarely missing a week.
"I never expected to be doing it 50 years, let alone a year," he said.
"I don't think about [drawing the cartoon] much until Friday. I normally read the Advocate in the morning, or on Thursday, to see what's happening and try and keep it current."
Of course though, it can sometimes prove difficult to keep the topic of his weekly cartoon current, with politics being a popular fall back for him."One of my favourites has been Julia Gillard," he said.
"I know my wife gets a bit crook when I make her nose too long, but that's my job. Of course now, [NSW premier Gladys] Berejiklian's nose is quite outstanding now. If not there's always Scomo as well.
"I always liked doing Bill Shorten and Kevin Rudd too."
Writing a cartoon for the Advocate isn't a full time job, with Smithy having been a sign writer throughout his working life, owning his own business.
And he was first aware of his ability with a pen quite early on in his life.
"When I was going to school, I was the one always chosen to draw things," he said.
Over his time, some of Smithy's cartoons have drawn plenty of attention, including one back in 2014 about the proposed co-naming of Mount Panorama and Wahluu.
And while Smithy's criticism was widespread, he said, "It's my opinion and you can't please everyone."