Media Inc. Ad

With all the traveling I did this month, I’d forgotten that I was scheduled to get a quarter page ad into Media Ink last Friday. Thankfully, the magazine gave me a call and reminded me. My problem was that a project I took on last week grew a little bit. Once I met the client’s deadline I found I only had a few hours to complete my own ad. So, I flipped through the pile of portfolio samples and found an image of which I was rather proud. I quickly thought up a line of copy and banged out my ad. Naturally, I think this is a clever ad, perfectly honed for the audience to which the magazine is distributed. Still, I’m curious as to what other people think. How would you score this ad on a scale of one to ten?

Street Sketch

I’m a big fan of the famous cartoonist R. Crumb. One of the reasons I like his cartoons so much is that he takes the time to drawbackgrounds. And since his stories are usually in a rural setting, he draws rural backdrops.Most of the time it’s what you would see on any average street--power lines, dusty windows, garbage bags, and so on. This page in my sketchbook was an exercise I did when I was trying to remember non-descript things I saw that day.

How to use an inhaler on a cat

When the veterinarian told us that our cat needed medication to treat her bronchitis, we expected the prescription to be in the form of pills. We were shocked to find out that we would be treating her with an inhaler! Just how do you get a cat to suck in medication from an inhaler? Apparently, you use a device similar to one created for treating infants. The instructions that came with it provided a verbal description, but their imagery left a lot to be desired, so I drew this how-to-help-your-cat illustration.

Rhino with Hat Smoking a Cigar

The last time I was in Toronto, I ate at a truly fancy steak house. We’re talking wood-paneled walls, two waiters to every table, and slabs of steak the size of your head—well, maybe my head. The ambiance, filled with the aromatic scent of Old World money, Powerful Canadian Money, gathered by men of questionable character and strong wills, land barons, industry tycoons and semi-civilized tyrants, was overwhelming. In reality, our table was probably just adjacent to some Toronto real estate agents, but the flavor of the place inspired me to once again draw a hat on an animal.

CA Competition Entry

A few hundred moons ago when I started my degree in Graphic Art, my professor, Mr. John Agars, introduced me to Communication Arts Magazine. I started my subscription then and now have almost entire bookcase dedicated to the copies I’ve collected. I’ve always wanted to be featured in Communications Arts. One of the ways I might get into CA is to win their Illustration Annual Competition. Looking over last year’s projects this editorial illustration I did for an article about innovation was one of my favorites. So, I made it my entry for this year. With any luck the judges will gush over its wonderful simplicity.

Freez'n Tik'n

My work has been taking me to a lot of fun places. Most recently it took me on a couple of trips to Toronto, Canada. Toronto is filled with culture. I should know, I spent my time there in meetings located in the two main theaters there. Signatures of famous entertainers filled the walls. I would also like to say that Toronto was warm and inviting. But, it was in reality 10 degrees with a terrifying wind chill factor. I was inspired to draw this little tiki image after walking to a restaurant the concierge guaranteed was only a five minute walk away.


Many thanks for the folks who have been congratulating me on my recent award. Your praise is the coal that warms this pompous windbag’s heart. Getting warm was something I was in dire need after my trip to Toronto. And nobody has been piling in on heavier than my good friend David Juel. David also won an award at the Cartoonist Northwest . Toonies award. It was for the best clay sculpture. In this case, it was a sunburn pirate. His creation caught my vote because, as I said to him, “I like his crunchy abs.” My wife is puzzled be the parrot. How could anyone with sunburn that bad stand to have a parrot on their shoulder? David is also the most recent contributor to my The Return of Stickman strip. You can see his contribution here. I encourage my friends and fans to think up with their own stickman strips and send them in. Thanks again you David for your contribution.

Cartoonists Northwest's Annual Toonies Awards

Cartoonists Northwest held their Annual Toonies Awards this last Saturday. I was honored to receive a certificate of achievement for outstanding creativity in web comics. I thought I would have fun with the topic of awards in this Return of Stickman strip.