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.