The Lovely Anna somehow talked me in to doing some artwork for our 2009 Christmas card… results above.

I was honored and privileged to be invited to beautiful Sydney, Australia to be a guest speaker at the Australian Cartoonists Association‘s 25th annual Stanley Awards this past weekend.

The ACA is the Aussie equivalent of the National Cartoonists Society in the U.S., and in fact is an even older organization having grown from the original Australian Black and White Artist’s Club formed back in 1924. Australia is brimming with fantastic talent in the cartooning field… so much of the work I saw there was absolutely top notch. I was humbled to be asked to be a speaker at their event this year.

The Stanley Awards, much like the NCS Reuben Awards, is an annual event celebrating excellence in the cartooning profession, and culminates in an awards banquet where a number of artists are honored by nominations and awards in multiple categories. Also like the Reubens, that is only part of the whole event.

The Stanleys encompass the better part of a three day weekend, and features several guest speakers, panels and workshops as well as social activities that lead up to the awards dinner.

Friday, Nov.  13th-

Things kicked off on Friday with the opening of a terrific cartoon art show featuring members of the ACA which was exhibited at the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) television building.

At the ABC Studios for the Art Show

Upon our return to the Novotel Darling Harbour hotel, the day continued with a series of presentations:

• Ward O’Neil- Ward reviewed his long and storied career. A highly respected cartoonist and illustrator, Ward is a three time Walkley award winner for illustration in 1982, 1984 and 1986. He is currently working at the Australian Financial Review.
• Pran Kumar- Known as “the Walt Disney of India”, Pran discussed the history and current state of comics in India, including his own work. Fascinating presentation.
• Panel Discussion- Cartooning on the International Stage, featuring Pran, and Jim Bridges and Rolf Heimann, recently returned from a visit to China. They talked about cartooning and comics as it pertains to the rest of the world, and Rolf had a lot to say about the struggles of Chinese cartoonists with their oppressive government.

Following these presentations was the main event. Guest of honor Pat Oliphant, the legendary political cartoonist and a transplanted native Aussie living in the United States since 1964. Pat’s presentation was a guided Q & A and he told many stories about his long and distinguished career as well as sharing details about his process and approach to editorial cartooning.

Pat Oliphant does some drawing during his presentation. You can see a video
of him doing this recreation of a controversial cartoon here.

That evening the group took a cruise around the harbour aboard a double decker cruise ship, and enjoyed appetizers (“entrees” in Australian) and cocktails under the shadow of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

The Lovely Anna and me on the harbour cruise

Saturday, Nov. 14th-

Following the business meeting, it was time for my presentation. I had been given a lot of time to do both a presentation and conduct a mini workshop on caricature. Only a few people fell asleep, so I did better than usual!

Following my presentation we all went into the beautiful Darling Harbour wharf and drew caricatures of each other and passersby while enjoying sandwiches (no Vegemite) and soft drinks.

The afternoon program commenced back at the Novotel:

• Panel Discussion- The theme: “Getting To Grips With A New PM” featured cartoonists Sean Leahy (Courier-Mail, Queensland), Phil Somerville (freelance) and Peter Broelman (freelance) discussing how they’ve coped with drawing a new PM (and new US President) for the first time in a decade.
• David Sprod- Unfortunately Michael Janze, the U.S. cartoonist and animator, was unable to make the tr-p due to some error in his flight arrangements and was not there to do his eagerly awaited presentation. However David gamely filled in. David is the nephew of the late George Sprod, an Australian cartoonist who might be best known for the work he did in the British magazine Punch. David, who has curated an exhibit of George’s work,  talked about the career of his late uncle.

That night was the 2009 Stanley Awards banquet. Held in the Syndey Convention and Exhibition Center in Darling Harbour, the banquet room commanded fantastic views of the harbour and featured an entertaining evening of music and fun. Emceed by Aussie television personality Jean Kittison, the awards ceremony was non-stop laughs.

Me and The Lovely Anna all dressed up

Of course, the main reason for the entire event was the honoring of the well-deserving cartoonists in six different categories. Here are the categories and the nominees with the recipient of the “Bronze Stanley” for each in bold:

Illustrator

• Anton Emdin
• George Haddon
• Alan Moir
• Simon Schneider
• John Tiedemann

Graphic Media Artist

• David Allen
• David Follett
• Chris Kelly
• Simon Kneebone
• Brett Lethbridge

Comic Strip

• Jason Chatfield
• Gary Clark
• David Follett
• Alex Hallatt
• Alan Salisbury

Single Gag Cartoonist

• Matt Golding
• John Kudelka
• Reg Lynch
• Neil Matterson
• Andrew Weldon

Caricaturist

• Matt Adams
• Peter Broelman
• Judy Nadin
• David Rowe
• John Spooner

Political Cartoonist

• Peter Broelman
• Rod Emmerson
• Alan Moir
• David Pope
• David Rowe

Illustration winner Anton Emdin and me

The Lovely Anna, Pat Oliphant and me

The ACA Also honored Norman Hetherington with the Jim Russell Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Cartooning. Norman had a long running Aussie TV show called “Mr. Squiggle” where he drew cartoons via a marionette by the same name for over 40 years to the delight of generations of Australian children. It was a delight to see him so honored.

Finally the big award, the Gold Stanley for “Cartoonist of the Year” was awarded. This is the Aussie equivalent of the Reuben award. And the 2009 Gold Stanley went to:

Peter Broelman

Peter is an outstanding cartoonist, illustrator, caricaturist, editorial cartoonist and all around great guy as well. Wonderful to see him take home this prestigious award… especially considering the immense talents that Australia has to offer.

The Lovely Anna and I had a great time. ACA President Jules Faber, Secretary Grant Brown, Treasurer Kerry-Anne Brown, Deputy- President Jason Chatfield, Membership Secretary Peter Broelman, the rest of the board and all the members of the ACA treated us like family and made us feel very welcome. A great organization full of great people. Congratulations to all the nominees and recipients.

Once again it’s almost time for the annual Walt Disney Hometown Toonfest in charming Marceline, MO. As always, this small but wonderful celebration of the art of cartooning in the boyhood hometown of Walt Disney has a stellar lineup of guest speakers. Here’s the official press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Marceline, MO- As the summer heats up, families are anxiously looking forward to the 2009 Walt Disney Hometown Toonfest, Saturday, September 19th in beautiful Marceline, MO. This will be the eleventh year for this celebration of the life and work of Walt Disney. Director of the Toonfest, Richard Switzer and his crew of reulars are getting thier ducks lined up for what promises to be another banner year.

This year’s headliners include: editorial cartoonist Mark Fiore; creator of the comic strip Non Sequitor Wiley Miller; Hallmark Cards cartoonist David Mowder; and MAD Magazine art director Sam Viviano.

The headliners will be featured in presentations as well as a Q&A session on Saturday in the Uptown Theater. Toonfest guests can see their works on display as well as the works of a variety of cartoonists in the Cartoon Show at the Masonic Temple. The family fun will also include live music, the Toonfest silent auction, giveaways, plenty of food and beverages, exhibits, the Princess and Pirates in training and, of course, the annual Walt Disney Hometown Toonfest Parade down Main Street USA featuring marching bands, floats, Queens, Princesses and Pirates.

For more information and a schedule of events go to the Walt Disney Hometown ToonFest website at www.toonfest.net or e-mail us at toonfest@sbcglobal.net.

I wonder if the “ducks lined up” they refer to all wear sailors caps and jackets but no pants….

This event is always a good time and the hospitality of this small mid-western town is without equal. I hope I can squeeze out some time to go, if for no other reason than to get to hang out with my good friend Sam Viviano.

¿Habla español?

I received a phone call this winter from my friend and outstanding caricature illustrator Ismael Roldan asking me if I would be interested in traveling to Colombia in early June to be a special guest speaker at a conference celebrating comics, caricature and illustration in South America called the 15 Salón Internacional de Historietas y Caricaturas Calicomix 2009 (15th Annual International Exhibition of Cartoons and Caricatures Calicomix 2009). I’d be doing a presentation of my artwork, a separate demonstration of my illustration techniques and there would be an exhibit of my artwork in a gallery at the Colombo Americano. In between I’d be attending presentations and workshops by the several other guests speakers/artists and participating in some artist “jams” where we sit about and draw for the public.

“Are you kidding?” I said. “When do I leave?”

Ismael is originally from Colombia, having relocated and lived in the United States for over 20 years. Last year he was a guest speaker at the same conference. He had nothing but wonderful things to say about the event, the people involved and the organization that would be sponsoring my participation, the Centro Cultural Colombo Americano. The Colombo would be taking care of my room and board, and providing translators for my presentations and official events. Good thing since my junior high Spanish classes are well behind me. I would not be provided a translator 24/7… most of the time I’d be on my own in that respect, but I would always be looked after by the organizers of the CaliComix event itself. What an incredible opportunity. How could I refuse? I just needed to sell it to the boss.

The Lovely Anna reacted to this invitation in two ways. First, she was proud and thrilled her husband would be asked to be a guest at such an international event. Second, she said “COLOMBIA?!?” followed by a bout of hyperventilating. Let’s face it, deserving or not, Colombia has a rough reputation involving drug cartels and violence.

There was some discussion about these issues, but Colombia is not the ultra-violent place it’s made out to be in the movies. Yes, there are areas of the country and the city of Cali it would be a bad idea to wander into, but that is true of any big city anywhere in the world. It’s largely populated by peaceful and friendly people going about their lives just like everywhere else in the world. The bad elements are just a tiny part of what is a rich, bustling culture and heritage. That said, it is a different world there and certain precautions need to be taken and followed for personal safety. By and large, though, as long as you are educated about these issues and observe the necessary precautions Colombia is safe enough to visit, and safer than many other places.

A Side Street in Cali

It’s not a place for the casual weekend tourist, however… at least not in Cali where I stayed. At the very least you should be able to speak the language and be very familiar with the area you are visiting, or have a local guide to take care of you like I did. Perhaps visiting the more cosmopolitan (and larger) city of Bogotá one might find more languages spoken and more of a catering for tourists. That was not so in Cali, where I saw no other obvious foreign tourists or visitors. In fact I felt a bit like the Jolly Green Giant wandering around the streets of Cali… I was a head taller than most people and my blue eyes and pale complexion caused a lot of turned heads and stares. The local people I met were very nice and helped me as much as they could… they seemed genuinely pleased to see a foreign visitor and wanted me to feel welcome.

The two best parts of my trip were meeting and seeing the work of some fantastic cartoonists and illustrators from South America, and being able to see and experience first-hand a part of the world that is not easy to see and experience for someone from the U.S.

Arriving in Colombia

I arrived in Cali after a long day of travel with stops in Houston and Panama City. However the time zone Cali is the same as U.S. Eastern Standard Time, and due to our current observation of Daylight Savings Time there was no time change between home and Cali… 10 p.m. in Cali was also 10 p.m. in Minnesota. That made for an easy transition. Customs was quick and my meager Spanish was all I needed to get through security. I was picked up by a gentleman named Michael Cedena, who is a director at the Centro Cultural Colombo Americano and was the person who organized my trip and time in Colombia. It was quite late when I landed but he met me personally and briefed me on the trip into the city about some of the things I should be aware of while visiting Colombia. It’s much the same advice you might get visiting New York City… don’t carry a lot of cash, don’t go wandering down any dark alleys, etc. Common sense stuff. Mostly we went over my itinerary.

Some of the opening night group

After a stop at the Centro Colombo I was dropped off and introduced to a big group of attending CaliComix cartoonists… then Michael had to leave and I was standing there amid about 50 South American cartoonists without a translator. Talk about immersion! Fortunately a few there spoke some English, and one or two did so quite well, so they helped me communicate. Everyone was tremendously friendly and I was made to feel very welcome.

CaliComix organizer Jose Campo and myself

In retrospect that might not have been the best choice for a shirt
for me to wear when walking about in Colombia…

I would get to know several of these people much better over the next 4 days, but right then it was a little overwhelming. I got a taste of what it must be like to be a celebrity… I must have gotten my photo taken with various people several dozen times and signed tons of things. Don’t worry, it didn’t go to my head! It was a fun night but it got late and with an early morning coming the next day I eventually made it to my room.

The outside of my hotel

Casona la Merced lobby

The hotel I stayed at, which was also where the other visiting artists were staying, was the charming Hotel Casona la Merced, across the street from the historic church of the same name. It is a family owned place, and what it lacks in five star luxury it more than makes up for in hospitality. I was treated like a family member, including home cooked meals. I think the best way to experience the real culture and lifestyle of a place is through your stomach, and I had that opportunity in abundance. Every morning there was a knock on my door at 7:45 a.m. telling be breakfast had arrived. I got the following (with some variation) each morning:

MMMMMMMM… Breakfast!!

This is very much a typical Colombian breakfast. The scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions is called huevos pericos. The white, round biscuit looking things are called arepas, which are a sort of bread/buiscuit made from corn. The round, golden ball is a Buñuelo, which is a kind of fritter. In Colombia, it is made with a white cheese mixed with dough and then fried. The red drink is a fruit juice, (likely grape) but I had several different Colombian fruit juices including the local Lulo and Tomate de Arbol fruits. The white rice or arroz is an ever present side dish in almost any Colombian meal.

Tomorrow I’ll describe the Salón Internacional de Historietas y Caricaturas Calicomix itself, plus more about my experiences with the culture of Colombia.

Sundays at the Reuben Weekend are always the most laid back and relaxed of the event. Any pressure of the shows, awards, speakers or other parts of the weekend are behind us and it’s time to just kick back and enjoy the company.

This year NCS luminary Cathy Guisewite generously opened her nearby home to the members for a backyard picnic dinner. She allowed everybody to tour her home, studio and guest house while the grounds were transformed into party area with catered Mexican food and cocktails. Needless to say, as one of the most successful cartoonists in the last several decades, her home was beautiful.

We had an opportunity to see her studio, which she had set up with a step by step of how she does her cartoons.

Cathy’s doppleganger is frustrated with work today

Here’s where Cathy draws her dailies

Here’s Cathy’s steps to doing a daily cartoon:

A close up of her light table

Sunday’s are also the day the sketchbooks come out and the cartoonists do drawings for other cartoonists, their spouses, kids, etc. The Lovely Anna has many scrapbook albums she has done over the years, and is not shy about accosting people to draw for her.

Minnesota illustrator Cedric Hohnstadt

Hallmark artist David Mowder

“The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee” creator John Hambrock

Animator Gary Goldstein

“Loose Parts” panel cartoonist Dave Blazek

“Ginger Meggs” Aussie cartoonist Jason Chatfield

Jeff and Melinda Keane

Cathy took a page from Mell Lazarus‘s book and had a giant urn and a smaller scale toy piano for the cartoonists to doodle on.

Me drawing on Cathy’s urn

I also got roped into doing the “blindfold” drawing that NCS photomaster David Folkman and company have been getting people to do for the last couple of years for the publication “Hogan’s Alley”. Patterned after a challenge some notable cartoonists did in the 40′s where they had to live up to their claim they could draw their characters “blindfolded”, and they were asked to do just that. They have artists do a drawing of their cartoon character blindfolded on the left side of a page, and then do the same thing without the blindfold on the right. Of course I don’t really have a “character”, so I drew Alfred E. Neuman. I really hate drawing Alfred cold because it’s very difficult to draw him right without looking at a picture of him… he’s got a bizarre asymmetry to his face that defies easy reproduction. I did it anyway… the blindfolded one turned out better.

Me doing a bad Alfred drawing

Us with our generous host, Cathy Guisewite

After a wonderful afternoon at Cathy’s we bussed back to the hotel and went up to a private event at a nightclub next door called “Level 3″, where we were treated to the sounds of Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez‘s band (who were fantastic) followed by the traditional karaoke.

Steve Silver, me and Keelan Parham

Lovely NCS ladies Melinda Keane, Barbie Parham, Heidi Silver and Anna

Jay Kennedy Scholarship winner Chris Houghton and his girl friday Kassandra

Karaoke NCS style

Another fantastic Reubens weekend. Many thanks to the board and especially to the hard working Jeff Keane for doing so much to make it so enjoyable.

The 2009 Reuben award dinner took place last night, preceeded by several seminars and tht traditional cocktail party. I’ll post some pictures a bit later today, but here is the list of winners:

TELEVISION ANIMATION

• Sandra Equihua and Jorge Gutierrez – Creators – “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera”

FEATURE ANIMATION

• Nicolas Marlet – Character Designer – “Kung Fu Panda”

BOOK ILLUSTRATION

• Mike Lester- Cool Daddy Rat

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION

• Mark Marturello

GAG CARTOONS

• Mort Gerberg

GREETING CARDS

• Jem Sullivan

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS

• Mark Tatulli – “Lio”

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS

• Mark Parisi- “Off the Mark”

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION

• Sam Viviano

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

• Michael Ramirez

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION

• Craig McKay

COMIC BOOKS

• Cyril Pedrosa- THREE SHADOWS

The Reuben award for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year” went to Dave Coverly (Speed Bump).

I was once again privileged to be a part of the selection of the annual Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship recipient this year. The National Cartoonist Society Foundation just announced the 2009 winner:

_______________________________________________

2009 Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship Winner

The National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF) is happy to announce the winner of the 2009 Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship. Chris Houghton (pictured), 20, is a junior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan where he studies illustration. Houghton was chosen from among 120 applicants for the award, which includes a $5,000 scholarship and a trip to the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award weekend in Los Angeles in May. The scholarship applicants submitted up to five examples of their work along with an entry form that included short essays on their current and future plans in cartooning. Entries were judged by a jury of eight professional cartoonist who are members of the board of directors of the National Cartoonists Society Foundation.

Houghton’s studies at the College for Creative Studies have included character design for animation and writing and illustrating his own comics. He has also submitted gag cartoons and spot illustrations for the school’s student magazine. Aside from his class work, Houghton has also dabbled in freelancing including working on T-Shirt and logo designs and drawing caricatures at events.

Last summer he illustrated a 130 page NASCAR coloring book and is currently doing illustration and concept art for a children’s video game company. He would like to do magazine illustration and work in animation.

The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship is an annual award established in memory of Jay Kennedy, the late King Features comics editor, from an initial  from the Hearst Foundation/King Features Syndicate and additional generous donations from other prominent cartoonist. It is administered by the National Cartoonists Society Foundation. The scholarship is awarded to a college student in the United States, Canada or Mexico that will be in their Junior or Senior year of college during the following academic year, selected by a panel of professional cartoonists.

Houghton will receive his award and meet the professional cartoonists who selected him at the National Cartoonists Society’s Annual Reuben Awards banquet in Los Angeles on May 22nd.

You can see more of Chris Houghton’s work on his website.

_______________________________________________

On a personal note, I’m happy to say Chris, a frequent reader of The MAD Blog, learned about the scholarship here. Congratulations, Chris! See you in L.A.!

Art by Sean Parks

The 63rd Annual National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Awards weekend is shaping up for this spring.

The event will be held in Los Angeles on May 22nd-24th at the Renaissaince Hollywood Hotel. Guest speakers include “In The Bleachers” cartoonist Steve Moore, animator Eric Goldberg, movie poster illustrator Drew Struzan and Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez. The Reuben Awards Master of Ceremonies will be another Pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist named Mike… Mike Luchovich.

As mentioned before, the finalists for “Cartonnist of the Year” are  Dave Coverly (“Speedbump”), Stephan Pastis (“Pearls Before Swine”) and Dan Piraro (“Bizarro”).

The NCS just released the nominees in the divisional categories:

TELEVISION ANIMATION

• Bryan Arnett – Character Design – “The Mighty B!”
• Ben Balistreri – Character Design – “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”
• Sandra Equihua and Jorge Gutierrez – Creators – “El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera”

FEATURE ANIMATION

• James Baxter – 2D Character Animator – “Kung Fu Panda”
• Clay Kaytis – Supervising Animator, Rhino – “Bolt”
• Nicolas Marlet – Character Designer – “Kung Fu Panda”

BOOK ILLUSTRATION

• Jim Benton- Cherise the Niece
• Stacy Curtis- Raymond and Graham Rule the School
• Mike Lester- Cool Daddy Rat

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION

• Lars Leetaru
• Mark Marturello
• Sean Kelly

GAG CARTOONS

• Pat Byrnes
• Mort Gerberg
• Werner Wejp-Olsen

GREETING CARDS

• Kevin Ahern
• Jem Sullivan
• Debbie Tomassi

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS

• Stephan Pastis – “Pearls Before Swine”
• Mark Tatulli – “Lio”
• Richard Thompson – “Cul de Sac”

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS

• Vic Lee- “Pardon My Planet”
• Mark Parisi- “Off the Mark”
• Jeff Stahler- “Moderately Confused”

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION

• Daryl Collins
• Bob Staake
• Sam Viviano

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

• Mike Luckovich
• Jeff Parker
• Michael Ramirez

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION

• Roy Doty
• Craig McKay
• Jack Pittman

COMIC BOOKS

• Chris Blain- GUS & HIS GANG
• Matthew Forsythe- OJINGOGO
• Cyril Pedrosa- THREE SHADOWS

Great to see my friend and mentor Sam Viviano with a nomination in “Magazine Illustration”.  The competition is fierce in these divisions and a nomination is an honor unto itself. The Lovely Anna and I will be rooting for him on the 23rd in L.A.!

Here’s wishing health and happiness to all for 2009.

I did this little doodle as an experiment with a new technique I am working on. It involves using colored lines as opposed to traditional black inked lines for a digitally colored piece. It’s hardly a new concept, but I have only attempted it a few times and in different ways with mixed results. The above was done by inking the drawing in the traditonal way and then scanning as always, but then replacing the black ink color with other colors. It produces a slightly more painted and softer look.