My Artistic Credentials

The fact that I'd feel compelled to note my artistic credentials suggests how old I am (59). I suspect adolescents and young adults care not one whit about credentials but rather the finished product. Since I'm not yet drawing this graphic novel I have no finished product to display. But I feel compelled to give stray readers who happen upon this blog assurance that all this prose will someday be illustrated. Here's my arty curriculum vitae.

1952: born to middle class parents, both of whom dabbled with drawing. 

1957: saw Mickey Mouse Club and Uncle Roy as he encouraged TV viewers to put a plastic sheet over their TV screen and trace with a wax marker the doodles he made. I watched in awe as my older sister did this.

1958: received the first of many PEANUTS comic strip collections book. I still have them all.

1959: moved from NY to the Pacific Northwest where it rained so much I went stir crazy with boredom. My mom suggested I occupy myself with drawing. Great advice.

1960: Began a love affair with Hanna Barbera TV animated cartoons. Drew Quick Draw McGraw a lot.

1965: Discovered MAD magazine. Got adrenaline buzz!

1968: High school pals introduced me to Robert Crumb and under ground comix. My adrenaline spiked! 

1969: first requests to draw for non profit organizations. Learned what "free" in freelance means.

1970: discovered Mother Earth News issue #1 with a number of articles on freelance cartooning. More adrenaline! Learned the importance of sketching everywhere. 

1970: graduated from HS and went to Burbank, CA to apply for job as animator for Hanna Barbera. Not hired. 

1972: got hired in sign shop and learned some lettering techniques to earn extra cash. 

Me (on right) 19th birthday painting wall sign

1972: hired at Seattle Goodwill where I was promoted from fumigator loader to sign painter.

1973: launched my own business, Peacock Sign Co...lettering grocery store banners, trucks, ply signs, etc.

from 1970s business card

1977: married Vicki who was an inspiration. Great pen and ink artist...calligraphy, pointillism. I submitted cartoons to dozens of magazines trying to break into print.

1980: subscribed to Leadership Journal and in the first issue they invited cartoon submissions. I submitted several and sold my first gag cartoons (2 at $100 each). Ecstasy reigned. Vicki and I did something we seldom did: we danced and traipsed around the living room of our Seattle apartment like we won the lottery. To a married couple living on a youth pastor's salary (supplemented by Vicki teaching high school), that $200 check was pure gold! Did freelance work for magazines, newspapers, and film strip producers. 

1983: started comic with/for teenagers in Whatcom County (WA) called What Comics. Self published 3 issues.

1986: Drew comics for my kids.

1995: self syndicated a single panel strip GOIN' BONKERS and submitted to hundreds of newspapers. (Filed somewhere!) Landed one contract; sold each weekly cartoon for $5.00. Had I nailed contracts with 100 newspapers I would have earned $500 a week.

More to come....