Another vanity post here: sharing some recent good news about scoring 2nd + 3rd place in the "Best Illustration or Graphic" category for the 2020 Alaska Press Club awards. The winning panels were "Hibernate With a Good Book" and "Yukon Traffic Jam," both destined to be enduring classics, at least from my navel-gazing point of view. But seriously, big humble thanks for the recognition, it's a very cool honor.
Unfortunately cartoons have completely disappeared from the categories now, even erstwhile Editorial Cartoons, as there simply aren't any practitioners of the trade left, aside from occasional and notable exceptions by notable retirees and professional amateurs. I look at the inexorable, overall decline of the field as a canary in the proverbial coalmine situation - as goes the cartoons, so will the rest of the newspaper industry, which has traditionally been symbiotically and indelibly linked with the funny pages. Speaking of which: here's a new link for subscribing to my home newspaper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. It's an opportunity to support one of the pillars of democracy, local journalism... and support the peripheral talent, natch. Thank you - really, it means a lot.
"Was it anything more noteworthy than bringing laughter (and adventure) to other human beings, while keeping the show on the road? What any civilization mostly needs is not the world-altering legacy of a few but the numberless people of talent who play a role … sustaining their contemporaries in the brief moment we have together.” - Cullen Murphy “Cartoon County”
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| Magnificent riverside view of two things missing from my life: money and god |
And as part of the continuing adventures of Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce Artist of the Year (again) I partook in the legendary annual Midnight Sun Festival.Turnout for the event was insane with thousands upon thousands of revelers packing downtown - within the first hour I met more people than I'd had face-to-face contact with than the previous year combined, and as the hours went by hundreds of folks, fans and friends dropped by the table. Still ahead on the docket are appearances at both the state fair and Golden Days, and a Chamber-sponsored art exhibit: details to follow.
One more late-breaking item: my first-ever feature article was published in the new issue of the Alaska Cannabist magazine. It's basically a print-version of a process post of behind-the-scenes in creating a Baked Alaska cartoon with some bonus material + sneak peeks at upcoming pieces with some variations on previously-appearing panels. Also appearing in this issue is an article by local freelance author (who recently wrote a great profile on yers truly) David A. James on how "Cannabis and comics have a long underground history that is now going mainstream." Hard copies are available at finer dispensaries everywhere... and stay 'tooned for some truly awesome news about an upcoming full-color hardcover book!
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