Andertoons in the Smithsonian

cartoon4316

As posted recently, my family and I just got back from a two-week road trip from Chicago to Washington DC and points between. It was just an incredible trip, but one of the most exciting and surprising moments involved one of my cartoons.

A few years ago I was contacted by someone at the Smithsonian who was setting up an exhibit that included a history of the food pyramid. They wanted to add my USDA Canine Food Pyramid cartoon at the end of the exhibit just for fun. I of course agreed immediately. As the years went by I wondered occasionally where it ended up, how it might have been used, and if it was even still on display anymore, but figured it was something I’d never get to see.

So one of the vacations stops was the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. We were in the FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950–2000 exhibit. I was admiring the old Marvel Slurpee cups when my wife yelled “Mark! Mark, it’s you!” I walked over and was flabbergasted to see my cartoon on display.

I could not believe it. Never in a million years would I have thought we’d stumble across it on our vacation.

The Mrs. and I took it all in, showed it to the kids, took loads of pics, and then surreptitiously watched other visitors discover and share the cartoon.

I have to say, it was an incredible experience. And a huge thanks to my wife for keeping an eye out for it. I hadn’t even thought to look!

Here’s some more pics of it:

SmithsonianCartoon1

SmithsonianCartoon2

SmithsonianCartoon4

food_b_0

2016 Vacation

Just about a week ago my family and I returned from a two-week road trip. It took almost a year and a half of organizing, saving, and planning, but it went off without a hitch and we had a terrific time.

We started out from Chicago, visited Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, spent a week in Washington DC, and then came back the way we came.

We were gone 15 days/14 nights, traveled 1940 miles, spent 43:26 hours in the car, took 1271 pictures, and ate twice at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream.

Here’s a list of the places we saw:

And here’s some pics if you’re interested:

IMG_4251

IMG_4417

IMG_4462

IMG_4605

IMG_4652

IMG_4678

IMG_4736

IMG_4790

IMG_4816

IMG_4835

IMG_4882

IMG_4909

IMG_4961

IMG_5063

IMG_5079

IMG_5162

IMG_5230

IMG_5440

I’ll write more in the next few days of some more cartoon related stuff, but I hope you enjoyeed this as much as we did!

 

My 2015 Reubens Talk

A few weeks back I had the honor of speaking at the 2015 NCS Reuben Awards in Washington, DC. It went really well and was well-received, so I thought I’d share it here in case you missed it or weren’t able to attend.

BTW, there were questions at the end, but I left those off. If you have questions feel free to drop me a line.

2015 NCS Reubens – Washington, DC

This year the National Cartoonists Society held it’s Reuben Awards in our nation’s capital, Washington, DC at the Omni Shoreham. It was an amazing weekend and I was so honored to be one of the featured speakers.

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Hotel
Presidents, Sinatra and the Beatles have stayed here. And now I have too!
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Our Room
Comfy!
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - The View
Lots of space to pretend to work in!

First up was an event at the Library of Congress for King Features’ 100th anniversary. Then it was back to the Omni for presentations.

I was up first and I think my talk went really well. I made a recording of it and I’m hoping to post it in a week or so. So stay tuned!

Other speakers for the weekend included Juana Medina, Doug Mahnke, Nick Galifianakis, Brian Crane, Mort Drucker, and a panel hosted by Ann Telnaes.

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Presentations
No, that’s not Brian Crane in the photo belly dancing
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Mort Drucker Standing O #1
Mort Drucker getting a standing O at his presentation

I think one of the most exciting parts of the weekend for me was meeting Mort Gerberg. He came to my presentation and came up to chat with me afterward. His book, Cartooning: The Art and the Business, was a gigantic help and influence to me when I was just getting started. I was so thrilled to meet him. What a wonderful and kind man.

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Me & Mort Gerberg
Me & Mort Gerberg

I also met tons of other people who wanted to chat about my presentation. Everyone had a lot of questions and I was so pleased to talk with them!

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Phil Judd

Later that night there was a cocktail party and I got to chat with tons of people including Anne & John HambrockAdrian Sinnott, Ken Krimstein, and Brigid Alverson.

The next morning was a trip to the zoo. It was just a 10 minute walk away!

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Panda
This panda really liked that popsicle
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Meerkat
Meerkat taking a break
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - National Zoo
I don’t remember what this is

Saturday evening was the big awards dinner with a pre-show cocktail party. Again, I got to chat with so many nice people including Tom Richmond, Tom GamillBrian KellyTom Stemmle, John Glynn, and Mo Willems.

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Mo Willems
Me & Mo Willems

And of course, my best pal Mike Lynch!

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Mike Lynch
Me & inky pal Mike Lynch

The awards were terrific. (Click here for the list of winners.) Jason Chatfield did a terrific job hosting!

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Jay Kennedy Award
Derek Desierto accepts the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - More Mort Drucker
Another standing O for Mort Drucker

The next day I spent touring DC a bit. I’ve never been here before and really wanted to take it all in.

2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - White House
The White House
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - WW2 Memorial
World War II Memorial
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Lincoln
Lincoln
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Washington Monument
The Washington Monument
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Air & Space Museum 1
Me & a Saturn V engine
2015 National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards - Air & Space Museum 2
Mooning astronauts

Well, that’s it. Huge thanks to Tom Richmond and the NCS for inviting me, the lovely Anna for helping things to run smoothly, Latisha Moore for keeping everything organized, John Lotshaw for calming my nerves and making my talk run smoothly, and everyone who was kind enough to take the time to chat with me. What a wonderful and exciting weekend!