http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-the-doodle-improve-your-focus-and-memory-1406675744?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=iosapp:Recent research in neuroscience, psychology and design shows that doodling can help people stay focused, grasp new concepts and retain information. A blank page also can serve as an extended playing field for the brain, allowing people to revise and improve on creative thoughts and ideas. Doodles are spontaneous marks that can take many forms, […]

While watching a promotional video of the career of Jeff MacNelly by Tribune Media Services back in the lat ’90’s, I saw Jeff use what looked like both a office pen with a cap that was putting down a line that only comes from a brush. I asked Jeff’s assistant Chris Cassatt if he knew […]

A pan-handler dressed as your friendly neighborhood web crawler got into an altercation with the police. The New York Post has the video (below). Best line from the accompanying story: “A crowd of fellow mascots, including Elmo, Batman and a side-by-side Mickey and Minnie Mouse, also stood watch, their fuzzy mitts held to their giant […]

My favorite iPad drawing app just released a major upgrade. Savage Interaction’s ProCreate 2.1 came out last week with some really cool enhancements with color and layers. The ability to drop a color will speed things up for me quite a bit. Check out their what’s new page for full details.

From the Washington Post:Organizers of two of the biggest comic-book conventions in the country are clashing over their names. A lawyer for San Diego Comic-Con has issued a cease-and-desist letter to organizers of Utah’s Salt Lake Comic Con demanding them to drop “Comic Con” from the name. “Attendees, exhibitors and fans seeing use of ‘Comic […]

A recent cartoon by Ann Telnaes has generated what she describes as “sexually violent and misogynistic threats”. The cartoon (see above) is actually an animated cartoon. Visit the Washington Post to see the full cartoon.From Ann’s blog: Early last week I created a cartoon about the bombings in Gaza. In editorial cartooning, there are some […]

The war in the Gaza strip is proving to be a sensitive issue here at home. The local Jewish community, led by Salt Lake City rabbi Ilana Schwartzman has taken issue with parallels between Israel and Hamas and local cultural issues in Utah. From the Salt Lake Tribune commentary: What we were told is that […]

PBS and American Experience will air a four-hour, two-night film on Walt Disney this fall. The film “explores the life and legacy of one of America?s most enduring and influential storytellers.”From the press release: Directed and produced by Sarah Colt (?Henry Ford,? ?RFK?) and written by Mark Zwonitzer (?JFK,? ?Triangle Fire?), the film features rare […]

Chester Gould, who created Dick Tracy, appeared on the TV show To Tell the Truth in 1965.

Amy Lago, Washington Post Writer’s Group Comics Editor, will be at this year’s 2014 Kenosha Festival of Cartooning and providing portfolio reviews for aspiring professional cartoonists. If you’re planning to attend and would like this opportunity to have your work reviewed by one of the best editors in the business, you need to register first […]

While everyone on the planet will be at San Diego Comic-Con for the rest of the week, I’m taking the kids to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park. It’s just me, five teenagers (not all my own) and a lot of coffee for the next four days. I’ll be back here Monday.Alan

I don’t wish I was going to San Diego Comic-Con (I have a natural aversion to large crowds of grown people acting like children. P.S. Get off my lawn.), but this t-shirt by the The National Cartoonists Society makes me wish I was there so I could buy one. Features artwork by Bill Amend, Sergio […]

The National Cartoonists Society Foundation has issued the first of what may become many issues of The National Cartoonist. The new magazine which is intended primarily as a digital magazine, will celebrate “the best in cartooning, past and present, with extensive interviews, in-depth features and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the world of cartooning and comics, as […]

If you can’t get to the Bill Watterson exhibit at Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum at Ohio State University, consider buying Exploring Calvin and Hobbes: An Exhibition Catalogue. The catalogue will be released at the end of October.Exploring Calvin and Hobbes is the catalogue for an exhibit by the same name at the Billy Ireland Cartoon […]

The Man of Steel – or more specifically the heirs of Superman creator Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – needs a few more allies as they prepare their case for the Supreme Court. You, as a professional artist, can add your name to an amicus brief (friend of the court) supporting the position of creator […]