451. International Dog Day Discount, We Toon at Noon, & AI's Effects on Working Artists

Plus! Porchlight Sketchbook, Joe Dator, Michael Maslin, George Booth, & Morris gets really excited about International Dog Day

And more importantly…

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL DOG DAY!!

I told Morris it was International Dog Day when he woke up this morning, and he gave me this look. He’s such an enigma.

For the next 24 hours, I’m doing a special deal on my dog portraits in the new book— if you use the code NEWYORKCARTOONS25 when you check out, you’ll get a 25% discount on your book. This is a limited time one-off offer, so get in quick! I’ll be sketching all Labor Day weekend.

We’ll Toon at Noon!

Don’t forget, today at 12pm EDT I’ll be talking and drawing with New Yorker cartoonist,

Liza Donnelly

. If you aren’t already, be sure to subscribe to her Substack “Seeing Things” over at lizadonnelly.substack.com

If you’d like to join the free stream in just under an hour, click below to add it to your calendar and be notified when we go live.

Liza’s partner,

Michael Maslin's Ink Spill

posted some great cartoons on his Substack this morning— one of which I really admired. It was by the late great George Booth (See my “Artist Spotlight” on George here.) The cartoon is perfect, not only in composition and illustration, but the caption. “Uncle Purvis” is classic Booth. Just perfect.

While we’re on the topic of New Yorker cartoonists…

Joe Dator on Pooh

I was flicking through the latest collection of cartoons in the most recent 100th anniversary edition of the NYer and burst out laughing at the very funny Joe Dator’s cartoon. It doesn’t even need the caption— many of his cartoons are so good they’re already funny without one.

Joe is one of the first people I had on my “Someone You Might Like” section of New York Cartoons. He’s one of the most prolific New Yorker contributors, and one of my all-time faves. A born-and-bred New Yorker, he has a great mind for seeing the world through a cartoon lens.

I got coffee with him a couple of weeks back and was reminded that the last time we saw each other was in London, when his work appeared in both the New Yorker and Private Eye in the same week. His collection of cartoons and rejected sketches is called “Inked” and is well worth adding to the pile on your nightstand. Here’s the post I wrote about him a couple of years ago:

This week, I’ll be posting to paid subscribers about my time meeting prolific New York illustrator Ed Sorel. Initially, this post appeared on Process Junkie back in 2023, but I’ve updated it and will send it out Thursday morning. The meeting had a profound impact on my style and, in turn, my career. Keep your eyes peeled. To become a paid subscriber and get the post in your inbox, you can upgrade now for just $1 a week.

Mugs In The Wild

Thank you to those of you who have already purchased the official New York Cartoons mugs and thermos. It’s fun to see them in the wild and to get photos from you all. Grab yours here, and send me a pic!

“Love my beautifully illustrated and well-insulated coffee mug that has travelled from New York to a coffee shop at the Port of Vancouver, Washington!”
~ Janice (Paid Subscriber)

Scribbling New Yorkers

Thank you to everyone who came out to Porchlight last week for the in-person meetup collaboration between New York Cartoons and

City happenings: something fun to do everyday in New York

— We had such a great time meeting (and drawing) you, and Porchlight really rolled out the red carpet for us with custom drinks and menus. Here are some of the drawings from the night (which doubles as this week’s Sketchbook)

Want me to draw at your next party/wedding/corporate event? Click here.

Talking about AI’s effect on Working Artists

This past week, I also wrote for paid subscribers about the latest impacts of the most advanced AI models on the industry. I did (sadly) predict that we’d be exactly here— perhaps a little later into 2025, but the exponential increase in AI-Art generator usage is becoming more pronounced. We’re feeling it.

Here are two pieces I wrote last week, reflecting on the real-world impacts of AI on working artists:

and…

Missed the Recent Chats? Catch up on my conversations with Sofia Warren (where we discussed anxiety as art, reportage work, and the eternal struggle of being annoyingly talented) and Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (featuring digestive disasters, honky-tonk book tours, and the great menstruation war of 2023).

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