A Dog for a Dog

Award-winning cartoonist Jerry Scott surprises the hell out of me with a custom oil painting of Morris...

I opened my mailbox yesterday expecting the usual delights—ConEd bills, takeout menus, Mayoral election pamphlets and maybe something from that neighbour who keeps complaining about "excessive" French bulldog snorts. (It's not excessive, it's atmospheric ASMR.) Instead, I found a package that made me question whether I should just burn my easel and take up accounting.

Jerry Scott—co-creator of award-winning syndicated comic strips Baby Blues and Zits, friend and colleague from my National Cartoonists Association presidential days, and apparently a man with far too much time and talent on his hands—had sent me an oil painting of Morris. My Morris. My snorting, drooling, perpetually confused flatulent Frenchie, who looks like he's constantly questioning the meaning of existence (which, to be fair, he probably is).

The backstory: A few weeks ago, I'd sent Jerry a pencil sketch of his French bulldog, Alice, after he bought my book You're Not A Real Dog-Owner Until... It was a decent sketch—the kind where you squint and think, "Yeah, that could be a dog." Jerry apparently received this modest gesture and thought, "I'll see your pencil sketch and raise you a masterpiece that would make Da Vinci snap his brushes."

The painting arrived wrapped like it contained the crown jewels or Jimmy Hoffa. When I peeled back the layers (because apparently Jerry packages things like he's launching them into space), there was Morris. But not just Morris—Morris with soul. Morris with eyes that seem to follow you around the room— but in a good way, not in a haunted Victorian portrait way.

Jerry captured something I've been trying to nail in my own dog drawings for years: that particular Frenchie expression that's equal parts "I love you unconditionally" and "I have no idea what's happening but I'm farting right now with heavy eye contact." You know the look—it's the same expression I wear when someone asks me about cryptocurrency or tries to explain TikTok memes.

Here is my live reaction to the unwrapping of the gift, which was on today’s Substack Live with

Beth Spencer

:

The brushwork is loose but confident, the colours warm but not sentimental. Jerry somehow managed to make Morris look dignified, which is impressive considering Morris once got his snout stuck in a Pringles can, and I had to grease him out with olive oil.

What really gets me is the generosity of it. This isn't just a painting—it's a few hours of Jerry's life, his professional skill, his actual paint and canvas, all deployed because I sent him a ten-minute sketch. It's the kind of gesture that makes you realise the cartooning community is basically a bunch of overgrown kids who never learned to stop sharing their crayons.

I've hung it in my apartment, right where I can see it while I work. Now every time I'm struggling with a drawing, Morris's painted eyes seem to say, "It's okay, Dad. Jerry made me look good."

Or maybe he's just wondering where I hid his treats.
Either way, I'm keeping the painting forever.

Thanks, Jerry. You magnificent bastard.

‘til next time,

Your pal,

P.S. If you’d like your dog (or your friends’ dog) drawn into the copy of the book, click here to order one. I love drawing them and seeing the photos of the dog with the portrait when they arrive!