Dog Owner Book Launch in NYC, Waking Up Collab, & New Yorker Softball: Season 2025

#436: + Morris steals the show, a forehead sketchbook, & a DMA with a Paris-based watercolour artist!

…Coming to you from the drizzly sidewalks of Hell’s Kitchen, welcome to Issue #436 of New York Cartoons!

First off, I have to thank everyone who came to the book launch on Friday night at the AKC Museum of the Dog! We completely sold out, and had to do two separate events to accommodate the number of people and dogs who showed up.

We got to sign a heap of books, complete with drawings of everyone’s pups in the inside cover, and even got a surprise cake made featuring the dogs from the book all over it. Big thanks to our brilliant agent, Nicole Resciniti, for arranging it and shoutout to @Baked.By.Blue for the incredible attention to detail on the cake!

Recognize anyone?…

Launching a book is a nerve-wracking exercise, as any author knows— and it was made all the easier by having our incredible readers there to support. Thank you again!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“This book had me smiling, giggling, and straight-out belly laughing. The illustrations are so well done and humorous. Each page has a very relatable scenario about the life of a dog owner. This isn't a novel or collection of short stories. It's a funny book that's perfect to pick up whenever you need something uplifting. You're not alone, and if you're a dog owner, this book is sure to bring a smile to your face. This is a hardcover book with thick front and back covers. It's bound very well. The paper is thicker than a traditional novel. Each page is loaded with illustrations. It would be a great gift for a seasoned dog owner who's been through most of these scenarios or a new dog owner to give them a glimpse into the future antics of their furry new friend. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to any dog owner with a sense of humor. Five stars!”

This week’s Sketchbook is a warm-up sketch of a guy I saw on 9th Avenue this week with the most incredibly-shaped forehead.

It’s Art Season in New York
'Next week might be the most overwhelming one on the NYC art calendar or arguably at all. There are over 10 major fairs and a flurry of smaller pop-ups and independent shows taking over the city. Ever since Frieze landed here in 2012, May has become a key moment in the art world, with other fairs strategically timing their openings to ride the wave of collectors, curators, and press already in town. I like to think the spring weather plays a role too - there’s no better time to stroll from gallery to gallery.’ — Alexa Weiser breaks them all down in her post here.

Each week, the New Yorker team meets at the softball diamond in Central Park to play against writers, fact-checkers, and cartoonists* who work at other publications like Vanity Fair, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and many others.

This is a tradition that goes back over half a century. I am almost certainly the least valuable member of the team, with the knees of a septuagenarian and the pitching arm of an old chair. Each week, I will document our surprise wins, our devastating losses, and everything in between. So, get your lukewarm light beer out, and prepare for another season of…

*I’m kidding. Nobody else has cartoonists anymore.

Here is our season for 2025 if you want to come by and support:

5/20 vs. New York Mag @ James J. Walker Park (West Village), 7 p.m.

5/27 vs. The Infatuation @ Central Park North Meadow #2, 7 p.m.

6/10 vs. Paris Review @ Central Park North Meadow #2, 7 p.m.

6/17 vs. NYRB @ East River Park #1, 7 p.m.

6/24 vs. Financial Times @ James J. Walker Park (West Village), 6:30 p.m.

7/8 vs. Defector/HellGate @ Prospect Park #5, 7 p.m.

7/15 vs. Vanity Fair @ Central Park North Meadow #2, 7 p.m.

7/22 vs. Slate @ Prospect Park #5, 7 p.m.

7/29 vs. Rolling Stone @ Central Park North Meadow #2, 7 p.m.

8/5 vs. Harper’s @ Central Park North Meadow #2, 7 p.m.

8/12 vs. TBA @ Central Park North Meadow #2, 7 p.m.

8/18 vs. WNYC @ Central Park North Meadow #12, 6:30 p.m.

A big thank you to Anthony LeDonne for his bonkers photographic and audio/lighting prowess to make this video look so ridiculously nice.

As some of you may know, I’ve been fortunate enough to be the official portrait illustrator for Waking Up and have drawn over 100 portraits of the world's top meditation teachers, yogis, psychologists, and other experts in their field who feature on the app. I always listen to their voices while I’m drawing to make sure I’m letting that seep into the art.

Take a look at my collaboration with the Waking Up Team below:

For this Thursday’s #DrawMeAnything, I’ll be joined by special guest, Jessie Kanelos Weiner artist and author of “Thinking in Watercolor”. Click below to add it to your calendar.

In the meantime, take a look at a projection design project I kind of fell into back in Melbourne, long before projector technology was at the bleeding edge hyper-real level it is now.

The Real star of the show…