Things have seemed a bit, shall we say, grim for awhile now, haven’t they? The 24/7 news/social media cycle inundates us with a steady diet of anger or awful or depressing (admittedly interspersed with cat pictures and dog videos for respite). After the months of nonstop-negativity surrounding the midterm elections (and knowing that roughly half the country is now unhappy with the results)…I need something to smile about, don’t you? Since Muddy Colors is an art blog, I was thinking maybe a few art-themed cartoons might lift our spirits. Oh sure, some might be a bit rude or dark and others off-color or caustic, but shoot, the best humor always has something of an edge. Artists poking a little fun at what it is to be an artist seems like a good way to kick off the week. And even if you’ve seen any of these before, well, funny is funny.

First up, a few classics by the legendary Gahan Wilson. If you haven’t seen his documentary, Gahan Wilson: Born Dead, Still Weird, I encourage you to check it out.

Next up are several clever pieces by Sarah Anderson, who has become incredibly popular for her “Sarah’s Scribbles” webcomics. The insecurities, trials and triumphs of being an artist are recurring themes of her strip.

Bruce Cochran drew his “Famous Comic Artists School” series a number of years ago for the old National Lampoon and they still make me laugh.

I had mentioned the late B. Kliban sometime back here on Muddy Colors in a post about Playboy‘s cartoonists. His work hasn’t lost its irreverance or edge over the decades.

 

I don’t know much about Jonathan Lemon or “Rabbits Against Magic” but I find the samples I’ve seen of his webstrip quite cute.

I guess on the un-cute side of the coin might be illustrator & Columbia College-instructor Ivan Brunetti’s often-taboo-laden nihilistic cartoons; please excuse its profanity, but this one really did make me laugh.

Bill Watterson’s irascible Calvin of “Calvin and Hobbes” fame was always drawing—or rather, Hobbes was—and talking about or creating art in some way, so of course I had to close with some samples. Plus it gives me the opportunity to share the last image which Watterson created as a cover for Rolling Stone back in the late 1980s that was to accompany a feature article, but was replaced when a popular rock star died and was never used. It somehow found its way into a friend’s art collection who eventually traded it—to my great surprise—for a 1950s Frazetta drawing of Flash Gordon he wanted. As he said to me at the time, “The Watterson was the only piece in my collection the guy would take in trade.” Well…yeah.