Cartoonist, author, and playwright Patrick McDonnell got his start working as a magazine illustrator with some of his earliest drawings appearing in The Village Voice and New Jersey Monthly. The School of Visual Arts graduate enjoyed a successful career as a freelance illustrator, drawing the Russell Baker Observer column for the New York Times Sunday Magazine from 1978 to 1993. As a subtle nod to his future creation, the artist would frequently include a dog in the background of his illustrations.
In 1994, McDonnell created the comic strip Mutts for King Features Syndicate. The strip follows the adventures of a dog named Earl and a cat named Mooch ad they interact with one another, their human owners and the various animals around their neighborhood. Since the strip’s debut 25 years ago, Mutts currently appears in over 700 newspapers in 20 countries. Along with winning the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben for Cartoonist of the Year, Mutts has earned five Harvey Awards for Best Comic Strip, Germany’s Max and Moritz Award for Best International Comic Strip and the Swedish Academy of Comic Art’s Adamson Statuette. The strip has also won awards for its environmental and animal advocacy.
Throughout the titles history, the Mutts cartoons have been published in over 20 compilation books. More recently, McDonnell published The Art of Nothing, celebrating nearly three decades of Mutts. In addition to Mutts, McDonnell also created Bad Baby, a monthly comic strip for Parents Magazine, which ran for 10 years, and is co-author of Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman. At this time he also was a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, Forbes, Time, and many other national magazines.
Beginning in 2005, McDonnell ventured into children’s books with The Gift of Nothing, which quickly became a New York Times bestseller. He followed this with Art, Just Like Heaven, Hug Time, South, Wag, Me...Jane, The Monsters’ Monster, A Perfectly Messed-Up Story, Thank You and Good Night, Tek: The Modern Cave Boy and The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned his ABC's the Hard Way. The artist also collaborated with author Eckhart Tolle to create the philosophical book about nature, Guardians of Being.
Over the years, McDonnell’s work has been animated for television commercials, most notably a PSA for the New York Philharmonic. Outside of his career, the creator is involved with many animal and environmental charities and is a member of the board of directors for both the HSUS and the Fund for Animals. Which is why it’s no wonder that McDonnell is joining the 2020 MoCCA Arts Festival as a Guest of Honor. The festival is being held on April 4-5 at Metropolitan West in New York City. You can read more about the annual event, and the additional featured guests, here on Scoop.
