Sunday, October 30, 2016

Halloween Humor - Enjoy!

Doug's single-panel Doug Sneyd news cartoons, distributed by the Toronto Star Syndicate, appeared daily in newspapers throughout North America for nearly 20 years, starting in the mid-1960s.

Typically, the subject focused on "hard news" - politics, the economy, the environment, education, health care, etc.  

However, Doug also wanted readers to smile and have a laugh.


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Chatelaine • May 1960 Illustration

In addition to doing illustration work for major textbook publishers in Canada and the Star Weekly, Toronto, Doug also did freelance work for Chatelaine, published in Canada since March 1928.

His first full-page color cartoon was published in the September 1964 issue of Playboy.  Doug explains, "On a visit to Chicago in the early 1960s, I brought along some of my published magazine illustrations and was able to arrange a meeting with a Playboy editor.  I had hopes of doing some illustrating for the magazine; instead, the editor suggested that I consider doing cartoons for them.  I told him I didn't think it was my cup of tea.  However, when he told me what Playboy paid for cartoons, I quickly developed a different taste in tea."



(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Trip to Northern Italy and Cinque Terre: Photos Start Sunday, Nov. 13th

"Ciao."

Take a few minutes and travel with Doug and me to Northern Italy and Cinque Terre.  We were there for 19 days in September; I'll start posting photos Sunday, Nov. 13th.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Visiting St. Malo, Home to Jacques Cartier

When I told Doug I was visiting St. Malo, he wanted me to take pictures of Jacques Cartier's home and final resting place; Doug illustrated Man from St. Malo, published by Macmillan, 1959 as one of the Great Stories of Canada series.

Cartier, who lead several expeditions from 1534-1543 to claim new lands for Francis I, is regarded the true discoverer of Canada - naming the St. Lawrence River and planting the fleur de lis on North American soil (Quebec). 

St. Malo, located in Brittany on France's northwest coast, was built, starting in the Middle Ages, as a walled citadel to guard the estuary of the Rance.  The granite walls surrounding the old town are imposing as one nears the entrance gate.  

The walk to the old town both welcomes and impresses visitors with the history of the port.



St. Malo is a great destination for its history and charm; the carousel was a delight.



The flags welcome visitors, even before entering the main entrance to the old town.



Main entrance to the old town.


Once inside, city hall is on the right.


A charming hotel, cafe and boutiques on the left, across from city hall.


Walking toward the ramparts, where visitors can then see two tiny tidal islands accessible by foot at low tide.


Fort National, built in 1689 on one of the islands, protected St. Malo from attack; it was, however, unable to deter the Nazis, who occupied St. Malo in 1940 and fortified it as part of the Atlantic Wall.



Walking further along the ramparts, looking at the beach below during low tide.



Looking left toward the old town.


Walking down to the center of the old town, turn right to enter the Saint-Malo Cathedral, built in Romanesque and Gothic styles with beautiful stained glass windows.




A plaque in the floor of the main aisle honors Jacques Cartier.



In an alcove on the left of the main altar, there's a tribute to Cartier near his remains.



After leaving the cathedral and walking back toward the main entrance gate, I passed by the Hotel Cartier.



(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Doug Illustrates Man from St. Malo

Doug's early career as an artist included illustrating textbooks published by Canada's major publishers, including MACMILLAN.


The 160-page/16-chapter textbook was published in 1959; at the time, Doug and his family lived in Toronto.












(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Prelims: October 2013, p. 83 Playboy Cartoon

caption:  "I asked my travel agent for a list of vacation hot spots and he gave me your number."


preliminary pencil rough - to see more of Doug's preliminary pencil and color roughs, visit the Doug Sneyd Premium Gallery at:



approved gag rough




(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Secret Sneyd Now Available for Pre-Order

Secret Sneyd:  The Unpublished Cartoons of Doug Sneyd - published by Dark Horse Books - is now available for pre-order (scheduled delivery is April 18, 2017) through:


The hardcover book features 250 of Doug's funniest and clever unpublished cartoon concepts (loose-style gag roughs), chosen from the thousands he's submitted to Playboy since the early 1960s.

Doug's had close to 500 full-page color cartoons published in Playboy magazine; his work first appeared in the September 1964 issue on p. 205 and was also reproduced on p. 71 in The Art of Doug Sneyd, published by Dark Horse Books in July 2011.  The 248-page hardcover book, featuring 270 of Doug's published Playboy cartoons, is now also available in a softcover edition.


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Playboy Gag Rough Rejects - Enjoy!





To see more of Doug's Playboy gag rough rejects, visit the Doug Sneyd Premium Gallery at:


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Sunday, October 2, 2016

New Loose-Style 10 x 14 Original



(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Chatelaine • September 1959 Illustration

A fews years after Doug started doing covers and illustrations for several of Canada's major textbook publishers, he expanded his freelance career to magazine illustration commissions.  One of his first assignments was for Chatelaine, published in Canada since March 1928 and currently the number one Canadian magazine in paid circulation. 

What was unusual about this early commission was that the model - the first he ever used - turned out to be a recent Miss Canada.  

In addition, this particular illustration - unlike all of his later full-page color cartoons in Playboy - was rendered in acrylics; for his 500-plus Playboy cartoons, he used Dr. Ph. Martin's aniline dyes to achieve translucency and clarity.



(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)