Monday, January 1, 2018

Playboy Cartoon: January 1996

Doug's full-page color cartoon was published in the January 1996, p. 194, issue of Playboy.

caption:  "Wait a minute!  Didn't I break my New Year's resolutions with you last year?"


Before going to final art, Doug typically xeroxes (on 8 1/2 x 11 standard copy paper) a final pencil rough and then applies aniline dyes for the color rough.   You may find it interesting to see changes, especially for the man's hat/clothing and the couple's hair color, between the color rough and the published cartoon.


To see more available pencil and color roughs for Doug's Playboy cartoons, visit the Doug Sneyd Premium Gallery at:


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Playboy Cartoon: January 2000

Doug's full-page color cartoon was published in the January 2000, p. 205, issue of Playboy.

caption:  "Save room for me."

All of Doug's Playboy cartoons have been rendered on Arches of France cold press art board using Dr. Ph. Martin's aniline dyes.



After Hef approves a loose-style gag rough, Doug does a number of preliminary pencil roughs; this final pencil rough is 7 x 9 on heavy tracing vellum.


Before going to final art, Doug typically xeroxes the final pencil rough and then applies aniline dyes for the color rough.  You may find it interesting to look for changes between the color rough and the published cartoon.


To see available Playboy cartoon originals as well as preliminary pencil and color roughs, visit the Doug Sneyd Premium Gallery at:


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Donation to Library and Archives Canada Collections

After a lengthy review and appraisal process, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), formerly the National Archives of Canada, recently notified Doug that it has accepted his donation of 6 full-page color cartoons published in Playboy.

In addition to nearly 250 of Doug's book and magazine illustrations and syndicated news-editorial cartoons, there are now 36 of his Playboy full-page color cartoons (with accompanying preliminary pencil and color roughs) in the LAC Preservation Centre in Gatineau, which is about 7 miles away from the Ottawa headquarters.  Previous Playboy donations were 12 in 1997, 12 in 1999 and 6 in 2007/2008.

The recent donation includes:

• "What I really want to do is direct." 

July 2002, p. 77, Playboy - also reproduced in The Art of Doug Sneyd, p. 126

• "Well, your singing was off-key, but I really like the big finish."

January 2004, p. 141 Playboy - also reproduced in The Art of Doug Sneyd, p. 215

• "I knew you had an Extreme Makeover, but my God, Harold!"

February 2005, p. 114 Playboy - also reproduced in The Art of Doug Sneyd, p. 122


• "I've had it up to here with him.  Not that I'm complaining."

September 2007, p. 103 Playboy

•  "It was a lovely wedding.  Shirley caught the bouquet and I caught the best man."

July 2008, p. 91 Playboy

• "It looks like another hit for the Food Channel."

May 2010, p. 43 Playboy - also reproduced in The Art of Doug Sneyd, p. 122

The Art of Doug Sneyd, published by Dark Horse Books in July 2011, is a 248-page hardcover book featuring 270 of Doug's full-page color cartoons published in Playboy since the early 1960s.  It was also a 2012 Eisner Award nominee in the Best Humor Publication category.

The hardcover, as well as a softcover edition, can be purchased at:


(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)


New Year's Eve Loose-Style Gag Roughs

Since Doug's first full-page color cartoon was published in Playboy (September 1964, p. 205), he's submitted thousands of cartoon gag roughs to Hef for approval and rendering for final art and publication in the magazine.

After the successful publication in July 2011 of The Art of Doug Sneyd - a 248-page hardcover book featuring 270 of his full-page color Playboy cartoons - Doug collaborated with Dark Horse Books    on a second hardcover book.  Secret Sneyd: The Unpublished Cartoons of Doug Sneyd features 250 of his favorite loose-style gag roughs, including 13 celebrating New Year's Eve (pp. 205-217) in Chapter 8/Happy Holidays. 

from p. 206:  "Everybody quiet down, Marlene's starting the countdown!" 



The 280-page hardcover book, published April 2017, can be purchased at:



Earlier, in 2007, Doug selected 100 loose-style gag roughs for Unpublished; from p. 33, caption:  "Are you almost ready to go home now, dear."


A selection of loose-style gag rough originals is also available at the Doug Sneyd Premium Gallery at:



(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)