Chico and Buddy

Chico

Chihuahua

7" X 5" pen and ink

2012

Buddy

Terrier Mix

7" X 5"

2012

"All My Dogs" on the BBC!

Last week The Washington Post reviewed All My Dogs. This week the BBC interviewed Bill Henderson, the author of the book I illustrated. Watch the video by clicking here. We hope to make it the most watched video on the BBC! I'll post the text below from "One Man and his 13 Dogs":

 February 2012 

A dog may be man's best friend, but many dog lovers end up with numerous canine companions over the course of a lifetime.Bill Henderson has had a total of 13.The author of "All My Dogs: A Life" has dedicated his memoir to a shaggy mutt called Lulu who he describes as his "life dog".The book covers his own strict upbringing, rocky times in his marriage (he credits a dog with saving it), and the birth of his daughter. Each of the chapters is named after one of his dogs.Describing it as a "mutt memoir", Henderson says the book is half about humans and half about dogs. His conclusion is that dogs are more than just man's best friend, they are an essential member of the whole family.

Video produced by Leigh Paterson. Sketches courtesy of Leslie Moore.

Spike

Spencer

Cali and Earl

Moose

Sabin

Ruger

Mittens, A.K.A. Mitty

Oliver

Kato

Cuzco

Charlie Brown

Earl

Gilmore

Happy

Last PenPets for 2011

Lenny

Schnauzer/Border Terrier mix

 Faith and Belle

Irish Setters

Missy 

West Highland White Terrier

Missy, Saleem, Reilly

Shih Tzu mix, Tiger-Stripe, Golden Retriever

Poppy

Japanese Chin

Ruby

Praise for "All My Dogs"

Praise keeps pouring in for "All My Dogs: A Life" written by Bill Henderson and illustrated by me. I particularly like the Publishers' Weekly mention of the "famed artist"!

Interspersed with sketches from his childhood and adult forays into romance and publishing, Henderson reveals how much his dogs taught him about enduring tragedy and enjoying the pleasures of life. Few readers will get through this slender volume of heartwarming portraits and vignettes without reaching for the tissue box.
—Booklist

With dry humor and enviable honesty, this gem by Pushcart Press founder Henderson (His Son) tells his life story through 13 dogs—of different sizes, shapes, breeds, and mixes—that he and his family have owned. His first dog, Trixie (a German Spitz mix) shaped his formative years in suburban Philadelphia. After his friend's father kicked out the mutt Duke, a 10-year-old Henderson took him in. Labrador retriever Sophie saved Henderson's relationship with his future wife and witnessed the couple's daughter, Holly, grow up. Today, Franny and Sedgwick keep Henderson company. Henderson candidly discusses the deaths of his dogs, including the unexpectedly intimate depiction of the time he discovered Ellen and Rocky (a beloved Chesapeake Bay retriever and mutt) floating in a residential swimming pool in his upstate New York neighborhood. While making a solid, yet subtle, argument for why dogs remain man's best friend, Henderson also writes of his Christian upbringing and his "spiritual sojourn." The book is greatly enhanced by famed artist Leslie Moore's line drawings, and the typeface is Minion, which just happens to mean "faithful companion."
—Publishers' Weekly

"Just when I thought it would be impossible for a dog memoir to set itself apart from the plethora of similar books on the shelves today, I read All My Dogs, a charming and moving account by Bill Henderson, founder of the Pushcart Press. Similar in scope and sensibility to Elizabeth von Arnim's 1936 classic, All the Dogs of My Life, this narrative chronicles the dogs with whom Henderson has shared his life, and the ways they informed it. . . . Henderson's way of telling an economical, well-crafted tale is similar to the manner in which he leads his life: resourcefully and creatively. His dogs have been invaluable companions, and their stories, as well as his own, make for a memorable read."
— Claudia Kawczynska (Editor-in-chief), The Bark Magazine

"It would be a mistake to dismiss All My Dogs by Bill Henderson as just another entry into the already inflated category of canine books, because this little memoir is masterful. . . . What makes All My Dogs extraordinary is Henderson’s skill at weaving together stories about dogs with the trials and tribulations of his personal life; especially moving is the author’s account of his own bout with breast cancer that coincided with his dog Lulu’s cancer diagnosis. Bill Henderson’s writing is simple yet eloquent, at times poetic and poignant. His descriptions of people, events, and scenes range from the humorous to the dramatic. Henderson well knows how to tell a story. He also knows he is lost without dogs. In a chapter entitled “Dogless Years,” Henderson writes of his first, unsuccessful marriage, lamenting, “The idea of children, or dogs, never came up. Our lives were as empty as a bare ruined choir.” Indeed, Henderson is at his best when a dog is by his side. That’s what All My Dogs is really about. Happily, this story reinforces what most dog lovers already believe—that a dog is the best companion a human could ever have."
— ForeWord Magazine

A Pancake Pile of Pit Bulls

 Pickles and Peaches

8" X 10" pen and ink

2011

Pickles and Peaches are a cozy pair of Pit Bulls from Santa Barbara, California. They like to sleep pancake style, one on top of the other, usually Peaches on top of Pickles. They belong to a Pullitzer Prize winning cartoonist and I was in a real panic trying to get them just right. I'm glad to report that he was pleased with the portrait. Here's another pose. 

Peaches on Pickles

My Furry Nephew

Riley

8" X 10" pen and ink

2011

Riley is a bit of a goof ball in real life, full of silly pranks and comic antics. He's a white, not a golden, retriever, and his favorite past time is to find mud puddles and loll in them. On one walk alone he might sample ten mud puddles, the muddier the better! You can imagine what this does to his beautiful white coat, and what my sister-in-law, Sue, a meticulous housekeeper, has to say about that. Riley's nickname is "Mud Bug." Evan, my brother, and Sue wanted a more serious pose, however, for this portrait. So here's Riley, the Magnificent, the Noble, the Wise, and the True!