Remembering Cartoonist John Callahan on his birthday, February 5th

Happy Sunday! Today, Remembering Cartoonist John Callahan on his Birthday, (February 5, 1951).

Callahan was a cartoonist known for his unique and thought-provoking style. If you knew his cartoons, you'd know that John held little sacred in his artistic work, generally dealing with the shocking, the obscene, and taboo, leaving readers to question the world around them using controversial topics such as disability, addiction, and mortality, he was unafraid to push boundaries in order to start important conversations, while at the same time his cartoons were always marked by their sharp wit and dark humor, making them both thought-provoking and entertaining".

His drawing style may have been a little on the crude side, but that could be forgiven, due to the fact that he was almost completely paralyzed following a tragic car accident at age 21, he was left with some small movement in one arm. At first bitter about this turn in his life, he decided to vent his feelings through his art. His collections of cartoons including "Digesting the Child Within" " Do What He Says, He's Crazy"" Do Not Disturb Any Further", as well as a children's book(free of his typically dark humor) "The King of Things and the Cranberry Clown."

John unfortunately passed in 2010 due to complications of quadriplegia and respiratory problems. He was 59 years old.

A biographical film," Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot", starring Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Jack Black, and Jonah Hill and directed by Gus Van Sant, and based on Callahan's memoir of the same name, was released in 2018.

We had the chance to visit John in his Portland, Oregon home and make this portrait, for My "Artist Within Portrait Project".

Happy Birthday John!

art © John Callahan

Photo© Greg Preston