The Cartoon Whisperer - By, Mark Weston

It is a beautiful thing to walk, work and live in your gifts and for me that’s creating cartoons. It allows me to quietly tell fascinating, joyous and thought provoking stories while bringing art to life because ultimately that is what art is; life. It wasn’t until 1999, when I was about to hit 40 that a friend of mine suggested that I draw caricatures for the amusement park, “Great Adventure”. This experience took me back to my early love of art and gave way to what I really wanted to do which was to draw. 

Growing up, I loved “Peanuts”. Drawing Snoppy and Charlie Brown was so much fun for me and I was really good at it. As a military kid, we were stationed in the Philippines and I was fascinated with the backdrop of street art in the country. Around 6 or 7 years old I took my first formal lesson to draw and that was it for me. I discovered that art was the joy of my heart.

I loved creating stories about my own life to make people laugh. This was when I began to whisper my stories. I was a shy and sensitive child and didn't like to talk much, but the cartoons gave me a voice. But just like my Dad, I joined the Air Force deffering my love for cartooning. I got married like most people did back then and never got an art career started. Struggling thru divorce, a new marriage, raising children and paying child support art seemed like a distant memory. 

But the work at Great Adventure reignited that spark. The job became my niche and today I hold onto the dream of being one of the handful of AM syndicated cartoonist like Rob Thomas and Morey Turner. My comic strips include “Cam Jam”, “Who is Harry” and “Just Us League”. Black Line News eagerly awaits the template for me to print my comic strips on their site and that is in the works right now. 

But for now I enjoy voluntarily drawing caricatures and facilitating workshops for kids. In addition I periodically participate in art shows with “The Underground Railroad Museum” and  “Amistad Cultural Alliance” but there is so much more to come. I am Mark Weston, The Cartoon Whisper.