This week’s doodle was one I started a long time ago and came back to off and on whenever my anxiety got crazy. This week I finished it.
“Sometimes when my anxiety gets out of hand the only thing that gives me comfort is doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and…”
Does it count as art if it’s just text? I’m not sure, but it brings me comfort and maybe it will bring you comfort too.
Whenever I worked on this I reminded myself that every time I’d been worried in the past, if I could go back it time I would assure myself that “It will be okay.” Maybe not easy. But always okay, eventually. And now I tell myself that again. I tell you too.
Back on July 6, I published another cartoon on this same issue. A sketchy developer is asking for Fredericksburg to zone an area for homes, apartments, retail space, and for it all to be anchored by a “specialty” grocery store. The catch is, the city won’t be allowed to know which grocery store it’s getting. And now, they’ve taken a closer step to approving it.
Nader’s is a downtown grocery store in Fredericksburg, and it’s an institution. But over the years, I’ve heard complaints about it being the only grocery store downtown. It’s probably Fredericksburg’s version of a Bodega. A Bohemian friend of mine wrote a song about the place. I think Nader’s name has changed, but it’s always going to be known as Nader’s. It is by the Purina tower and the train station.
Creative note: I came up with this idea while on the train to my convention last Thursday. Because of all the shenanigans happening here, I wasn’t able to finish the cartoon until Friday afternoon. I drew this in the lobby so I could spend more time with my colleagues, and a LOT of them were looking over my shoulder watching me draw this. That would have been intimidating a few years ago, as most of them are better artists than I am, but they’re really the coolest people and are super supportive.
During the awards ceremony Saturday night, the president of the AAEC, Marc Murphy, mentioned that the winner of the Rex Babin Award was drawing (a local cartoon) in the lobby with friends watching. And that’s how I knew I had just won the award. More on this soon. (snip)
(Some) Penguins of the Subantarctic. Watercolour and gouache on toned paper, 30 x 23cm. Credit: Bonnie Koopmans.
Visit the remote, windswept islands of the subantarctic with scientific illustrator Bonnie Koopmans. Here she shares her artworks of a few of the extraordinary birds that call this harsh yet majestic environment home. This article originally appeared in the Cosmos Print Magazine in December 2024.
Between Tasmania and Antarctica, there are a series of tiny, isolated islands on the cusp of the Southern Ocean. Many people don’t even realise they exist, but these frigid and windswept islands host a surprising diversity of seabirds.
Last summer, I was awarded a Heritage Expeditions True Young Explorer Scholarship to visit this remarkable region. My time in the subantarctic included visiting 4 of the island groups in the region: The Snares, the Auckland Islands, and Campbell Island (belonging to New Zealand) and Macquarie Island (belonging to Australia).
As a keen naturalist and natural history illustrator, I jumped at the chance to experience an area so remote, expensive and difficult to access. Additionally, as a keen birder, the subantarctic represented an opportunity to see some stunning birds in the most beautiful, harsh and unique environment.
FEED ME. King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) in gouache on toned paper, 23 x 30cm. Credit: Bonnie Koopmans.
As an illustrator and visual learner, drawing is one of my methods of learning about something, whether it’s internalising technical species differences or figuring out the general shape and character of an animal.
Field studies and drawing from life, especially, allow an artist to deeply observe and capture behaviour and colours in a way that is otherwise very difficult to achieve. The illustrations featured in this article are a mixture of studies done in the field, and finished paintings I completed once I was back home.
Flipping through a bird field guide, the seabird section often seems remarkably… grey. For me, it was finally seeing these birds in the flesh that made me realise how special they are.
While seabird identification can be complicated (groups such as prions are notoriously difficult to identify), observing them in person can provide other avenues to assist the process, as even aspects such as manner of flight can help with distinguishing species.
Albatross with their immense unflapping wingspan, and their endearing rambling stride on land. Petrels following the ship almost the entire journey, arcing left and right past the stern. Penguins effortlessly rocketing through the water, only to reach land and be slowed to a shuffle by their own tiny legs.
Certainly, the highlight of the trip were the penguins, with 6 species seen on the trip, each absolutely bursting with personality and charm. To see a breeding colony of penguins is an unforgettable sight (and sound!) and, if anything, it’s a wonder to see immense congregations of penguins at all considering the history of whaling and sealing in the subantarctic.
King Penguin Studies. King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) in watercolour and ink, 20 x 20cm. Credit: Bonnie Koopmans.
A devastating history
During the 1800s and into the early 1900s, whaling and the subsequent products of oil and baleen were critically important to the newly industrial world. Whale oil – and later seal and penguin oil – provided crucial lubricants for machinery, and fuel for lighting. The subantarctic was heavily targeted.
Besides the obvious and huge impact these activities had on whale, seal and penguin numbers, another long-term conservation issue was the introduction of livestock and establishment of stowaway predators. These affected the local populations of seabirds, especially.
Once the whale and seal populations were low enough that it was no longer financially viable for whalers to remain on the islands, they turned their livestock loose, and pigs, cows, cats, and stowaways such as rats were left to run rampant.
As many of the seabirds breeding on these islands had never had to contend with land-based predators, the introduction of cats and rats devastated their populations. Surprisingly voracious predators which were, similarly, introduced as a food source were weka – flightless rails endemic to New Zealand.
As ground dwellers, the rails could easily eat chicks of ground burrowing seabirds such as common diving petrels and blue petrels. Additionally, livestock such as pigs and cows caused environmental damage and drastically changed the composition of habitat through grazing and trampling.
Shag Studies. Watercolour and ink on cotton rag, 35 x 28cm. Credit: Bonnie Koopmans.
Today’s birdlife
Beyond the obvious seabird residents, these islands are home to a wide variety of other bird species, from red-crowned parakeet and New Zealand falcon, to several species of passerines (‘perching birds’) such as tomtit, New Zealand bellbird and tūī.
Being so isolated, the islands tend to have a high level of endemism, meaning they are unique to the location. Several species of shags, ducks and snipe have diverged evolutionarily between the islands over time.
Campbell teal (Anas nesiotis) represent the impact introduced predators can have, but are also an incredible success story. This charismatic flightless duck was presumed extinct following the introduction of brown rats to Campbell Island during the period of whaling. A precariously small population was discovered on Dent Island, which rats hadn’t managed to reach, and in 1987 some of the teal were removed from the wild to establish a captive breeding program and ensure the preservation of the species.
Campbell Teal Studies. Campbell Teal (Anas nesiotis) in graphite and watercolour, 20 x 20cm. Credit: Bonnie Koopmans.
Due to the significance of the New Zealand and Australian subantarctic islands in terms of unique habitat, flora and importance for the fauna that eke out an existence in the region, there have been some incredibly successful efforts to remove predator species and rehabilitate these islands.
Macquarie, Enderby, and Campbell Islands are now free of introduced pests, with New Zealand’s Department of Conservation aiming to embark on their most ambitious pest eradication yet, targeting Auckland Island at 46,000ha.
Campbell teal have been reintroduced to Campbell Island as of 2004, and bird populations generally have been improving with lessened pressure from predation.
The precariousness of life on these tiny specks of land in the middle of a vast ocean makes them so unique and important to the creatures that thrive there.
All 4 of these island groups are now protected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites for outstanding universal value.
True Young Explorer scholarship applications open each year in spring for summer voyages. You must be aged 18–30 and share your experience of the subantarctic.
A Room with a View. Southern royal albatross (Diomedea epomophora) in watercolour and ink on cotton rag, 35 x 28cm. Credit: Bonnie Koopmans.
Longtime readers of the Post know that I hate the summer months of June, July, and August with the intense heat of a thousand suns (which is often what those months feel like).
Summer is overrated. I think there’s a secret summer society that has people brainwashed that June, July, and August are the perfect months. The sun! The heat! The beaches! The cookouts! To which I would add: The bugs! The sweltering heat! The sunburns!
Remember those Country Time lemonade mix commercials, the ones that lamented that “summer will be a short 94 days?” I used to think, really, it’s going to be that long?
I bet if you really pinned people down and promised to keep their responses anonymous, they would actually admit that fall is better than summer.
(Kids aren’t factored in that polling because they get out of school in the summer and are carefree for three months (though I bet they love getting new school supplies). I have to do the same exact things I do the other months of the year; the only difference is I sweat more.)
I like the “Ber” months,” the months of fall and early winter: September, October, November, December.
There’s a great argument to be made that the new year should start in September instead of January. I wouldn’t make that argument myself, but I could!
Vacations are over, kids are back in school, adults have a new focus on work, people are making plans, the weather is changing. There’s an energy that happens in the fall that you don’t get in the lazy days of summer. There’s more of a fresh, new-feeling start as the calendar ticks over from August to September than there is when we go from December to January. Labor Day could be the new New Year’s.
There’s also better food in the fall and winter. Comfort foods like hot, hearty soups and chili. Pasta and stews and pies. We can turn on the oven again in the “Ber” months.
What do we eat in the summer? A salad? Yeah, that’s comforting.
Holidays? I’ll take Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas over St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and the Fourth of July. All of the holidays from March until August put together don’t add up to the three big holidays you get in the fall and winter.
Clothing? In the warm, sticky months you wear shorts and gross flip-flops. I don’t need to see anyone’s feet. In the “Ber” months, there are more clothing options, and I’m actually more comfortable in jeans, a sweatshirt, or a flannel shirt than I am with less clothing in the summer.
You say the “Ber” months are the “Brrr” months? So what? Are you a construction worker? Are you a mail carrier? Then why are you concerned with how cold it is? Go inside your home and turn up the heat. Wrap yourself in a blanket and make yourself a cup of tea.
Tea is the official drink of fall and winter, by the way.
Even arts and entertainment are better in the fall. The movies seem to be of better quality, the big books come out. Sure, fall TV isn’t quite what it used to be (new shows premiere year-round now), but people still look forward to September and October when new seasons of their old favorite shows start.
Every August, local newscasters and meteorologists sigh heavily that the summer is ending. The nice temperatures are going away! Can’t we prolong the summer a little bit longer? They get all upset that instead of it being 90 it’s 68, which apparently is some unbearable temperature.
I submit to you that “nice weather” in the summer is actually pretty rare. I’d rather view the spectacular brown and gold treescape above or snowy winter scenes than a bright sun broiling asphalt.
You say I can just turn on the air conditioner in the summer if it’s too hot and humid? I don’t have an air conditioner, and people who don’t have an air conditioner can’t escape the heat and humidity (I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but here in New England, all homes come with heat but you usually have to add the A/C yourself). You can always put on another piece of clothing if it’s too cold. If you keep taking off an article of clothing when it’s too hot, eventually someone will call the police (and they’ll be filming you on their phone and putting it online).
Of course, a lot of this is a regional thing. There are more warm months in places like Texas and Arizona and Florida, and it’s a regular thing for them. Which is why I would never live in Florida (and the weather is only one of approximately eleven reasons why I would never live in Florida).
So I’m happy that it’s after Labor Day. The next four months are the most wonderful time of the year. And even when the “Ber” months are over, everything is still good because then we get the “Ary” months. As a lover of the cold and snow, I welcome them too.
You’re not going to get a new cartoon from me until Sunday. Say what? I’m ahead of schedule with last night’s Charlie Kirk cartoon, dated for September 19. But you will get new content here daily.
I’m in North Bethesda, Maryland for my cartoonist association’s annual convention today, and that’s why I got ahead with work. But I’m going to post stuff about the convention while I’m there. I plan to do at least one Zoom conversation with another cartoonist while at the convention. And today, you’re getting a blog of roughs.
Speaking of the Charlie Kirk cartoon, I got a death threat today. First, it was a death wish, as in, “I hope you and your family get what Charlie Kirk got,” and then it turned into, “you’re easy to find.” I consider that a death threat. And why is he threatening my family? They’re innocent, and in fact, two of them posted on the cartoon on Facebook to tell me I’m disgusting and an asshole. Anyhoos….
DING-DONG! Roughs are here!
I drew this on August 27 and made it a real cartoon a few days later.
I liked it so much that I nearly roughed it out twice.
This was my first idea, and I roughed it out on August 28. By the way, I’m writing this on a train. Let’s blame today’s typos on that.
Here’s another I roughed out twice. This was drawn on August 28.
I even lettered this version. It grew up to become a real cartoon.
this was drawn on August 29 and became a real cartoon. It got comments.
I roughed this out on August 29, and became a real cartoon for the FXBG Advance.
I drew this on September 2, and I might like it more than the version I went with.
I was just goofing around with this on September 9. Why do I keep hearing about pickleball?
I roughed this out for the FXBG Advance on September 5. It became a real cartoon.
I liked naming some of my colleagues here, but I thought it was too many words. I roughed this up on September 9.
This was also drawn on September 9, but I went with something else.
I drew this on September 9, it became a real cartoon, and it got a lot of comments. A LOT of comments. I can’t wait for it to land on GoComics, which will be tomorrow.
I just got my idea for the FXBG Advance’s Sunday cartoon approved, but it wasn’t my first idea.
For context, we have some new public schools in this area. I got this idea and emailed it to my editor early this morning (September 11) with the subject line: “How brave are you feeling this morning?” (snip-MORE, both roughs and commentary)
22 years ago, at a convention for the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) (probably in Denver, Sacramento, Washington, DC, or Long Island, who can remember these things?), someone mentioned the president. It was 2003, so of course, the president was George W. Bush.
Someone at the bar (because these things are always in a bar) said, “If you think Shrub is dumb, wait until Donald Trump is president. Another cartoonist, probably someone named Steve, replied, “What? Are you out of your gourd? After this disaster of a presidency, there’s no way America would elect another idiot, especially one as vulgar and gross as Donald Trump.”
Then a cartoonist, probably named Matt, said, “But what if we elect a Black guy as president, and he’s decent, kind, accomplished, intelligent, with an equally intelligent wife, and they both have high morals and beautiful and smart daughters, the presidency is hugely successful?” And then a cartoonist named Dick says, “My God, you’re right, Matt!” Another Matt said, “What?” And Dick said, “Not you, Matt. The other Matt.” Other Matt says, “Huh?” Dick says, “Yes, you. You’re right. If we have a Black president and he’s a great success, Republicans and other racists will lose their minds!” (snip-MORE)
When I first saw Trump’s drawing for Epstein’s birthday book, something immediately caught my eye. Putting aside the horrible context for the sketch, the fact he drew a female body with no head or arms was really disturbing to me.
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Leavitt To Beaver by Clay Jones
The White House says it’s not Trump’s signature on the birthday card Read on Substack
When The Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump sent his best friend and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein a card and drawing for his 50th birthday in 2003, Trump said it didn’t exist. It was reported that the drawing was lewd.
Yesterday, we found out that it does exist, as the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the “birthday book” from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. The drawing and note are lewd…and really weird.
The sketch is an outline of a woman’s body with text of an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein. At the bottom, Trump’s signature of just his first name appears to be the drawn woman’s pubic hair. (snip-MORE)
This cartoon was drawn for the Boca Raton Tribune. Apparently, Donald Trump Jr’s new real estate firm has plans for Boca Raton, which is already struggling with other tasteless capitalist groups.
Corrections: Please email all typos, boo-boos, and any other mistakes to clayjonz@gmail.com. If you put it in the comments, I may not see it until hours or days later. Thanks.
Creative note: I don’t like the way my trees turned out. I’ll do a better job the next time I have to draw Banyan trees for Boca. (snip-MORE)
Citizenship Blues by Clay Jones
The citizenship test is going to become more difficult Read on Substack
Republicans don’t just hate illegal immigration. They hate most immigration, even legal.
During his first term, Trump complained about people immigrating to the United States from “shithole” countries, and wondered why we couldn’t get more people from nations like Norway. You know, majority White nations.
During the campaign last year, Trump held a fundraiser in Palm Beach with millionaires and bemoaned the lack of immigrants from “nice” countries.
Trump said to the millionaires, “And when I said, you know, ‘Why can’t we allow people to come in from nice countries,’ I’m trying to be nice. Nice countries, you know, like Denmark, Switzerland? Do we have any people coming in from Denmark? How about Switzerland? How about Norway?” You know, White countries.
Except, people from the “nice” countries, like Denmark, Switzerland, and Norway, don’t want to come to an asshole country. These nations are ranked as some of the happiest in the world. Why would they want to come to the angriest? They know we have an ugly orange garden gnome as our leader. Guess what nation they’re talking about when they complain about immigrants from shithole countries.
Trump also complained of criticism over his “shithole countries” comment, saying, “And you know, they took that as a very terrible comment, but I felt it was fine.” Of course, he felt it was fine. It was racist. (snip-MORE)
September 10, 1897 Nineteen unarmed striking coal miners were killed and 36 more wounded in Lattimer (near Hazleton), Pennsylvania, for refusing to disperse, by a posse organized by the Luzerne County sheriff. The strikers, most of whom were shot in the back, were originally brought in as strike-breakers, but later created their own union. The background and details
September 10, 1963 Twenty black students entered public schools in Birmingham, Tuskegee and Mobile, Alabama. The Governor George C. Wallace had ordered Alabama state troopers to stop the federal court-ordered integration of Alabama’s elementary and high schools. President John Kennedy responded by calling out the Alabama National Guard to protect the students and to see the order enforced. President Kennedy spoke that day at American University’s commencement, saying, “Peace need not be impractical, war not inevitable . . . There is not peace in many of our cities because there is not freedom.”
September 10, 1996 Sheryl Crow’s second album was banned from Wal-Mart stores because the song she co-wrote with Tad Wadhams, “Love Is A Good Thing” opens with “Watch out sister, watch out brother, Watch our children while they kill each other With a gun they bought at Wal-Mart discount stores….” Read more about this eventand an update
(I admit this CI story is some pretty quick thinking/delivery for Republicans. It’ll probably work with the Qanon folk.)
Agent Orange by Clay Jones
Speaker Mike Johnson claims Trump was an FBI informant, spying on Jeffrey Epstein Read on Substack
If you believe Donald Trump was an FBI informant in the Epstein case, then I have a slightly used Venezuelan speedboat I will sell to you…cheap.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson claimed yesterday that Donald Trump was an FBI informant in its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.
Johson was questioned by CNN reporter Manu Raju about how Trump has been using the term “hoax” a lot in regard to Epstein. Johnson argued that it was not about downplaying Epstein’s abuse of underage girls, but attacks and accusations against Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
Johnson said, “What Trump is referring to is the hoax that the Democrats are using to try to attack him.” But why would Trump use that regarding a press conference last week of survivors of Epstein, where nobody accused Trump of any wrongdoing? That doesn’t make sense, unless Trump was trying to intercept something he believed they would accuse him of. (snip-there are more than 3 comics here, so commentary is snipped, but Highly Recommended Reading.)
Crystal Ball, Fake Ball, Hoax Ball, Woke Ball by Clay Jones
The Advance wrote this to go with my cartoon today: “The races for Lt. Governor and Attorney General are tightening, but the race for governor in Virginia as we head into early voting — it begins September 19 — looks about as one-sided as a governor’s race in Virginia is likely to get in the current political environment. Abigail Spanberger has consistently been at least 5 points ahead of her Republican opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, in every poll to this point. No one is suggesting landslide-like numbers of Spanberger (even Mark Robinson polled 40% in the North Carolina gubernatorial election in 2024 — and candidates don’t get much worse than Robinson), but this is her race to lose. When numbers don’t go the Republicans’ way these days, how do they respond? Blame the messenger. Clay Jones has noticed.”
I did notice.
I was hanging out at J. Brian’s Tap Room last week, and a stranger sat next to me and started chatting. I guess I have one of those faces.
Anywhosies, I forgot what topic he started with, but for some weird reason, he started talking about the governor’s race. He’s from Virginia but lives in Florida, and golly gee whiskers, he sure did think Florida was a great place. He described himself as a moderate who leans right, which means he’s downplaying it and is a MAGAt. But he was nice. A little dense and outside reality, but nice.
At one point, he said, “See? Two people who disagree on politics can have a civil conversation.” And I replied, “Yeah? See how civil I’ve been despite you being full of shit and gaslight?” Warning, it’s not just online where I don’t tolerate bullshit. I won’t start screaming at you, but if you dish out bullshit to me in the real world, I’ll tell you what I think. I’m not afraid of MAGA fuckers. (snip-MORE)
Exhibition in Norway by Ann Telnaes
If you’re lucky enough to be visiting or living in Norway Read on Substack
The Museene i Akershus (MIA) just opened an exhibition of my work and is offering a number of prints for sale. It runs from September 6 – October 12, 2025.
Epstein File Missile Strike by Clay Jones
Would Trump conduct a missile strike to keep the Epstein Files covered up? Read on Substack
I can’t figure out why Trump and Nicolás Maduro are not besties yet. And I say “yet” because at one time, Trump and Kim Jong Un were at each other’s throats, figuratively.
Maduro is a dictator, which is what Trump is trying to be. He has manipulated the courts to increase his power. He has dismantled democratic institutions that would challenge his authority. His legislature is a mere puppet to pass his agenda. He’s crashed his economy. He runs sham elections. He doesn’t seem to want to ever leave office. He’s serving a third term. He stayed in office despite losing an election. He surrounded himself with sycophants and lickspittles. He’s suppressing opposition. He describes all accusations against him as hoaxes. He likes to glorify himself as all dictators do. He uses the military to maintain his power. His government has seized corporations. He’s friends with Vladimir Putin. He’s even survived assassination attempts. And like Trump, most of his constituents hate him.
Why Maduro isn’t eating chocolate cake at MAGA-Lardo is beyond me. But instead, Trump hates the guy, and we may soon be at war with Venezuela. (snip-MORE)
Do we have a military for defense or to wage war? President Harry Truman, who made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, believed it was for defense. Truman signed the law that turned the War Department into the Defense Department. Today, Donald Trump plans to sign an Executive Order to revert the Defense Department back to the War Department. Does anyone think Donald Trump is smarter or a better president than Harry Truman?
Just like the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” this is a stupid idea. When Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico, he told the world that America was xenophobic. Now, he’s telling the world that America has a tiny penis.
We are always prepared to defend our nation, which is why “Defense” is appropriate, and hopefully, more accurate. “War” means we’re either at war or looking for a fight. Remember when Trump boasted about not getting us into any foreign wars? And “War” is a bad look for a guy lobbying for a Nobel Peace Prize. (snip-MORE)
Scottie's Playtime 