The GREAT Roy Peterson

I'm not sure how I missed the news that Roy Peterson died at the end of September but there was a glowing and much deserved tribute in today's Globe and Mail.

Sad news, but a chance to remember one of my absolute heroes.

When I was younger, I was given a copy of his book Blood, Sweat and Bears. Peterson did the cartoons, and Stanley Burke wrote the text.

Peterson's mastery of line, shadow (cross-hatching that would make angel's weep) and his sense of fun inspired me to try drawing my own cartoons. I've never even come close.

I mean, just look at how much is going on in this one!

I love the Alan Eagleson caricature, flipping the bird. If you ever read my book Shadrin Has Scored for Russia, you'll see dozens of 'homages' to this book in my drawings.

This one if possibly my fave. So simple, but so thoroughly considered. Each details is perfect, from the curve of the stick, to the way the wood of the trophy has clearly been chewed instead of sculpted. Wow.

I still have my copy of Blood, Sweat and Bears, one of my most treasured possessions. And I still pull it out and study it, and steal from it for my own work.

Roy Peterson, thanks.