“Our Museum visitors loved learning to draw some of Dave’s characters but were especially excited by getting to create and draw their own characters. The interactive nature of Dave’s presentation made it fun for all ages. It was a wonderful family event for a busy weekend.”
Education Director
Charles M. Schulz Museum
Santa Rosa, CA
Read more about my recent experience as Cartoonist in Residence at the Charles M. Schulz Museum on my BLOG.
upcoming Hamster Sam book!
Meet Colonel (USAF, ret.) Gregory H. Johnson; NASA astronaut who piloted the Space Shuttle Endeavor mission STS-123 in 2008, and piloted the Endeavor STS-134 on its final mission in 2011. What an honor it is to have him be a part of my next Hamster Sam book! That's a T-38 (pictured) that he flew in to meet myself and the rest of the characters from the world of Hamster Sam. Not only is "Astronaut Greg" a super smart man with an engineering degree- but he is equally and genuinely nice to meet and talk to! In the upcoming book, Hamster Sam finds himself involved in a far out outer space adventure, and then sits down with Astronaut Greg for a rather unusual interview , where we learn just exactly what he has to say about whether or not the moon is made of cheese... his answer may surprise you!
Contact me, see how you can SAVE $100!
Dave McDonald featured at Professor Garfield
Three of my instructional cartooning videos starring Hamster Sam and Vincent van Doodle have recently been selected to become a part of Professor Garfield!
The Professor Garfield Foundation Learning Portal is a partnership between Paws, Inc., the world headquarters of Garfield the Cat, and Ball State University, one of the preeminent educators of classroom teachers in the world. It's a fun interactive online environment where children can safely explore, learn and creatively express themselves.
The 3 instructional cartooning videos are available to view for free in the "Art Bot" section of the site, which features Jim Davis himself and other cartoonists teaching different aspects of cartoon art. I am thrilled to be a part of Professor Garfield; it is a powerful site with an enormous amount of engaging activities for young kids and teachers alike.
Read more about Professor Garfield HERE.
In addition, the 3 videos have been selected to be a part of the Virginia Department of Education's "itunes-U" site! More and more schools are recognizing and supporting the power of comics with respect to reading and writing, especially with the 'struggling student' population and ESL segment.
I have a professional development workshop for classroom teachers (3rd and up), art teachers and media specialists. "Bringing Cartooning, Comics & Puppetry to the Classroom" is a fun, interactive and idea-generating workshop guaranteed to spark your classroom creativity! See the details on the school programs page.
I am also very excited to be working on my next book featuring Hamster Sam! I'm giving the story and format a whole new makeover, and will be adding new characters and exploring fantastic adventures. Check back for more details, or how about becoming a fan of Hamster Sam Comics on Facebook to get the inside scoop? Feel free to have a look at some images in my portfolio; as I do enjoy creating artwork for clients as well.
Thanks for stopping by, and don't hesitate to contact me for questions about any of the services I offer.
Best wishes- Dave