Roy Doty Draws a Crowd

Long before Sergio Aragonés or that Where's Waldo guy began drawing massive scenes of teeny tiny people in amusing situations there was one cartoonist garnering a reputation for not being afraid to draw a crowd. That artist was Roy Doty.

What you see below might look at this size like a big diagramatic map of Manhattan Island with a grey screen over it... but in fact its one of Roy Doty's most remarkable illustrations: a map composed of hundreds and hundreds of tiny Manhattanites, each one a unique individual, standing shoulder to shoulder in the shape of New York City.


You really need to see the full size version to even begin to appreciate the magnitude of the daunting task Roy Doty accomplished when he accepted this assignment from the editors of Look magazine back in February of 1958.


This coming Sunday (Sept. 9th), nearly 50 years after these illustrations appeared in print, Roy Doty will once again be drawing a crowd as his pals at the Great Lakes Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society surpise their friend with a party to celebrate his 85th birthday.

When my pal, cartoonist extraordinaire Mike Lynch, let me know about the event I thought it would be great to spend this week showcasing Doty's work from the 40's and 50's in anticipation of the happy occassion.


I hope that, whether you've admired Roy Doty's work for years as I have -- or are only now being introduced to it for the first time -- you'll take a moment to leave a comment, greeting, or best wish for Mr. Doty at the end of one of this week's posts.

Mike tells me that they will make Mr. Doty aware of the TI blog after the fact as a sort of bonus birthday surprise. And remember - its a surprise party - so don't tell Roy!


You can see all of these images at full size in my Roy Doty Flickr set - and thanks in advance for helping us celebrate this wonderful, talented artist's illustrious career!