If you are in the Bay area on April 28th Please come on by this event. The event is open to the public but be sure to rsvp as per the invitation above. I look forward to see you there!

On April 1 I will have the privilege of talking about humor ( this is not an April Fool’s joke). The Palo Alto institute is presenting ” Secrets to a Funnier You” as part of their T3 series of talks symposia and lectures.

Here’s a blurb from the website:

Experience first-hand the benefits of laughter from various perspectives: from political cartoons to interactive improvisation to hilarity in the brain.

Some great speakers, Dr. Peter McGraw, Chris Sams, John Morreall and Emily Levine will be present. I hope to see you there.

In early March, I had the privilege of addressing the TEDx Warwick conference hosted at Warwick University in the UK. The event was a delight. The student organizers assembled  a provocative group of speakers in a very professional environment.

“TED” talks are great fun.  Your mission as a TED speaker is to give the “Talk of a lifetime” in 18 minutes. (For those of you unfamiliar with the “TED” experience, I highly recommend you take a visit the TED website.)

I hope my speech reflected well on my lifetime (thus far)… but I will let you be the judge. I have just learned my TEDx talk is now available for all to view. You can see it below!

This is my cartoons I contributed to The Economist this week. You can tell I had some fun with the football cartoon!

Last March I had the opportunity to visit Beirut. There I was able to see up close the impressive redevelopment of Lebanon since the war that devastated the country in the 1980’s. I was also keenly aware of the tensions that currently lie just beneath the surface of this beautiful yet potentially explosive land.

My visit helped inform this cartoon that I drew for this week’s edition of The Economist. There is no question that visiting the Middle East has made me feel more connected to the stories playing out in the region.

It has just been announced that I will be the keynote speaker at Maryland Arts Day in Annapolis Wednesday February 9, 2011. Click here for more details.

I had a rather busy Wednesday last week. On that day I created two covers for The Economist.

Both are on the newsstand now. One is about guns and politics in America appearing as the cover for the US edition of the magazine, the second is on the Euro Crisis appearing on the front of the magazine in the rest of the world.

Having one artist create 2 covers in the same week may be a first for The Economist,. Just to complicate the matter, I was in Rome at the time attending an Economist related event for the international sales staff of the magazine. Members of The Economist team graciously found me a room at the hotel with some natural light for me to work (see below). You can see the finished products above.

With the start of the new Congress in Washington DC I was inspired to make this cartoon. I guess I have been around long enough to remember all of these “changes” in Washington.

While in San Francisco at the opening of my recent exhibition “Drawn From The Economist” I had the honor of being interviewed by the Art’s correspondent for the PBS Newshour. The video was posted today at the NewsHour’s Website.  The exhibition is on display at The Cartoon Art Museum until March. I hope to get back to the Bay area again soon have an event or two at the Museum before the show departs!

I hope 2011 will be a good one for all visitors to the Kal Sketchblog.

I am happy to announce I have an exciting year ahead with speaking engagements currently slated for Rome, London, Houston, New York and San Francisco.

I have some exciting animation projects in the works as well as plans for a new KAL book.  The Economist has already commissioned me to create a 2012 Kalendar which I will start in the weeks ahead.

Here’s a sneak peek at the May spread for the 2011 Economist Kalendar. I am delighted to say that sales have been brisk this holiday season. You can order yours from the newly revamped Kaltoons store!