Cartoonist and illustrator Brian Ponshock is the Antigo Visual Arts Artist of the month for June.
Growing up, Brian was, and still is, a big fan of the Peanuts comic strip, which inspired him to start creating his own cartoons. Today he illustrates Yaffle, a cartoon panel that he co-produces with Jeffrey Caulfield and can be seen on GoComics.com. A few years ago he was commissioned to paint the Veterans Mural you can see on the east side of the Neve’s building on 5th Avenue in downtown Antigo, and recently illustrated Rocket – The Super Hero Therapy Dog, a children’s book written by Dennis Erickson of Elton. The two, who met through AVA, are currently working on an alphabet book for children that will be published sometime in the near future.
Brian graduated from Antigo High School where his favorite class was art. “Mr. K” (Andy Kazukewicz), his art teacher, introduced him to oils and other mediums, but his heart has always been in illustrating and cartooning. He’s self-taught with very little formal education in art, but holds an associates degree in Architectural and Residential Design from Northcentral Technical College in Wausau. Today he supports his cartooning habit as a draftsman for Kingspan Light & Air, where he designs wall panel and skylight fenestration systems, giving him the opportunity to be creative in an altogether different medium. In addition to Yaffle, Brian’s works can be seen from time-to-time at the AVA gallery located on the 3rd floor of the Langlade County Historical Museum at 404 Superior Street in Antigo.
