ABOUT TIP AND NUB

     Tip and Nub first appeared on Instagram in the fall of 2018. Like many cartoon characters — think early Charlie Brown, or the original scrawny versions of Mickey and Mighty Mouse — it took a while for them to become who they are today. Early posts were just the two of them talking. Then other characters — notably the mice, Bristles the paintbrush, and Nib the Fountain pen — made inroads into the strip.

     Some people (i.e., the artist's wife) objected to Bristles's overt sexuality and her penchant for French, but I had always had a vague and idle fantasy of living in Paris and doing a daily cartoon in Le Monde where such things — sex and French — are appreciated. (The "I" in the previous sentence is Peter Maloney and the "artist's wife" is Felicia Zekauskas.) Together we have written and illustrated a number of popular children's picture books, including Redbird at Rockefeller Center, The Magic Hockey Stick, Belly Button Boy, One Foot Two Feet, His Mother's Nose, and Bronto Eats Meat. Tip and Nub feels like an extension of that experience: sort of a one-a-day picture book for adults.

     Over the years, so many people have said, "Your drawings should be in The New Yorker." Or: "I've saved every card you've ever sent." Now, with the birth of this site, people can for the first time own a Tip and Nub original. We like to think of Tip and Nub illustrations as fine art that's also fun. It's nice to have something on your walls that people can not only look at, but laugh at as well. Thank you for supporting the arts and our efforts here at Tip and Nub Studios, where every piece we sell is an original work of art.