David Willson: cartoonist

13/05/2025

Many of you are already aware that my 32-year stint as editorial cartoonist for the Palm Beach Daily News ended last September. I have changed the name of this page to reflect the change. It was a nice run. But I have been a cartoonist and illustrator practically my whole life — for advertising, magazines and entertainment clients.

So recently, I began a new relationship with Cartoonstock.com, the cartoon website established by former New Yorker and Esquire cartoon editor Bob Mankoff and Lawrence Benenson, and I will be uploading new lifestyle and editorial cartoons, where they will be available for purchase and licensed use for blogs, newsletters, magazines, etc.

Come watch as the collection of Willson cartoons grows.
https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonists/davidwillson

16/04/2025

I have two paintings in the Artists of Palm Beach County exhibition Woof, Meow, Chirp, and Slither at Cugini Wine Bar & Art Gallery, 804 Lake Ave, Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Reception will be this Thursday evening.

Given the theme, I’m guessing the show will be mostly wildlife and pet oriented … and my paintings are a little weirder. Go figure.

Click the link for the invite.

https://artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org/so/5bPO_WPiT?languageTag=en&fbclid=IwY2xjawJsmLFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjVVsz4iutyct3_AwruUsHqOKc0dsyK8d1B0ulm1_3KS101VtMcJYWWNA_14_aem_Uiqhc-khFol5HnuPjALbtw

30/03/2025

The Artists of Palm Beach County exhibition, Big & Bold, is entering its last three weeks, closing on April 25th. My painting, The Arrival, is in it. You can check out the whole show, with images, descriptions and artists’ statements here: https://www.artandcarsusa.com/portfolio

Use the menu system to learn about the venue, which is a quick drive up I-95 from the Palm Beaches.

10/02/2025

This is the biggest and least cynical cartoon I’ve ever done. A 3X5 ft. painting dedicated solely to arriving at the beach and joyfully wanting to run, pell mell, into the waves. No politics. No lifestyle sarcasm. And only a little crab slapstick.
It’s going to be on display and available for purchase at an exhibition hosted by Artists of Palm Beach County in partnership with Car Team USA in Stuart,Florida entitled Big & Bold that will showcase the combined talents of Palm Beach and Martin County artists.
So, if you like big bold art and hot or fancy cars join me at the opening reception for champagne, hors d’oeuvres, live music February 13, 2025, 3:30 PM - 7 PM, at Car Team USA, 8168 SW Jack James Dr., Stuart, FL 34997

Exhibition runs February 13 - April 24, 2025
For more information: www.artistsofpalmbeachcounty.org/events

24/08/2024

Andrew was a lot of special things rolled into one human being. He was talented, witty, smart, open-minded and doggedly hard-working. He could always be counted on, and in that sense, was the bedrock of the Palm Beach Daily News for many years.
Because I was a freelancer, which only entailed brief visits to the offices for editorial board meetings, my relationship with Andrew was that of a very long-term, 30-year, acquaintance. And yet, we were definitely valuable collaborators to each other in the work we did. Many's the time he offered insights and suggestions that made my cartoons better.
He was calm, cool and collected, with a polite and on-point demeanor when people didn't see eye-to-eye on a controversy, including readers who he needed to work with to get letters to the editor in publishable form.
Andrew's editorials were always rock solid, concise, perceptive and had an air of gravitas about them. Editorials are hard to write. And Andrew had a special knack of being able to clearly delineate the newspaper's position every week in a way that piqued the readers' interest early and closed with emphasis and conviction. In addition to everything else he contributed to getting the daily issues out (and that was a lot), he always brought his A-game on Sunday. To say he is missed is an understatement.
My wife, Kayla, and I are very sad to hear of Andrew's passing and our thoughts are with his wife Dana and family.

He is survived by his wife Dana, children Christopher, James, and Amanda, all of Boynton Beach, and his brother Tom (Beth) Davis of Raleigh, N.C.

20/08/2024

Good news and bad news.
The good news is that I received first place honors from the Florida chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists again (2002, 2023, 2024).
The bad news is that Sunday August 25th will be my last cartoon for the Palm Beach Daily News. The publisher, Gannett, has cut the budget to eliminate the feature.
I have produced a Sunday cartoon for the Shiny Sheet for 32 years, and thoroughly enjoyed the gig. Never missed a deadline. I also greatly appreciate all of the readers who have followed and commented on the work — even those of you who took issue with it. The whole point for me has been to put the story of the week into a broader context with humor, so that we all could give it a little more thought.
For now, I will keep this page going and occasionally do what I did with my Cartoonistry columns, pulling a cartoon out of the archives with pertinence to what is going on today and comment on it. Of course, the name will have to change to Former editorial cartoonist of the Palm Beach Daily News :D

11/08/2024

Under Gov Ron DeSantis, Florida covers its ears and shouts blah, blah, blah whenever the words “climate change” are spoken. He has even turned down $billions in federal funding because those words were attached to it. Why?

Today’s Palm Beach Daily News :

28/07/2024

Today’s Palm Beach Daily News : After the attempted assassination of former president Trump, the Secret Service increased security around Mar-a-Lago by shutting down AIA (the only North/South road), effectively splitting the island community of Palm Beach in two at least until November 5.
Unpopular? You bet!

21/07/2024

Production deadlines mean my Palm Beach Daily News is created Thursdays to run Sunday. So I wake up this morning, only to read that Aaron Sorkin has written that Democrats should choose Mitt Romney over Biden. Trying to get out in front of life’s absurdities today as an editorial cartoonist is pointless.

14/07/2024

Today’s Palm Beach Daily News editorial .

07/07/2024

My July 4 Palm Beach Daily News editorial was a reminder that the exemplary freedoms we have enjoyed for 248 years are not written in stone, but on paper. Still, even the Supreme Court does not supersede the will of the people. We do not select them, but we elect the people who do. Our choices matter. .

30/06/2024

Remember when you graduated high school, eager to leave childishness behind and get on with your adult life? Perhaps you thought to yourself something like, “Good bye cliques! Good bye hallway bullies! Good riddance.”

https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/story/opinion/editorials/2024/06/30/editorial-desantis-veto-of-arts-grants-sends-message-about-free-speech/74237310007/