The other day, I was wondering where the next good idea for something new was hidden when the following message came in from John Cuneo. This is what he wrote:

At an International Summit the President attended last week, Climate Change was on the agenda. At about the same time, Kim Kardashian's ass was on mine.

There is a kind of liberation in pitching a New Yorker cover that doesn't have  the remotest chance of running. There is also no doubt I should be directing my downtime efforts towards more plausible, and profitable, results. But occasionally something needs to be put down on paper before it can be put down for good.

Such was the case here—a nagging little idea that would never be cover material, but still deserved its day in the sun.

Do those continents look like nasty green lesions? Should there be a crack in the planet? Should the butt be blue to sell the concept? Well, maybe. But when nobody’s buying, I get to tell the imaginary art director in my head to kiss my ass.

John Cuneo is a magazine illustrator. His work appears in most major publications, including Esquire, The New Yorker, GQ, The NY Times, Garden & Gun, Entertainment Weekly, Mother Jones and Town & Country.

Two collections of his personal drawing have been published: nEuROTIC (Fantagraphics), and this year, an eponomously titled collection published by Goya: LP Series. His work has received 10 medals for the Society of Illustrators and in 2011 he received the Society of Illustrators Hamilton King Award.

Last year, he was one of 7 illustrators featured in the Delaware Art Museum exhibit, State of the Art: Illustration 100 Years After Howard Pyle; one of his drawings hangs their permanent collection. He's been the subject of a Communication Arts mag feature; his drawings are included in American Illustration, the Society of Illustrators, and the Society of Publication & Design annuals as well as many magazines and satirical publications abroad. Drawger. DART Q&A.

The Society of Illustrators recently announced the second annual Comic and Cartoon Art Competition. Open to artists worldwide, entries are considered by a jury of professionals, including renowned cartoonists, illustrators, publishers, and editors. The competition will result in an exhibition that will showcase the most outstanding works created in this genre throughout each year. Information