This painting — by “Calvin and Hobbes” creator Bill Watterson — is the first new art from him that his syndicate has seen in the 16 subsequent years, say executives with Universal Uclick and its parent company, Andrews McMeel. The artwork is of the character Petey Otterloop from Richard Thompson’s comic strip “Cul de Sac.”
The artwork — “6-by-8” oil on board — is Watterson’s contribution to the Team Cul de Sac fundraising project for Parkinson’s research.
Team Cul de Sac — which works with Team Fox of the Michael J. Fox Foundation — is the brainchild of North Carolina-based web and print designer Chris Sparks. The project hopes to raise $250,000 for Parkinson’s research through such efforts as a Andres McMeel-published book of “Cul de Sac” art drawn by dozens of Thompson’s colleagues, including Watterson.
Thompson announced in the summer of 2009 that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.