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Brian Crane
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Brian Crane is an American cartoonist who created Pickles, a comic strip featuring a retired couple, Earl and Opal Pickles, their family, and their family pets, Muffin (cat) and Roscoe (dog).
Key Information
Crane was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, but was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2] According to his mother, Crane began drawing at an young age and had hopes to become a comic strip artist when he was older.[3] As a young man, Crane served as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Uruguay and in 1973 he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Brigham Young University, with an emphasis on design and illustration.[4]
As Crane got older, he felt that he lacked the talent and sense of humor needed to write material for a successful daily comic strip, so he pursued a career in graphic design and art direction and for a time was employed with art studios, publishing companies, and advertising agencies. As Crane neared the age of forty, he became disillusioned and grew tired of creating ads for products that he didn't believe in.[3] Reminiscing about his childhood dream of being a comic strip artist, Crane decided to look into the syndication process by reading Mort Walker's autobiography. "I figured it was a better midlife option than buying a red Ferrari," Crane said.[4] Crane eventually created Pickles, which has seen success since its creation in 1990.
Career
[edit]Pickles was syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group in 1990 and today appears in nearly 1,000 newspapers around the world.[5] In 2001, it was awarded the prize for Best Comic Strip by the National Cartoonist Society. In 2005 and 2011, he was a nominee for Cartoonist of the Year by the same group. In 2013, he won the Reuben award for cartoonist of the year from the National Cartoonists Society (NCS). Crane creates Pickles by hand from a studio in his home in Sparks, Nevada.[6][7] His daughter Emily colors the daily and Sunday strips for him.
Bibliography
[edit]- Pickles (Taylor Trade Publishing, October 25, 1999, ISBN 978-1563525100)
- Pickles, Too: The Older I Get, the Better I Was (Taylor Trade Publishing, 1999)
- Still Pickled After All These Years (Andrews McMeel Publishing, April 2004, ISBN 978-0740743405)
- Let’s Get Pickled (Andrews McMeel Publishing, October 1, 2006, ISBN 978-0740761928)
- How Come I Always Get Blamed for the Things I Do? (Baobab Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1936097012)
- Oh, Sure! Blame It on the Dog! (Baobab Press, October 8, 2013, ISBN 978-1936097043)
- 25 Years of Pickles (Baobab Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1936097104)
- Grampa, Will You Tell Me a Story? (Baobab Press, 2018)
- Pickles Tails (Baobab Press, July 2020)
Awards
[edit]He received the NCS Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 2001[8] for his work on the strip. In 2013, in a tie with Baby Blues co-creator Rick Kirkman, Crane received cartooning’s highest honor, the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year, for Pickles.[9]
Personal life
[edit]Crane married his college sweetheart, Diana Long, and they have seven children.[2] He is a member of the LDS Church and occasionally draws the church's temples or periodicals as background props in the Pickles comic strip.[10] Crane lives in Sparks, Nevada.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Inkpot Award
- ^ a b Smith, Andy. "For creator, ‘Pickles’ satisfied craving; comic strip debuts in Journal", Providence Journal, 17 January 2016. Retrieved on 10 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Brian Crane". picklescomic.com. December 28, 2022.
- ^ a b Winters, Charlene Renberg. "The Art of Making Pickles", BYU Magazine, 2011. Retrieved on 10 March 2020.
- ^ a b Flynn, Anne-Gerard. "Cartoonist Brian Crane's popular 'Pickles' family joins The Republican", The Republican, 1 April 2020. Retrieved on 10 March 2020.
- ^ reports, Reno Gazette Journal staff. "Brian Crane's 'Pickles': 'I drew heavily (pardon the pun) on my own grandparents'". Reno Gazette Journal. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
- ^ Team, 2 News Nevada Digital (2025-02-02). "Creator of popular comic strip Pickles visits Carson City School". 2 News Nevada. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Comic Strip Awards
- ^ Cavna, Michael. "‘PICKLES’ ’ BIG WIN: Creator Brian Crane reflects on inspiration, affirmation — and almost letting his dream die in his desk", The Washington Post, 28 May 2013. Retrieved on 10 March 2020.
- ^ Shill, Aaron (2008-03-11). "LDS cartoonist enjoys life with "Pickles"". Mormon Times. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
External links
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Brian Crane
View on Grokipediafrom Grokipedia
Early life and education
Early years
Brian Crane was born in 1949 in Twin Falls, Idaho.[3] His family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area during his childhood, where he spent much of his early years.[1] From a young age, Crane displayed a strong interest in drawing. According to accounts from his mother, he began sketching as a child, honing his artistic skills through self-directed practice.[1] During his boyhood, he was particularly influenced by classic comic strips, with favorites including Li'l Abner by Al Capp and Pogo by Walt Kelly, which sparked his aspiration to create his own cartoons.[4] In his late teens, Crane attended Ricks College and served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Uruguay, where he continued to develop his illustrative abilities by designing covers for the mission newsletter.[8]Education
Crane began his formal artistic education at Ricks College (now Brigham Young University–Idaho) in Rexburg, Idaho, where he enrolled as an art major in the late 1960s.[4][5] He also attended the California College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, California.[3][5] His early interest in drawing, which originated during childhood, provided a strong foundation for these initial studies.[4] He later transferred to Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, to continue his education in design and illustration.[5] At BYU, Crane earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art in 1973, focusing on graphic design principles that honed his skills in visual composition and storytelling—elements that would later shape his approach to cartooning.[4][9] During his time at the university, he met his future wife, Diana Long, whom he courted and married while completing his studies; both graduated in 1973.[10][4]Career
Graphic design and early professional work
After graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in design and illustration, Brian Crane entered the field of graphic design, leveraging his academic training to secure initial roles in commercial art.[4] He began by selling advertising space and illustrating articles for a newspaper in Hayward, California, where he honed his skills in visual communication and layout.[4] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Crane held a series of positions that advanced his expertise as an illustrator, designer, and art director, spanning approximately 17 years before his full transition to cartooning.[11] In Idaho Falls, Idaho, he worked at an advertising agency, followed by a role as art director for Potato Grower of Idaho magazine, where he oversaw visual content for agricultural publications.[4] He later freelanced from home, managing independent design projects, and served as an art director at an advertising agency in Reno, Nevada.[4] These professional experiences presented challenges, including financial pressures from supporting a growing family of seven children and growing disillusionment with creating advertisements for products he found unappealing.[4] Despite these hurdles, the roles built essential skills in illustration, composition, and storytelling; for instance, a side job designing greeting cards revealed his aptitude for concise writing, which complemented his drawing abilities.[4] During this period, Crane pursued cartooning as a personal interest, occasionally submitting ideas amid his design workload, though self-doubt about his humor and drawing style delayed more serious efforts.[12]Creation and syndication of Pickles
In the late 1980s, Brian Crane conceptualized the comic strip Pickles around the age of 40, drawing inspiration from his own family life, particularly the dynamics of his in-laws as a retired couple, to fulfill a childhood dream of creating a newspaper strip.[4][1] This idea emerged amid Crane's growing disillusionment with his career in advertising and graphic design, where he had honed skills in visual humor through greeting card illustrations.[4] Crane initially faced challenges in securing syndication, submitting samples to multiple syndicates and receiving rejections before his wife encouraged persistence, leading to acceptance by The Washington Post Writers Group.[4] Pickles officially launched on April 2, 1990, debuting in approximately two dozen newspapers, including the Reno Gazette Journal.[2][13] The strip quickly gained traction, expanding to nearly 800 newspapers by 2011 and reaching over 900 by 2020, with syndication later transferring to Andrews McMeel Syndication in 2022.[4][3][13] By the 2020s, Pickles appeared in nearly 1,000 newspapers worldwide, reflecting its broad international appeal and consistent ranking among top syndicated comics.[1][2]Pickles comic strip
Characters and themes
The Pickles comic strip centers on the retired couple Earl and Opal Pickles, a pair in their seventies whose bickering yet affectionate interactions form the heart of the narrative.[14][4] Earl is portrayed as a somewhat crotchety retiree with ample free time for hobbies like imparting life lessons to his grandson, while Opal serves as the devoted grandmother and pragmatic counterpart, often managing household pets and family matters.[15][4] Their grandson Nelson frequently appears as a youthful foil, highlighting generational contrasts through his modern perspectives and school-age adventures.[12][14] The strip's extended family includes daughter Sylvia, who navigates midlife challenges alongside her husband Dan, providing additional layers to familial dynamics.[16][17] Earl's friend Clyde occasionally features in storylines, offering comic relief through male camaraderie outside the immediate family circle. Similarly, Opal's friend Pearl occasionally appears, offering comic relief through her interactions with Opal outside the immediate family.[16][18] The household pets, dog Roscoe and cat Muffin, add whimsical elements, with Roscoe embodying loyal companionship and Muffin displaying sassy independence that Opal humorously indulges.[14][16] Core themes in Pickles revolve around aging and retirement life, capturing the humorous absurdities of growing older, such as memory lapses and physical limitations, while affirming the joys of long-term companionship.[19][20] Family relationships take center stage, emphasizing multigenerational bonds through everyday interactions that blend warmth and mild conflict, often underscoring themes of unconditional love and support.[14][2] Generational differences provide much of the strip's everyday humor, as Earl and Opal's traditional views clash amusingly with Nelson's contemporary outlook on technology and social norms.[21][4] Over its three-plus decades since debuting in 1990, Pickles storylines have evolved subtly, with characters initially depicted as more crotchety softening into warmer portrayals to reflect broader societal shifts toward empathetic views of senior life.[4][2] This adaptation has allowed the strip to incorporate modern family dynamics, such as evolving roles for working parents like Sylvia and Dan, while maintaining its focus on timeless relational humor.[17][19]Production and style
Brian Crane produces the Pickles comic strip from a dedicated studio in his home in Sparks, Nevada, which serves as an addition to the house equipped with essentials like a desk, scanner, copy machine, and reference materials such as models of classic cartoon characters. His daily workflow emphasizes ideation over execution, consisting largely of brainstorming humorous concepts drawn from personal and family observations, with actual drawing occupying a smaller portion of time; completing a week's worth of strips typically spans most of the week.[4][11][2] Once the black-and-white drawings are finished by hand, Crane scans them and emails the files to his daughter Emily, who has handled the coloring of both daily and Sunday strips using Photoshop since approximately 2012. This collaboration streamlines the finalization process while preserving Crane's traditional inking approach.[18][11][1] The artistic style of Pickles relies on simple, clean line drawings that prioritize expressive facial features to deliver humor through subtle, observational wit rather than exaggerated slapstick, often highlighting nuances in family dynamics and aging. Strips commonly employ multi-panel formats—such as four panels for weekdays—to build gentle punchlines, or single panels for concise Sunday gags, fostering a relatable and understated tone.[22][11][23] In the 2010s, production adapted by incorporating digital tools for post-drawing stages like scanning, coloring, and syndication submissions, marking a shift from fully analog methods while Crane continues to draw traditionally with pen and ink.[11][18]Awards and recognition
National Cartoonist Society honors
The National Cartoonist Society (NCS), established in 1946 as the leading professional organization for cartoonists in the United States, honors outstanding achievements through its annual awards program, which includes competitive division categories and the prestigious Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, selected by secret ballot among members. These recognitions highlight exceptional creativity and impact in a highly competitive field where only a select few strips and creators are celebrated each year.[24] In 2001, Brian Crane won the NCS Division Award for Best Newspaper Comic Strip for Pickles, acknowledging the strip's witty portrayal of aging and family dynamics that resonated widely with readers.[25] Crane was nominated for Cartoonist of the Year by the NCS in 2005 and 2011.[1] Crane achieved the society's highest honor in 2013, sharing the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year with Rick Kirkman, co-creator of Baby Blues; this rare tie, only the second in the award's history,[24] reflected the parallel excellence of their humorous takes on domestic life.[26] The widespread popularity of Pickles, appearing in hundreds of newspapers, played a key role in positioning Crane for such NCS distinctions.[27]Other awards
In 2014, Brian Crane received the Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International in San Diego, recognizing his achievement in comic arts through the creation and longevity of the Pickles strip.[5] This honor, presented annually since 1974 to professionals in comics, underscores Crane's contributions to syndicated humor and family-themed storytelling in the medium.[28] Building on his earlier National Cartoonists Society accolades, including the Reuben Award, Crane was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2022 as a Silver Pen Awardee, celebrating his lifetime achievements in writing and illustration as a Nevada native.[5] The induction highlighted Pickles' widespread appeal and its role in Nevada's literary heritage, with the event drawing attention to his decades of work from his Sparks studio.[29] These awards have amplified Crane's visibility, leading to features in regional media and interviews that emphasize Pickles' enduring popularity, such as its frequent top rankings in newspaper comics polls.[3]Personal life
Family
Brian Crane married his college sweetheart, Diana Long, in 1973 shortly after graduating from Brigham Young University, where they first met.[4][1] The couple has seven children, and as of 2025, twenty-one grandchildren.[5][2] Crane's daughter Emily has assisted him since around 2012 by coloring the daily and Sunday Pickles strips using Photoshop.[2][18] His family serves as a primary source of inspiration for the comic strip, with everyday interactions among his children and grandchildren informing themes of grandparenting dynamics and familial humor; Crane often rewards family members who spot themselves in a strip by gifting them the original artwork.[19][12]Residence and faith
Brian Crane has resided in Sparks, Nevada, since the early 1990s, following his transition from an art director role in Reno to full-time cartooning after the debut of Pickles in 1990.[27] He maintains a dedicated home studio in Sparks, where he hand-draws the daily comic strip, allowing for a flexible schedule that accommodates his creative process.[1] This long-term Nevada residence has provided a stable environment for his professional output, with Crane continuing to work from home as of 2025.[30] Crane is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his earlier missionary service has profoundly shaped his personal values, emphasizing family unity and moral integrity that permeate his worldview.[19][9] These experiences inform the subtle themes of familial bonds and ethical living in Pickles, where characters navigate everyday challenges with humor and resilience, reflecting Crane's faith without overt proselytizing.[31] For instance, occasional background elements like LDS temples or church periodicals appear in the strip as nods to his beliefs, underscoring a quiet influence on the portrayal of aging and relationships.[32] In Nevada, Crane engages with local communities through career-related activities, such as speaking engagements at senior centers, schools, and clubs to discuss Pickles.[33] These events, including a 2025 visit to Carson City schools and a May appearance with the Leisure Hour Club for the strip's 35th anniversary, highlight his role in fostering appreciation for cartooning among Northern Nevada audiences.[30][34]Bibliography
Comic collections
The published collections of the Pickles comic strip compile selected daily and Sunday strips, highlighting the humorous dynamics of the Pickles family across generations, from the retired couple Earl and Opal to their grandson Nelson. These anthologies, enabled by the strip's wide syndication since its 1990 debut, capture thematic elements like aging, family quirks, and everyday wisdom, with selections often curated to showcase character development and reader favorites. Over the decades, the collections have evolved to mark milestones in the strip's history, reflecting its sustained appeal.[1]| Title | Publication Date | Publisher | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickles | October 25, 1999 | Taylor Trade Publishing | 96 | 978-1563525100[35] |
| Pickles, Too: The Older I Get, The Better I Was | September 1999 | Taylor Trade Publishing | 96 | 978-1563525834[36] |
| Still Pickled After All These Years | April 1, 2004 | Andrews McMeel Publishing | 128 | 978-0740743405[37] |
| Let's Get Pickled! | October 1, 2006 | Andrews McMeel Publishing | 128 | 978-0740761928[38] |
| How Come I Always Get Blamed for the Things I Do? | December 1, 2010 | Baobab Press | 136 | 978-1936097012[39] |
| Oh, Sure! Blame It on the Dog! | September 1, 2011 | Baobab Press | 128 | 978-1936097043[40] |
| 25 Years of Pickles | October 13, 2015 | Baobab Press | 135 | 978-1936097104[41] |
| Pickles Tails Volume One: The Hijinks of Muffin & Roscoe: 1990-2007 | September 7, 2021 | Baobab Press | 128 | 978-1936097425[42] |
| Pickles Tails Volume Two: The Hijinks of Muffin & Roscoe: 2008-2020 | September 13, 2022 | Baobab Press | 128 | 978-1936097432[43] |
| 35 Years of Pickles | September 1, 2026 (planned) | Baobab Press | 180 | 978-1936097586[44] |