Sam Hester

A framed pencil drawing by a small child of a stick person eating at a table. Childish text reads "TOO MUCH ICE CREAM"

I still have this up on my wall from a few years ago, when it still felt like it was worth being mindful of concerns about the opposite situation

Reading up on some Canadian history, and just came across this mention of an uninvited dog joining in a ski event in 1912. I guess history just keeps repeating, as @paulisci.bsky.social can attest!

Yeah, that was genuinely his primary association with the name "Bob Dylan," as far as I recall. I feel like maybe he had heard that song in a movie soundtrack? Anyway, so many questions!!! 🙂

One of my favourite Dylan anecdotes: a friend was talking with someone - a Scandanavian guy, I think - and Dylan came up. The guy said, "oh, Dylan... isn't he the one who wrote... 'Death is not the end'?" That was not the way she expected him to end that sentence!!

Hooray for superheroes AND adequately funded municipal infrastructure!

Jane Austen's "Persuasion," the 1995 version with Ciaran Hinds, Amanda Root, & a bunch of other perfectly cast folks. It's my favourite adaptation of any book - really lovely on its own, but also extremely true to the original!

A little free library full of books and some folded paper zines.

Leaving some @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social Olympic zines in Parkdale today!

A woman with a past 1988 Olympic comics and old 2002 sketchbook comics!

In today's episode of "The Drawing Book," old sketchbook comics about my Calgary life in 2002...
samhester.substack.com/p/a-woman-wi...

Headline reads: my heart can't bear

The small-town paper in Tumbler Ridge is going to need support. This is its front page right now. Their subscription page is here:
www.patreon.com/tumblerridge...

Yes!
Those tool rental folks did not want to have a scaffold set up on the ground next to the Boardwalk building - it would have been standing on their property. So, in order to paint the mural, we had to hang a swingstage from the roof. That was a bit trickier, but also a cool experience!

That mural was originally conceived as a "placeholder" - just a temporary picture to fill the space until a new building could be built in that empty lot. I don't think anyone expected it would still be there, over 20 years later!! It's kind of amazing that it lasted so long!

Curious Calgary: The ’88 Olympics | The Sprawl A place for you, a place for me.

New comic in The Sprawl by @calgaryhester.bsky.social, about her long-forgotten artistic contribution to Calgary's 1988 Olympics!

Yeah! Those bricks somehow captured the feeling of a city-wide group effort. I think we need more cool projects like that!

The Olympic Bricks! A win for the City of Calgary in 2025

In the lead-up to the 1988 Olympics, Calgary's Olympic Plaza was paved with bricks bearing donors' names. Today in my Substack newsletter, I'm revisiting last year's post about how those bricks were removed & returned to their donors, thanks to @calgary.ca.
samhester.substack.com/p/the-olympi...

Can Comics Help? (Yes!) Old sketchbook journal + a shout-out to #iceoutcomics

In hard times, comics can help! This week in The Drawing Book: some old sketchbook comics, and a special shout-out to a new project, #iceoutcomics, that's inspiring artists and storytellers around the world.

samhester.substack.com/p/can-comics...

I'm really hoping it was an owl! A great horned owl spent a winter in my back yard a couple of years ago, and we are always hoping he will come back 🙂

Magpie tracks in the snow end with a spot where the snow is gone and grass shows through. There are a few thick lines that look like they end in sharp claws leading out from the grassy spot. The magpie tracks don't continue past that point.

Signs of a dramatic night time encounter in my Ramsay backyard. Any theories on what happened here? #yyc

Friends, I’d like to show @ucalgary.bsky.social that @bsky.app is where the cool kids hang out and that they should start posting here more and less/none at TheBadPlace™️. Show them some love by reskeeting this 100000000x. 🧪

Thanks for sharing this link! It was great to be able to see that talk.

Ink and pencil crayon drawing of a white woman with brown hair and glasses (me) writing at a desk. Handwritten text says, "Welcome to my life as a book." This post is full of hand-drawn comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but I'm hoping the typed copy provides some context!

This week in my free comics newsletter, "The Drawing Book," I'm looking back to 2001 and an early attempt at a web comic:
samhester.substack.com/p/ex-libris

@paulisci.bsky.social Is it too soon to start compiling this year's list of headlines?

Ink and pencil crayon drawing of me (white woman with brown hair and glasses) dressed in my old flight attendant uniform, waving to an airplane and saying "Bye 844! See you later!" This newsletter is full of comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but hopefully the typed copy provides some context.

Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere! But this post marks the end of a chapter in my Substack sketchbook series, "The Drawing Book." Subscribe to read along with the next chapters in 2026!
samhester.substack.com/p/the-end-of...

A black and white comics page entitled "Sam Hester's Ramsay presents: My 100-year-old kitchen." Dated 05-13. Several panels show a line drawing of a small kitchen, with lots of text describing what is in it, and how the design reminds me of working in an airplane galley. One panel shows a man and woman standing back to back as each works in the kitchen, along with the text "A tiny kitchen promotes togetherness!"

Reading this, I was reminded of a comic I wrote in 2013 about my extremely small kitchen, with the line "A tiny kitchen promotes togetherness." Yes!

Good news! The Boil Water Advisory has been lifted!

Folks are advised to flush their systems prior to initial use: To flush your system turn the bathtub tap on cold for ten minutes. Then turn all other faucets on cold for five minutes.

#yyccc #yyc

Cover of Margaret Mahy's "The Catalogue of the Universe" with a picture of a blond boy looking into a big book.

I might choose Margaret Mahy's "The Catalogue of the Universe."

The cover of Macaulay's "The Way Things Work." The letters of the title are drawn to look like bits of machinery and household tools.

My son chooses "The Way Things Work" by David Macaulay

This is very cool and so is the discovery that Calgary's Dr. Karl Tomm is also on this list. I think he has mentored a generation of family therapists!

My pleasure. Happy new year & all the best in 2026!!

Just saw this and had to re-post! Come on #abpoli folks, sign up and help Jeremy reach this goal. He is doing some of the best work out there!

If you're here because you're looking for posts about the lesser-known novels of Frances Hodgson Burnett, that's called Coombescrolling