PENMEN® Creator Gary Blehm, The Optimist
Cartoonist Gary Blehm, Penman
It all began with a single drawing in a one room school house near Aspen, Colorado in 1977 when country boy, Gary Blehm first drew a character with a large, white smile that would shape his life. He told his parents that he would draw the character for a living one day. And he did.

In 1989 Blehm published his first PENMEN poster titled, "FIND THE TWO IDENTICAL PENMEN". The 20 x 30 inch poster was featured 1,039 Penman characters with only two alike.
By the end of 1989 PENMEN posters were selling through national retailer, Prints Plus and fine art distributor, Image Conscious, Inc. From there came Canadian distributor, Imaginous Canada, and Bruce McGaw Graphics in New York. A collection of similar posters would follow throughout the early 1990's leading to a book deal and syndicated comic strip.

