Grin Big!™

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.

By the 2000's Penman had a number of animation adventures. In 2006, Blehm animated PENMEN for Disney Owned Jetix Europe, the 70 language kids network throughout Europe. As Penman was a wordless comic strip the fit was genuine.

By 2012 Blehm re-focused on PENMEN t-shirts with the fitting trademark "Grin Big!™", a colorful t-shirt brand with emphasis on optimism and outdoor adventure.

Today, PENMEN Posters are still available here in the 11 x 17 inch format.

Thank you for visiting.

Penman