Lonnie Millsap was born on July 2, 1961, and raised in Los Angeles, California. Like most cartoonists, he began drawing early in life. One of his earliest artistic memories was remembering how he got into trouble for drawing a huge black crayon Batman on his parents refrigerator and another huge black crayon Batman on the light grey living room carpet. (He didn't initially get in trouble for the carpet Batman because of the way he strategically spread out his body over it. (Coincidentally his parents bought a new carpet a week later). Lonnie's earliest artistic influences included Charles Schulz, Sergio Aragones and Johnny Hart, and while growing up he drew cartoons in the borders of every paper he ever touched. As he got older the cartoons that inspired Lonnie were drawn by the likes of Gary Panter, Matt Groening, Charlie Callahan and Gahan Wilson.
Lonnie studied at Otis Art Institute and graduated with a B.A. in Fine Artst from UCLA in 1984. For the next few years Lonnie honed his craft by continuously drawing cartoons and creating graphics and logos. He eventually improved enough to make some money as a freelance artist and promptly used his expertise to park cars. He later enhanced his standing in the art community by working mid-level management jobs for the next 20 years. During that time, as a freelance artist, he was commissioned to create logos for companies like National Concessions Management and TransAir Concessions. He also created graphics for groups as diverse as The Atlanta Area Riders motorcycle club, Atlanta rapper A-One and Smarte Carte, Incorporated.
(Trivia Break: Did you know that Lonnie's all time favorite roomates were Ina & Monica?)
Lonnie Millsap's number one love has always been to draw cartoons that could make people laugh. In 2009 he founded Rollyhead Publishing and published his first book of comics called My Washcloth Stinks! ,an accumulation of some of the cartoons that he's drawn through the years. While Lonnie calls his book "the self-proclaimed funniest cartoon book in cartoon book history and a runaway success" he still toils daily in mid-management and draws cartoons in the borders of his paperwork on a daily basis. He is currently eating a taco and working on his second book of cartoons called I Hate My Job! ,due July 30, 2011. Lonnie Millsap recently relocated from Atlanta to sunny/rainy southern California.
duh!
