Best illustrator
Harry Bliss
Harry Bliss — If you're looking for a drawing of a dog peeing words across a snowy field, Harry Bliss is your man. Need an illustrator for your children's book? He's your guy there, too. Bliss, who splits his time between Burlington and Cornish, N.H., has 25 kiddie books to his credit; several were turned into an animated series, "The Bug Diaries," on Amazon Prime Video. And then there are his 24-and-counting New Yorker covers.
To Seven Days readers and his nearly 58,000 Instagram followers, Bliss might be best known for his eponymous single-panel cartoon. Each one is a small masterwork that makes you LOL — and often includes a pooch. (If it weren't for perennial fave Alison Bechdel, Bliss might be picking up a Daysie for best cartoonist, too.) Steve Martin also finds him pretty funny: The comedy icon has collaborated with Bliss on two books and numerous cartoon gags.
In a Seven Days profile of Bliss last year, the artist revealed that he has considered retiring. We can confidently speak for all his fans in saying: No freaking way, Harry!
Other Finalists
- Julianna Brazill
- Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr.
- Sunniva Dutcher
