Sam Hester

@calgaryhester.bsky.social

1245 Followers 184 Following

Graphic recording, graphic medicine & comics journalism in Calgary/Moh'kinsstis, Canada. And I write a weekly newsletter full of comics from my old drawing book. Subscribe for free! samhester.substack.com

Colour drawing of me drawing in a busy coffee shop. Text says "The drawing book presents issue #6 May '04, Live from Cafe Extrablatt." This post is full of comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but hopefully the typed copy provides some context!
A white lawn sign in a garden. On the sign is a red maple leaf and the handwritten words, "Not Sorry!"
Drawing of a Canada flag, with text that says "Curious Calgary #22 by Sam Hester. The Calgarian who created Canada's flag." Logo: The Sprawl
An old newspaper box now has colourful zines in it.
An old box set of the original Canadian edition of The Lord of the Rings, featuring an illustration of some of the nine black riders (illustration by the amazing Pauline Baynes)
Black & white drawing of me saying "wow" and seeing Bob & band on the stage, singing "There was an old man"
A drawing made with markers. Handwritten text reads, "There's nothing private. We're in the room with them while they're reading." Picture shows a smiling woman looking at another woman reading from a book. Reading woman is saying, "Love you forever." Text reads, "We record women reading and we send the recordings out to their children and grandchildren." Picture shows a child listening to a device with words coming out of it, "Love you forever," and a picture of a heart.
Photo of a very small old-fashioned kitchen with a lot of cupboards with window-paned glass doors, so you can see what's in the cupboard (cups, dishes, food, etc). There's an old white enamel sink and very little counter space! Everything is painted yellow
Budapest's Matthias Church, with some dry brown branches in the foreground.
Black and white comics panels showing some snowy neighbourhood scenes, including a tall skinny vertical panel showing me looking up at my roof and a woodpecker looking down, in a "silent faceoff."
A paper spread out on a table that says "top o' the mornin' to ye!"
Drawing of some crocuses growing out of some melting patches of snow, with the text "long covid is a real thing!"
A black and white sketch of a woman (me) walking her two dogs at night.
Text messages reading "We are doing laundry in advance of water restrictions tomorrow!" "Water restrictions again?"
Drawing of a washing machine and a laundry basket. Text says, "Calgary, get your laundry done!"
Line drawing of a very fat book with the title "One Thousand Little Tales For Progressive Little Minds" by Nanny Gringe, featuring a cover illustration of a wicked grandmother in rocking chair reading to a sad child sitting nearby.
A framed pencil drawing by a small child of a stick person eating at a table. Childish text reads "TOO MUCH ICE CREAM"
A 1912 newspaper article with the headline "A Near Accident" describes how a dog ran onto a ski jumping course at an Ottawa ski event, and was whisked out of the way by an audience member "just as a ski-runner sprang off the raised level of the upper run and flew down the track."
A little free library full of books and some folded paper zines.
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.
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!
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.
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!"
Cover of Margaret Mahy's "The Catalogue of the Universe" with a picture of a blond boy looking into a big book.
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.
The cover of an old hardcover book entitled "The Head of the House of Coombe"
A bright magenta flower blossom hanging from a green stem against a dark background.
Painting of a large green house against a snowy yard and a dark sky. The house is empty and dark.
Black and white drawing of a white woman with glasses (me) looking upset and saying, "oh no, it's almost Christmas and I haven't painted a masterpiece to use for a Christmas card!" This post is full of comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but hopefully the typed copy provides some context!
A drawing of two headscarf-wearing medieval women embracing.
Black and white line drawing of a pointy church spire and a star in the sky above.
A black and white drawing of a woman riding on a big dog, copied from a medieval woodcut. Red and green highlights.
Black & white ink & watercolour comics page (of a beautiful medieval scene) in a black frame on a wall.
Black & white illustration that says "Come out to Ramsay School on Sunday Nov. 2, 1-3 PM!"
A battery-operated LEGO train runs along a track through a garden.
Ink and pencil crayon drawing of a white woman (me) with brown hair, glasses and a red kerchief on her head. This post is full of comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but hopefully the typed copy provides some context!
A hand-painted lawn sign that says, "vote!"
Black and white picture of a woman saying, "I don't think I should vote..." This post is full of comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but hopefully the typed copy provides some context!
Screenshot of a screen that says "Register to vote by mail."
A black & white comic strip on a bright green background telling the story of how I found out that I could pick up a ballot from Elections Calgary, so my mom could vote at her continuing care residence... but I was confused that this was called a "mail-in ballot." There is no mail involved!
Black & white text and images on a bright green background. "Did you know? J. M. Miller was Calgary's city clerk from 1913-1955."
Full moon over an industrial site.
God (a bearded man in a robe, on a cloud, holding a newsletter) points to me and says, "You wrote that comic about HUMANISM in the Ramsay newsletter!" I'm looking scared and thinking, "God reads the Ramsay newsletter?!!"
Photograph of four sketchbooks with colourful covers, on a wooden table surface. One book is open to show a page with comics-style illustrations in ink and pencil crayon.
Ink and pencil crayon drawing of a white woman (me) looking up from a couch at the sky. This newsletter is full of comics that don't lend themselves well to alt text, but hopefully the typed copy provides enough context.
A softcover book on a wooden table, with a pastel pink cover. Title, "Alberta Comics - Love."
Photo of a garden path made of yellow bricks, with yarrow and flowering succulents growing beside it.
Newspaper box with a bright yellow zine displayed on the front window.
Rear view of a city bus crossing a bridge. The back of the bus is decorated with pictures of dogs and colourful patterns that are reminiscent of beadwork!
Drawing of a tall man wearing a top hat and a dressing gown, coloured in with markers by my then-9-year-old son.
Boris the whale is tossed in the waves of Hurricane Yetta. William Steig's drawing is a dismal yellowy-grey-blue.
Cell phone footage of a super 8 projection of the 1969 moon landing broadcast.
Old newspaper article that reads: "Young Boy Wounded Defending Rodent." - Carried Bullet in Chest for Three Days -- Cumberland, Md., Dec. 10. - The Spartan youths of ancient Greece had nothing on nine-year-old John Fletcher, who carried a bullet embedded in his chest, near his heart, for three days before telling his mother. The defence of a rat led to his wound as he stepped in front of the .32-calibre revolver of his 13-year-old brother, Marshall, when the latter attempted to shoot the rodent. He will recover."
Photo of a LEGO figure wearing a ball cap and a mud-splattered jacket, holding a knife and a mug, sitting at a LEGO table.
Photograph of a LEGO figure with a ball cap, a mud-splattered shirt, a mug, and a knife, sitting at a table.
A helicopter pulling a giant Canada flag flies over a residential street against a blue sky.
Double rainbow over a residential street.