Donnie Pitchford is a graduate of Kilgore College, Art Instruction Schools, Stephen F. Austin State University and UT-Tyler. He has worked in the graphic arts industry and in education, teaching at Hawkins High School, Panola College, and Carthage High School. 25 of those years were spent directing CHS-TV where student teams earned state honors, including state championships, for 20 consecutive years. In 2010, Donnie returned to the endeavor he began at age five: being a cartoonist! The weekly "Lum and Abner" comic strip began in 2011. It is available online and in print and includes an audio production for the blind. Donnie has created comic book stories and art for Argo Press of Austin, illustrated children's books, written scripts for the "Dick Tracy" newspaper strip, and produced the science fiction comedy strip "Tib the Rocket Frog." He began assisting Carthage sculptor Bob Harness in 2017 and currently sculpts the portraits for the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame plaques. Awards include Kilgore College "Who's Who" in Art, an Outstanding Educator Award from the East Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs in 1993, the CHS "Pine Burr" Dedicatee honor in 2010, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018 from Spring Hill ISD. In 2024, Donnie was inducted into the Carthage Main Street Arts Walk of Fame and was honored with a bronze plaque in the sidewalk in front of a historic building that once housed a printing shop. Donnie and his best friend/wife, Laura, are members of First Methodist Church Carthage. Donnie is a founding officer of the National Lum and Abner Society and a member of Texas Cartoonists, Ark-La-Tex Cartoonists, Christian Comic Arts Society, and the National Cartoonists Society.

Areas of Expertise

• Book Illustration • Comic Book • Freelance Humorous Illustrator • Newspaper Strip • Online Comics: Short Form