An imperious-looking Audrey Hepburn, cigarette holder in hand, looks down from the oversized “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” poster in the suburban Leawood, Kan., studio of illustrator Jack Pullan. Hepburn shares space in the comfortable but cluttered office with a drawing table, a computer monitor, a scanner, a printer and plastic carousels filled with an assortment of brushes, pens and a rainbow of colored pencils.

These are the tools of the trade for Pullan, an art and English major from the Jewell class of 2000 who is making inroads in his burgeoning career as a cartoonist and illustrator. His illustrations currently adorn a variety of greeting cards for Recycled Paper Greetings, the major client of Leawood-based DCI Studios, where Pullan maintains his nine-to-five job.

As a free-lancer, Pullan balances an active clientele for Jack Pullan Artoons.His work has appeared in national publications, including performer Rosie O’Donnell’s monthly magazine Rosie. His editorial cartoons appear regularly in the Liberty Sun-News. One of those Sun cartoons, which pictured a beat-up bull in a hospital bed (symbolizing an ailing stock market), is currently featured in the 2003 edition of Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, alongside the work of Pulitzer Prize winners and nationally syndicated cartoonists.

Not bad for a 24-year-old whose career choice came into focus while working as an intern in William Jewell’s college relations and marketing office just six years ago.

“I started drawing when I was about three years old, and my parents were always very supportive of that,” Pullan says from the DCI Studios conference room on a recent weekday morning. “I remember there was some debate about when I would be allowed to enter kindergarten, because my birthday fell on the line between the entering classes. My parents took me to meet with the people at the school, and they gave me some pencils and paper to keep me busy while they talked. I sat down and drew Garfield the cat, and that seemed to convince them that I was ready to enroll.” Although his interest in art was established early, an internship in Jewell’s college relations office helped Pullan hone in on the possibilities of a career as a commercial artist. He assisted with college publications and web designs, in addition to contributing editorial cartoons for The Hilltop Monitor. While studying at Oxford during his junior year, Pullan completed illustrations and journal entries about his experiences overseas that were posted on Jewell’s web site as part of an ongoing series known as “Union Jack.”

“The overseas experience was really valuable for me,” Pullan says. “Having the time away allowed me to look at things from a different perspective. I did some editorial cartoons for the Oxford student newspaper, which gave me more confidence. It helped me realize that cartooning was something I really wanted to do.”

During his senior year, he completed an internship in the Kansas City marketing office of the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, in addition to an internship with the Barkley & Evergreen advertising agency. He did some free-lance work for DCI following his graduation from Jewell in the spring of 2000 and a few months later landed a fulltime job there as a greeting card artist and illustrator.

As one of four staff artists, Pullan completes cartoons, photo cards, watercolors and line drawings to illustrate the greetings supplied by Chicago-based Recycled Paper. He completes an average of two or three greeting card designs each day.

Although greeting card illustrations currently pay the rent, his long-term goal is to become a syndicated comic strip artist.

“Cartooning is my favorite medium,” Pullan says. “Comic strips are less Jewell Alumnus Gains Recognition Through Cartooning

Cartooning is my favorite medium...a strip is more conversational, sort of like a television sitcom.

“Union Jack”was Pullan’s alter ego for a series of drawings and journal entries describing his overseas adventures while at Jewell. gimmicky than editorial cartoons, which are usually much more ‘punny.’ A strip is more conversational, sort of like a television sitcom.”

Pullan counts “Fox Trot’s” Bill Amend and “Calvin and Hobbes’ ” Bill Waterson among his influences in terms of character development, pacing and plotting. He notes that comic strips are becoming edgier and more ethnically diverse in an attempt to appeal to younger audiences.

Pullan’s website, www.jackcartoons.com, currently showcases a prototype of a comic strip called “Boomtown,” which revolves around the exploits of an assortment of aging baby boomers. “It occurred to me that in a few more years, the baby boom generation is going to be retiring, so I decided a strip that focused on that might be marketable,” Pullan says of the genesis of “Boomtown.” “I’ve been sending some samples to the syndicates. But there are only four or five major syndicates, and only a handful of new strips are introduced every year. So it’s very competitive.” Web-based cartoon strips and self-syndication are also options he has considered as he pursues his career goal of landing a full-time job in cartooning.

“It’s the field that I have the most talent in,” Pullan says.“It just seems to be something I’m supposed to do.”