It may come as no surprise to those who are familiar with his paintings that he has had a lifelong interest in cartooning. In fact, during his first year at the (now defunct) Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, Rose’s major was in cartooning. He switched to painting when he transferred to The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Over the years he has continued to pursue both painting and cartooning, while striving to keep the two disciplines separate. In recent years painting has been winning the creative struggle, but his “lowbrow” cartooning might still be a sentimental favorite.