The large mural of Snoopy and Woodstock as it is today at the bus stop in the community of Muraleando, Havana Cuba.

Four years ago I first traveled to Havana Cuba with a group of American cartoonists on an arts and cultural exchange tour. Jeannie Schulz, wife of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, put our group together. Among the wonderful places and people we encountered was an artist community named Muraleando, located in a poor and humbled area of inner city Havana. On the walls of the community there were murals everywhere, several created by guest artists from around the world. It was embarrassing to me that there was no mural from the United States (as US citizens have been restricted from traveling there since 1959). The absence was jarring. I turned to Jeannie and said, “Wouldn’t it be a hoot if the first American mural in Havana was of Snoopy?” I mean who better to plant a flag of goodwill and friendship than Snoopy–no one!

She liked the idea, and after a year of my reminders and gentle badgering, we finally got the ok to proceed. I was allowed to spend five days in Muraleando, painting two Snoopy murals that expressed our friendship and respect for the people of this incredible artistic community.

To me this was a sacred task. Paint two murals of Snoopy and Woodstock and make them look good. Not some elaborate, colorful, and odd artistic impression of Snoopy but an accurate depiction, true to the Schulz style: simple, charming, and elegant. I understood no artist from the United States had been allowed to paint a mural alone in Cuba so I felt a lot of pressure to get this right. So many things could have gone wrong. I worried about customs. Would they confiscate the cans of paint I had to bring? I couldn’t buy paint in Cuba; they didn’t have any! Would someone see what I was doing and send me home? Would the paint stay on the wall when it rained? Would it be the target of graffiti? Would I lose a day or even days because of rain? Would I be stopped mid paint-stroke by the police and tossed into a Cuban jail? None of the worries were as important as Snoopy finding his way into Cuba. It had to happen and I had to try. After all, it was my stupid idea.

On the first week of December 2011 I returned, banging and clanging my poor, beaten, suitcase full of eleven cans of paint and supplies down the sunny cobblestone streets of old Havana toward my hotel. I was noisily announcing my presence.

The next morning, I taxied to the home of Manolo, the organizer of the project and the leader of the artist community. After a good half hour of welcome-backs, hugs, and re-acquaintances with his wife Maira and our friend Mario, they led me to an 8 ½’ x 16’ blank wall next to the community’s bus stop. They wanted the big mural to be placed in one of the most visible places in the community.

I dragged the old suitcase full of paint and brushes to the wall and got to work. This painting had to be as accurate as possible, as if Charles Schulz himself had painted the image. I could never reproduce an accurate Snoopy freehand, especially at this scale, and this had to be right. With the immeasurable help of my newest best buddy Mario, a local ‘everyman’ but especially a vocalist and rapper, I was able to draw the entire image in ballpoint pen onto the wall the first day.

Using one of 20 stencils to copy the image to the wall

The following days were hot and muggy; it was December in the tropics. I outlined all of the ink pen lines with a black felt marker so that I could more easily see the lines when applying paint the following day. The outlining went very quickly so after an hour the actual painting of the characters was underway. The paint I brought, quality exterior latex, was applying perfectly; I breathed a sigh of relief. Unaccustomed to painting murals, I didn’t know how this was going to turn out. I had anticipated delays and frustrations but it was going incredibly well.

Painting underway

After I applied all the colors to the mural, I began to paint the black outlines. This was the scariest part. If the black lines were too thick or too thin it wouldn’t look like Charles Schulz’s work and that is what I was trying so desperately to do–to keep artistic fidelity to Mr. Schulz’s famous line. To me that line is as delicate and distinctive as any museum porcelain, as true as any Wyeth, and as recognizable from a distance as a Picasso. I had to get it right.

Saving the best for last

I finished what black outlining remained except for the character outlines of Snoopy and Woodstock. I had saved them for last. I wanted to be as familiar as I could be with the brush in my hand before I attempted the outline of the most important part of the mural: the familiar and instantly recognizable lines of Woodstock and Snoopy. One screw up and it wouldn’t look like Schulz drew it and I would fail. Any cartoonist will tell you how curiously difficult it is to try to draw Mr. Schulz’s characters and make it look just like he drew it. The simplicity of the artwork is so deceptively complex that it is confounding to cartoonists. That’s why I worked so hard to get the stencils right. And even though I was following the lines, I was nervous as I finished those charming smiling expressions on Snoopy and Woodstock.

Finishing up with those smiling expressions

Throughout the week I became acquainted with some of the people of the neighborhood, notably my friendly assistant Mario with whom I had great conversations and heard some great stories. Manolo and his wife opened their home to me and invited me to a delicious home-cooked traditional Cuban dinner.

Dinner at home with Mario (L) and Manolo ®

Finally completing the entire mural, the message of greeting, and satisfied with the outcome, I grabbed my materials. Mario and I moved it all down to the Arts Center complex to start on the second mural. This one was smaller, but no less important than the larger mural, for this one was to be the very first thing one saw upon entering the Arts Center. Right inside the entryway door, a greeting for the Arts Center visitors of Snoopy and Woodstock. They wanted it to be different than the larger mural and I left its lettering and written message up to Manolo since this image seemed more personal for him. He was grateful. This mural was going to be a little more difficult than the larger one because this wall was covered in a fine yet textured stucco. Not as smooth a surface as the first mural, and I wondered how the paint would react and how the brushes would take to this slightly bumpier surface. It took a little longer to apply but it took fine.

Lining the second mural onto the entryway wall to the Cultural Arts Center

When I returned the next day, after stenciling and inking the image onto the interior wall and applying the first coat of paint, I saw that Manolo had framed the piece with lovely green and white broken ceramic tiles which looked fantastic.

Painted image with ceramic frame

Once I finished the interior painting, I could finally relax. My work was done and it looked great. Manolo and another artist wrote the words above the image, the message read in Spanish: “A greeting of Snoopy for the friends that make real their dreams in this cultural house.



Finished mural

On the final night at the Cultural Arts Center there was a big celebration with artists and children from the community, dancing, lemonade, and home grown live music. The local TV news crew in Havana even came by and interviewed me in front of the mural. Mario translated for me in Spanish. Manolo hugged me and as manly and firmly as he could, shook my hand once more and said, “I love you, my friend.” Cubans are amazing. My fifteen minutes of fame had been spent.

The big celebration

The whole project went so well, so smoothly and without a mistake (or any jail-time) that one might think the hand of providence had willed this to happen and I was just lucky enough to be along for the ride.

And that is how Snoopy and Woodstock came to be in Havana Cuba. Not as some advertising campaign or marketing plan–there’s nothing to market to these fine people–but as a show of goodwill and friendship to the city. Hopefully to transcend the difficult history and politics and just bring smiles to the children and their parents in the warm and accepting community of Muraleando. This was a big step for me, but a giant ‘Snoopydance’ for Peanuts.

–Justin Thompson