Explore creative solutions designed to engage and support businesses, organizations, groups, and individuals -- both students and adults -- through art-based presentations, visual representations, and the promotion of products, organizations, businesses, and events.

Welcome to drawing-from-experience.ca

At drawing-from-experience, we believe in harnessing the power of creativity to inspire change and innovation. Our mission is to assist individuals and groups in realizing their full creative potential through our unique facilitation services. Explore all that drawing-from-experience has to offer -- illustrating, art, design, cartooning, and graphic facilitation and recording.

Creative Solutions

Cartooning & Design

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Creative ideas are limitless when using cartoons, cartoon images, and graphic design to represent an idea, position, or to promote an event, product, organization, or business.

Phil Irwin's experience as a weekly newspaper editorial cartoonist for over 25 years provides him with the know-how to generate creative ideas and the expertise to visually represent those ideas.

Phil loves to share his joy of cartooning with students and staff to encourage them to explore and apply their creativity through cartooning workshops.

He also applies his artistic skills to logo design, school mascot and uniform design, poster design, and home and motel renovation projects.

 

Student and teacher workshops

Illustrating & Art

Written by Dr. Christopher Fuzessy 

Illustrated by Phil Irwin

"Phil Irwin not only read the manuscript but also contributed much reflection, support and the illustrations that are in the book. His conviction and help strengthened my resolve to share this tale and the reader's experience of this story." Dr. Christopher Fuzessy - Author

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"A picture is worth a thousand words." This saying may be an old adage, but it accurately portrays what we believe about the illustrations and various forms of artwork we design with you to capture the essence of complex ideas, emotions, and/or stories. 

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PJ Irwin is a commissioned artist who loves to capture the essence of any  artistic challenge that comes his way.

Graphic Facilitation

Canadian School Board Association National Conference — Banff 2023 — with 140 delegates from across Canada

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With 35 years of experience in the field of education, Phil Irwin has transformed the art of graphic recording into what he prefers to refer to as graphic facilitation. His visual representation of key points and the capturing of participants' responses provide invaluable information that can be revisited by both the presenter and participants to reinforce important ideas, concepts, and next steps.

Check out Phil as he engages in graphic facilitation with staff at a Foothills School Division leadership PD session entitled "A Vision for the Future" …                

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R9qt_3EbBjd6LkQCTcoLaDLHtKx_sRdW/view 

Small and large group graphic facilitation       

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of organizations and/or audiences do you work with?

We work with students, teachers, authors, newspapers, businesses, school division leadership, presenters, and both community and provincial organizations.

How are your services customized to meet client needs?

We work with you to understand your unique goals and challenges, tailoring our services to meet your specific needs and objectives.

What sets drawing-from-experience apart from other creativity facilitation companies?

Our collaborative approach and proven results provide organizations with the assurance that we have what it takes to help unlock their creative potential and drive innovation.

Hey Phil:

Just letting you know that you received a 2nd Place Award for Best Local Cartoon in the 2025 Canadian Community Newsmedia Awards. It was for a cartoon titled "Bad Gas" that ran in March of last year. Congrats on the recognition, well deserved! Below is a link to the awards list.

https://nmc-mic.ca/ccnawards/ccna-winners/2025-winners/

210 – Best Local Cartoon

  • Class 2102 – Best Local Cartoon, Circulation 10000 and over
  • 1st – Hill Times, Ottawa, ON – ‘That looks like my wallet’ – Michael de Adder
  • 2nd - Okotoks Western Wheel, Okotoks, AB – ‘Bad Gas’ – Phil Irwin
  • 3rd – Observer, Elmira-Woolwich, ON – ‘The View From Here – September 19, 2024’ – Scott Arnold

Ted Murphy 
Editor

9 McRae St. P.O. Box 150 Okotoks, AB
westernwheel.ca
Great West Media, LP

 

NOTE: The Okotoks Western Wheel has been named the top newspaper in Canada in its class the past two years — 2024 and 2025.

2nd Place Award -- Best Local Cartoon

 Phil Irwin’s "Bad Gas"

 2025 Canadian Community Newsmedia Awards

Contact us

Reach out to us for inquiries, collaborations, or to book a session! We'd love to hear from you.

www.drawing-from-experience.ca

About us

drawing-from-experience is a creativity facilitation company based in High River, Alberta, Canada. We are passionate about helping groups and individuals -- both children and adults --  organizations, and businesses unleash their creativity, drive innovation, and achieve success. With an experienced artist, cartoonist, educator, presenter, and visual facilitator who has a proven and effective methodology, we are committed to developing and delivering creative and engaging ways to help maximize results with and for those we serve.

A retirement caricature of the late Jim Finnman, former Foothills S.D. Superintendent