 Winsor McCay ( c . 1869 – 1934 ) produced prodigiously detailed and accurate drawings since early in life . He earned a living as a young man drawing portraits and posters in dime museums , and attracted large crowds with his ability to draw quickly in public . He began working as a newspaper illustrator full @-@ time in 1898 , and in 1903 began drawing comic strips . His greatest comic strip success was the children 's fantasy comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland , which he began in 1905 . In 1906 , McCay began performing on the vaudeville circuit , doing chalk talks — performances during which he drew in front of a live audience . 
