AWARDS SEASON: Wash. Examiner's Beeler wins OPC Thomas Nast honor

This continues to be a fertile awards season for Washington-based cartoonists.

Politico's Matt Wuerker picked up his Herblock Prize last week days after being named a Pulitzer finalist. "Cul de Sac" creator Richard Thompson is up for the Reuben Award ("cartooning's Oscar") next month. And now comes word that the Washington Examiner's NATE BEELER has won the Thomas Nast Award for editorial cartooning, as part of the Overseas Press Club Awards.

Beeler won the Nast for "best cartoons on international affairs" for "work throughout 2009."

Of the honor, Beeler tells Comic Riffs: "This was a truly wonderful surprise, since there are so many other deserving cartoonists out there. It's especially humbling considering the list of past winners, which includes a great number of cartoonists that have long inspired me."

According to the OPC judges, Beeler's "entries stood out for their powerful and vivid composition that brings the message home regardless of whether the cartoon centers on a conversation or a visual punch."

The judges added this Beeler is "notable for his use of color and for meticulous art work that, in the words of one of his editors, 'treats each cartoon like a painting.' "

According to the OPC, the awards were founded in 1940 "to recognize excellence for foreign coverage in the categories of print, broadcast and photography." There were 436 entries this year.

The full list of winners can be viewed here.

FROM BEELER'S NAST-WINNING PORTFOLIO: