Classic Eugene cartoon poster gets an update.

Byline: Bob Welch / The Register-Guard

OK, so he wasn't Michelangelo, on his back for four years, painting the Sistine Chapel. But anyone who values art, Eugene and duck-accented humor has to appreciate the effort it took James Cloutier to draw his new cartoon poster map of the city.

Imagine trying to squeeze 356 businesses on a 2-by-3-foot space - and locate most of them in the general vicinity of where they actually are.

Imagine trying to sprinkle the entire piece with historical nuggets and dozens of whimsical ducks. (Michelangelo, of course, did history, but did he do ducks?)

And, this being Eugene, imagine all the political ramifications of keeping all these clients happy. Eugene has a hard enough time getting along with itself in normal conditions, much less packed together in a poster the size of a beach towel.

Given such, is it any surprise that Business "A" pulled its image late in the game because a prominent media outlet on the map (which we'll call Business "B") didn't give enough political oomph to an issue dear to the heart of Business "A"?

No wonder a weary Cloutier, 66, looks back at the project with mixed feelings. "The last time I did this it took three or four weeks," he said. "This one took 15 months."

But the results are impressive. This is to regional cartoon poster maps what Bob Beamon's 29-foot, 2 1/2 -inch leap was to long-jumping - a leap far beyond what's ever been done. It's "Where's Waldo?" meets the Eugene Celebration meets Rand-McNally.

And who better than Cloutier to pull it off? A Eugenean since 1958, he is seemingly rooted in this place like a forest mushroom. It was Cloutier who, exploiting then-Gov. Tom McCall's "visit-but-don't-stay" line in the late '70s, created the meteorically famous "Hugh Wetshoe" character for gift cards, books and calendars.

In 1985, he designed and illustrated a Eugene-Springfield cartoon poster map that consisted of 75 businesses, about a fifth of what the new offering has. Two years ago, it came back to haunt him.

Richard Capper of Capper's Frames & Prints had a client who was looking for a copy of the old map. Cloutier didn't even have one himself.

`So Capper says, `Why don't you do a new one?' ' Cloutier says.

Cloutier knew it would be far easier to do if he had the 1985 model, even if a number of businesses had moved or folded, and tons of new ones had sprung up. So he dug up an old photo, taken in 1985, of himself holding the map. With a magnifying glass, he could barely make out the name of one of the businesses that had been featured: Bradford's Hi-Fidelity. Perhaps Bradford's would still have a map.

Sure enough, it was in a store bathroom. Flushed with excitement, Cloutier launched the new map, not only illustrating it - after photographing most of the businesses to pattern his drawings after - but selling the advertisements himself. Businesses paid $99 to $599 to be included.

"As I was working on it, the project's theme changed from an advertising project to sort of a celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit," he says. "This all fits with Oregon's new motto - `We love dreamers.' Everyone who owns a business has a dream."

It is, as Cloutier says, "a party on paper." It includes a few personal jokes. A Coburg Hills tribute to Eugene artist David Joyce, who died recently. And, of course, dozens of ducks, including most of the "Ducks on Parade" gang.

In one case, a business owner with Oregon State ties told Cloutier she would buy a spot, but only if the drawing included a beaver. No beaver, no buy-ee.

Cloutier is an artist, but he's also an entrepreneur. The poster includes, ahem, one actual beaver - and, for those with good eyes, a cross-dressing duck trying to at least look like one.

Quirky? Sure. But it is, after all, a map of Eugene.

The posters, $10, are available at Hirons, the University of Oregon Bookstore, the Book Mark and other stores.