After a brief stint at the Toronto Star, he joined the Globe and Mail newspaper, where for nearly three decades he has drawn editorial cartoons, caricatures and illustrations. When the Globe went colour in 1998, Jenkins did likewise and began to paint in acrylics, taking courses at The Toronto School of Art and at OCAD.

He is best known for his spare, elegant caricatures - drawings that are characterized by flowing lines and a less-is-more philosophy. He is becoming known for his portrait painting as well.

His long training in black-and-white media has influenced his painting in its search for line and structure. His travels and photography in the Third World have engendered a love of dramatic colour and a heightened fascination with his favorite subject - the human face.

While on lengthy backpacking trips through Australia, Asia, Africa and South America he filled sketchbooks with drawings, cartoons and portraiture done from curbsides, rail platforms, elephant back and outrigger canoe. Some of these sketches appeared as illustrations in early editions of the Lonely Planet travel guides. Many were collected, with accompanying text by the artist, as 'Traveller's Tales - An Illustrated Journey through Australia, Asia and Africa'. Jenkins continues to travel and sketch to this day.

He writes on occasion for the Globe and Mail, having penned the Urban Scrawl and Person, Place and Thing weekly columns, as well as numerous travel articles and social reportage pieces.

Tony Jenkins resides in Toronto with his spouse and two daughters and plays something like hockey twice a week.