The New Yorker, February 24, 1992, by George Booth
The New Yorker, January 23, 2006, by George Booth
(A reprint from the “special 2009 Thanksgiving edition” of the Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
Among New Yorker cartoonists, George Booth is remarkable for the longevity of his career (40 years of contributions to the magazine) and the lovably earthy appeal of his characters. When George began submitting his drawings to the magazine, in 1969, he attempted to imitate the cartoon style for which the magazine was known, which usually starred wealthy city-dwellers and a dry, urbane sense of humor. He discovered that his own experience – his youth in rural Missouri, mixed with observations of the day-to-day – was funnier not only to him, but to The New Yorker as well; and the greasy auto garages, bickering married couples, and famously long-suffering dogs and cats that make up a George Booth cartoon have become cherished staples among generations of New Yorker readers.
The Cartoon Bank’s licensing sales team recently went to lunch with George to learn more about how he became an artist, the origins of his famous animals, and the importance of a touch of reality in a cartoon world.
TCB: Tell us about your background and what it was that led you to cartooning.
GB: My mother was always an artist. She won first place in a watercolor painting contest in Missouri. She did everything, played the banjo and the violin and piano and all. She got me interested in cartooning by laughing at what I was drawing. Then I started drawing her, and she laughed at that, too, so that just encouraged me. The woman I used to draw in The New Yorker, Mrs. Ritterhouse, a little old lady who plays the fiddle, is based on my mother.
TCB: Before you started cartooning, what kind of work were you doing?
GB: My father decided I needed a job in case the drawing didn’t work out, so I was a linotype operator when I was 16, 17, 18, and then I was a linotype operator in Pearl Harbor.
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If you like David Sipress’s drawings for The New Yorker, be sure to check out a short story of his that was recently “Story of the Week” in Narrative magazine. Click on the link below to read an excerpt; register for free on Narrative’s Web site for the full text.
The New Yorker, January 19, 2009, by Drew Dernavich
Aptly named cartoonist Drew Dernavich
(A reprint from the June 2009 Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
Though drawing was his first love, our star cartoonist this month, Drew Dernavich, is a man of many artistic talents. He’s one of only a handful of people in the country who make a living carving faces (and Ferraris, and French bulldogs) into gravestones. He also does graphic facilitation, using drawings to record meetings and conferences to provide participants with a visual record. On top of that, Drew, along with fellow New Yorker artists Zach Kanin, Farley Katz, and Matt Diffee, is responsible for all the wackiness (including robot shenanigans and soup reviews) that you’ll find at the Cartoon Lounge, The New Yorker’s cartoonist-operated blog.
We recently stole Drew away from all this doing and asked him to talk about it instead.
TCB: Have you been drawing your entire life?
DD: Yeah. I remember when the other kids in the neighborhood would be out playing kickball or blowing up stuff, and my parents would say, “Get out of the house!”, and I’d just want to stay in and draw. When I was in eighth grade, I started offering to draw covers for other kids’ book reports – Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, animals, planets – for a dollar apiece. My parents had less of a problem with my drawing when I started making money off it.
The New Yorker, October 16, 2006
New Yorker cartoonist Farley Katz, and his former teeth
The New Yorker, February 4, 2008, by Farley Katz
(A reprint from the August 2009 Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
At the ripe old age of 24, Farley Katz can already claim a number of accomplishments: a string of cartoons published in The New Yorker; a stint as assistant to Cartoon Editor Robert Mankoff (and, consequently, gatekeeper of the magazine’s wildly popular Cartoon Caption Contest); a regular presence at the Cartoon Lounge; one of the more lyrical names on The New Yorker’s cartoonist roster; and a mustache of fairly impressive dimensions. He’s also saved all four of his wisdom teeth since their extraction, and he brought them to our lunch meeting as a prop – really.
If you think that’s funny/mildly gross, read on for Farley’s guide to the Caption Contest’s inner workings, and what the future in comedic animals holds.
TCB: Tell us about some of your earliest drawing experiences.
FK: As a kid I taught myself to draw by copying the Ninja Turtles. Then, in third grade, I got in trouble for drawing an erotic scene featuring these turtles. In high school, I pitched cartoons to Mad magazine, though it took many years before I sold one. At Harvard, [fellow New Yorker cartoonist] Zach Kanin and I both worked for the Lampoon, the university’s humor magazine.
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The New Yorker, January 13, 2003, by Barbara Smaller
Barbara Smaller (left), with fellow cartoonist David Sipress and TCB licensing sales associate Tricia Gesner
(A reprint from the May 2009 Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
Barbara Smaller knows all about finding the funny. The Chicago native grew up in a family of six kids, dabbled in stand-up comedy after quitting nursing school, and now draws (pun intended) much of her cartoon inspiration from the endless font of humor that is life on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where her husband is a building superintendent. Barbara met up with our sales team at a downtown restaurant, where she shared some of the “checkered past” that led her to cartooning, as well as some delectable ginger cake.
TCB: Was there anything in your background that predicted you’d grow up to be a cartoonist?
BS: I always liked cartoons, but would never have considered cartooning as a job. I did draw when I was little, and joke. I always made jokes, but it wasn’t anything anyone appreciated. Mostly the reaction I got was, “You’re too smart for your own good”!
If you’re planning a wedding, a birthday bash, or a cocktail party, New Yorker cartoons make a brilliant cover for your invitations or thank-you cards. Take a look at a few topical cartoon choices below:
The New Yorker, December 6, 2004, by P.C. Vey
P.C. Vey (second from left) and some of the TCB licensing team
(A reprint from the April 2009 Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
Art runs in Peter Vey’s blood. The longtime New Yorker contributor’s father was a painter, and his mother was a photographer and did watercolors. Peter grew up under the influence of his parents’ professions, and of The New Yorker itself, which he’s read steadily since he was a teenager. For the past 16 years, his droll, occasionally mordant quips on modern life have appeared in the pages of the magazine he grew up with.
Our sales team sat down to lunch with Peter to find out who his cartoonist idols are and just why he started going by “P.C. Vey” in the first place. Read on to learn the answers!
TCB: How did you first encounter The New Yorker?
PCV: I had to have an operation when I was a kid, and when I was in the New York Children’s Hospital gift shop, I saw a copy of The New Yorker and sort of fell in love with it. I had to go back afterward for check-ups, and every time I would always go back to the gift shop and pick up The New Yorker.
Later, my dad became an art teacher at a school in Brooklyn, and I went there on a full scholarship. The scholarship required that I have a job, so I worked in the library, shelving books and periodicals, and so I was able to read The New Yorker there, too. I remember kids coming up to me saying, “Did you see the new story by Woody Allen?”
TCB: When did you start cartooning, and when did you start submitting work to the magazine?
PCV: I started drawing at a young age, and started doing cartoons as a teenager. I submitted my first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1978, during my senior year at the School of Visual Arts. I sold some ideas to them for a while, but my first cartoon was accepted in 1993.
Peter's first New Yorker cartoon, published in the November 22, 1993 issue
The New Yorker, November 12, 2001, by David Sipress
(A reprint from the April 2009 Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
Like most cartoonists published in The New Yorker, David Sipress didn’t follow a straight path to his career. The New York native completed two years of graduate school in Soviet studies at Harvard before dropping out to pursue the artist’s life full time. Now he’s a New Yorker regular, and still finds time for the occasional side job – like the illustrations he did for our media kit.
David's illustrations for the Cartoon Bank media kit
We met up with David recently to get his take on life, art, and the necessity of finding a job you love. Read below for an excerpt of our conversation:
TCB: How did your career as an artist get started?
DS: I had a long career in the New York art world, making sculpture out of found materials during the ‘70s and ‘80s. After I dropped out of school, I met a guy who ran Graphic Workshop in Boston, which was a silk-screening workshop that did all the graphics and signs for antiwar demonstrations. He introduced me to a lot of people. I moved back to New York in ’83 and had a gallery in Soho representing me.
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It’s never too early to start thinking about the holiday season! Adding a little humor to your office with a special cartoon-themed custom gift from The Cartoon Bank can be just the ticket this year. From a corporate holiday card with a classic New Yorker cartoon and your personalized message, to a custom book that’s bound to bring laughs to the recipient all year long, The New Yorker’s Cartoon Bank is the number one source for your holiday needs. And best of all, everything is affordable!
The New Yorker, February 16, 2004, by Liza Donnelly
The New Yorker, August 13, 2007, by Michael Maslin
(A reprint from the February 2009 Cartoon Bank licensing newsletter.)
In honor of Valentine’s Day, we offer a glimpse into the lives of married New Yorker cartoonists Michael Maslin and Liza Donnelly. The Cartoon Bank had lunch with the picture-perfect couple to celebrate their new book, Cartoon Marriage (available at the Cartoon Bank), and to find out what it’s like when two cartoonists tie the knot.
TCB: How did you meet originally?
MM: We were both submitting cartoons to The New Yorker, and one night we were both at a Parsons opening party. I noticed Liza, and the rest was history.
LD: Actually, it wasn’t until we spent an evening together at a sale of drawings. It was an informal get-together, but somehow it led to long discussions about life and art and James Thurber. We document the moment when we connected in our book.
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