Original cartoon artwork by William Haefeli, published in the New Yorker magazine on March 13, 2000. Pentel Rolling Writer (black), Sharpie marker (black), Prismacolor pencils and tempera paint on 8.5" x 11 20 lb. white copy paper. Image with caption is approximately 7" x 7" Excellent condition.
Mr. Haefeli is known for his ground-breaking inclusion of gay characters on a regular basis in The New Yorker cartoons. He is also well-known for his cartooning style, including his characters' large, pointy noses, of which he has said, "My cartooning evolved over time, like handwriting. Originally my noses looked like a skinny finger sticking straight out of the faces. As my drawing style became more bold and angular, the noses you see now took shape. These noses initially attract attention to the faces and then, like arrows, start moving the viewer’s eyes around the drawing. I never consciously made a decision to do this; it just made my characters fit into the overall composition. It’s interesting you ask about the noses, which a lot of people do, but I also encounter many people who focus more on the gigantic ears (which balance out the noses), or the fact that my characters only have three fingers on each hand (since a fourth finger is superfluous for virtually all hand gestures). All cartooning involves both exaggeration and simplification."
