#110: Get wise
Hello partygoers,
Where I am the winter has just hit us hard, but where you are, it’s might be sunshine and blue skies. But whatever’s out your window, you can be sure that in here, in this email, are cartoons. Glorious cartoons.
This week we have wisdom of a different kind and an only-in-summer food chain.
It’s dog eat dog,
Chris
Like what you see? Follow me on Instagram (@chrisshorten), or talk a friend into following me on Instagram. Or, buy some prints from my website.
Your first time here? Check out all the past posts for even more cartoons.
Caption: “No, no, enlightenment is the next mountain. This is just for gossip.”
Mine for the UK’s The Times Luxury magazine.
What’s at the top of your mountain. Is it wisdom? Enlightenment? A cozy coffee shop? Or is it a chance to take in the latest gossip around a well-stocked water cooler.
You never know what’s out there.
A little artist’s note: Proudly making my Times of London debut with this cartoon all about everyone’s favourite pastime: gossip.
I do love a good guru on the mountain cartoon, but sometimes we all need something other than old predictable timeless wisdom. Sometimes, you just need somewhere to share the gossip, and who better than a wizened elder, bearded and ready to listen to whatever scuttlebutt is going around.
Visually, this one is pretty simple, but I struggled a lot to work out the best way to show the foreground and the background of the two sets of characters. I settled on the idea of keeping the wise elder and the hiker a bit greyer, but not too grey. Just enough to show that they weren’t the absolute centre of attention.
And it worked! I think. Maybe.
Caption: The poolside food chain.
Everything’s got a hierarchy. Even if it is inflatable.
With summer for many of you beginning in earnest, you might be wondering what poolside etiquette is required. Well, look no further than this cartoon.
I wouldn’t want to be that turtle.
A little artist’s note: So this cartoon has a bit of a history. A long one.
Picture this. It’s your first holiday/vacation in a long while, and you’re at a fancy luxury resort, and a couple of the other guests who have definitely been staying there for a while have kind of taken over the pool near your villa. So you take a look in the pool, and the first thing you see is a giant inflatable crocodile (or alligator, I can’t remember which), and then the next thing you see is a kid running and jumping from the side of the pool onto the back of the crocodile (or alligator) and skidding across the top of the water. And then the kid gets out, shakes themselves off, and it all happens again. Got it?
So the first version of this cartoon materialised way back in 2023 during the aforementioned holiday/vacation. I was still finding my style and, to fit with the watery metaphor, my cartoon legs. And so this image stuck around in my mind until the following morning when I drew the cartoon below.
As you can see, my style wasn’t quite there yet. But I really liked the idea, and I rightly tried to sell it. But it wasn’t to be, and then when I went to post it, perhaps in early 2024, I just couldn’t stand the sight of it. I guess it reminded me of a visual style I no longer recognised in myself.
So then, it waited. Always being a cartoon that I would redraw if I had a spare minute, but never having that spare minute. Well, until now, at least. When I found myself with a long weekend and a rainy day out the window, it seemed like the right time to revisit something. Anything.
Does the joke hold up now? Maybe. But it feels good to have it done and off my plate.
Thanks for reading The Mid-Week Squiggle.
Follow me on Instagram @chrisshorten for new cartoons every Tuesday and Thursday. Or subscribe below for this email every Wednesday/Thursday, depending on your timezone.
Seeking more from me? Check out the newly-resurrected (is a) Good Thing. It’s an occasional newsletter celebrating the things we take for granted. You won’t find anything too deep here. Consider it more entry-level observations from a largely unqualified source.
