I find
Shannon Wheeler's art hard to resist. When I met him back at MoCCA Fest 2012, I purchased a couple of pieces of original art from him, which is unusual for me. I bought a cartoon rough senselessly rejected by the
New Yorker. Even more unusual, I acquired a page of a "Too Much Coffee Man" comic, even though I don't collect comic strip art, and even though I don't read "Too Much Coffee Man," although I do drink too much coffee. As a collector, I find it hard to settle on just one piece of Wheeler's original cartoon art. The fact that it's quite reasonably priced means that I don't have to.
A visit this week to the Etsy shop WheelerCartoons has once again made me a buyer of multiple works of original art. Again I was unable to refrain from picking up a cartoon rejected by the
New Yorker, if perhaps not quite as senselessly rejected as the last time around.
This time, though, I passed on the "Too Much Coffee Man" art and went instead for some original book illustrations. And not just any book....
The Bible has always provided inspiration to artists--and when I say artists I include cartoonists, of course.
God is Disappointed in You is a retelling of the Christian Bible written by Mark Russell. From what I gather, it is an attempt to distill the great book down to the essence of its stories in what I take to be a succinct and humorous yet essentially faithful manner.
Shannon Wheeler has been selling the original illustrations at comics conventions and online. Once again, as with his rejected
New Yorker cartoons and the "Too Much Coffee Man" strips, the prices seem reasonable to me. Is $99 a good price for an original book illustration by a
New Yorker cartoonist--with a signed copy of the book included? It certainly is if you like the illustration.
"God wants you to be rich." Now there's a caption I can relate to! It's spoken by Amos, a minor prophet from the Hebrew Bible. In the published version, it's expanded to "God wants you to be rich, and by that I mean God wants me to be rich." Thanks for the minor prophecy, Amos. I'll take it.
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Shannon Wheeler, "God wants you to be rich."--Amos
Published as "God wants you to be rich, and by that I mean God wants me to be rich."
Original artwork for God is Disappointed in You (2013) by Mark Russell, page 120 |
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Shannon Wheeler, "God wants you to be rich."--Amos
Original artwork for God is Disappointed in You (2013) by Mark Russell, page 120 |
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Shannon Wheeler, "God wants you to be rich, and by that I mean God wants me to be rich."--Amos (published caption)
Original artwork for God is Disappointed in You (2013) by Mark Russell, page 120 |
Here is another original book illustration, "Don't forget the fine print," the fine print being those small rocky fragments that have broken off. It's $150, slightly more than Amos, but Moses, let's face it, should cost slightly more than Amos, plus it's framed, and it too comes with a signed copy of the book. Again, I think it's a good deal for an original book illustration if you like it. I do.
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Shannon Wheeler, "Don't forget the fine print."
Original artwork for God is Disappointed in You (2013) by Mark Russell, page 20 |
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Shannon Wheeler, "Don't forget the fine print."
Original framed artwork for God is Disappointed in You (2013) by Mark Russell, page 20 |
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Shannon Wheeler, "Don't forget the fine print."
Original framed artwork for God is Disappointed in You (2013) by Mark Russell, page 20 |
I can't speak to the wisdom of buying gags rejected by the
New Yorker, but I do it selectively on occasion and I seldom if ever regret it. In Mr. Wheeler's case, his rejected drawings have been proudly gathered in several published collections. If this one is included in a collection at some point, well, then I'll own a rejected
New Yorker drawing which has been truly published elsewhere, and that is of course an even more desirable state of affairs. Even it it isn't published, though, I like the gag well enough, while I acknowledge that it's probably not a great masterpiece. Still, what do you want for $99?
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| Shannon Wheeler, How to Read Books, unpublished |
I don't see how anyone can resist a tiny cartoon book, let alone three.
Postage Stamp Funnies were published in the satirical magazine
The Onion and they are the size of, well, you figure it out.
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| Shannon Wheeler, Postage Stamp Funnies |
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| Shannon Wheeler, Postage Stamp Funnies |
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| Shannon Wheeler, Postage Stamp Funnies |
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| Shannon Wheeler, Postage Stamp Funnies |
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Shannon Wheeler, "God wants you to be rich."--Amos
Published as "God wants you to be rich, and by that I mean God wants me to be rich."
Original artwork for God is Disappointed in You by Mark Russell, page 120 |
Note: WheelerCartoons, Shannon Wheeler's Etsy shop, can be found
here.
Earlier blog posts about the art of
Shannon Wheeler may be read
here.
Other
New Yorker cartoonists sell on Etsy as well. For example,
Carolita Johnson's Etsy shop Carolitaland is
here.
Victoria Roberts's Etsy shop is
here.
Danny Shanahan is on Etsy too right
here as CartoonsbyShanahan.
Corey Pandolph had an Etsy shop once
here, but now it's closed, so if you click on the link you'll just be, like God, disappointed.
And let's not forget
Beth Nadler Art. Beth is definitely not a cartoonist, but she did marry my brother, so you know she's got good taste. Her Etsy shop is
here.
Finally, whenever you may need it, the archives of
Attempted Bloggery are full of warm
Christmas cheer
here.
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