About a decade ago, Will McPhail was just an ordinary zoology student. Now, he's regularly drawing for the world-famous The New Yorker magazine. How does one make such a change in their lives? Well, McPhail admitted to "doodling lecturers" when he was supposed to be learning. And even though he did graduate, it was enough to pursue a cartoonist's career.
So, instead of continuing to study the animal kingdom, he chose to immerse himself in the wildlife of Edinburgh's coffee shops and libraries. There, he analyzed peoples' social behavior, turning his findings into clever and funny comics.
McPhail is now expected to have between 8 and 10 ideas per week for The New Yorker cartoons, a popular American magazine established 94 years ago. "The best I can do is to find an area that I want to do a cartoon drawing on and accept the stage - then hope that my sense of humor moonwalks on to that stage," the artist told the BBC.
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"I don’t really have any artistic qualifications," McPhail told Bored Panda. "In fact, I actually studied zoology at university. Because when you ask a seventeen-year-old what they want to do with their life, they always make the correct decision. Thirty grand and four years of my life is a small price to pay for the three armadillo facts that I now know. I’ve had creative ideas and did drawings all my life, though. Or at least as long as I’ve known about pencils."
The artist mostly draws single-panels because he's usually drawing cartoons for The New Yorker, which are classically a single-panel deal. "The weekly submission of cartoons to the magazine is really the only structure I have in my life and every career opportunity that I’ve been given has been directly because of my work being seen in The New Yorker. So I owe them pretty much everything! Armadillos always give birth to four identical quadruplets," he explained.
Despite having a career that allows him to live and work anywhere in the world, Will made up his mind to remain in Scotland even after his cool drawings blew up on the international scene.
"Scotland's got some kind of draw on me," he explained. "There's something about Scotland that just draws creative people and I've definitely felt that."
One of the reasons behind this choice is the abundance of inspiration he finds in the country. "It's my job to capture all different walks of life, the idiosyncrasies of life, and Edinburgh and Scotland have got a plethora of different classes and niches of people."
"There's all sorts of fascinating social avenues you can go down and find people from all backgrounds. It's super inspirational when it comes to coming up with drawing ideas."
We might invent a lot of our problems, but McPhail never usually tries to trivialize those problems in his cartoons. "I’m usually on the side of the character with the problem because it’s invariably based on my problems! I just think that desperation and panic is very funny. Armadillos are one of the few animals that can contract leprosy."
Also, he blames the pressure he felt at a young age to find a "realistic" career path and is happy he chose to deviate from it. "I realized I didn't need permission to be creative."
Having experienced it firsthand, Will encourages others to follow their dream careers as well. "Education is a good thing - but I think a lot of the time, people feel like they need some sort of academic permission to be creative, and you don't, you can just do it."
Too big houses suck. Just imagine your clan mansion. Probably you shat yourself before making it from the veranda, over the floors, down the stairs, to the left-wing bathroom.
A bathroom in every room, landing, and hallway. Dream big, Hans!
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If you hate cleaning don't get a mansion unless you're planning to get maids
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You don't have to afford to dream. *I* don't own a house, but I can dream...and I want #3, complete with private bathrooms attached to every bedroom , plus, and a round-the-clock maid service. They can't tax our dreams yet.
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The bigger the house, the more junk you accumulate and the more to clean. No thanks, I'm happy with my small house.
Heh. I've always wanted example #3. I've always figured if I could afford the house I could afford the cleaning staff to go with it.
A tiny little house is enough. Just enough room for me and my dog. Less time for cleaning. Fewer furnishing and no space for useless things. 😊
I don't think this one's true -- I could "afford" (i..e. qualify to buy and make the payments on) a house much larger and more opulent than the small condo I live in now -- but why would I? More space means more to heat, more to clean, more to fill with expensive furnishings, etc.
I don't understand large mansion celebs buy. I do understand the huge terrain to keep people from your windows, but what the hell you gonna do with 10 bathrooms... well, you know there's one nearby if you get lost in your house.
It is true that many people are just never happy with where they are in life.
What one needs and what one wants is, for most people, incomparable. I hate waste.
If there is anything i've learned from movies it's that the bigger the house the more places for a serial killer to hide.
Nah, pass on the big house. I'll take a brownstone with a back garden in Brooklyn Heights over by New York Bay, please! Thanks.
I've never understood the reason behind that kind of decision. You really need 26,000 sq. ft. of living space, Oprah?
Finalizing a divorce you've been fighting for for months/years is one of the best feelings ever!
nowadays they just try to brainwash you to think your office is your home and co-worker is your family to try to make you give more effort to work...
Note: this post originally had 109 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Agree. They're "just" cartoons, but I aspire to that level of drawing realistically.
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I like the general observation ones, but the progressive virtue signalling ones were cringey. I don't think they got him laid.
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I really like McPhail's artwork! I wish I could draw such realistic people with so few lines. They have volume and life! And the women look like REAL women, not anime porn.
It's not often you see real wit and imagination in BoredPanda's cartoon selections. Plus, excellent drawing. I'd seen several of these before in the New Yorker and will be glad to see more anytime.
Agree. They're "just" cartoons, but I aspire to that level of drawing realistically.
Load More Replies... I like the general observation ones, but the progressive virtue signalling ones were cringey. I don't think they got him laid.
Load More Replies... I really like McPhail's artwork! I wish I could draw such realistic people with so few lines. They have volume and life! And the women look like REAL women, not anime porn.
It's not often you see real wit and imagination in BoredPanda's cartoon selections. Plus, excellent drawing. I'd seen several of these before in the New Yorker and will be glad to see more anytime.
