Cartoons from the Zeitgeist

Over the last year or so my son Tom and I have been collaborating on a big batch of gag cartoons – Tom wrote the ideas in New York City, between working at NYU and doing frequent standup in clubs and bars, and sent them over to me here in Bucks County, where I drew them up when I had time. I’m happy to announce that we’ve finally assembled them into a book titled Zeitgeist Meetup, and we’ll be signing copies at The Mercantile, 444 N. Main Street, Doylestown, on Sunday, December 11 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Tom’s humor has a young, New York-type viewpoint, with some ideas coming from his everyday experiences in the city doing improv comedy, some reflecting his standup style of wordplay and visual puns, and a few short-story cartoons like “Bushwick Self-Defense,” “The In-Convenience Store,” and “The Kool Aid Spectrum.” Our book riffs on lots of topics that are in the ‘zeitgeist’ right now— from food trucks to Bigfoot to crickets to Elvis – all just for fun. We want people to laugh!

Tom has been involved in comedy for over 15 years, leading an improv comedy group when he attended Holicong Middle School and CB East, continuing through college at American University and comedy clubs around Washington DC, and now in NYC.

I’ll also mention that two of my latest New Yorker magazine cartoons have been chosen to be in the “2023 New Yorker Day-to-Day Calendar,” which I’ll have there at the Mercantile on display, and I’ll have some of my humorous holiday greeting cards for sale too, so I hope you can come and say hello!

There is plenty of convenient parking at the Mercantile since it’s right in the Doylestown Shopping Center, in the space where BonTon used to be. The Mercantile is a collaborative store that showcases creative small businesses, so there is a ton of great gift items to browse after you’ve chatted with Tom and me – they have beautiful housewares, accessories, vintage items, baked goods, furniture, jewelry, gifts for men and adorable stuffed animals for kids. There are even places to sit down and have a snack when you’re tired of shopping – you can’t beat that!

Zeitgeist Meetup sells for $12.95, and if you can’t make it on December 11 but you want a copy, just let me know. And if you went to CB East with Tom or were in his improv group, please just stop by to say hi, we’d love to see you!

My New Yorker Cartoon Original Drawing Donated for Auction

In case you missed it in my video interview with realtor Linda Crane, I mentioned that I have donated the framed original art of my recently published New Yorker cartoon to the auction supporting the wonderful choral group Cantus Novus.

This original signed cartoon “Student-Teacher Conference” appeared in the May 10, 2021 issue of the New Yorker. I drew this cartoon by hand in prisma pencil and ink wash on illustration board, and on the back of the 13″ x13″ frame I’ve attached the printed page of the cartoon from the New Yorker in a plastic sleeve.

I think the topic of the gag cartoon would give a laugh to any teacher, principal or school staff member who receives it as a gift!

Bidding is open to the public until June 4, so if you are interested in owning an original drawing that was published in the New Yorker, you can easily register to place a bid. My cartoon is listed HERE and you can take a look at a lot of other auction items, including some terrific vacations, on the site HERE. All proceeds go to help fund the extraordinary music created by this 40-voice Bucks County choir.

A Video Chat About my Cartoons

My friend Linda Crane, a charming and detail-oriented realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach and the Trident Group, has a weekly chat with interesting people in the area, and whether they work in the real estate industry or not she brings along her knowledge and personality to make it a fun exchange.

Linda asked if I’d talk with her a bit about my cartooning, especially selling cartoons to the New Yorker magazine, so we pulled a couple chairs up to the old zoom box and had a conversation.

I tell Linda how I became interested in cartooning and what it’s like submitting sketches to the New Yorker in the video of our chat, below. Linda has more of these fun discussions on her Youtube channel – I invite you to check it out after you listen here.

At the end of our talk I mention the choral group Cantus Novus and their auction in which one of my framed, original New Yorker cartoon drawings will be sold. Cantus Novus’ concert We Rise Again is online today, Friday May 21 starting at 8:00 PM, on their Facebook page. Their online fundraising auction will start at the conclusion of the concert, at approximately 9 pm, and Pat’s New Yorker cartoon is available for bids HERE.  The auction will continue for 2 weeks after the concert, and all proceeds benefit this excellent non-profit choir.

Summer Fashion

Monday Cartoon

Après le week-end.

Home Garden Cartoon

I’ve drawn black and white gag cartoons for a number of businesses to create memorable chuckles for their clients – you can see more on my Business Illustrations page HERE.

Distance Dancing

“I call it: Dance of the Social Distancers.”

Click the arrow to animate.

My NYC Rockefeller Tree Christmas Card

It’s not too early to think about the holidays – I’m already working on three clients’ holiday cards for their businesses

Because of this, I’ve recently added a Christmas card to my listings on Etsy – one I drew last year for my family, in the classic New Yorker black & white style, not long after my first cartoon appeared in the New Yorker. If you’ve ever seen this iconic tree you never forget its overwhelming presence!

I drew this cartoon in black prisma pencil and painted it in ink washes. (Closeups of the art are on my Etsy page) It shows the legendary tree at Rockefeller Center, which about 100 million people visit each year, teeming with lights but with one small dark area; a small child looking up comments, “They missed a spot.”

Inside the card is the message “May your Christmas be filled with Peace and Joy and a thousand twinkling lights!”

Single cards are available on my Etsy shop HERE and boxes of 8 cards are available on my website store HERE.If you’d like more than 8 cards, or would like to use this card for your company holiday card, email me and we’ll work out the details. And if you live near me in the Central Bucks area and want to avoid postage charges, simply email me what you’d like to order and you can pay when you pick up the cards from me.

Meal Kit Container Garden

#humor

Meal kits are very popular right now, especially among young couples in big cities – they are a subscription service that delivers a fully-stocked box full of raw food to your door in a refrigerated container, with instructions on how to cook all the ingredients into a delicious, almost gourmet dinner for two. And if the recipe calls for one stalk of celery, that’s exactly what they provide – one stalk, in a clear plastic sleeve, so there’s no scrap left. What, though, can be done with all the packaging that’s leftover? Well, since spring is just around the corner, I propose . . .

#gardening #mealkit #illustration #cartoon #containergarden #modernlife #urbangardening

Illustration and text (c) Pat Achilles

Christmas Greetings to All!

Wishing everyone a Christmas filled with Peace and Joy and a thousand twinkling lights!