Illustrator Shares 14 Of His Cartoons That Were Rejected By The New Yorker
"It remains to be seen, but I'll continue to try. Still, the lottery is the lottery—you can't win if you don't play."
Getting into The New Yorker is no easy feat, and John Moreno knows it better than most. The Chicago illustrator has kept sending cartoons to the magazine, even after plenty of rejections and plenty of waiting.
The magazine publishes only a tiny fraction of the cartoons it receives each week, which makes every submission feel like a long shot. Still, John keeps drawing, keeps submitting, and keeps hoping one of his ideas will finally land.
He shared 14 rejected cartoons, and the stubborn charm of the whole thing is hard to miss.
1. Not fake news
johnart.org2. The Irony
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4. Print is dead
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John says:
"And, I'd still be making these New Yorker cartoons regardless of the outcome because it seems I don't know any better. This has created an interesting situation, forcing me to examine (and reexamine) my reasons for trying out for the 'show'.1. Turns out, I love cartooning more than I thought. So, scribbling and searching out the absurd is, in my humble opinion, an excellent way to spend a few hours each day.2. Having this near-impossible goal has forced me to focus on the task at hand. I submit to you-it is easier to drown a fish than to get the average artist to focus for long periods... on anything. In the process, I've become a much better (and more disciplined) cartoonist and illustrator.3. As clichéd as it sounds, the journey is the reward. I'm an illustrator by trade, doing mostly science and technological demonstratives, infographics, etc.Cartooning is vastly different, and being silly is just plain cathartic. Was it Confucius who said, "Choose a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life?"I can't remember; maybe it was Bono-a smug bastard."
5. Do you know how fast you were going, Mr. Musk?
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And if you love sharp humor, check these Old Masters portraits that feel like the original influencer posts.
6. The good cop
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7. Not what I ordered...
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8. Dead to her
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9. Raising the bar
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10. Inflation, baby
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11. Cat and mouse game
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12. Are they artisan or plain?
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13. It is everywhere
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14. Whoa!
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John understands that the odds of his work being published are slim, but that doesn't stop him from trying. For him, it's all about the journey.
"It remains to be seen, but I'll continue to try. Still, the lottery is the lottery-you can't win if you don't play."
We certainly enjoyed his cartoons, and we have learned something: you should never give up. We wish John luck and hope to see his work in the next edition.
Still not over those New Yorker rejections? See the glitchy photos that make your brain need a restart.
