Yellow People

This collection of illustrations, completed in mid-2017, provided a much needed break from the large-scale collages I was working on at the time. Building on my Simpsons-inspired work from the year before, these drawings aimed to capture the resonant emotion and artistry of the cartoon, while avoiding a return to unbound abstraction.

My goal with these three drawings was to focus on the under-appreciated aspects of early years of the television series. In particular, I was wanted to replicate the rare, and emotionally resonant moments of solitude in which the show's characters are momentarily detached from their routine color and temperament.

High brow narrative arts such as literary fiction, with their reliance on complex characters and endless specificities, often struggle to elevate the essential structures of an emotional scenario or philosophical concept. For this reason, cartoons such as The Simpsons, despite their lowbrow appeal, are often the most effective mediums for communicating the absurdity of the human condition and the inherent comedies of everyday life.