Let us count the ways we love Wendy MacNaughton, one of the most sincere, insightful illustrators working today. We’re bringing you even more of her editions—not one, two, or even three, but a whopping five of the best-selling author and illustrator’s witty images—in all sizes, too.
8"x10" ($24) | 11"x14" ($60) | 16"x20" ($120)
“I make diagrams to help make sense of things that are incomprehensible and overwhelming, too big and complex. In this case, love.”
—Wendy MacNaughton
You’ve probably seen Wendy’s work before, especially her diagrams, in publications ranging from the New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal, to Brain Pickings and Rumpus. In The Universe and Forever, the infinite complexities of the universe get broken down into an easy-to-understand, but poignant tenderness, expressed in watercolor and a Micron pen. Existentialism isn’t an answerless puzzle, just one that needs to be drawn out to make sense of it all.
Things Happen by Wendy MacNaughton
8"x10" ($24) | 11"x14" ($60) | 16"x20" ($120)
Things Happen plays with figuring out how our hopes, dreams, and fears overlap. The biggest circular glob happens to be “all the things you can’t do anything about.” And then once you realize that humbling fact, you can breathe a sign of relief.
To Do by Wendy MacNaughton
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($140)
To Do is another one of Wendy's matter-of-fact diagrams to make sense of our daily puzzles—and the constant battle of quite frankly, just having way, way too much to do.
For Wendy, life doesn't imitate art, it's the reason for art. With just a pen in hand, she conquers the streets of San Francisco, illustrating and telling stories about every goings-on, every dog walker and chess player, the pigeons and the farmer’s market. Wendy has spent the last several years on foot, keeping track of the city by sketching out everyone and everything that makes SF tick. She’s compiled that city-wide journey into the book Meanwhile in San Francisco, and what results is a wonderful web of the city, connecting the yuppies with the vagrants, and everyone in between—it’s also a love letter to the city she’s lived in for most her life.
Vegetables (from the series Meanwhile, Farmers' Market Farmers by Wendy MacNaughton
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($120)
Mushrooms (from the series Meanwhile, Farmers' Market Farmers by Wendy MacNaughton
10"x8" ($24) | 14"x11" ($60) | 20"x16" ($120)
We here at 20x200 have two of her endearing watercolors from that series Vegetables (from the series Meanwhile, Farmers' Market Farmers) and Mushrooms (from the series Meanwhile, Farmers' Market Farmers) hanging on our walls. If you're lucky enough to be in SF right now, you can see Wendy’s original illustrations from Meanwhile through October 10 at SPUR Urban Center Gallery in the Mission District. Don't miss it!
Collectors, we dare you to keep up with the hardworking Wendy. From books to exhibitions, it's a feat to keep up with all her artful exploits—though we do try our best. Brava, Wendy!
With art for everyone,
Jen Bekman + Team 20x200
