Cartoonist Profiles: Christopher Weyant

When Christopher Weyant ’89 studied at Gettysburg College, he did not anticipate that he would end up publishing cartoons in The New Yorker and The Boston Globe.

Weyant grew up in New Jersey. When he studied at Gettysburg College, he majored in political science and economics. 

The Gettysburgian Magazine profiles alumni Christopher Weyant,
cartoonist for The New Yorker and The Boston Globe, and children’s book illustrator.

After graduation, he worked in advertising for the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.

“That was a perfectly great and satisfying career, and I could have stayed there probably forever,” he said, “but I was 27, and found myself thinking the whole time I was there, I was hungry for something else in terms of art.”

He said his perspective changed when he thought, “The thing that brings me so much happiness…why am I just not doing it?” 

That persuaded him to set aside his work at the Council on Foreign Relations for a political cartooning job. He saved up money and gave himself eighteen months for his Cobra health insurance to run out to try out political cartooning as a job and decide whether or not to pursue it beyond that year and a half. 

After doing some cartoon work for NBC, he began to submit to The New Yorker in 1998 before working for The Hill as their cartoonist for 15 or 16 years. Now, he works as a cartoonist for both The Boston Globe and The New Yorker. 

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