Wendy MacNaughton

Illustrator, graphic journalist
An illustrator and graphic journalist with a background in social work, Wendy MacNaughton believes drawing is an essential tool to help everyone — young and old — slow down, look closely and connect with one another.

Why you should listen

As a visual columnist for the New York Times and California Sunday Magazine, Wendy MacNaughton drew stories everywhere from high school cafeterias to Guantanamo Bay. She has illustrated, authored and edited eleven books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat, The Gutsy Girl by Caroline Paul and her own book, Meanwhile in San Francisco: The City in Its Own Words. She is the creator and host of DrawTogether, a participatory drawing show for kids that uses art to bolster social-emotional skills, self-confidence and connection. She is the cofounder of the Women Who Draw, an advocacy database launched in 2016 to increase visibility and opportunities for underrepresented artists, illustrators and cartoonists. She lives with her wife in San Francisco, but you can often find her on the road in her mobile drawing studio built inside the back of a Honda Element.

(Photo credit: John Keatley) 

Wendy MacNaughton’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Wendy MacNaughton

Live from TEDMonterey

The path forward: Notes from Session 1 of TEDMonterey

August 2, 2021

It’s time for TED! After the world was rocked by the worst health crisis in a century, we gather for TEDMonterey with a bold theme in mind: the case for optimism. It’s grounded in the stubborn belief that green shoots of hope and progress are sprouting throughout the world, if you just know where to […]

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We humans

When words and pictures work together

May 27, 2014

Giving a good presentation is much harder than it looks. Speakers have to figure out what they want to say and what they want a viewer to grasp -- and then decide how to bring the two together in a compelling manner. In his TED Talk, Jon Mooallem used whimsical illustrations to make a serious point. Check them out.

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