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Fox News Schadenfreude

I watched Fox News while I worked, all day yesterday.  Oh!  Such sore losers.  There is so much bitterness; so many recriminations.  It was delightful, and it inspired the cartoon below.  Here is my rough sketch, somehow, the rough sketch always looks the best.

GOPrainSketchforWeb Fox News Schadenfreude cartoonsThen I drew it up as the line art that most people will see in their newspapers that still print in black and white.  I printed out a map of the continental United States and traced it for the storm cloud.

LineGOP Rain for web Fox News Schadenfreude cartoons

And here he is with messy, rainy color.

ColorRaincloudfor Web Fox News Schadenfreude cartoons
Ah!  Good times.  Fox News should be fun for a few more days, I think.

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Election Cartoons For Whoever Wins!

Some cartoonists will draw two versions of election day cartoons – that’s the best way to be first with the winning cartoon when newspapers go to press with the election results.  Here are my two cartoons that went out today, for Obama winning …

121863 600 Election Cartoons For Whoever Wins! cartoons

And for Romney winning …

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This week we’re adding a new cartoonist to our site, and to our online store at Politicalcartoons.com, our online pay-per-use cartoon store – Pierre Kroll, the famed editorial cartoonist from Belgium.  Welcome, Pierre!  Here are Pierre’s two winner alternative cartoons …

KrollAltWinners Election Cartoons For Whoever Wins! cartoons

Our liberal cartoonist, Bill Day, drew only one alternative, assuming that Obama will win …

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Our knuckle-dragging conservative cartoonist, Gary McCoy, also drew only one, assuming that Romney will win …

121796 600 Election Cartoons For Whoever Wins! cartoons

I guess that’s what passes for optimism with Bill and Gary. No one can accuse Pierre of optimism.

 

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My New Cartoons

I get lots of questions about how I draw my cartoons, and requests to see my sketches, so here it is again on my latest “Swing State Twister” cartoon.  I do a pencil sketch where I block out the layout with a 5H pencil on 11″ x 17″ bond paper.  When I come up with a layout I like, I use a #2 office pencil to heavy up the parts I need to make clear.

SketchforWeb My New Cartoons cartoons
Then I draw with a #2 pencil on drafting vellum, over the sketch, and I come up with a line drawing that is what most people see in the newspaper.  In this case, I traced maps of the swing states and positioned them on a layer to make the spots on the “Twister board,” just because that was quick and easier than trying to draw accurate maps in perspective.  I like to do just line art without grayscale – there’s something more pure about that, but in this case I thought the spots needed to be stronger, so I added gray to them.

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There is always something nicer about the sketch than the finish. Romney’s face is better in the sketch.  I draw my finished line in pencil because I’m always fighting being stiff and I want to keep a loose, comfortable quality to the line.

The last step is to add color behind the line art in layers in Photoshop. I don’t do very sophisticated color, just enough to make it clear.

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I really draw for the black and white version rather than the color – even though it is always the color version that readers see here on the web. I suppose that if I liked the color better, I would do a better job with the color rather than just doing enough to make it work. I know that’s bad, I should pay more attention to the color – here are my last couple of cartoons in both color and black and white.  I think both are better in black and white.
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121425 600 My New Cartoons cartoons

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121251 600 My New Cartoons cartoons

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Disney + Star Wars Mash-ups!

The obvious cartoon to draw for the Disney and Star Wars is a combination character – something from Star Wars with Mickey ears maybe.  I thought of doing a chorus line of different combo characters, like Disney’s Wuzzles –but I’m too lazy to draw a cartoon that won’t get reprinted much because so many other cartoonists are drawing something similar.  Even so, I’m enjoying the mashups.  My two favorites are from Tim Campbell and Frederick Deligne, below.

121535 600 Disney + Star Wars Mash ups! cartoons

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Those are great, huh?  Here are some other good ones …

121493 600 Disney + Star Wars Mash ups! cartoons
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Those last three are by Joe Heller, Nate Beeler and Cam Cardow.  Want more?  Here is our big section with all of the Disney/Star Wars cartoons.

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Cayman Island Mitt

tucker Romney Cayman Island Mitt cartoonsLast week, we added a Keith Tucker to our little stable of cartoonists here on Cagle.com. Not only is Keith a political cartoonist, he’s also an Emmy award-winning animator who has worked for many of the top studios, including Warner Brothers, Disney, Hanna Barbera, Amblin, Universal and Marvel.

Here is an animated political cartoon by Keith about “Vulture Pirate” Mitt Romney, a parody of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “HMS Pinafore”:

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Libya Mountain Out of a Molehill

It is fascinating to watch Fox News’ team effort to promote the Libya attack as an Obama administration scandal just before the election – and their consternation that other media doesn’t share their passion. Here’s the cartoon I drew on the topic.

121230 600 Libya Mountain Out of a Molehill cartoons

Our liberal cartoonist, Adam Zyglis drew this “mountain out of a molehill” cartoon …

121143 600 Libya Mountain Out of a Molehill cartoons

And our conservative-team-player cartoonist, Eric Allie, responded to Adam with the cartoon below …

121353 600 Libya Mountain Out of a Molehill cartoons

Even though I think the Libya “scandal” is right wing wishful thinking, I love the ‘toon tit for tat.  See more Libya “scandal” cartoons here.

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10 Great Hurricane Cartoons

The North East is getting slammed at the moment by Hurricane Sandy, a rare October menace many experts have dubbed “Frankenstorm.” Hurricanes of this power hitting the most densely populated area of the country are rare, and threatens over 50 million people with flooding, high winds and even snow.

Jeff Parker, the staff cartoonist of Florida Today, has lots of experience covering many, many hurricanes from his home base of Florida. Here are 10 of Jeff’s funniest cartoons:

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more hurricane cartoons 10 Great Hurricane Cartoons cartoons

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Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown

BSDetorie2 Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoonsBSDetorie Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoons by Rick Detorie who draws the comic strip, "One Big Happy."

California congressman Brad Sherman is in a tough election battle with another incumbent Democrat, Howard Berman, this year in a contest that has drawn national attention to two candidates with hot tempers. Cartoonists have known and despised Sherman for many years, since he was the Chairman of California’s “Board of Equalization” (BOE) which writes regulations governing state taxes. Sherman doesn’t like cartoonists much either, for good reason.

BSBurgard Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoon by movie industry cartoonist, Tim Burgard.

Sherman championed a set of confusing, contradictory and punitive tax laws that punished California’s artists for many years. California charges a sales tax on “tangible” property, but charges no tax on services; in Sherman’s days on the BOE, authors weren’t charged tax on the copyrights to their written works, but artists were charged tax on their copyrights, even though neither was tangible.  Newspaper political cartoonists were exempt from the sales tax, but other cartoonists weren’t, except if they wrote the words that appeared in their cartoons themselves, and didn’t have a separate author. The rules were different than the sales tax rules for rights to artwork in all other states, leading to even more confusion, and the regulations were not applied to artwork by big corporations, like Disney; the taxes were randomly imposed only on little, freelance artists.

BSStahler Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoon by nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist, Jeff Stahler.

Sherman took his cartoon frustrations out on a clown – a cartoonist named Rhoda Grossman, who performed at children’s parties, a service that isn’t taxable, except that Rhoda made the mistake of drawing caricatures of the children as a small part of her performance.  Sherman and the BOE went after the poor clown for sales tax and penalties on her entire gross income as a performer for the preceding seven years, because of the part of her show that included drawing – a devastating, unexpected, huge, tax bill for poor Rhoda the clown.

Rhoda appealed the tax decision to the BOE, chaired by Sherman, who had been a big supporter of the crazy tax laws imposed against artists and who had just won a race for congress. Sherman moved to Washington, DC and didn’t attend the meeting to hear Rhoda’s plea before the board – he was keeping his salary from the tax board until the last possible day before switching to his new salary from congress, and he cast the deciding vote against Rhoda in absentia, crushing the clown.

BSKirkman Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoon by Rick Kirkman, who draws the comic strip "Baby Blues."

Top cartoonists from all across America joined in a campaign to draw unflattering cartoons of Sherman, protesting his longtime support of California’s crazy, inconsistent art tax laws. The National Cartoonists Society had determined that Sherman was the one person most responsible for the ugly tax burden that California artists suffered under.  Some of the cartoons that were drawn at that time are displayed here, my favorites are the ones below, by Russell Myers, the cartoonist who draws the comic strip “Broom Hilda.”  There were some great ones, inspired by the callous indifference of Sherman, the petty tax bureaucrat.

BSGuisewite Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoon by Cathy Guisewite, who drew the comic strip, "Cathy."

The cartoonists were disappointed to see Sherman move on to serve more than a decade in congress, but the story actually has a happy ending. Soon after Sherman left the BOE, the tax board voted to reverse their

BSWalker Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoon by Mort Walker, who draws the comic strip, "Beelte Bailey."

decision on Rhoda’s case. Then the California Supreme Court overturned Sherman’s regulations taxing the transfer of intangible reproduction rights to artwork. (Sherman had also cast the deciding vote against the tax appeal of artist, Heather Preston, who went on to overturn the regulations in the courts.)  California artists were saved from their tax purgatory, no thanks to Sherman.

And we’re left with a legacy of some great, Brad Sherman cartoons!

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BSMyers1 Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoons by Russel Myers who draws the comic strip, "Broom Hilda."

BSWolverton Brad Sherman, the Ugly Tax Clown cartoons

Cartoon by nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist and Mad Magazine artist, Monte Wolverton.

 

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Presidential Debate Number Three Open Thread

This long election season is finally winding down, and tonight is the final Presidential debate between opponents Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Since our readers have enjoyed the previous open threads we’ve done for earlier debates, here’s an open thread for tonight’s event for everyone to “debate the debate” LIVE.

To start the discussion, here’s my new cartoon about the state of the race. It seems like Obama and Romney are all locked up. Will tonight’s debate change things?

120855 600 Presidential Debate Number Three Open Thread cartoons

Who do you think will win? Are you rooting for anyone? What do you hope they discuss? Will Biden say something crazy? Comment away below!

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An Homage to Gary McCoy

I ripped off our ultra-conservative cartoonist Gary McCoy with my new debate cartoon. See Gary’s cartoon below mine. I love you, Gary.

DarylBoxing An Homage to Gary McCoy cartoons

119770 600 An Homage to Gary McCoy cartoons