I’m starting to enjoy Nathan as a cartoon character! I think I’ll use him some more in my local, Nashville Scene cartoons (the newest cartoon is below).
COVID California
Republicans are very concerned that bakers have the freedom to refuse service to gay couples who want to buy wedding cakes. Now that marriage equality is the law of the land, our attention is turned to the poor, abused bakers.
Categories
GOP Rants at Obama
Today’s cartoon was inspired by this nice column about Ted Cruz in Slate.com, my old Web partner for Cagle.com, http://tinyurl.com/nkkr6uo
I like simple, black line art in editorial cartoons best – there is something more elegant about it, and it is a shame to see it disappearing as editorial cartoonists gin everything up in Photoshop. I’m certain to get complaints about this one because it is wordy and liberal. Here it is in the more elegant black and white version.
A conservative reader posted this comment under the cartoon on my Facebook page:
How about Obama and his attitude toward Israel? How about the fact Obama said he would lower our debt? How about the fact that he lied about health care costs going down? I think it’s clear who is blind
I don’t like Obama, but I like seeing his position seem to evolve on Israel. Obama hasn’t lowered the debt, but he certainly lowered the deficit, I don’t think anyone expected him to lower the debt, particularly given how the Bush administration had tanked the economy. And I think he did lie about health care, still, I like Obamacare better than nothing.
I’d like to see Obama stand up and make more happen. Republicans had a point some time ago, when I drew the “spineless” cartoon below. Obama could start by throwing the 2008 Wall Street crooks into jail – something I think Elizabeth Warren might do if she was president. I don’t have much higher hopes for Hillary.
Categories
Hillary and a Tempest in a Teapot
Here’s my new one. I was trying to stretch this to make a better tea-party reference to the elephant, but I decided, nah, it is clear enough. Then I thought of putting the GOP elephant in a Fox New t-shirt, and I thought, nah, it is clear enough.
Here’s a Hillary, Benghazi, GOP oldie that will probably never grow stale. Hillary is a wonderful character – I’m looking forward to the campaign!
I get lots of e-mails with the same message, like this one from little Johnny in Nashville, who writes, “Dear Mr. Cagle, Please explain your cartoon to me. My paper is due tomorrow.”
I hate having to explain myself. So does Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker.
Walker doesn’t like “gotcha” questions from the media. When a reporter asks a politician a question, and knows that an honest answer would be an answer that many people won’t like hearing, that is a “gotcha” question. Walker has been clumsy while learning to avoid “gotcha” questions.
I drew a cartoon showing a reporter interviewing Walker.
Reporter asks, “Gays?”
Walker says, “I don’t wanna answer that.” Walker thinks, “Homos are so nasty.”
Reporter then asks, “Evolution?”
Walker says, “I won’t answer.” Walker thinks, “This liberal ape doesn’t know that evolution is only a ‘theory’.”
Reporter asks, “Do you think Obama is a Christian?”
Walker says, “I never asked him.” Walker thinks, “I never asked that liberal, Muslim, Kenyan atheist.”
Journalists must be accurate and report the exact words a politician says. My job is better. As an editorial cartoonist, I have the freedom to put any words into the mouths of politicians that I want; I can even choose to put any thoughts into their brains.
Republican candidates must pander to the basest of their conservative base, especially in the presidential primaries. My worry is that politicians really believe the blather that they spew. I would like to hear honest answers to the “gotcha” questions.
The problem with avoiding “gotcha” questions is that I’m left with the impression that Walker really believes the knuckle-dragging nonsense that I write into his thought bubbles.
An even bigger problem is that cartoons are not so funny when they are explained.
Sorry, Johnny.
Categories
Obama’s Big, Manly Pen, Again
Fox News is aghast and aflutter about President Obama saying he’ll unilaterally enter into an international agreement on Climate Change. Obama touts that he has a “pen and a phone” to do business without congress. The pen amuses me.
Like almost every cartoon I draw, I think the black and white line version looks better – and it is what most people will see in the newspaper …
I realized that kids these days might not be familiar with fountain pens, and how they would occasionally squirt by mistake. I was reading Classic Peanuts recently as Charlie Brown was writing to his pen-pal with a fountain pen, squirting all over the page. I can’t remember the last time I wrote a letter on paper, or the last time I used a fountain pen. Charlie Brown is a classic, but the strip seemed to define the elderly audience of the newspaper.
At the right is a close-up detail view of Obama’s head from this cartoon. Over the course of his presidency I’ve been drawing Obama more gray haired and more weary looking. He’s having a visual transformation in cartoons as well as in reality. Also, in his news conference yesterday Obama was wearing a light tan suit. I’ve never seen Obama wear anything other than a black suit! For cartoonists the tan suit should have been the big story of the day. I like to draw pinstripes and I’ve gotten comments that Obama doesn’t wear suits like the ones I draw him in – artistic license – the cartoon above would have been lousy with a black suit, the composition needs the black pen and black ink to work – a black suit would ruin it.
The renewed talk about Obama’s “pen” got me thinking about a cartoon I drew when the “pen and phone” talk first came out …
My new Obama-pen cartoon is also phallic. Editorial cartoonists love to make phallic references in their cartoons. At the right is one of my recent favorites from Taylor Jones.
International cartoonists draw a whole lot of phallic cartoons. A recurring image is a warlike character holding a missile in a manly position. Below is one by South African cartoonist Jeremy Nell …
The charmer below is from German cartoonist Rainer Hachfeld …
And yes! We now have a cartoon about Obama’s tan suit from Nate Beeler. I knew that tan suit would find its way into cartoons.
Here is my last week of cartoons. Today I’m headed out for the editorial cartooning convention in St. Just, France, with my brilliant cartoonist buddies, Steve Sack, Bob Englehart and Pat Bagley.
Here’s my most recent cartoon, with the GOP all tied up in a knot. They seem to be pretty dysfunctional right now, gumming up the government for everybody. (I was just drawing the heels of his shoes with the old fashioned nails and gripper on the back, I wasn’t think of his heels having happy faces. I guess I have to think of everything.)
I did a second GOP knot cartoon this week, which makes the point more about the split in the Republican party.
I’m trying to do more texture in my cartoons. I’ve been asked why I do the yellow backgrounds so often in my cartoons. I like the yellow because it is intense and light so that it doesn’t draw away from the line art.
I drew a THIRD Republican knot cartoon this week. This is my knotty Republican week. Here is the GOP hanging himself on the medical Caduseus (Obamacare).
Enough of knots. When Ted Cruz was doing his useless filibuster, reading from Dr. Seuss, and the other cartoonists were all making Dr. Seuss metaphors, I was rather more annoyed with Cruz, so I drew him as a monkey throwing his poop.
I know that there won’t be many newspapers that will print this (if any will at all). I guess that is one of the perks of being my own editor – I can draw whatever I want even if nobody wants to see it. This cartoon is actually a homage to the great, British cartoonist Steve Bell, who drew a famous image of George W. Bush in a similar pose. I’m a big Steve Bell fan.
The last one for the week is this Republican suicide bomber cartoon. I’m leaving for the convention in France at a difficult time, with all the wonderful, crazy politics going on now. I won’t be drawing new cartoons for a week or so, but when I come back I expect to have some pent up angst, ready for the drawing board.
Here are my three most recent cartoons! I just finished this one on the Republicans’ 40th vote against Obamacare and their recent attempt to shut down the government over Obamacare. They will be run over each time. They don’t learn.
Since you folks like to see my messy, rough sketches, here you go …
The next one is the Arab Spring in Egypt. Here is the line art that most people will see in the newspapers.
I try to do enough line work in these that I get some dark and medium areas to anchor the composition. I wouldn’t worry so much about that if I knew it would only run in color. The color version is below. I’m trying to use more texture in my color now, mostly with a rubber stamp pattern in Photoshop that looks like a sponge.
And I did this cartoon about teachers, then and now …
This is a refurbished oldie which has been a big seller in pay-per-use. I noticed another nice book sale on this one in our system last week, and I thought the cartoon needed to be freshened up. Here’s the original …
I always tell cartoonists not to put the year in their cartoons. For some reason artists like to put the year after a copyright circle ©, which just makes the old cartoons, that should sell as evergreens, suffer for their age. Now this cartoon isn’t dated, and I think it is greatly improved with the black and white in the first, 1960 panel.
I noticed after I posted this last week that almost every newspaper subscriber was downloading it, even though I marked it as a revision. Some cartoons strike a chord. I got this idea from my Israeli cartoonist buddy, Uri Fink. Thanks again, Uri.
Categories
The Boston Bombing and the Gun Bill
The two big news stories this week were the Boston Marathon bombing and the sinking of the gun bill by Republicans in the Senate. Of-course, the gun bill got lost in the media focus on the Boston Bombing (we have a great collection of cartoons on the Boston Bombing here).
The problem with dominant news stories is that every cartoonist is drawing the same thing at the same time – why? Editors all want the same thing at the same time. Usually I like to steer a little different path then the cartoonist pack, because of supply and demand. There were just too many similar cartoons about the Boston Marathon Bombing this week, with bloody tennis shoes, bowed heads on statues, damaged Boston logos, symbolic metaphors breaking ribbons at finish lines – just what editors wanted, but too much of it for them to use. I tried to take a bit of a different tack with memorial candles, and I wanted to avoid drawing something bloody, still, I’m sure my cartoon didn’t get reprinted much because of oversupply. Here is the rough pencil sketch.
…and here is the black and white line art, that most people will see in the newspaper.
… and here is the color …
If I use colors in cartoons that are too dark, I get complaints from editors, so the color was a compromise. I’m not sure I’m happy with it. Oh well, it is a cartoon I was obligated to draw and the marketplace didn’t need – the story of my career.
The next cartoon was about the Republicans sinking the gun bill in the Senate. Republicans love their guns a bit too much – and that’s all that this cartoon says. Here is the rough sketch.
I found a photo of an assault rifle on Google and printed it out for my rough sketch. For a moment, I thought about Photoshopping the actual photo into the cartoon – it would be a jarring contrast to have the drawing of an elephant with what looks like a real, nasty, assault rifle photo – then I thought about how Bill Day tried that and was pilloried by this colleagues, and my good judgement got the better of me. Gotta watch out for those gun photos, they can get you labeled as a “plagiarist” and make you the wallflower at AAEC cartoonist parties.
Here is the black and white art …
and the color …
Ah! Love in the springtime!
Here is the back story on my last three editorial cartoons!
With Obama’s “middle of the road” budget that was attacked by both sides last week, there have been lots of budget cartoons showing both the left and the right angry at Obama. This is much the same thing, but without picturing the budget, so it might last a little longer.
Notice that in my drawing, Obama is not exactly in the middle … from the reader’s perspective, Obama is a little to the left of the middle -although, from Obama’s perspective, he has moved a bit to his right.
Maybe I’m overthinking this. Here is the rough pencil sketch, on tab sized copier paper in pencil.
Next I drew the finished line art for the cartoon (below), also in pencil, on drafting vellum. This is what most people will see in the newspapers, that still usually print in black and white.
There is something lovely about a black and white editorial cartoon, particularly if it is only line art, without gray tone. I know that people will choose any color over black and white – but I think it is kind of like a classic sail boat vs. a speed/power boat – the sail boat is slow and classy, the power boat is fast, flashy, and people will choose it over the sail boat – still, the sail boat has more class and is nicer to look at.
Here’s a detail – isn’t the black and white nice? It is saved as 1000 dpi tiff and has a nice pencil line quality, up close.
Then I add the color, for the image most online visitors see.
The previous cartoon was another one about L’il Kim. Here’s the black and white – I thought I had to resort to gray to make the multi-panel format work. I like to avoid gray when I can.
Here’s the color …
The next cartoon was intended to be an evergreen. There was a big, Sunday section front in my local newspaper Health section about “superbugs” – antibiotic resistant diseases that are a new plague in hospitals. The newspaper didn’t run one of our nice cartoons or illustrations with the feature article, they had some lousy clip art; and I noticed that we didn’t have good “superbug” art in the database – so this is an attempt to fill the “Superbug” void in the CagleCartoons.com/PoliticalCartoons.com databases. Here is the rough pencil sketch on 11″x17″ paper.
I know, I know, bacteria don’t look like this kind of bug. Here is the black and white line art.
And I thought it might need a bit of gray tone – I’m not sure on this one.
And here is the color, added behind the line art in layers in Photoshop.
This one was fun to draw. Here is a detail.
