We hear from editors who want more “pro-Trump” cartoons – but editorial cartoons are a negative art form. Cartoons that support anything are lousy cartoons. And there are few conservative cartoonists to begin with. I drew what could be considered a “pro-Trump” cartoon below.
I think this is about as close as we’re going to get to “pro-Trump” cartoons over the next four years – cartoons that bash third parties, like crybaby Democrats or media bashing cartoons like mine.
I drew this one as a live stream on Twitch.tv – you can watch in the videos below. The first one shows me doing the rough sketch and final line art …
And the next video shows me coloring the cartoon in Photoshop …
Today’s cartoon isn’t really an exaggeration – this is what “on-the-record” and “off-the-record” interviews with GOP politicians are really like these days. Sometimes a cartoon is nothing but a slice of life.
I’m setting up my studio again in Los Angeles after my move back from Nashville and I’ll hopefully be drawing more cartoons! This is the first one I’ve live-streamed from my new setup. There are too many things to remember with the streaming; with this one, I forgot the little sandpaper that I like to have on the side as I draw, to make the chisel points on my pencils – so I went outside and grabbed a couple of rocks. I can draw with rocks instead of sandpaper, just like the caveman editorial cartoonists used to do, back in the days of newspapers and dinosaurs as I saw depicted on my recent visit to the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where they recently opened a $100 million full size replica of Noah’s Ark, funded by taxpayers. The project is supported by $60 million in tax-free municipal bonds and ongoing tax support from a sales tax rebate and a tax on wages of all the employees who work for businesses in the Ark’s tax district, along with an $18 million tax rebate from the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority. Here’s a nice article about it.
Gotta love Kentucky. The video below shows me drawing the “Off the Record” cartoon, rocks and all. Thank God.
In the next video I color the cartoon, like a modern cartoonist on my Wacom Cintiq.
I’m back from my brilliant cartoonist/journalist daughter, Susie’s wedding. I promise I’ll draw more cartoons. Really, I promise. I drew this one live on Twitch yesterday, about Melania Trump’s plagiarism of Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention in 2008. I don’t care much about this non-issue, but it makes for a funny scene, which is the extent of my take on this.
I know that the Donald is quite tall, but I feel compelled to draw him shorter, and I expect that the cartoons of Trump will grow shorter with time. Melania is a wonderful, goofy character to draw and I look forward to more of her! Readers might recognize my group of running media in this cartoon, which I re-use at every opportunity. I like the idea that the breathless media chasing down the next stupid thing is the same, over and over. In the video below see me drawing this one, and importing the media gaggle from a Cagle cartoon oldie.
In the next video below, watch me color this one in Photoshop while I chat with viewers on Twitch.
Here’s a pro-Trump cartoon. This has been a bad week for Trump as he fumbled a question about abortion and his campaign manager was charged with assaulting a reporter.
I’m sympathetic to Trump in his fumble of the abortion question. The pro-lifers insist that abortion is murder, except that they don’t want to respond to the “murderers” with punishment, as though they are actual murderers. “Murder” is just a meaningless word for pro-lifers, chosen because it evokes a strong, emotional response. The abortion debate is like a religion, where arguments are honed over years of practice. Trump is new to the abortion debate, as a new politician, and hasn’t polished his responses to conform to the hypocrisy of the pro-life conservatives he is courting. I’m fine with him dialing his comments back after being advised of the equally ridiculous, acceptable response he should have given to woo his new, pro-life audience.
This cartoon also responds to the media kerfuffle over Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski’s alleged assault of reporter Michelle Fields, formerly of the conservative news site Breitbart News. I have to agree with Trump on this one. From the videotape, the incident looks like nothing more than an opportunity for Fields to cause some trouble for Trump – the media clowns have certainly run with it.
Want to see the real-time live-stream video of me drawing this cartoon? Check out the video below.
In the next video below, you can watch me coloring the cartoon in Photoshop.
Frankly, I think it is smart of Trump to skip the Fox News/GOP/Iowa debate tonight. Fox News seems to be on an all-out anti-Trump blitz today. What happened to the good old days when news networks were fair and balanced?
I drew this one as a live stream on Twitch – please come and follow me at Twitch.tv/darylcagle. This one took about four hours to draw, so it is broken into two parts. Here’s part one, where I start with a blank sheet of paper and figure out what to draw.
Oh! That was two hours long! And there are ANOTHER two hours to watch in the video below!
I think Dr. Ben Carson is NOT a liar. Now, given that, I need to decide if that is a good thing.
People always say, “Daryl, with this presidential election you must be having so much fun! And you must be soon busy!” Actually, newspapers don’t use any more editorial cartoon when times are fun, so it never gets busier. And having the campaign dominate the news for a year doesn’t make a cartoonist’s life more fun. A little variety adds spice.
But, Ben Carson is fun. We have a wonderful and growing collection of Ben Carson cartoons on Cagle.com Come take a look! My talented buddy Taylor Jones drew that Carson in our promo.
This strange one from Randall Enos made me laugh out loud – it is a linoleum block print that Randy carves with a knife, inks and prints on paper, then scans, showing Jesus carrying a sleeping Carson at the head of the presidential race – I think that says it all.
Dr. Ben Carson seems to have a thin skin when it comes to the media.
Editorial cartoonists have a wonderful advantage versus other journalists; we can put any stupid words we want into the mouths of any public figure. Regular journalists have a slightly higher bar – they have to act like jerks to try to coax a testy quote out of a public figure. Carson’s calm demeanor likely encourages the press to prod him even harder.
Carson say plenty of stupid things without prodding. He holds some of the most knuckle-dragging views on the neanderthal right. What worries me most is the crazy religious views that color right-wing views of reality, like Carson’s rejection of the theory of evolution. His belief that the pyramids were built to store grain at the direction of Joseph (the many colored coat Joseph) is funky a one. Where this becomes dangerous is when right-wing candidates believe that we’re at the “End of Days”, and the turmoil in the Middle East shows that the apocalypse and the return of Jesus Christ is imminent – that can lead to some ugly decision making.
If not for the nutty religious stuff I might be a Republican myself.
Well, maybe not.
Here’s a very close-up blow-up of Ben Carson’s tiny face. From this you can see that I really do draw in pencil and crank up the contrast to make it look like ink. I use yellow Dixon Ticonderoga pencils, with little pink erasers on the end (I always use up the pink erasers). Pencils are forgiving to indecisive cartoonists, like me.
I think Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus is funny. His name is funny. His face is funny. Everything about the guy is funny – but he’s tough to draw in a cartoon because most readers don’t know him. It is only wonks like me who watch cable tv news talking heads all day who get to know the guy. But what the hell, I drew him anyway.
I was also looking for an excuse to use this brick wall. Brick walls are funny too. And that last Republican debate on CNBC, that was funny.
I’d love to hear the negotiations that are going on about the next GOP presidential debate. Their first list of demands was funny.
Here is the rough sketch (you guys tell me you like to see this stuff). You can see that I was undecided about where to put Reince’s left arm. Maybe he’s better with four arms.
This hearing is much ado about nothing. I think my past cartoons about the Republican obsession with Benghazi are just as relevant today. Here’s a selection.