Posts (page 2)
I don't usually do these, but I love this picture:
If there's one thing I don't believe in it's following the masses. Given the choice, I would ride my bike or walk everywhere I went. Two reasons make me dependent on my car: My son and daughter. They live a little ways from me (about 20 minutes south), so it's the furthest I drive to pick them up/drop them off.
Other than that trip, I would prefer not to drive. The gas-powered engine has become both a detriment and a revolutionary invention. It's advanced us in countless ways as a society, at the same time that it's created more damage than we care to think about.
Wanting to share the world with your kids is almost impossible these days. You'd like to be able to take them all sorts of places and show them all sorts of things. The price of gas makes that near impossible. Working stiffs such as myself need to earn money to fuel the car to get us to the place that earns the money to fuel the car ... blah blah blah.
That's the main reason for drawing this cartoon. It says so much more than what I've pointed out above.
National cartoonists have it somewhat easy. They can pick on politicians and world events every day. Let's face it: there is no shortage of material. Between our president and the other nutcases who "rule the world," editorial cartoonists can draw volumes.
However, local issues -- if not a little more challenging to tackle -- can be just as fun. If you're locally known and you live in a small town like, say, Lodi, the people who are the targets of your jokes can hunt you down.
I've yet to have anyone do that, but I have had people call up and cry to the editor-in-chief. He's very tactful and he's made nice (sort of) with those who call and voice their displeasure with the dirty little cartoon man. Basically, he tells them to get over it and stop being stupid. Stop being stupid and the dirty little cartoon man won't make fun of you. Fair enough? I think so.
The cartoon shown here is a direct jab at our own City Council. Not too long ago they deemed it a homeowner's responsibility if a sidewalk was in disrepair in front of their homes. The sidewalk is city property and isn't covered under homeowner's insurance policies. But the CC said property owners had to have the damage fixed.
This caused quite an uproar with the locals. They grumbled and griped and I don't blame them. As time went on, the grumbling subsided and things calmed down. I'm sure the issue isn't totally forgotten, but it's not as inflamed as it once was.
But it proves that there will always be something worth making fun of at someone's expense.
Kim Jong Be Illin'.
This is all based on the North Korean missile launch. Obviously.
I don't know about most of you, but this is painful/scary/hilarious stuff. I think all the world leaders and politicians need to be rounded up and put to work in sweat shops.
Just a thought.
Today I will go through my cartoons and pick one at random to share. Let's seeee ... Hmm ...
Ah, here we go. This one will do.
Tom Hanks is one of my all-time favorite actors. I have yet to see The Da Vinci Code, and I think the only thing keeping from seeing it (other than the fact that it's out of theaters and not on DVD yet) is the hair. What's up with it.
Living in an agricultural valley, one has ample opportunity to enjoy a bevy of odors.
Everything from the sweet scent of cereal being produced to the rank stench of dog food being baked attacks the nasal sensors on a daily basis.
The one unmistakeable smell that can get a passing car to roll up its windows is uttered in one syllable: "COWS!"
Recently, California lawmakers decided to blame the majority of this state's pollution woes on our bovine buddies. It's not factory or auto burn-off that's causing that rich brown smog, no. It's Moo Farts.
The fact that anyone could try to pull this stunt seemed ludicrous to me. Naturally, I drew a cartoon.
I think the subject matter says it all.
Coming up with topics isn't always easy. Sometimes it's too easy. When the ideas come a little too easy, I have to be careful. It may mean that a joke will be incredibly funny, but it might cross the line of tastelessness and/or insensitivity.
The recent heat wave has caused a lot of deaths and some destruction as well.
This got me to thinking that the results are just criminal. If someone commits murder, hopefully they are caught and convicted. When Nature commits a crime, there's not a lot we can do.
I wondered what the heat wave's mug shot would look like.
The result is published today, but I thought I'd share it here as well.
I had another idea of showing a person passed out on the floor, holding a utility bill. The caption reads, "Heat wave claims another victim."
My reservations over submitting that cartoon were pretty high. Afterall, some people have lost loved ones to the heat. Would they take the cartoon the wrong way? Probably.
I showed it to my editor and he liked it. He is still considering publishing it. I'll post it here if that happens. Then again, I may post it anyway. I'm rebellious like that.
Today I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites. Editorial cartoons aren't too easy to draw due to the fact that you have to cover a few bases.
First, you have to consider the subject matter. What's your opinion on it? Is there a joke in there? I'm all for poignant, thought-provoking cartoons, but if you can't touch a nerve and tell a joke at the same time, then Editorial cartoons aren't your forte. I used two French words in one sentence!
Second, can you draw the subject matter? Are you good at caricatures, or do you have to label your items? "BUSH." "HEZBOLLAH." "YAK." If your drawings look like those of an eighth-grader, go back to work on the yak ranch. By the way, when I talk about labeling, I'm not refering to the usual editorial cartoon labeling. I'm talking about pointing out the obvious. Was that too obvious?
Third, if you use cartooning as activism, just go manufacture protest signs for the unemployed people who can't seem to make decent signs themselves.
Anyway, here's a cartoon.
This is my second Bush cartoon. I really like the way he turned out. Sort of Howdy-Doodyish.
The following is my first Bush cartoon. It's not bad, but I think I ws focused more on the National Guardsman.
I'm going to post two or three of my older toons each day. That way people can work their way back through the archives as we go along. Most of what I'm going to post has already been published, but some haven't. When they haven't been published, I'll make sure to note that. I'll also give a brief explanation for each toon underneath the art.
This cartoon was drawn specifically to illustrate California's readiness (or lack thereof) for natural disasters. The biggest issue I had when drawing this was that I have one heckuva time drawing horses. So I found pictures of different horses I liked and "traced" them.
Thanks to my good friend, TJ2 (okay, he's more of a rotten bastard, but I have to count as many friends as I can), I'm back in the blogosphere. If vox promises to be as good as it sounds, then I'll be able to share more comics -- editorial and strips -- online than in recent months. In fact, let's try it out here with my latest editorial cartoon. This was published in the News-Sentinel on Thursday, July 20, 2006.
