| It’s good to laugh a little bit when there are so many serious things going on throughout world. True, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strong-arm approach to free speech and E. coli in our food supply are serious matters, but they make for a good chuckle when combined together in your imagination.
This is two cartoons in a row now where I’ve had to caricature a big newsmaker for the first time. I struggled with both Jimmy Carter and Putin. I didn’t want to go too simple with them where they could end up looking like anybody; I prefer to make the caricatures instantly recognizable, to avoid the always-cumbersome “label.” But there’s always the danger of “overworking” the drawing. Hunched over the drawing board all day, you can get something akin to tunnel vision. I’ve been told by other, more accomplished cartoonists that the best way to avoid this sort of thing is to work fast, get up and clear your head for a few minutes, and to not nitpick every little line. For me, two out of the three are kind of hard to do. … And to all the armchair nitpickers: Yes, I know Taco Bell actually uses plastic bags. I decided to take some artistic license so that the logo would be easier to read. |
