Cartoons

Second Cartoon Portrait of President-Elect Obama

I was in a dingy, but slightly welcoming Irish bar near Penn Station in Manhattan, between 6th and 7th Avenue a few nights ago to practice my drawing skills. The place is perfect for sketching or writing.(Drawing after jump.) It’s long and narrow, with a few tables and a modestly-sized TV in the back. (The bathroom is a bit scary, but as long as you treat it with respect – meaning that you avoid surface contact – you should be fine.)

I brought everything that I thought I would need: a healthy supply of graphic pens, a sketch pad, an ipod with proper headphones, a portable reading light and a few magazines for reference. It was in last week’s Economist that I found my first subject: a cartoon image of president-elect Barack Obama, drawn by a staff cartoonist. Damn, this person is good, I thought to myself as I shamelessly used another’s work to further my own. (This is my second cartoon sketch of Obama, so I have to state that I am not obsessed with him, I just want to get his image down now because he’ll be in the White House for at least four years.)

I did add a lot of my own elements, but my version relies heavily on the Economist cartoon. (I am trying to track down their cartoonist because I want to send him/her a note of thanks.) I haven’t been creating much in the way of new material lately, but I have a bunch of decent ideas that need to be converted into tangible images. I’m heading back to this delightful little dungeon again this evening – hopefully it, along with some good reference material, will push my pens in the right direction.

(Click here to see the the first sketch.)

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© 2008 Splendid Marbles.