Oh baby don't cry.

Nothing too much to say about these, except I liked the internet one. Out here in rural Menomonie, WI, we have one internet service provider to choose from: Charter Cable. Many rural areas have to succumb to the monopolies of the ISPs as there is no competition in those places. Not only is my cable bill much higher than I would like it, but Charter has a tendency to send a shoddy internet signal. Of course its up to "their standards", but I didn't realize they settled for utter crap.

As far as the art goes, I had a lot of fun with the top Uncle Sam drawing. It was a challenge to draw him from the first angle, and I completely changed the text at the very last minute. I think its a little funnier. I also noticed I'm getting a lot more confident in inking with a brush. Some of my earlier lines show somewhat shaky lines, which isn't necessarily bad, but it's nice to get a good smooth line when I want one.

Here are a few cartoons that I've done over the last week. They're for the next drawing III project. I've been moving away from using a my usual nib/dip pen, and using a brush and micron pens. For some reason, I feel like I can get more control, and spontaneity in my line work with a brush. Though that is somewhat contradictory, a brush allows for some rather thick and narrow lines which are essential in editorial cartoons.

More Sketches!

Here's another page of sketches for the next project. All I have to say is Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have some great faces to play with. Ahmadinejad in particular has a rather large nose which appears solid with all its structure apparent. But more than his nose, his eyes were a lot of fun to draw. They are sunken way back under his brow ridge which caused a lot of shading on them. Also he's a middle aged man, and most of the muscles in his face are starting to show through. That always makes for a more interesting drawing especially in the cheek and mouth areas. Well, pretty much the whole face for that matter.

Here are a few sketches for the next project. I've been working on doing a few editorial cartoons every week. For the critique I'll probably end up choosing a couple that I like to show.

Influences

Artistic Influences

Humor is one of the most effective mediums to express a thought. As long as I can remember, I’ve loved looking at cartoons. My father always had a subscription to Newsweek, and that is where I had my first exposure to editorial cartoons. There was something about them, whether it was the amazing caricatures that were put in front of me, or the ten seconds it took to convey a very heavy topic, I’ll never be sure what got me interested. To quote editorial cartoonist Jeff Danziger, political cartoons are a strange combination of the serious and the humorous. It’s an editorial, which is a serious commentary on a topic, and then it’s a cartoon, which is perhaps the least serious form of art. In ten seconds one can make or ruin a viewers day. I think it was this effectiveness that first attracted me to editorial cartoons.




Joe Bluhm Caricatures



Kevin Kallehuer




Matt Davies

Influences from outside the art world:

I've always been interested in politics, geography, economics, social dynamics, religion, and any combination that creates conflict. Not to say that I or anyone else enjoys conflict, but there is something very human about it, that draws attention. I think it is conflict and the commentary on it that I really get interested in.

Personal Influences

I grew up in a strict christian home with 3 brothers. We went to church every weekend, and were expected to act like it inbetween. My parents are both conservatives, but I assume its mainly due to their religious views and how they coincide with many conservative platforms. I've found that a lot of their bullet points were things that I cared little about and I started exploring the other "big ticket" items that I found to be more serious. It might have been my own form of rebellion, I'm not sure.