The blog of Richard Thompson, caricaturist, creator of "Cul de Sac," and winner of the 2011 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

McCain With Penguins


Drawing John McCain is kinda hard; in other words, he doesn't simplify easiely. He's got a wide jaw, a small mouth, a blunt-yet-pointy nose, and twinkly, I-dare-you eyes. I've drawn him a dozen or so times, and this one's my favorite. It was for US News & World Report back when I did a weekly caricature for them, and it appeared soon after McCain lost the '04 nomination. To chill out (hah!) after the pressures of the campaign, McCain and his wife went to the Antarctic to look into the effects of global warming. Plus evidently McCain's a penguin fan, as who isn't? So my advice for drawing McCain is: if you get a chance, draw him with a mass of penguins. I don't know why, but it seems to work.

4 comments:

Mike Rhode said...

Boy, that's a lovely drawing, even if it's not of a lovely subject. And, as every animated film of 2006 showed, following the lead of the great Wallace & Gromit, you can't go wrong with penguins, even if they are evil.

Garrincha said...

believe me.
it doesn't

Mike Rhode said...

Garrincha - the Cuban cartoonist! Cool! Garrincha was in town a few years ago for the annual Cartoons and Cocktails auction held at the Press Club.

paul bowman said...

Got hold of a New Yorker today, at a customer's house, and came across what I gather must be the latest of your McCains. (Failed to look at the issue date.) — No penguins! I liked it, even so.