“I cannot tell a lie. Forget the cherry pie.” © D. Barstow, 2009 All rights reserved

Hey, I’m back. Can you believe it? It’s that darn Illustration Friday… it keeps pulling me in, daring me to match the new topics they put up each week, rain or shine, holidays be damned. (They’re international and free-spirited over there.)

This week’s topic is celebrate. I have some things to celebrate this week, yes, I do!

First is Valentine’s Day, which was Saturday. I didn’t get any, so I guess I’m a little sad about that, but I still enjoyed the decorations and the free design ideas all the advertisers threw at us non-stop. I can remember the smell of white glue and the crinkly rough feel of the lace when I made them in school, too. (And how I admired other kids who seemed to have a much better grasp of design, with blue hearts, and layers, and other stuff I can’t remember.) Design is really unrecognized art.

Then on Monday, President’s Day. Well, not a very interesting holiday, and no mail, hate that. (Hate even more that the Post Office STOLE my mailbox last week. The neighborhood public one. It’s not like I live on a farm, or some rural area. This is Los Angeles. On a major corner, on a very busy 4 lane street. They are so f-ing lazy, I guess they just couldn’t be bothered stopping at the box to pick up the mail. Yes, I could hear my mail drop to the bottom, as there was so little in it, but so what!!)

But President’s Day was a perfect day to start my syndicated Editorial Cartoons! Yes, I’m branching out: I’m syndicated on GoComics. And this is even more surprising: I’ve gone to the dark side – editorial cartoons! Well, someone has to do it. I have about a dozen cartoons up there now -some favorites from the fall election and new ones as they come to me. Read more »

OOh, great dustup on Time Magazine’s list of Best Editorial Cartoons of 2008!

You’ll have to decide for yourself if they made the right decision, and if these cartoons are the BEST – I started to really study editorial cartoons just this year, and they don’t seem great to me, but I am not one to judge. Yet. (Give me a little time, and I’ll be circling like a shark…)

Anyway, Ted Rall thinks the editors there suck. Ted is a well known syndicated political cartoonist, radio guy, author (Wake Up, You’re Liberal!: How We Can Take America Back from the Right), and no doubt creator of other things. He is also editor at a syndicate  and president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He got mad at Time’s lame editorial picks, and let them have it! Daily Cartoonist published his letter in full, and here is an excerpt:

Your list of the Top 10 Editorial Cartoons of 2008 is an insult to editorial cartoonists, many of whom are losing their jobs to the economic downturn in the newspaper industry. In 2008 hundreds of brilliant political cartoonists produced thousands of hard-hitting, thought-provoking and hilarious cartoons about everything from the flash in the pan that was Sarah Palin to the rise of Barack Obama, and all you could come up with was this phoned-in crap?

More at the link! Well, when has a cartoonist ever kept his mouth shut when he sees bad work? Not I. One bad cartoonist spoils the place for everyone.

Some of the comments at Daily Cartoonist:

• So much for not directly insulting the cartoonists involved ;) That said, bravo. Particularly enjoyed the “clean and sober” slice. Time magazine has become as relevant and useful as an ’80s cocaine binge.

• Wow.  This was already mailed, right?  Well, in that case, um, wow.

• I’m in agreement with Ken. This wasn’t a well thought out letter. I agree with the sentiments but this is not how you persuade people. As much as I hate using tact, it is necessary. Bad move.

Read more »

The President-Elect Chia Pet cartoon, © Donna Barstow.

Sorry, all political, Slate, opinion, and editorial cartoons have been moved  to my Slate blog:

The Opposite of Wrong: OpEd Cartoons.

Here ya go: Obama Chia Pet.

Credit: G. B. Trudeau / Universal Press Syndicate.

It was a week ago that all the papers threw up their hands in mutual pretended concern that Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury did his Nov 5 strip early, predicting Barak Obama for the win. How to handle this delicate situation? Most papers decided to take the “risk” and run it. Not the LA Times.

First the Times decided not to run it.

Times editors have decided that in the interest of accuracy, it would be best to wait to see the results of the election.

They changed their minds, however, when readers wrote in. Much sarcasm ensued.

I applaud the L.A. Times decision to wait until the election before running Doonesbury’s strip where Obama wins “in the interest of accuracy.” But in the interest of accuracy the Times should also withhold Non Sequitur, Mutts, Get Fuzzy and Tundra (animals don’t really talk). Also stop Brewster Rockit: Space Guy (he’s not really in space). Just don’t tell the editors that Snoopy can’t fly his doghouse.
Bill Becher
Westlake Village

Here’s part of the suspect strip. Personally, I found the repetitious “We Did It,” and “Now I’m proud to be an American” so annoying that I deleted every MySpace friend and Twitter friend that said it. And, no, that won’t be in any of my cartoons!

“I think we timed it just right. Election fever overshadows bank failures.”

If you are expecting analysis of the bailout package(s) and bill, explanations of why these banks failed, why the markets have plunged to unimaginable depths, and where you should invest any money  you have left now…well, you’ve come to the wrong blog.

I’m just a cartoonist.

However, I think I caught the presidential race fever! Even though WAMU is was my bank!

The Drawing
Don’t you just love black and white? I’m a little concerned her dress may be too loud for the banking dress code, but this IS Casual Friday. I have a crush on the man at the bottom.

Do you think I should have shortened the caption just a smidge? I was trying to think of a word other than overshadows, but…couldn’t.

TIME, this one’s for you.

“I have to get off. I’ve been waiting all week for “Dancing With the Candidates.”"

I love ‘em both: Dancing with the Stars, and the debates.

Next up: foxtrot, with Obama and Palin.