Sorry, sometimes you gotta be plain and simple in a blog. Sarah Palin has just resigned as Governor, so she won’t be around to undress anymore. I drew this cartoon when she still had hopes to win as VP.

The Governor’s New Clothes (Sarah Palin). Full size at link.

My new blog, The Opposite of Wrong, is so new Google doesn’t read it yet, so I’m directing traffic over there with this one.

This cartoon was a result of her clothes scandal – that she spent too much money dressing as a winner. Pshaw.  Have you seen the prices of men’s suits? She was in the media everywhere, for Pete’s sake. So I drew her Clotheless. (Nudes may be okay in art – okay, they’re a major part of art history – but Google is afraid of the n-aked word, I believe.) Isn’t she a wonderful Venus? I, on the other hand, never claimed to be Botticelli. But I’ll take it.)

That was the season when I actually paid attention to the campaigns and elections, and she was electrifyingly real. In character, and a character. Mesmerizing, even in, or especially in, her most humiliating moments. And I always thought she was beautiful, and I loved her voice.

Go see her. And I’ll have a new cartoon up on Sarah Palin in Slate on Monday.

“Add hair of Sarah, eyerolls of McCain, wool of Obama, and Biden’s slip of the tongue…and we get a pretty tasty election!” © D. Barstow, 2008

I hope you don’t have to know Macbeth to understand this cartoon; just a rudimentary knowledge of witches is helpful, however. They do like to cook, they have unusual spices, and they’re passionate.

Plus, they like to stir up trouble for this election! You go, girls.

The Drawing
This is a rough. The lettering for the caption was so bad I had to re-caption it in my Wacom, with a decent font! I also gave it a quick wash. You know, I just love this energy! Sometimes the first time is good enough.

Calling all illustrators and cartoonists, if you know how to keep the freshness and energy of a rough, while doing the finish, please share!

So Happy Halloween, everyone, and don’t forget to vote with your mouth this Halloween! Or happy All Saints Day, depending when you read this. Still, have a happy mouth.

*I’ve collected all my election coverage and political and editorial cartoons over here: The Opposite of Wrong. That’s where all the new ones, are too. So come on by.

“What’s a 5-letter word for a woman who’s both a barracuda and a pitbull?”

I don’t know, tell me. I don’t do crossword puzzles, I do Soduku. (Actually, my favorites are logic problems.)

But you know who they’re talking about, right? And the word they might be thinking of? Only a few more days left to love this cartoon! Not to say anything negative about Sarah Palin – she’s taken enough teasing. But the election will be over, and then things will become clearer. This can be taken a couple of different ways. Hey, it’s more original than commenting on Sarah’s farking hair.

Note: no swear words appear in this post, but feel free to use your imagination. And yes, two 5-letter words come to mind right away, and they’re not proper names.

The Drawing
I’m not sure if the perspective here is totally right. I do know her desk is right. It’s an antique, with a brand new laptop on it. She has a pleasant view of the backyard as she writes a note to a friend. The cartoon as reproduced is too small to see that her eyes are serious, bordering on annoyed. However, they have a hot marriage.

PS. I still do cartoons that I think are funny, not to get someone elected. So don’t go thinking you know which way I roll.

*Update; I’ve now moved all my election, editorial, and political cartoons ONLY over to my new blog: The Opposite of Wrong. That’s where you’ll find all the new political cartoons, too. Hope to see you there.

“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.

I am all kinds of thrilled that I’ve been invited to submit cartoons about the election to a major publication!!

I don’t think I’ve ever done any political cartoons until recently. (My father used to suggest that if I did them, I would be a “real” cartoonist,  but fortunately – I think it wasn’t until he held my first book in his hands – that mantra has stopped, or at least slowed down. Well, here I am, Dad!)

I don’t know any cartoonists who mix the genres, actually; you’re either funny or serious, and I always choose funny! (Plus, what about those arrows and signs and symbols and nametags and scrawling ink splotches all over everything in editorial drawings? Kind of messy.)

Sarah Palin as a child. “They’re not toys, they’re trophies.”

Original cartoon next.   Read more »