Election season is in full swing which means lots of material for political cartoonist. The cartoon above is from this week’s edition of The Economist.

I drew this one from a hotel in Abuja, Nigeria where I was participating in a conference sponsored by The Economist. As you can probably guess I had a great fun drawing this one.

Among the fearsome flock of Wannabees is Republican businessman Herman Cain. People outside of the US have been watching the American political circus with some interest and despair. An example, the French magazine Courrier International commissioned me to create a cartoon of Herman Cain for this week’s edition (see below).

From time to time I have the job of scouring through past cartoons in search of a specific request. It is often an educational experience. I find forgotten images and sketches. I have published, by my count over 6000 cartoons so I guess I can be forgiven for not remembering all of them.

I recently stumbled upon these caricatures I drew in the mid 1980’s for The Economist. They feature political figures still on the international scene: Colonel Qaddafi of Libya, President Mubarak of Egypt, Fidel Castro and Bill Clinton (from the 90’s). They, of course look much younger (and I, of course have not changed at all).

I don’t often have the time just to draw caricatures as I once did. I am blessed with many interesting projects on the boil including The Economist 2012 Wall calendar, animation and my work with students at UMBC.

Still caricature is a deep passion, so recently while taking a short break from my work on the Wall Calendar, I drew the sketch above of the American TV personality David Letterman. It was great fun to draw… I need to do this more often…

I have been rather remiss in keeping my blog up to date… so I enclose a couple of recent cartoons that I hope you enjoy.

Here’s this week’s cartoon for The Economist. I enjoyed playing with the caricatures, though my Karzai still needs work.

Here’s this week’s cover for The Economist on the issue of Obama’s first year in office.

Here’s a recent effort for The Economist to draw Senator Joe Lieberman. The senator has a face made for caricature and I enjoyed exploring his crevices and wrinkles with glee.

The Maryland Film Festival held a Gala fundraiser featuring Baltimore native filmmakers Barry Levenson (Rain Man, Wag the Dog, Diner, Liberty Heights), John Waters (Hairspray, Serial Mom) and David Simon (Homicide, The Wire).

I was asked by the festival to create drawings of the three heads (with foreheads) to use as promotion materials and auction items. The drawings (see above) were used in several capacities throughout the evening. An enlarged print of the artwork was signed by the three guests and myself then auctioned off.

My favorite use was a special edition of M&M candies that were made with the images of each of the 3 filmakers embossed of the candy shell.  Clearly the smallest reproduction of my cartoons to date!

Above is John Waters signing his caricature and below is me (on the right) with old chum, fellow Baltimore Sun alumni and creator of HBO’s “The Wire”, David Simon.

The Maryland Film Festival held a Gala fundraiser featuring Baltimore native filmmakers Barry Levenson (Rain Man, Wag the Dog, Diner, Liberty Heights), John Waters (Hairspray, Serial Mom) and David Simon (Homicide, The Wire).

I was asked by the festival to create drawings of the three heads (with foreheads) to use as promotion materials and auction items. The drawings (see above) were used in several capacities throughout the evening. An enlarged print of the artwork was signed by the three guests and myself then auctioned off.

My favorite use was a special edition of M&M candies that were made with the images of each of the 3 filmakers embossed of the candy shell.  Clearly the smallest reproduction of my cartoons to date!

Above is John Waters signing his caricature and below is me (on the right) with old chum, fellow Baltimore Sun alumni and creator of HBO’s “The Wire”, David Simon.

This cartoon is an illustration for an article in this week’s edition of The Economist about the politics of health care in the US.  The House, represented by Nancy Pelosi here, passed their version of reform last Saturday. Now the responsibility for Reform has been passed onto the Senate (hence the baton) represented here by Harry Reid. I enjoyed drawing the two caricatures here… quite a contrast in faces.