There is a difference between the two cartoons above. One cartoon (the bottom cartoon) ran in The Economist this week.  The second cartoon is being distributed to publications in the US and elsewhere through syndication.

 

HINT: American english and English english employ different spelling in some select words. If you cannot locate the difference between the two cartoons, take a break and pour yourself a whiskey, or is it whisky?

The Animated cartoons of Bugs Bunny, The Road Runner and Tom and Jerry have all successfully employed the specter of impending doom as a source of humor.  The cartoon characters in the films are forever enduring physical calamities in the shape of falling pianos, exploding cigars and nosedives from cliffs. These are standard fare in the cartoon menu. Always good for a laugh.

However, when real calamity hits these themes have a little more power.  The laugh is tinged with a cringe. Such is it today with the current financial crisis. 

I drew this cartoon for The Economist this week. Maybe the imagery is not original, but I kind of hope the punchline is…

                         

Tickets are now on sale for “The Art of Satire” on October 7 at Philadelphia’s fabulous Kimmel Art Center.

Sponsored by The Economist, the show features sketch comedy, interactive animation, live drawing lessons and more. Tickets are moving fast so I suggest that your reservations soon. 

Go to http://artofsatire.economist.com/ for more information.

I am posting some samples of my sketches from my 2 week stint at the Democratic and Republican conventions. Of the 10 conventions I have covered over the years these events were among the most interesting. There were good plot lines, interesting locations and a very close race.  The weeks ahead should supply ample material for the political satirist.

Above is an entry from the Republican convention below is a set of sketches from the Democratic convention.

I will be contributing sketches to The Economist’s website during the next two week’s Democratic and Republican conventions. You can view daily slide shows HERE.  

I drew this cartoon for The Economist. This prompted a call from the BBC to discuss the symbol of the Russian bear. Symbols like the Bear, Eagle, dragon (see post below), Uncle Sam, Lady liberty etc. have long been used by cartoonists as a kind of visual shorthand. 

The bear had been a staple of for cartoonists during the Cold War. I explained to the BBC I hadn’t used the bear symbol for a time.  It was interesting for me to return to the familiar old friend. More interesting was how using only the smallest of hints (a shadow with round ears and a black hairy claw) it is not difficult to conclude that the old bear symbol is back.

I found some earlier bear cartoons which I include here.

When the Soviet Union broke apart, it was first called the Commonwealth of Independant States.  The cartoon below reflects the news of that time.

Here’s this week’s Economist cartoon. My recent trip to China was very much on my mind as I spent the day constructing and drawing this commentary.  You can find below some of the rough sketches that went into the development of the cartoon. The first are incoherent but eventually I found my way.

 

I drew the above cartoon for this week’s issue of The Economist to accompany the magazine’s weekly column dedicated to American issues titled “Lexington”. The subject is long-time Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens who has gotten himself into a little legal mess with allegations of financial/ethical wrongdoing.

Stevens has a great face for drawing. His age (84 years) has helped accentuate his sallow cheeks and scowling brow. You can see below some of my early sketches of the embattled Senator.

The Economist and Second City partnered again for another successful stage event in San Francisco on June 25. “The Art of Satire” received a rapturous response from the sold out crowd at the Yerba Buena Arts center. The show, which is touring to several US cities later in 2008, is an exciting mixture of sketch comedy, satiric video, interviews and “Stand-up Cartooning”.

The newest addition to the show was a unique collaboration between myself and Bay Area motion Capture company PhaseSpace. I had the good fortune to have worked with PhaseSpace in the Spring on an earlier animation “Debate 2008“. We conspired at the time to produce a cutting edge presentation to feature in the “Art of Satire” show in June.

 

Our plan was to employ PhaseSpace’s Realtime Motion Capture system to bring alive my animated versions of Barack Obama and John McCain. We understood this would be technological challenge and an entertainment treat.

 

First I created a script that would both show off PhaseSpace’s technology and my digital puppets. The theme was a “Dancing with The Stars” parody. We announced to the audience at The Yerba Buena Center that the two candidates had agreed to have a live special debate that evening.  The format was to be a “Dance-off” where the audience would suggest dance styles and the candidates would have to compete for the audiences’ favor with some slick moves. The audience was then to be introduced the contestants who were fully animated real-time animated caricatures of Obama and McCain. The audience would then pick a winner who was awarded electoral votes as a prize.

On PhaseSpaces’ part, they erected a 16×20x8 framework out of aluminum poles backstage. They added 20 digital cameras for capturing data. They teamed up with Digital Steamworks (my great crew from Baltimore) to add further facial animation enhancements.

Finally there was the actor. I was to act the role of both Obama and McCain. I was to wear a leotard festooned with PhaseSpace’s lit digital markers. I would be wearing a wireless microphone filtered through voice recognition software to create mouth movements for my digital characters. Simultaneously, a puppeteer from Digital Steamworks, Martin DeRiso, would be manipulating the facial expressions of Obama and McCain while I moved and talked. We had programmed a selection of camera angles to toggle through for added interest.

This new, innovative experiment was an enormous hit. First, technically everything went off without a hitch. PhaseSpaces’ professional team of Kan, Ketrina and Milton were completely prepared for all eventualities. Even with minimum rehearsal time the routine was a technical success.

My John McCain character made his world premier with howls of approval from the audience. However, despite his best Fred Astaire steps, McCain was out-Boogied in the audiences’ opinion by Barack’s disco moves. The finishing touch to the piece was when I was called out onstage to take a bow in my leotard with lights attached. Quite a sight.

PhaseSpace’s real-time Mocap system worked amazingly in a demanding environment. I was whirling around the 16×20 virtual dance floor doing ballet, the moonwalk, even the Macarena. All my movements were captured without a problem. I can highly recommend them for their quality goods and professional manner.

You can see here some shots taken of me backstage during the performance by the gifted photogragher Maggie Hallahan. If more images of the performance appear I will share them with you. Stay tuned for more news on “”Art of Satire” shows with cutting edge animation slated for 2008-2009.