I had a busy week with The Economist. I completed the cover for the New Year edition as well as adding an editorial cartoon (see below) and an illustration about Ron Paul. Now it’s time to catch up on my sleep!

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).

I was asked to create the cover for The Economist this week. It was a fun topic to illustrate (taxing the rich). I also had fun creating an autumnal scene… makes me want to paint more landscapes! Also this week… I drew the cartoon (below) on the current crisis in Israeli/Palestinian relations. The next day I flew to Taipei, Taiwan to address the World Congress of the International Press Institute. More on that event to come!

Here’s some recent cartoons from The Economist. The cartoon below I drew while on holiday in Ireland.

Whenever I travel in the world, I carry a portable scanner so that I can never miss a chance to file my cartoons and covers for The Economist. I have drawn and sent my cartoons from such far flung nations as China, Russia, Azerbaijan, Jordan, New Zealand, Italy and France.

Sorry to be so lacklustre at posting this summer… been bogged down with the new 2012 Economist wall calendar ( which looks awesome!).

Here are some recent favorites from The Economist.

I have been watching politics closely for over 30 years now. I find the bitter partisanship and polarization currently on display in the US depressing. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for the country, it a source of great cartoon material….

Greece is currently mired in deep fiscal problems… with serious economic repercussions for other countries around the world.

As a cartoonist commenting on these events, there is a great temptation to use images of ancient Greece as vehicles for your messages.

Here’s two cartoons from The Economist employing such visuals. The first one  is from this week’s edition (above) and the other (below) from earlier in the crisis when Greek officials seemed to be cooking the economic books.

I think there is no doubt that I will not be alone in the community of cartoonists to tap into the rich library of Greek images to help me in future cartoons.

Over my 33 year career I have drawn many nasty oppressive rulers.

Rarely, however, have I had the dubious distinction of drawing two generations of sadistic murderers in one picture. For this week’s edition of The Economist I chose to cover the sad events unfolding in Syria. I have drawn the nation’s past ruler, Hafez Assad many times over the years (see sample below). He was the demon responsible for the quashing of a citizen revolt in 1982 where he killed an estimated 10-30,000 of his own countrymen. Unfortunately, it appears, his sons plan to follow in in boot-steps.

There is no doubt the best time to be an editorial cartoonist is during an election campaign. There is enough satire material to keep an army of cartoonists employed. The candidates are larger than life figures doing ridicuous things on a daily basis.

More than a year away from the US Presidential election in November 2012, republican pretenders are already getting into campaign shape. In this week’s edition of The Economist I drew my first election cartoon for the 2012 campaign (see above). I am looking forward to many many many many many more to come in the months ahead.

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).