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!

I drew the cover for this week’s edition of The Economist. I worked closely with the cover designer in London on this one. We decided to pursue a more “graphic” version than the normally painterly style from the past. You can see the original concept drawing I submitted below. I like the simplicity an starkness of this one. I hope you do, too.

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!

I am currently at the printers witnessing the printing of the new Economist wall calendar. This is very exciting. The artwork has been 6 months in the making and I believe this year’s product is the best one yet.

I hope to have copies available to purchase/order by the beginning of October.

In the week’s ahead I will be revealing sneak peeks of some of the calendar spreads here on the Sketchblog.

Please let me know your thoughts.

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.