I was told that Richard Holbrooke visited the Economist offices in London last week and expressed hope that the sentiments expressed above will come to pass.

I was commissione to draw the cover for this week’s edition of The Economist.  I sketched countless versions of the grim reaper in the preliminary stages in a variety of poses. I enclose a few samples of the pencil drawings as well as the finished artwork (above)…

Here are some sample rough sketches from this week’s Economist cartoon. The drawing starts out looking like Egyptian hieroglyphics. After hours of sketching and inking the rather amateurish renderings eventually resemble a cartoon!

Above is the initial sketch that was drawn on an Amtrak train from Baltimore to New York.

The cartoon was completed in my hotel room in Manhattan. Below is the final art.

I had the privilege to draw the cover for this week’s edition of The Economist. The cartoon involves caricatures of European leaders Angela Merkel of Germany, Nicholas Sarkozy of France, and Gordon Brown of Great Britain. The cartoon did develop quickly during the 24 hours that I had to create the piece… particularly the waiter on the left.  

My first attempt in the pencil sketch had a fellow that was not instantly recognisable as a waiter. My second attempt (on the color art below) created a better waiter but he was perhaps too large and had the potential to distract from the main characters.  

You can see at the top of the post the final artwork with a diminished waiter-like character inhabiting the scene.

               Today the celebrated environmental group, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation launches a news blog called The Bay Daily.The blog will feature the prose and insights of Maryland based environment writer Tom Pelton.  The Blog will also feature a daily KAL sketch. Each day a different verson of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s signature Black Backed Seagull will appear. The mascot’s demeanor in the sketch will reflect the mood of the blog posting. Let’s hope the seagull is smiling more often than not!   Check out the blog HERE

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.  

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.

This week I produced a caricature of Obama and Hillary that captures the current news quite well.  I am particularly happy with the Obama caricature.  It always takes a while to get a fix on a new politician’s face and I am becoming more attuned to Obama’s features.  I enclose below some the preliminary sketches for this week’s cartoon as well as my first caricature of Obama from 2007.