Editorial Cartoon

Artist Statement

The meaning behind this piece was the idea of people fighting, specifically the two political sides. I was trying to keep this pretty neutral/not one-sided. It’s the idea that they’re both fighting over the same thing (agreeing). This also kind of shows opposite stereotypes of who supports who. I tried to capture the mad expression as it has a lot of importance in the mood/message of this work.

I used pencil, colored pencil, and a sharpie to create this piece. I used lines to create unity. I used form to create emphasis on certain facial features like the cheeks, lips, and nose. I also used space to create emphasis on the two faces who are the positive space. I used color to create variety. I used value to create a balance of highlights and shadows.

For this piece, I did a lot of experimenting and drafting as you can see in some of my sketches. I knew that I wanted to do big caricature faces. At first, I was thinking of doing something involving child abuse or elderly abuse but I couldn’t form a good plan for them. Then I thought about politics (even though I didn’t want to do anything super controversial). I realized that I could make something that represents both sides. After that, I did a final sketch on the final paper, just light. I went way slower than my other sketches and used the Richmond Illustration website as a guide to help me with the mad expression of my characters. Because I went slow, I didn’t have as much revising to do. I also drew light so I could erase easily. I think I like the way the man on the right looks, just because it looks better. I did him first so maybe that’s why it turned out better. I don’t love how the words came out in the middle. Overall, I enjoyed this project a lot and want to explore more with this style of art.