Zina Saunders Blog

The Wire: Bubbles and Omar

2012-03-06T06:31:00.015-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Joanie told me about a tv show called The Wire, which she said was the best tv show that she's ever seen. So Barry and I have been renting it from Netflix (it's not on the air anymore and anyway I don't have cable tv even if it were still on the air). I LOVE the show. The characters are fully 3 dimensional, with all the ferocity and fragility of real true human beings -- it's not at all black and white.

So I did this portrait (above) of one of my favorite characters, Bubbles, the earnest, courageous, scroungey drug addict, who briefly saw the light coming from under the door leading out of his addiction this week, only to turn back to peer down the long black hallway he's been trudging for years.

Another favorite character is Omar, the fearlessly murderous stick-up man who is avenging the murder of his boyfriend, Brandon (for those of you familiar with The Wire, I am midway through the first season of episodes). He's terrifyingly tough and also tender, taking brutal revenge in the name of love.

Recent Wall St Journal Portraits

2012-03-03T07:06:00.002-08:00

In today's paper, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, plus recent painted portraits of RI Treasurer Gina Raimondo and author Ron Chernow.

Navalny

Raimondo

Portraits for Discover Magazine

2012-03-01T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a portrait every month for Discover magazine; here are 2 new ones.

Phil Hoover, who disarms nuclear bombs

Major General Walsh, of the Army Corps of Engineers. This one is a spin on an old army Corps of Engineers poster from the '40s.

Animation: Franklin Graham's Mr. Christianity Pageant

2012-02-27T12:25:00.004-08:00

Franklin Graham uses his patented Christian-O-Meter to determine who becomes the new Mr. Christianity! Contestants Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich try to out-Christian Rick Santorum, but they can't fool Graham and his trusty Christian-O-Meter!

"Mitt, you look just the right height in that suit!"

Watch the cartoon on The Final Edition, and find lots more funny stuff from some of the best comedy writers in TV and print. Or watch it on Mother Jones and find lots more from some of the best political writers on the web!

Oprah Winfrey Cover for The Utne Reader

2012-02-24T06:22:00.010-08:00

The Utne Reader cover I did for Stephanie Glaros (one of my most favorite art directors, ever) is out, featuring Oprah Winfrey graduating from her network talk show to her new role as tv tycoon and publishing magnate. I'm not an Oprah acolyte so was unfamiliar with the details of her harrowing childhood, hideously molested as a child and finding refuge in TV shows and imagining herself accomplishing grand things in a brilliant future.

After reading the article, my first sketches showed Oprah as a child, watching her imagined future self on TV, Oprah as Mary Tyler Moore tossing her beret in the air (the opening sequence of the TV show that Oprah loved as a girl), Oprah holding the young version of herself protectively, both of them looking into the future, stuff like that.

After some back and forth, it was decided they wanted Oprah alone on the cover, in a graduation cap, holding the emblems of her huge success, looking glam but somewhat serious. Oprah's not easy to paint, her weight has fluctuated pretty wildly and with lots of different hairstyles and makeup and all, it's very hard to pin her down. And that's a picture of her as a child on the cover of the magazine she holds.

State-Sanctioned Rape

2012-02-23T04:32:00.001-08:00

I started this cartoon about a week ago when I read about the mandatory ultrasound law that passed the Virginia state legislature last week and only awaits the (promised) signature of Gov. McDonnell. You can see it on the front page of The Final Edition, as well as on Mother Jones.

This law would force every woman seeking an abortion, without her consent, to undergo an ultrasound. Since the majority of abortions are performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, this will mean that they will be subjected to vaginal penetration with an ultrasound probe. This is equivalent to enforcing state-sponsored rape, in an effort to manipulate (and punish) women seeking abortions.

Animation: This Un-Christian Nation

2012-02-14T03:58:00.001-08:00

I was confused about the Catholic bishops association and right wingers spraying spit about infringement on their religious freedom last week over birth control coverage; it looked to me like the religionists were seeking to impose their beliefs on everyone else. After all, the government wasn't saying anyone had to use birth control, and of course the Catholic businesses didn't have to offer coverage for birth control if they chose not to take advantage of the tax breaks. So I decided to see what the founding fathers had to say about us being a Christian Nation.

My first web searches returned great results! Man, what crazy, incendiary, positively atheistic quotes I found on many, many websites! Those founding fathers were some tough sonsabitches! I wrote up a neat little script for this week's cartoon, with all these badass quotes. I drew up 6 founding fathers and started animating them. I was all charged up!

But then Barry suggested I better triple check the quotes, that some poor atheist out in California had put up a billboard quoting Jefferson, and the quote was spurious and made the guy look like a doof. Looking like a doof goes against my religion, so I did some more checking.

Oy. Everything I had were misquotes, or so taken-out-of-context as to make them equivalent to misquotes. But you know what? I found plenty of material that was perfectly legit and also perfectly supportive of my contention from the start that this is not a Christian nation and the founding fathers specifically and categorically intended it not to be a Christian nation. They were quite deliberate in separating church from state; they'd seen the horror that melding the two always wreaks, in the countries from which they came.

I'm not disputing that any of the founding fathers were raised Christians or were personally Christian. Personal religious beliefs are not the issue. What's important and worth repeating (as often and as long as radical religionists continue their spread of lies) is that the founders laid out a country wherein religion and public policy are separate.

The cartoon is up on Mother Jones and on YouTube, above.

Animation: Komen's Dirty Pink Laundry

2012-02-07T03:35:00.003-08:00

Last week the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, the breast-cancer-research advocacy group, cut its grants to Planned Parenthood, in a thinly-veiled effort to appease right wing anti-abortion groups who want to rob women of their right to choose. Under pressure, Komen caved and reversed their decision (for now), but in the process of reading about Komen, I found out a lot more about their disgraceful practice of "pink washing" corporate sponsors who make and use toxic, cancer-causing chemicals in their products.

It's up on The Final Edition, as well as other fine sites around the web.

Abortion Burka

2012-02-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

I’m re-posting this animation I made one year ago about the radical Republican war on women. Given what the Susan G. Komen foundation did this week in cutting its grants to Planned Parenthood, it's clear we have to step up our defense against this disgusting assault

Link to animation

Rough Sketch about Low I/Q and Racism/Conservatism

2012-02-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

I just read an article on Huffpo about a study linking low IQ scores in childhood with racist and conservative beliefs in adulthood, so I posted this super fast sketch in Cartoon Movement's Newsroom:

Link to cartoon

UPDATE: I uploaded a woodcutty version of the idea on Cartoon Movement; I think I like it better than the original sketch.

New on The Final Edition: Mitt's Blind Trust

2012-02-01T04:32:00.000-08:00

My latest animation is being featured on The Final Edition, the site created by Tony Hendra, former editor-in-chief of Spy magazine, with an all-star list of contributors from the ranks of The Daily Show, SNL and Real Time with Bill Maher.

The cartoon they're running: With all this talk about Mitt's blind trust, he's here today to ask for your blind trust! Your blind trust in voting for him. With him is his beleagured dog, Seamus. Check it out.

Mitt and Gordon Gekko for The New Republic

2012-01-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

For the current issue of The New Republic, Gordon Gekko and Mitt Romney toasting each other, Gekko with a predictable martini, and Romney with his favorite drink: chocolate milk. which, according to his wife, is his greatest vice. Could I possibly conceive of wanting a president who considers chocolate milk a vice? I'd far prefer someone who thinks getting a bigger tax break bigger than your secretary a vice. And I don't believe Mitt counts such an inequity a vice.

Link to article on The New Republic

Occupy Cover for The Progressive

2012-01-26T02:48:00.000-08:00

Here's the cover I did for this month's Occupy issue of The Progressive.

The Evolution of The Candidate

2012-01-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

I'm in the middle of animating this one, but I kinda like it as a strip, too. It's up on Cartoon Movement, and here it is, bigger...

Faithful Voter and The People, Who Matter Most

2012-01-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest cartoon on Mother Jones, just up. I just really like this character (his name should be Faithful Voter). I made him up for my Koch Brothers Mirror, Mirror cartoon, back in October. I'm thinking I'll use him throughout the campaign season, he's so wonderfully dopey and dupe-able, and his dog casts such a bored and jaundiced eye on the world, it just makes me laugh to animate them.

It was fun doing Ron Paul this time, too...and making Santorum pitching to the dog, given Rick's penchant for imagining dogs in all sorts of situations. But Faithful Voter's dog is unmoved.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

The Hypocrisy of Newt

2012-01-19T16:20:00.000-08:00

Right wing, conservative “family values” newly-Catholic presidential contender New Gingrich’s second of his three wives reveals (for the first time) in a TV interview this evening that he wanted an open marriage, and that the woman he is currently married to, devout Catholic Callista, with whom he was having an affair at the time, was fine with “sharing him”.

At the same time that he was petitioning his wife for an open marriage, he was Speaker of the House, carrying on a crusade against then-president Bill Clinton for having an affair.

And this is the guy who wants to tell us how we’re supposed to live our lives.

Link to cartoon on Cartoon Movement

The Holdouts Gallery Exhibit

2012-01-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

Five of my portraits from my Overlooked New York project are included in a show at the Corridor Gallery at 334 Grand Avenue in Brooklyn. The show features work by and about New York's subcultures.

The opening is Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00, if you happen to be out that way.

Podcast Interview with Escape from Illustration Island

2012-01-19T05:06:00.000-08:00

Here's an interview that I did for Escape from Illustration Island with Thomas James. Mine is the last in his series of 81 interviews with illustrators and art directors, so I made it in, right under the wire. If you want to hear me yakking about all things illustration, here you go. But be warned, MAN, I have me a New Yawk accent...

Link to podcast

SOPA

2012-01-18T03:46:00.000-08:00

As you probably know, a number of big websites (Wikipedia, Boing Boing, Reddit, etc.) are going black today in protest over the proposed SOPA ("Stop Online Piracy Act", which would be better named "Censor The Internet For Hollywood Act") legislation here in the US. I thought it would be a good time to link to the animation I did about the SOPA legislation a few weeks back; Here it is on YouTube:

Animation: Romney's All-American Pie

2012-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help myself, I had to go and animate the Romney cartoon... Watch (and listen) if you dare!

Cartoon Movement

2012-01-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

I just joined Cartoon Movement, here's a link to my first cartoon that I pitched to them, Romney serving up a nice deep dish of shit...whatchathink?

Link to cartoon on Cartoon Movement

The Dangerous Side Effects of Voting Republican

2012-01-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

New on Mother Jones...

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Utne Reader Human Rights

2011-12-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

Just got my copy of The Utne Reader, with several illustrations I did for a group of articles about human rights. This was one of those rare times when my sketches were pretty much my finals...and it felt great to to see the un-fussed and un-fidgeted art on the printed page. You know how you often think that your sketches are fresher and more vital than the final art? Well, this time I was given the freedom to let the original vision stand on its own, thanks to AD Stephanie Glaros.

Obama haunted by Bush/Cheney human rights violations

Barbed Wire flag -- CIA prisons and xenophobia

Islamophobia in the US

US image tarnished by our human rights violations

Animation: SOPA Cleans Up the Internet for Hollywood

2011-12-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

Congress will resume the so-called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) hearings in January. This legislation, backed by Hollywood, the music industry and the US Chamber of Commerce, would give them the power to disappear websites they don't like, without due process, effectively giving them the ability to censor the web. Welcome to the future, wherein US megacorporations and their purchased politicians have the power to destroy the world wide web...

Link to cartoon on YouTube

Read more and take action at the Electronic Frontier Foundation here

Sign the Whitehouse.gov petition, here, asking President Obama to veto the bill.

Guru Gingrich

2011-12-13T06:51:00.000-08:00

Mother Jones is showing a round-up of all the Newt Gingrich stories they've done over the past 27 years, along with the illustrations that accompanied them, and my Newt Guru is the Grand Finale -- an illustration I particularly like.

Link to the animation I did of this painting

Animation: The Gingrich Who Stole Christmas

2011-12-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

In this week's animation, Newt Gingrich, relishing his role as the current sugarplum dancing in Republican heads, generously bestows on all who will listen his solution for the nation's poorest children.

Watch it on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me. Music by Kevin MacLeod

Animation: A Very Republican Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T04:47:00.000-08:00

I liked doing this one: nice and gruesome and bloody. I think watching my dad paint Mars Attacks and Civil War bubblegum cards back when I was a kid planted a fertile seed of fascination with all things grisly: the bloodier the better! So if this horrifies you, it's all Norm Saunders' fault!

Link to the cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me. Burp from www.freesound.org

New York Observer

2011-11-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

A lotta redheads, eh?

Did this one over the weekend for the current NY Observer. The article is about a movie premier party for Ron Howard's (very preggers) daughter's new movie, whatever.

The best part of the article was the account of the relentlessly panting Jill Zarin, late of the Real Housewives of NY. The writer describes Zarin's outfit as looking like it was ripped from the closet of Cher Horowitz in the movie Clueless, and Jillzy's fake tan and her meepy l'il tears over the movie: see? She's got heart! So I threw her in there, just for laffs.

It's been a long time since I did a Big Head caricature, and I forgot how much fun it is to do them. Now I feel like Big Heading everyone on the planet. I'm just that kinda girl.

Animation: Big Tobacco's Freedom of Speech cough cough

2011-11-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

Last week a federal district court blocked the FDA from requiring tobacco companies to put graphic warning labels on their cigarette packages, citing their First Amendment right to free speech. This one hit home for me: my father died of emphysema and I was, myself, a 3-pack-a-day smoker for many years before I was finally able to quit.

Watch the cartoon on Mother Jones:

Written, animated and acted by me.

Here's a link to the FDA's website with a slideshow of the warning labels the court blocked

Nico Muhly for The Wall Street Journal

2011-11-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

In today's paper, composer Nico Muhly. I sent them both versions. They chose the white one.

The Secret Life of Fireplugs

2011-11-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

These are some of the portraits I've painted of the plugs I've seen all my life, poking out of the buildings and sidewalks around New York City. I love all things mechanical in general, and all things New York in particular, so these curious little plugs scattered across the city landscape have always attracted me.

To see them up close and personal, and read their stories, click each of the images:

http://www.zinasaunders.com/pages/illustration/images/secret-society.html

A Couple Assignments

2011-11-04T03:30:00.000-07:00

For an article in the current issue of The Nation about the Great Green Wall, an idea proposed by the president of Nigeria back in 2005, to plant a 10 mile wide strip of trees across the width of Africa in order to prevent the Sahara from expanding southward.

And this one for The Christian Science Monitor, about secondhand books being sent to schools in Zimbabwe. I always like doing illustrations about Zimbabwe, because of project about the (now-defunct) all-female bicycle messenger company made up of AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe; I made a website about them called Africa Closeup. Here's the CSM illustration in color, though I think I like it better in the black and white sketch...

Sketch:

Animation: The Mississippi Assault on Women

2011-11-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

On Nov. 8th, Mississippi will be voting on Amendment 26, which would redefine a fertilized egg as a full-fledged person with legal rights, which, by extension, makes women walking incubators. If this passes, it will mean that anything that is done to impinge on a fertilized egg’s rights (which could include a miscarriage, IVF, and various forms of birth control) could land a lady in the hoosegow. Here's the animation, on Mother Jones:

Link to cartoon

Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Here are some more links worth reading:

Fertilized Eggs Are Not People

Articles About Amendment 26

Recent Work

2011-11-01T05:31:00.000-07:00

A few recent assignments...

Pianist Yuja Wang for The Wall Street Jounral

Disparate regions in America for The Christian Science Monitor

Musicians on the Titanic for The Christian Science Monitor

The GOP's Assault on Women

2011-10-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

The House passes H.R. 358, the "Let Women Die" Act. Here's my animation on the RH Reality Check website.

Link to Animation

Written, animated and performed by me.

Animation: The One Percent Solution

2011-10-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

My cartoon on Mother Jones today, The One Percent Solution: pull yourself up by your own bootstraps unless you can afford to have a politician do it for you.

Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Animation: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

2011-10-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

In this week's editorial animation on Mother Jones, Charles Koch is the magic man in the mirror, exhorting a poor schnook to protect the rights of his future billionaire self by voting against raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires. As Koch says, "Your present self may suffer, but your future self will thank you for your forethought!"

Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Hi Tech Symphony for The Wall St Journal

2011-10-05T03:16:00.000-07:00

Email at noon yesterday: Wall St Journal needs portrait that afternoon of Tim Fain, violinist who performs with other musicians over internets. 12:30: submit sketch. 2:30: sketch approval. 4:30: final. Call me crazy, but I actually like short deadlines.

Animation: Archbishop Dolan, Patron Saint of Discriminators

2011-10-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, who lobbied against legalizing gay marriage when he was archbishop of New York, recently counseled President Obama on the separation of church and state.

Here's the cartoon on Mother Jones

In his letter he declared that if the president supported gay marriage, it could "precipitate a national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions.” The archbishop warned that support of gay marriage will lead to discrimination against the people who discriminate against gays.

Dolan, the patron saint of discriminators, tends a curious flock.

Written, animated and acted by me.

What Makes Dogs Tick

2011-10-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

For an article in The Christian Science Monitor this week, written by a woman new to dogs and her discovery that the overweaning interest of her pooch is in food. CSM said they would design the page around the art, so I tried a few approaches. They chose the full page treatment with the dogs in the corners.

Orphan Bikes: Reflecting

2011-09-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

I love New York City. I’ve lived here all my life, except for a few off-site try-outs in my 20s, and I’m particularly drawn to the things that go unnoticed by the crowd passing by.

Lately I’ve been intrigued by the abandoned bicycles I see around town; the detritus of a world so rich it can discard (once treasured?) objects that must have cost hundreds of dollars. I imagine what these forgotten and forsaken creatures must feel, tethered to poles and signs, growing smaller and less themselves as they’re scavenged and trashed until they disappear forever.

So I'm beginning a series of portraits of them, this being the first. When was it left there and why? Did its owner just forget about it, or did he come back and see his bicycle companion already picked over by thieves, and leave it there to rust away alone?

Animation: The Next Republican Debate

2011-09-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Here’s this week’s cartoon on Mother Jones, previewing the Fox/Google debate, featuring Huntsman, Romney, Perry and Bachmann shaping their message before your very eyes.

Written, animated and voiced by Barry Schiffman and me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Jon Hendricks for The Wall St Journal

2011-09-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

When I was a sprout I listened to rock n roll, but for about the last 15 years I've pretty much listened exclusively to jazz. Not avant garde, back-to-the-audience type of jazz, but melodic jazz that speaks to my uneducated musical brain. And heart. So it was a very nice assignment over the weekend to do a portrait of Jon Hendricks (of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fame) for the Journal.

Usually I do boring guys in suits for them, though I do get a fair share of opera singers and country western stars and the occasional comedian. But a jazz musician I really love and listen to all the time? It was very cool. Plus, it was in the woodcut look, and I've done a bunch of portraits for them over the past couple of weeks in painted style, so it was a very nice change of pace on that level, too.

OK, enough blather, here's the picture. Look up his music if you're not familiar with it, he's fantastic. And he's still singing at the age of 90.

Here's a link to the article on the WSJ site

Animation: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Republican Robots

2011-09-13T05:32:00.000-07:00

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

My new animated editorial on Mother Jones: Watch Karl Rove and Charles Koch play for keeps with the world’s only campaign robots, sponsored by secret campaign contributions and billionaires! All it takes is a lotta money to win!

Written, animated and acted by me.

(This is a spin on the old Rock 'Em Sock 'Em commercial)

Deconstructing Lunch: John Cogswell, Silversmith

2011-09-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

It's lunchtime, and whether you're eating at a roadside diner, a chichi outdoor cafe, or your own kitchen table, making lunch is a lot more complicated than you think. While you're waiting for your burger and fries and strawberry shake, consider how many people were needed to make that happen. Who are they? They're farmers and truckers and bottlers and bakers and cooks and dishwashers and everybody in between. They belong to a vast network of people you've never met, each with a unique perspective and story to tell.

You probably eat your burger with your hands, and maybe the fries and pickle, too. But fingers just won’t do when it comes to cole slaw, and the kind of fork you use depends on where you’re eating your lunch. In a diner, it might be part of a group of mismatched flatware made of steel or even plastic. But if you’re using real true silver, someone designed and maybe even handcrafted it. If you’re lucky enough for that to be the case, then Silversmith John Cogswell makes the flatware that you might use to eat in a very grand style, indeed.

"I grew up in the Finger Lakes area of New York, in the center of the state: the land of cow and corn. A very rural area. My father worked for Mac Trucks. I never knew what my father did, when I was growing up, because my father was one of those people who left before dawn, and came back in the evening, but he never talked about his work. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered that my father was a metalsmith much the same as I am, but he worked with ferrous metal. He used the same stakes and hammers, but did it all very quietly and just assumed, 'This is my job, and that’s all there is to it.'

"I didn’t find this out till about 10 years ago, when we went up to visit my parents. Close to where they live is a small, regional airport, and when we got there, my mother said, 'Has your father shown you his latest project?' And my father said, 'Come on and I’ll show you,' and we went out to the airport, and the tarmac was covered with small aircraft. There was a tornado that had gone through the year before, and had tossed all these planes all over the place, and my father rebuilt them all. And he’d done the bodywork so beautifully that you couldn’t tell they’d been repaired. And then when he took me into his workshop, to see the last of the planes he was finishing up, and I saw all of his hammers and stakes, I thought, 'Oh, my God, he does the same thing that I do, only he does it in iron, and I do mine in silver.'

"When I was 18, I went out of high school directly into undergraduate school in Cortland, where I grew up, not having a clue what I wanted to do. I’d known, all of my life, that I was attracted to things artistic, but I grew up in a world that said, if you can get a job working in a factory, then you’re set for life. But I had other ideas.
After taking a class in jewelry making my second semester, I set up a small studio in my attic and tried to teach myself as much as possible. The only book I could find was, by today’s standards, a laughable little Sunset Press publication called ‘Step-By-Step Jewelry’ by Thomas Gentilli, who is now an internationally famous jeweler. But that book, even though very simple, was my bible. Every night, when I would get home from my day job, I would sit there and pore through and study those pictures before I went to sleep, trying to figure out how everything was done.

"I often take pieces home, and put them on my nightstand and play with them in the dark...you know, the click of a box or a latch or clasp that works just perfectly...I can’t describe it to you! And, in the middle of the night, my ever-patient wife would kind of chuckle and say, 'Are you playing with that thing again?' Still, to this day, I’ve never lost that thrill.

"I hate polishing, though. Novice metalsmiths, be they jewelers or silversmiths, can’t wait to get on the polishing machine: they want to see the glint of metal. And it’s a real charmer at the beginning, but then after a while you learn it’s filthy, dirty, rotten work. But it has to be done, very carefully and very accurately, otherwise you undo all of the work that you’ve put into it at that point. So, I’m an expert polisher but I hate it.

"By the time I’m partway through a piece, my mind is always on the next project. And I love that. My wife says I just sort of bounce off walls and wander through life, and I probably do. But it’s a wonderful journey, and I like not knowing what tomorrow will bring."

Animation: Perry's Pledge

2011-08-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

My latest for Mother Jones, wherein we find the Texas contender pledging allegiance to the America he envisions. It's the third in my Rick Perry Trilogy...perhaps it will prove to be the third in my Rick Perry Quadrilogy...

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Here's his pledge, along with links for each item:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the America I envision:

One nation, under God .. and speaking of God, not just any old God, but the Christian God of the Bible … http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/what-expect-rick-perrys-prayer-festival-the-response

And speaking of the Bible, I pledge allegiance to an America where schools teach creationism because nobody can even understand that evolution stuff and creationism’s nice and simple-like and easy enough for plain folk… http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/yes-texas-public-schools-teach-creationism

And speaking of plain folk, I pledge allegiance to an America that don’t believe in no fancy gay marriage stuff! After all, tying the knot’s only natural between a man and a woman... http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/rick-perry-pledges-investigate-intimidation-gay-marriage-foes

And speaking of women, I pledge allegiance to an America that takes away the so-called right of women to have an abortion, 'cause if they got themselves pregnant, well then, like it or lump it, they shouldn’t have no choice in the matter… http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/rick-perry-vows-defund-planned-parenthood

And speaking of choice, I pledge allegiance a country that gives the richest people the biggest tax breaks so they can choose to put their money to good use, buying politicians and favors from the regulators… http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/08/rick-perrys-billionaire-club

And speaking of regulators, now that I think about it, they’ve been getting in the way of the rich people too much, so I pledge allegiance to a country that’s got no regulators… http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/08/15/296314/perry-reveals-plan-for-total-u-s-anarchy-put-a-moratorium-on-all-regulations/

In fact, the only regulating in the country I’ll pledge allegiance to is regulating federal judges, so the Congress can overturn the decisions of the Supreme Court… http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/seven-ways-rick-perry-wants-change-constitution-131634517.html

And speaking of overturning stuff, I say Social Security is just a ponzi scheme and should be turned over to the states, where those state politicians can decide how to divvy up all them greenbacks… http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/12/rick-perry-newsweek-interview-transcript.html

So, like I was saying, I pledge allegiance to the flag of an America I envision and that you’ll get lickety split if I’m voted into the White House. And don’t you think I’d look more natural sitting in the oval office than that Obama guy?

Animation: Rick Perry's Yell

2011-08-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

New on Mother Jones, here's Rick Perry, who was an Aggie Yell Leader when he was in college, leading a cheer for all the Cs and Ds in his college transcript. By the way, all of those Cs and Ds (and Fs) in the cartoon transcript are true to life -- here's a link to his actual college transcript.

Written, animated an acted by me.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Zimbabwe and Muslim Rappers

2011-08-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

I like this one I did for the Christian Science Monitor, for a book review about The 30-Something Lady, an anonymous columnist for Zimbabwe's state-controlled newspaper. I used my friend in Zimbabwe, Faith, as a model, which is probably why I like it so much. The second is to illustrate a book review about muslim rappers "spreading a jihad of love". So I tried to capture the aggressive, in your face vibe of hip hop with a more lush palette that I hope looks kinda jihad of love-ish.

Animation: Perry's Prayers

2011-08-16T02:54:00.000-07:00

Now on Mother Jones, the new challenger to Bachmann and Romney consults with his Chief Advisor.

Link to the cartoon

Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effect from www.freesound.org

Perry's Prayer

Omnipotent One Whose Secret Words Only I can hear and interpret, I promise to slash the size of government just like I have in Texas, where govt spending and debt has almost doubled in the 11 years I’ve been governor.

O Big Man in the Sky Who Can Kick The Ass of all Other Gods, I promise to focus on jobs, like we do in Texas where more of our workers earn the minimum wage than in any other state.

O Magical Daddy Who I must Obey if I Know What’s Good For Me, I promise to keep cutting taxes on corporations and rich people by slashing school budgets and using phony accounting gimmicks.

O Secret Henchman Who Wreaks Revenge on Anyone Who Gets On My Nerves, I promise to bring to the Nation the educational results we have in Texas, where we are ranked 47th in literacy.

O Jumbo Being Who Cannot Be Detected in Any Way, But Who I Not Only Detect But Speak For, I promise to force vaccines on children, especially vaccines made by drug companies that give me campaign contributions and hire my staff to lobby for them.

O Invisible Friend Who only I am seeing at the Moment, I promise to shrink government but impose mandatory ultrasounds on women trying to get abortions.

O Incomprehensible Giant Guy Who Despite My Lack of Education or Insight I am able to Comprehend (and Translate For) I promise to oppose and criminalize everything gay.

O Unproveable One Who I Can Use as Validation For Doing or Saying Anything I Want, I promise to make schools teach Intelligent Design as a legitimate scientific alternative to evolution.

O Best Friend in the Sky Who Passes me Secret Notes, I promise to fight against the global warming hoax being perpetrated by evil scientists and govt bad guys!

So gimme a sign, Mighty Politician Whisperer, gimme a sign of YOUR WILL!

Animation: The GOP and the S&P

2011-08-09T06:07:00.000-07:00

Obama should have learned from the old movies that kidnappers, blackmailers and extortionists are never satisfied with just one hit.

Link the cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, acted and animated by me. Sound effects from www. freesound.org

Animation: The Bounty of the Mutiny

2011-08-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here come the Koch brothers and their bilge rats Cantor, Bachmann and Ryan, to commandeer the ship of state. The far out conservatives may think they’ve won the prize, but all they’ve done is sink themselves and the rest of us along with them.

“We won”?

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Animation: Debt Ceiling Campfire Sing-Along

2011-07-25T16:47:00.000-07:00

I’ve returned from teaching with Nancy Stahl up in Connecticut for a week, so I'm back to the studio and have sent in to Mother Jones this week’s cartoon about the debt ceiling, featuring John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Michele Bachmann and Grover Nordquist on the guitar at Camp Wee-No-Budge:

Here's a link to watch the cartoon -- Yee - Ha!

I confess to the voices and music but Freesound is responsible for the cricket and mosquitos

Tim Pawlenty for The New Republic

2011-07-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

For The New Republic, an article about the blandest of the bland, Tim Pawlenty, being overshadowed by fellow Minnesotan pol Michele Bachmann.

Link to article

Cover for The Progressive

2011-07-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

The cover story for the current issue of The Progressive is headlined, "Obama and Black America", written by Kevin Alexander Gray, a black critic of the president. The article talks about Obama cozying up to Wall Street and not meeting or paying enough attention to the needs of black Americans. I did a bunch of sketches for both the cover and the interior illustration, and they chose the ones I liked best. Here's the cover dummied up and the interior final:

Here's a link to the article

State of Wonder

2011-07-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

An illustration for a book review in The Christian Science Monitor of Ann Patchett’s new novel, “State of Wonder,” set in the Amazon jungle. I don’t read fiction anymore, but the book sounds so intriguing I might just break my nonfiction habit.

Animation: Warning: No Warning!

2011-07-06T03:06:00.000-07:00

In a 5-4 majority led by Justice Clarence Thomas, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court ruled that the manufacturers of generic drugs cannot be sued for failing to update warning labels on their copycat drugs to reflect newly discovered dangers and side effects (name brand drug makers are liable for failing to update warnings and can be sued).

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for the dissenters, said, “As a result of today's decision, whether a consumer harmed by inadequate warnings can obtain relief turns solely on the happenstance of whether her pharmacist filled her prescription with a brand-name or generic drug.” Read more here in the LA Times.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

The (Really) Long Goodbye for the Wall St Journal

2011-07-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

For today’s Wall St Journal, a one-day turnaround for the cover of the Friday Journal section, featuring a tough old detective. They then photoshopped my painting onto a cover of an old paperback. Being the daughter of Norm Saunders, growing up poring over all his old pulp magazine covers helped a lot with this one! Here it is in the dummy layout:

Animation: The Women of Wal-Mart Speak Up

2011-06-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

My latest animated editorial for Mother Jones focuses on the devastating blow delivered to women in the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in the class action Dukes v. Wal-Mart sex bias case last week:

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Utne Reader Cover

2011-06-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

I believe the new issue of The Utne Reader is out, with my cover and some interior illustrations to go along with a group of articles about patriotism and how it's bullshit, just in time for the Fourth of July. I did a bunch of concepts, and these are the ones that went to finish. As always I posed for all the characters; I make a very good model for pissed-off men.

Animation: All Christian-y and Bright

2011-06-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

The answer to the Christian Right’s prayers: Michele Bachmann and her message to the flock. Having never been to church in my life (except once in my 30's to see what the fuss was all about), writing a hymn was a challenge.

Here's a link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Animation: Super Bugs and the Factory Farms that Create Them

2011-06-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

From the folks who brought you E. coli and Salmonella, factory farms are breeding something new for the American Public: antibiotic-resistant Superbugs!

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Some links:

I make a reference to Denny Rehberg (R-Montana), who authored an amendment to hamstring the FDA’s ability to restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock

Scientific American about consequences of overuse of antibiotics

Antibiotics make animals sick and fat

Quarter of US meat samples have antibiotic-resistant bacteria

The British Version of the Tea Party for The New Republic

2011-06-11T03:26:00.000-07:00

This was the other same-day turnaround I did this week, for The New Republic, for an article contrasting the snobby richie-rich version of the Tea Party in the UK with the populist dopes in the US version...

A Little Weiner for The New York Observer

2011-06-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I did a rush painting of poor Mr Weiner -- the deadline was shifted at 1 PM, so instead of 6 hrs to do it, I had 2. At the same time, we were moving my studio down from my apt into Barry’s, to make way for the renovation of my kitchen. Plus did another same day turnaround for The New Republic. It was a helluva day!

Animation: Mitch McConnell's Right-Wing Circus!

2011-06-11T03:20:00.000-07:00

This week’s cartoon on Mother Jones features Mitch playing ringmaster to a roster of freaks, frauds and ferocious phonies, 11 caricatures in all. I loved doing this one.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Palin Hits the Road!

2011-06-01T02:39:00.000-07:00

This week’s cartoon features Ms. Palin starting her bus tour; she's out to raise a ruckus (and a lotta cash!)

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Beep Beep!

The cartoon's a spin on the movie trailer for the Keanu Reeves action flick Speed, but with all the characters stirred up and poured into the terrifying shell that is Ms Palin.

Animation: Newt is Godzilla (Plus a Bonus)

2011-05-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

In this week's animation on Mother Jones, Newt lumbers onto the campaign trail and promptly makes a mess of things.

Written, animated and acted by me.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Ed Helms for the Wall St Journal

2011-05-24T05:56:00.000-07:00

A fast one for today's Wall Street Journal, of my favorite character on The Office, who's flogging his new Hangover movie. I gave them two sketches, one of him looking sorta smart and thoughtful and another of him looking like a doof; I'm really glad they chose the doof.

Here's a link to the Wall St Journal article

Judgment Day for the NY Observer

2011-05-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece I did for the current issue of the NY Observer, for an article about the nuts who think that this Saturday will bring the End of The World. They are followers of another nut out in California named Harold Camping, who, according to the article, "had predicted the same thing would happen on Sept. 6, 1994, but the complete annihilation of the species disappointingly failed to arrive as scheduled."

I hadn't read the article when I did the illo yesterday but they'd sent me a couple of snapshots of the little group of apocalypsers, which included a determined-looking Asian woman, a wild-eyed guy bearing a spooky resemblance to Charles Manson, a bedraggedly hopeful soul with leaflets...and so I made a character up loosely based on those.

All went smoothly except for a last minute revision on the final art: I'd misspelled "Judgment", having added in an extraneous "e". I considered claiming that I'd done it on purpose to make fun of the proselytizers, but decided to go the righteous route, confess my sin, and seek redemption, which was easy since I work digitally and made the change and re-sent the file within minutes. Now all that's necessary is to wait to see what happens on Saturday.

Link to article

Animation: Big Oil Pumps It Up

2011-05-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Link to cartoon

At the Senate hearing last week, top oil executives, who saw their biggest profits ever, fought tooth and nail to protect their $4.4 billion tax in tax breaks. On Sunday, Mitch McConnell promised not to budge on the tax breaks he's worked so hard to secure for his buddies at the richest companies in the world. Former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich wrote a piece about it, The Big Oil Money Gusher, here, and there's more here, about Max Baucus plan, and a New York TImes editorial, here.

My husband, Barry Schiffman, does Bad Guy Voice Over Duty. Sound effects from FreeSound.org

Animation: Justice Scalia, Grand Inquisitor

2011-05-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

Link to cartoon

This week's cartoon is a look at the conservative push on the US Supreme Court to do away with class action suits. Here's the scoop:

In all likelihood the paperwork you signed when you got a new credit card or signed up for a new cell phone or were hired for a new job had hidden in the fine print a clause that you agreed to settle any disputes through binding mandatory arbitration, a for-profit, backroom process, and barring you from joining a class-action lawsuit.

This sneak attack by big business to undermine the ability of Americans to join together to seek justice in court (and hold corporations accountable for shady business practices) was just given a big boost by their biggest booster on the US Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia, when the conservative majority ruled against class actions in AT&T vs Concepcion.

Yeah, AT&T, the company that was only second to Exxon last year in corporate profits; they gotta protect their $30 rip-offs of the little guy -- after all, it all adds up when you spread it over millions of customers.

Written, animated and acted by me.

Animation: Agribusiness on the Assault

2011-05-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

In this week's animation on Mother Jones, a look at our sordid meat production industry where agribusiness has been pushing laws in a number of states that would criminalize shooting or displaying undercover videos that show animal abuse on farms. One such law has already passed the House in Iowa, and would carry a penalty of up to 5 years in jail.

Here's the link to the cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Animation: Donald Trump, You're Mired!

2011-04-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

Donald Trump has been wallowing in the filthiest kind of mud in the business of politics -- but now that Obama has released his "long form" birth certificate, what will Donald start flinging next? Judging from Trump's latest comments, it doesn’t look like he’s quite ready to step out of that particular mud hole anyway.

Link to the cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me.

Animation: Paul Ryan, Budget Rambo

2011-04-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

This week's animated editorial for Mother Jones features Rambo Paul Ryan. His budget proposal is an assault on the poor, the elderly, the sick and the middle class in defense of millionaires, corporations, Wall Street gamblers and reckless bankers. It brings to mind the ultimate right-wing action hero, John Rambo. As always, that's me doing the voiceover with a little help from Garage Band.

Watch the cartoon here on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

The cartoon is a riff on the Rambo movie trailer, here on YouTube

My Palin Mother Jones Cover Up for Award!

2011-04-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

I just heard that the cover I did of Palin as the 50 foot woman is nominated for Best Cover of the Year in the Maggies awards (Western Publishing Association)!

The editors and art director came up for the idea for this one; I felt like I was channeling my dad,

Norm Saunders, while I was painting it.

Here's a little animation that I did of the cover on the Mother Jones site -- silly but also slightly terrifying!

Nutty Michele Bachmann Animation on Mother Jones

2011-04-12T04:57:00.000-07:00

Here’s this week’s animated editorial column on Mother Jones, Countdown to Iowa, starring Michele Bachmann (with Palin putting in a cameo at the end).

There’s been a lot of media speculation about Bachmann entering the Iowa Caucuses lately, and what with her frequent visits there and snagging Huckabee’s top Iowa staffer, it made for some fertile cartooning ground.

All of Bachmann’s quotes in the cartoon are actual statements by her, except for mixing up Iowa and Idaho…so far she’s confined her geographical gaffes to east coast states, but give her time; she truly has mashed potatoes for brains!

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Animation Film Festival

2011-04-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

A bunch of my animated editorials are in a film festival co-presented by The Independent, at Grinnell College. Brilliant filmmaker Nina Paley will present her acclaimed feature film Sita Sings the Blues tomorrow night and on Saturday Kirsten Lepore will be presenting her amazing films.

Here's a link to my archive page on Mother Jones.

And here's a link to this week's animation on Mother Jones.

And here's a link to Nina Paley's fantastic film, Sita Sings the Blues

Crazy Governor LePage Animation on Mother Jones

2011-04-05T06:34:00.000-07:00

The GOP's recent assault on labor has hit another low up in Maine in recently proposed legislation to exploit children: they want to extend the number of hours a child can be required to work and lower their pay below the minimum wage. So this week’s cartoon features Maine’s Governor LePage at Story Time, teaching the kiddies all about The Good Ol' Days and his plans for turning back the clock on child labor laws.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Here's a link to an article on the HuffingtonPost about the crazy shit going on up in Maine.

Animation: Driving Misters Koch

2011-03-29T03:15:00.000-07:00

This week's animated editorial column on Mother Jones, featuring Boehner and the Brothers Koch.

Here's a link to the cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder for the Wall Street Journal

2011-03-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

I do a lot of portraits for the WSJ, sometimes painted, sometimes woodcut. Sometimes they're on a very fast deadline and sometimes I have the luxury of a day or two to do them. I did this one last week, I think it was a really fast turn-around; I also did one of Randi Weingarten, president of the UFT, but I like doing the woodcutty ones best: there's more freedom in working that way.

Animation: Taliban Newt

2011-03-22T01:51:00.000-07:00

This week's animated editorial on Mother Jones, featuring Mullah Newt delivering god's will...

Link to the animation on Mother Jones

Newt's been in the news lately with his explaining away his various adulteries and dalliances with a tale of overheated passion for politics (this from the pol who directs us to trudge the Right and True Path of Righteous Family Values).

It's also lately come to light that he secretly funneled $350,000 to anti-gay hate groups in Iowa.

There are a lot of parallels between the Taliban and the extreme right in the US. They both use religion and "god's word" (as only they can interpret it of course) to justify political and cultural atrocities. They want to remove women's rights, they want to impose their religion on our country and make everybody behave accordingly (except for they themselves, of course), they're anti-education, anti-intellectual, virulently anti-gay, anti-human rights...in other words, they're pretty much indistinguishable from the taliban.

Meet the Mullah.

Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Animation: Boehner the Riveter

2011-03-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

Here’s this week’s animation featuring John Boehner in a spin on Norman Rockwell’s famous Rosie the Riveter cover.

I've decided to use flat colors for the animations instead of the woodcutty textured look I've been using up till now. Last week I used flat color to do the Huckabee stained glass animation, and it looked way better at the low resolution that Mother Jones displays my cartoons, so I tried it again this week in the Boehner the Riveter art and it looks better too, so I'm gonna continue with the new approach.

Now what I want to do is try to get a way to fine tune the voice over so it's more natural sounding; when I use the Vocal Transformer control in GarageBand to change my voice from female to male, it comes out a little too distorted. I'd love to hear any suggestions about how to do that.

Here's a link to the cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Arianna in a Rush

2011-03-09T04:12:00.000-08:00

I teach a class with Nancy Stahl on Tuesday evenings from 5 to 10 pm. Last Tuesday I got a call in class from Barry at about 8 pm that I’d gotten an email from The New Republic at 5:30 about doing a rush portrait of Arianna Huffington, due in 2 or 3 hours. I don’t know why the email didn’t come in on my cell phone, but I right away emailed them that I could do the sketches by 10 and the final by midnight.

I was sorta figuring that they’d say they’d already assigned it to someone else, but they took me up on it. So I ran out of class (thanks, Nancy!) and rushed home to get to work. The article was not flattering, so I got the chance to do a snarky portrait of her, which pleased me lots: I’m not a Huffington fan. So here she is, a rush job that had me sweating last Tuesday night.

Here's a link to the article in The New Republic

Huckabee's Sermon

2011-03-08T06:12:00.000-08:00

New on Mother Jones, American "Exceptionalism", Huckabee-style .

Click here to see it on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Here are some related links about Huckabee

On Evolution

On Equal Rights

On his Christian Nation

On the Steve Malzberg Show

Attack of the Kochtopus Animation

2011-03-01T06:38:00.000-08:00

The more I learn about the Koch brothers, the more convinced I am that they just might be the most dangerous people in the world.

Link to cartoon on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

In order to be timely, I do these animations over the weekend and send them in to Mother Jones on Monday. It's extremely time-consuming doing this animation stuff. It's more than extremely, it's insanely time-consuming: making the slightest change anywhere in the cartoon means going back and shifting and adjusting everything, including the sound. There's probably a faster, more elegant way to do it, but I don't know how ... yet.

Then I started thinking the teeth were too crazy on the Kochs; too distracting and bizarre. I dunno, when I was reading about them I just kept getting madder and madder, if I could have I would have put suture scars and frankenstein bolts in their necks...but no necks! So I stuck the crazy teeth on them.

Anyway, I guess this is me saying that I wish I'd had more time to work on it: I see a million things wrong with it. But there's no looking back, it's on the web and over and done, so now I have to start thinking about next week's.

Animation: On the Lam in Wisconsin

2011-02-23T12:16:00.000-08:00

In this week's animation, Gov. Scott Walker and his Koch bro thugs are hot on the trail of the fugitive state senators!

Link to the animation on Mother Jones

Written, animated and acted by me.

Mother Jones Animation: The GOPs Abortion Siege

2011-02-15T03:54:00.000-08:00

Link to animation

This is a serious one about the assault being waged by Republicans on women's rights.

Republicans are pushing 3 radical anti-abortion bills in the House they control that seek to strangle women’s rights and freedom in any way they can. They propose raising taxes, redefining rape and incest, allowing hospitals to refuse to save a woman’s life and other perverse and cowardly end runs around the legal right of women to determine their own fate.

The bills are H.R. 3, introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), H.R. 358, introduced by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), and H.R. 217, introduced by Mike Pence (R-Ind.).

Song and lyrics written and performed by me, of course.

Animation: Glenn Beck's Scary Blackboard on Mother Jones

2011-02-08T06:54:00.000-08:00

It's so great to be able to make fun of whatever I want to on Mother Jones every week! Glenn Beck caught my eye on Fox with his conspiracy theory about the Marxist Communist Socialist Uber Left New World Order Global Elite Islamic Caliphate...

Here's a link to it on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me.

BB King and Natan Sharansky

2011-02-08T03:44:00.000-08:00

In today's Wall Street Journal, BB King, and Refusenik Natan Sharansky from Saturday's edition.

Animation: Megyn Kelly on America Unreal!

2011-02-02T05:43:00.000-08:00

This week's animation, featuring the scarily sparkly Megyn Kelly and the Fox roster of Presidential Hopefuls: Palin, Newt, Huckabee, Bolton and, yes, Santorum! (And it's still me doing all the voiceovers, of course).

Link to Cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me. Sound effects from www.freesound.org

Steelcase Ad Campaign

2011-01-29T02:24:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a series of portraits for an ad campaign for Steelcase, who make groovy furniture and stuff for snazzy design firms and the like. The first guy I've done is David Kelley, the founder of the design company IDEO, as well as the founder of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University.

I was given some lo res jpegs of his face, but there were no full body shots of him. It's going to be the same deal with all the portraits, where I'm given some jpegs of their faces and I have to put them in different poses and environments. I do this kind of job a lot, and I like the challenge.

The ad agency hired me for the gig based on my portrait of Joe Newton, which they saw in the Communication Arts annual (below). I did the portrait of Joe as part of my series of portraits and interviews with illustrators and art directors. You can see some of those here, in the reportage section of my website, if you're interested.

David Kelley

Joe Newton

Animation: The Foxx in the Schoolhouse

2011-01-26T05:43:00.000-08:00

The Republicans have appointed looney Congresswoman Virginia Foxx to head up the Subcommittee on Higher Education. A really, really strange creature whose voice I believe I have perfected in my voiceover! Check it out on Mother Jones:

Here's a link

Written, animated and acted by me.

If you'd like to do a comparison test, here she is on YouTube talking about the terrifying danger of healthcare reform on the floor of the House. Yup, I think I have her down pat!

Steven Heller's Book

2011-01-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

Last week Steve Heller sent me my copy of his new book with Lita Talarico, "Graphic -- Inside the Sketchbooks of the World's Great Graphic Designers", which has a couple of spreads with pages from my sketchbook and the paintings of fireplugs around NYC that grew out of them.

If you'd like to see more of the painted portraits and stories that go with each of them, visit the gallery on my public facebook page.

All his life, Parker has been dreaming of the day he gets a standing ovation inside the Shubert theater he stands outside of.

Here's what he fancies Variety will have to say:

"After Parker ankled as the headliner in last season's boffo hit, the B.O. went from socko to floppo. Now he's back on Broadway, topliner at the whammo tuner at the Shubert and is rumored to be on his way to H'w'd. Anything Parker's in has legs -- except Parker, of course."

The season for shopping is upon us, and mommies and daddies all over the city have to contend with their dawdling tykes.

Tiger Woods for Golf World

2011-01-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

I did a bunch of illustrations for their year end issue, this being one of the full-pagers...Tiger Woods reflecting on his past year.

Animation: My Bizarro Boehner on Mother Jones

2011-01-18T13:50:00.000-08:00

Remember Bizarro from Superman Comics? Well, my latest editorial animation stars Bizarro Boehner urging repeal of "Job-Killing Socialist Obamacare"...check it out:

Here's a link to the cartoon on Mother Jones
Written, animated and acted by me.

For The Nation

2011-01-18T03:51:00.000-08:00

Is a corporation an individual entitled to First Amendment Rights?

In this week's The Nation, to accompany the debate between Floyd Abrams and Burt Neuborne about the implications of the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United.

Here's a link to the article

Taking Aim at Palin's "Target List" for Mother Jones

2011-01-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

Palin can be hateful and divisive without inspiring assassins -- pulling down her “Target List” off her website is an admission of just how vicious and vile her message is.

Book Review Piece

2011-01-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

I just did this for the Christian Science Monitor, for a book review of "A Rope and a Prayer: A kidnapping from Two Sides", which tells the story of NYT reporter Rohde's captivity by the Taliban in Pakistan and the conflicting forces at play in that area of the world.

Wedding Jitters, Bipartisan Edition

2011-01-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

In this week's animation, Obama tries to create a working union between Democrats and Republicans, with predictable results. When Obama tries to unite Democrats and Republicans, who gets cold feet first?

It’s so great to have this platform to say whatever the hell I want! Whatever strikes me during the week is what I get to spout off about; it's a dream come true. And yes, that's me doing the voice of Obama (with a little help from some audio manipulation).

http://motherjones.com/media/2011/01/zina-saunders-bipartisanship
Written, animated and acted by me.

The 12 Days of Wikileaks

2010-12-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

My Mother Jones animation this week features the lyrics of all the editors at Mother Jones, with links to the stories. And, yes, that is what you think it is dripping out of the broken condom of the two Maids a Suing...

Link to the animation on Mother Jones

Portrait of Harvey Pekar

2010-12-21T03:20:00.000-08:00

A little while back, I was asked to participate in a group tribute to Harvey Pekar; at this point there are 11 artists who have committed, and panels by Derf (The City) and Karl Krumpholz (Byron) have already gone up. Among the other participating artists are Aaron Williams (Nodwick), Mike Keefe (Denver Post), Peter Kuper (MAD), Ben Frisch (Wonkette), Kenny Be (Westword), Phil Foglio (Girl Genius) and Jake Vest (That's Jake).

My panel is to accompany this quote from R. Crumb: “He’s the soul of Cleveland. He’s passionate and articulate, He’s grim and Jewish. I appreciate the way he embraces all that darkness.”

At first I started a painted portrait of Pekar, but I kept drifting back, in my mind’s eye, to what it might look like as a woodcut. Finally I just scotched the painting and went full force on a woodcut, and I like how fierce it came out.

Here’s a link to all the images so far on Scholars and Rogues

Zina Saunders Blog

The Wire: Bubbles and Omar

Recent Wall St Journal Portraits

Portraits for Discover Magazine

Animation: Franklin Graham's Mr. Christianity Pageant

Oprah Winfrey Cover for The Utne Reader

State-Sanctioned Rape

Animation: This Un-Christian Nation

Animation: Komen's Dirty Pink Laundry

Abortion Burka

Rough Sketch about Low I/Q and Racism/Conservatism

New on The Final Edition: Mitt's Blind Trust

Mitt and Gordon Gekko for The New Republic

Occupy Cover for The Progressive

The Evolution of The Candidate

Faithful Voter and The People, Who Matter Most

The Hypocrisy of Newt

The Holdouts Gallery Exhibit

Podcast Interview with Escape from Illustration Island

SOPA

Animation: Romney's All-American Pie

Cartoon Movement

The Dangerous Side Effects of Voting Republican

Utne Reader Human Rights

Animation: SOPA Cleans Up the Internet for Hollywood

Guru Gingrich

Animation: The Gingrich Who Stole Christmas

Animation: A Very Republican Thanksgiving

New York Observer

Animation: Big Tobacco's Freedom of Speech *cough cough*

Nico Muhly for The Wall Street Journal

The Secret Life of Fireplugs

A Couple Assignments

Animation: The Mississippi Assault on Women

Recent Work

The GOP's Assault on Women

Animation: The One Percent Solution

Animation: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Hi Tech Symphony for The Wall St Journal

Animation: Archbishop Dolan, Patron Saint of Discriminators

What Makes Dogs Tick

Orphan Bikes: Reflecting

Animation: The Next Republican Debate

Jon Hendricks for The Wall St Journal

Animation: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Republican Robots

Deconstructing Lunch: John Cogswell, Silversmith

Animation: Perry's Pledge

Animation: Rick Perry's Yell

Zimbabwe and Muslim Rappers

Animation: Perry's Prayers

Animation: The GOP and the S&P

Animation: The Bounty of the Mutiny

Animation: Debt Ceiling Campfire Sing-Along

Tim Pawlenty for The New Republic

Cover for The Progressive

State of Wonder

Animation: Warning: No Warning!

The (Really) Long Goodbye for the Wall St Journal

Animation: The Women of Wal-Mart Speak Up

Utne Reader Cover

Animation: All Christian-y and Bright

Animation: Super Bugs and the Factory Farms that Create Them

The British Version of the Tea Party for The New Republic

A Little Weiner for The New York Observer

Animation: Mitch McConnell's Right-Wing Circus!

Palin Hits the Road!

Animation: Newt is Godzilla (Plus a Bonus)

Ed Helms for the Wall St Journal

Judgment Day for the NY Observer

Animation: Big Oil Pumps It Up

Animation: Justice Scalia, Grand Inquisitor

Animation: Agribusiness on the Assault

Animation: Donald Trump, You're Mired!

Animation: Paul Ryan, Budget Rambo

My Palin Mother Jones Cover Up for Award!

Nutty Michele Bachmann Animation on Mother Jones

Animation Film Festival

Crazy Governor LePage Animation on Mother Jones

Animation: Driving Misters Koch

Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder for the Wall Street Journal

Animation: Big Tobacco's Freedom of Speech cough cough