This is my first political cartoon. I began thinking about the issues surrounding the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, and “Islamophobia” strikes me as one of them. I am bothered by the image of the Muslim culture to which the majority of Americans (including myself) often subscribe. We need to understand that violent extremists are not representative of the Muslim people any more than American serial killers are poster children for America (although both point to serious deficiencies in our respective cultures).
On a purely technical note, drawing in a cartoon style was hard! The extreme economy of line and anatomic liberties escorted me far outside my comfort zone. I tried to copy the style of Mike Smith, who draws for the Las Vegas Sun. Of all the editorial cartoons I looked at, I particularly fell in love with his line quality and the human appeal of his characters.
When it comes to political cartoons, the broad range of historical styles are interesting. I particularly noticed the changes in the way cartoonists tend to draw people. Is it just a tendency towards greater efficiency, or does the progression reflect something about the way we as a society see ourselves? Hm. Forgive me for not appropriately crediting these Google Image search results, but they quickly illustrate my point.
