Sorry I haven’t been posting much this week – I’m busy with, well, stuff. Including that drawing you see above, which is a rough sketch of a paid illustration I’m working on for a magazine.
Here’s the thing: the cowboys seated at the table are being played by President Truman, Mel Gibson, and President Nixon. I’m planning to redo the Gibson face from scratch, so ignore that one. But do any of y’all have suggestions for what I could do to make Truman or Nixon more recognizable?
One thing that would help, of course, would be if I removed the cowboy hats. But the scene has to be recognizable as a western, and I think the hats help with that.
Ideas?.
The facial likenesses of Truman and Nixon are great! I think it’s just a matter of posture. Nixon has a more of a stooped hunchback vibe (which would change his smile to more sneakiness than enjoyment), Truman’s posture makes him look like a young maverick – maybe Truman and Mel should trade bodies.
t-shirts with names. add bandannas for that western flavor. ;)
For the little that it’s worth – I recognized both Nixon & Truman right away.
I’d say all three are pretty recognizable, if there’s a context that would lead people to just assume that it would be Truman, Gibson and Nixon. As for presidential features, though, I’d watch Futurama, or look at screanshots, to see how Matt Groening makes Truman and Nixon so damn recognizable as heads in a jar.
And now that I think of it, maybe a slightly bigger nose on Nixon.
(Artist peoples is so cool.)
I’m not sure, but perhaps slightly heavier naso-labials on Truman?
Could they be wearing identifying campaign buttons (in the same spots as sheriff’s badges?)
What? Is no one else interested in trying to reverse-engineer what the hell this story is about?
(The Nixon’s almost there; hook the nose more. Gibson and Truman both pop–if you know they’re Gibson and Truman. Maybe Gibson needs that wide-eyed nutty Lethal Weapon-Braveheart vibe..?)
I’m not a cartoonist (or, at least, not much of one and certainly not a political cartoonist) but I’ve a few thoughts.
First, and I hate to say it, but the scene doesn’t look very western to me, at least not Old West-type western. It looks more like a 1920’s dustbowl Midwest to me. A saloon-ish background would help, of course, but a few costuming changes would go a long way.
While we don’t see much of Truman’s, Gibson’s, and Nixon’s waists, a couple holsters or bullet-belts would go a long way toward making the scene more certifiably western. You made the right call by putting Nixon in more up-tight garb (the tie, specifically) since he doesn’t have any folksy mythos about him, but as he stands now he looks like a preacher (I think this is just a colouring thing, though). His coat looks modern though, or at least post-1900, but I’m not sure what to do about that.
Alternatively, you could play off of Nixon’s reputation as a liar and a crook by making him look a bit more like a bandit. He needs a black hat no matter what, but perhaps he could wear a slicker or have gun belts crossing his chest, Pancho Villa-style. Honestly, I think that Nixon is the most readily recognizable of the cariactures and really only needs costuming changes.
Truman is recognizable once I was told who he was, but I don’t think I would have pegged him on my own. The bridge of his nose needs to be more hooked, more curved, because as it stands now it’s more of a straight diagonal line. Compare the nose in the drawing to the nose in this picture. Of course taking his hat off would make things much easier (although I’d worry about it unbalancing things with people wearing hats on only the top half of the picture) although I’d recommend doing something else with a hat rather than removing it entirely. For instance, you might consider him having it pushed back onto his back, strapped around his neck by a leather thong.
Gibson looks fine, actually, I didn’t have a problem with his face, but his shoulders could stand to be wider.
Back to the holsters thing: I’m not sure of the intent of the cartoon, but it seems as though the fourth man (the one whose name we don’t know, so I’ll assume he’s the Everyman for this magazine) is somehow threatened by the other three. If he’s not wearing a gun, and the other three are armed (there seems to be room for Gibson and Truman to have guns, but Nixon might only have gunbelts) then this increases the feeling of his, the Everyman’s, being threatened.
Just a few thoughts.
And is it just me, or does Nixon look like he’s trying to see Gibson’s hand?
What? Is no one else interested in trying to reverse-engineer what the hell this story is about?
I’m game.
The old guy, the Everyman, looks Jewish to me and he’s seated at the table with Gibson, an alleged anti-Semite, and Truman and Nixon, who I believe were also pretty anti-Semitic, so perhaps it’s a story about how anti-Semitism isn’t really getting better but is just changing faces?
[shrug]
Anyone else have thoughts? I failed the political cartoon analysis part of social studies.
Nixon is pretty good as is, you might try the five o’clock shadow thing maybe? The eyes are perfect! Truman I don’t know, I almost saw FDR there for a moment (I think it was the glasses.) The nose is a little too hooked I think.
Actually, Gibson looks more like a cross between Mel Gibson, Carey Grant, with a little bit of Jimmy Stewart mixed in, but then that may just be the costume. Maybe just put him in his costume as William Wallace sitting there playing cards. But then, I don’t think that’s what you’d be going for. (funny image you have to admit, though)
I’m not sure about the whole reverse-engineering thing. It’s tough, since Gibson seems the odd man out here, among a couple former presidents. I guess the anti-semitism angle is possible, but I don’t see how that would manifest itself in an old west card game.
Come on, Amp, satiate our curiosity.
Oh, and for the record, Amp, I’d say it’s pretty much magazine-quality as is. I’ve been a bit hard on you on criticism, since that seems to be the reason why you posted it in the first place.
Barry, I recognized Truman and Nixon right away. If you want them to be more noticeable, maybe make Nixon look scruffier (five-o’clock shadow). Emphasize his jowls. Think of his debate with Kennedy. Strengthen Truman’s jaw and nose some more? I remember reading somewhere that caricatures work because that’s how the human brain really sees faces. Exaggerate the dominent features.
Also, which player is supposed to make the next move? All of them are holding their cards. Maybe it could be Nixon’s turn, so he turns to whoever runs the game and asks for two cards. Double-meaning — two cards/victory sign.
I’m dying to know what the story in the cartoon is. :D
(BTW, note my new blog address.)
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions – they’re genuinely helpful to me. Y’all are so cool. (And Raznor, your earlier post was exactly what I was asking for.)
Regarding what the cartoon is about, I’m pretty sure my editor doesn’t want me blabbing about it on this website before the issue even hits the stands – sorry! I will say that PGP’s post comes pretty close to the mark, in that the article I’m illustrating does concern anti-semitism.
Give Truman one of those southwestern hats– kind of a cowboy hat with a flat top and brim. It would still be western, but would reflect the straw hat that he wore in many pictures. For Nixon, add an anachronistic microphone/tape recorder somewhere.
You can’t lose the hats. That’s what they wear in the saloon.
I saw Nixon at once, but guessed two others were Bush and Cheney. Truman is great once you know, Mel I don’t see. Braveheart Mel could work: a bit surreal but it’s a cartoon, gosh darn it. And a) he’s got a classic, non-caricature face and b) you have to get Mel. I love Nixon in a black hat, maybe with the V sign.
I had a caption: “Shut up and put up with it.” It actually kind of works with the anti-semitism angle. I do think it’s a bit mean to put Truman with the others, he did recognize Israel, over some resistance from Congress IIRC. Still, you want a Democrat, and he was a bigot.
Maybe you should think about the saint paintings. Give them some “thing” associated with them. For example (perhaps bad example), nixon could have his cards face-down on the table and have both hands in the air with two fingers up.
To make it more western, perhaps just a saloon door behind them, or a star on nixon.
But yeah, i think the two look pretty good as is, as long as the reader has some other reason to associate who it is
The only other thing I’d add to the above excellent comments is that the odd ‘beekeeper’ line around Nixon’s face is distracting.
Can’t wait to see the finished product…make sure you let us know where/when it’s published.
Take off the hats and let them hang down their backs. You can still see them, but it will give you the whole head to work with.
Nixon i recognized right off the bat — looks good!
i wouldn’t have recognized Truman (perhaps because of the angle?) and i’m not sure about Gibson.
for a second, i thought the non-cowboy was supposed to be Cheney (he’s got the Cheney hairline).
And is it just me, or does Nixon look like he’s trying to see Gibson’s hand?
of course he is! (you can’t see it in the picture, but i think G. Gordon Liddy is hiding under the table…)
One more thing if you can bear it: Mel and Truman look more like farmhands than cowboys, and I think in large part it’s because the hats are not cowboy-hat enough. The brim should be wider in relation to the crown, and should curve up in the middle of the sides, down in the front.
here’s the Stetson site.
PGP…
PinkDreamPoppies.
Pink Dream Poppies.
PGP…
Hmm…
;)
Truman was instantly recognizable to me. I think you have him cold, partly because we’ve seen him wearing a hat. Nixon is ok once you notice the nose. I’d push the hat back on his head a little (sort of like Gibson’s) so the top of his face is more visible and balance that with a little 5 o’clock shadow.
you can get more “western” and less “dust bowl” if you improve the hats. the brims are too flat currently, and the indentations are wrong. for a couple of good examples that I quick-searched, see
http://www.alanmercer.com/amh.htm (esp. the far lower-right shot) and http://www.cassidyframes.com/box/images/gallery/cowboy.jpeg
beyond that, I recognized Nixon right away (which left me scratching my head), and felt like Truman was somebody I should recognize (but I’d never be able to name him from a photo either, sigh), so I think you’re ok there…
looking good!
“or a star on nixon.”
Chuckle. That would be kind of nice.
yes to a five o’clock shadow on Nixon, getting rid of the string on his hats, and making the hats look more cowboy and less Dustbowl. also yes to some visible weapons.
you said you’re redoing Gibson – what I think would make him most recognizable would be to make his features more angular, with cleaner lines so you get the chiseled look. also maybe some sun wrinkles? appropriate both to Gibson and to cowboys.