Margaret Thatcher Cartoons by Gerald Scarfe, Chris Riddell and Steve Bell (1991)

 

 

I forgot I had these in my newspaper cut-outs collection from two and a half decades ago. The one above is of course by the legendary Gerald Scarfe (published in the Radio Times) who is still working today, producing ever more striking and funny caricatures of politicians! Here is a link for his official website with dozens of amazing cartoons and books by the artist: http://www.geraldscarfe.com/

 

The second one, from the Guardian, is not portraying the real funeral of Lady Thatcher that we've just had even though many of the characters in this drawing were at present (John Major, Norman Lamont, Michael Heseltine etc)! It's referring to the events after she was forced to stand down as a Prime Minister. Steve Bell's very funny cartoon website is at:  http://www.belltoons.co.uk/

 

The last one is by Chris Riddell, another veteran British illustrator and political cartoonist (published in The Independent). Thatcher along with the other two major political leaders of the eighties, all retired and reminiscing. Chris Riddell's official website, featuring a wealth of illustrations from his long career is: http://www.chrisriddell.co.uk/

 

 

"Marlene Dietrich" drawn by Harris (2013)

This is one of a few pencil studies I've been working on recently, inspired by the masterful black and white photography of the 1930's and 40's cinema. I've always been fascinated by the way the characters from that era were created larger than life with the use of atmospheric lighting and exaggerated angles (in addition to all other standard tricks like make-up, costumes, hair-styles etc). I'm sure Hollywood borrowed a few hints from past European artists like Rembrandt, Daumier, Velazquez and others and quite rightly so.

Anyway, this is from a film called "The Devil Is A Woman" (1935) starring Marlene Dietrich. I love the way the camera portays her as angelic and serene, in complete contrast with the title of course! I am still working to capture that expression and the deapth of the light and the shadows...

"Welcome To America" By Michael Heath, (published by William Heinermann Ltd, London 1985) - Part 4

 

Yes.... the funny side of Las Vegas and what it might do to you as seen by British cartoonist Michael Heath.

 

 

"Welcome To America" By Michael Heath, (published by William Heinermann Ltd, London 1985) - Part 3

 

 

A few snapshots of the 1980's America - a bit of social history too. This one is of New Orleans, there's Nashville below and plenty of Las Vegas some of which I'll be posting tomorrow. Lots of interesting information on buildings, fashion, travel etc in these pictures as well as homour. The artist, Michael Heath must have had quite a few experiences travelling all over that massive country.Here is the artist's biography from the British Cartoons Archive: http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/michaelheath/biography

 

 

 

"Welcome To America" By Michael Heath, (published by William Heinermann Ltd, London 1985) - Part 2

 

 

This is a great collection of drawings by one of Britain's most famous cartoonists of the past few decades, Michael Heath (born 1935). Inspired by the artist's trip to the United States they provide a poignant insight of the country, its people and way of life seen from a European perspective. They remind me of similar drawings by George Gross - another great European (German) artist - of  American cities and way of life in the years after World War Two. I will be posting some of those as well in the near future.

 

 

In the eighties, the world's perception of American society came through shows like Dallas and Dynasty that did not include any ordinary characters or real life drama so portraying the more gritty aspects of the country would have been refreshing and evocative to the British audience.     

             

 

Some of these guys wouldn't even fit inside the A-Team's van, let alone star in the show but super heroes have to look cool and so perfect always or the movies wouldn't sell any tickets!

 

"The President Of Cyprus - Nikos Anastasiades: The Lone Rider", by Harris (2002)

It's hard to miss the stories on Cyprus and its unfortunate, troubled banks all over the media these days. As a Cypriot living in the UK, hearing the occasional story from home featured in the main BBC news is normally a pleasant experience ; I never thought I'd ever see such a huge volume of headline stories unfolding daily from our tiny country - with potentially catastrophic effects on millions of people through out Europe! Surely, whatever the deal between the Cypriot government and its "partners", trust in the banks of any European country (not to mention the European Union itself!) will be gone forever. And the banking system, surely, cannot function without trust. After six years of Bank scandals around the world why should any one leave their money in their hands or invest in them in any way?

This is a portrait I did of Mr Anastasiades (the hapless cypriot president) back in 2002 for MAN magazine in Cyprus. I had the idea then to present him as "The lone rider" (inspired of course by Lucky Luke!) as he was having difficulties forming coalition with other parties at the time. How prophetic this image turned out to be eleven years later as he was returning to Cyprus from Brussels today alone, penniless, and with no partner standing by him...

"Welcome To America" By Michael Heath, (published by William Heinermann Ltd, London 1985)