Tag: President Obama

State Of The Union Drawing and Tweeting

-12I love the pomp and circumstance of political tradition.  Our government’s rituals. My favorite part of every State Of The Union, and I have seen a lot, is when a guy comes out of the hallway and yells, “Mr. Speaker!  The President of the United States!”  This year, that man is Paul Irving, the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has the distinction of being one of only three people to speak during the State of the Union address besides the president and the House Speaker. I drew him quickly as he bellowed his introduction.

I also drew some other people at the SOTU. It’s hard to draw this event, because the camera focuses mostly on the President, of course. If it does show people responding in the audience, it is often for seconds and so it is hard to capture. I don’t like to prepare and draw ahead of time–I like the spontaneity of not knowing what I will see or experience. For instance, this year a Congresswoman waved a pencil in solidarity with the deaths of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists in Paris a few weeks earlier.

My cartoons were collected also on my Huffington Post blog, and Medium’s The Nib.

Live Drawing during The State Of The Union

I realized last night, while drawing the SOTU, that the camera shots of various people in the audience were so quick that it was hard to gather imagery in my mind in order to draw certain people.  The camera was mostly on the three big guys. Also realized:  I barely listened to anything Obama said. Did I miss much?

Next up: the Olympics!

 

Being Worried Still

copyright Liza Donnelly and The New Yorker Magazine, 2002

 

This cartoon was published in The New Yorker in the months following September 11th, 2001. I think it’s appropriate to publish here again, with news of the death of Osama Bin Laden yesterday.  The little girl in this cartoon would be about eighteen now, and would probably still be worried today. New York City, and those who lost loved ones in the attacks on 9/11 may feel some relief, but the people who listened to and followed Bin Laden are still out there, hating Americans. President Obama is doing an a remarkable job to make our country new again, to work with our allies and the world to solve problems and rid the world of terrorism. But it’s not going to happen with the death of one individual, no matter how powerful he once was. Let’s hope the Arab Spring continues and combined with this news, we are one step closer to peace.