Steve Bell - Political Illustrator

Our fifth and final illustration topic came in the form of political illustration; more specifically we were looking at Steve Bell. When I found out that I would be studying this subject I have to say, I felt a little apprehensive. I have only just become aware of the political world, having only gained the ability to vote in the last couple of years, so I feel as though I don’t know very much about politics. In the end, I feel as though I’ve done quite a good job with my own interpretations, maybe even enjoyed making them.

Study Number One

Whilst I should have been doing work for another module, the idea for this illustration kind of came to me. I thought that the David Cameron Bullingdon Club scandal was too good an opportunity to miss, visually anyway. The story came about out of a rumour about the Prime Minister’s involvement in a society that he was a part of during his time at Oxford University. Claims of an ‘obscene’ initiation [1] relating to a pig and a vaguely sexual act, hit the headlines a few months ago and although the topic is quite taboo, so is a large amount of political illustration. I made this image using Photoshop entirely using my very basic digital painting skills, this reference image [2] and this reference image [3]. I have referenced the children’s programme Peppa Pig, using the character of mummy pig as my tie to the Bullingdon Club story. I had Cameron ask her to ‘call him daddy pig’ as a reference to a common sexual kink and also mummy pig’s male companion in the show, Daddy Pig.

Study Number Two 

For my second political illustration I jumped across the pond to a rather controversial politician, currently running for presidency in the United States. Donald Trump is the famous conglomerate business man undertakings in real estate, sports and entertainment [4], and now politics. His involvement in the run for presidency has been met with criticism and debate for many reasons, perhaps most namely is the candidate’s financial status. I remembered watching an interview with the entrepreneur stating ‘my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars’ [5], referring to when he first started out in business. When I first saw this, my mind instantly flashed back to the Austin Powers films, most importantly the character of Doctor Evil who famously delivers a similar line. So I decided to combine the two and drew Trump in the same pose and costume as the character using this reference image of Trump [6] and this imageof Evil [7].  

Study Number Three

For my third study I chose to use a technique quite commonly used by political cartoonists and illustrators; making a direct parody or reference to a previous work of art, and using this to make a social comment. For my interpretation of this chose to emulate one of my favourite pieces of portraiture, Jan Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring [8], instead replacing the girl with Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin [9]. My comment on this image is quite a subtle one. Putin is infamous for his opinion and laws to do with the gay and transgender community, and this is chiefly why I chose him to be wearing a pearl earring. There is a stigmata attached to men with pierced ears that is tied to gay stereotypes and assumptions, which gives the image a subtle irony. Overall, I’m quite pleased with the image itself, although it did look better before I inked it.

Study Number Four

My fourth and final image was an attempt at anthopomorphism, yet another technique commonly used by political illustrators. My subject this time was the leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage. In many photos that I have seen of him the politician usually has his mouth wide open in a sort of toothless grin, such as my reference image [10]. His tight, squinting eyes and flared nostrils were somewhat reptilian and I thought that these were just crying out to be accompanied by a flicking, forking tongue. Using this image as reference [11], I added in these rather monstrous features and gave him a decidedly green skin tone and some grey shading.

References

[1] Mutch, 2015.
[2] Wintour, 2013.
[3] Davies, 2015.
[4] Trump.com, 2015.
[5] Snyder, 2015.
[6] Eggert and Colvin, 2015.
[7] robertkaplinsky.com, 2013.
[8] Ebay.com, 2014.
[9] De Nugent, 2015.
[10] Baker, 2015.
[11] thinglink.com, 2013.

Bibliography

Baker, N. 2015. TheDrinksBusiness.com. Farage forgoes alcohol for January. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/tumblr_inline_n6m8y86oc81r05kcc.jpg

Davies, E. 2015. The Daily Mail. How Peppa Pig has conquered Christmas... and made multi-millionaires of three friends from Middlesex Poly. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-3342010/How-Peppa-Pig-conquered-Christmas-multi-millionaires-three-friends-Middlesex-Poly.html

De Nugent, J. 2015. Enemies can bring out the best in us. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://johndenugent.us/images/putin-angry-banks.jpg.pagespeed.ce.fjVlkcA87U.jpg

Ebay.com. 2015. Your Guide to Girl with the Pearl Earring. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDUwOQ==/z/ZP8AAOSwh6xTtQAK/$_32.JPG

Eggert, D and Colvin, J. 2015. Yahoo News. Trump says he’ll release policy specifics soon. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.pd2upload.com/video.ynewskatiecouric.com@df3727ac-3227-3cc1-9d7b-f1fae7858acf_FULL.jpg

Mutch, N. 2015. Theweek.co.uk. Bullingdon club: inside the elite Oxford society. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://www.theweek.co.uk/65410/bullingdon-club-inside-the-elite-oxford-society

RobertKaplinsky.com. 2013. How Much Money Should Dr Evil Demand? [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://robertkaplinsky.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/drevil_cover.jpg

Snyder, B. 2015. Fortune.com. Reference to Donald Trump interview. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://fortune.com/2015/10/26/donald-trump-loan-dad/

Thinglink.com. 2013. The King Cobra. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXEEIk8Ynj2Sx2GuEs0Bth9x4nEu_MONlmIKg7Iq0sllK3mXDj4_vuch93qk2lu2PmQO7VytPTBIeJym8EomX0Vp8Rfw45bm5okW79sEtrYZqPlvGKCTx8WhXCQJs9t98gRwJqUhd78c/s1600/KingCobra.jpg

Trump.com. 2015. Donald J Trump Biography. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://www.trump.com/biography/

Wintour, P. 2013. The Gaurdian. David Cameron: Tories will work hard to win back supporters from Ukip. [Online] [Accessed from 2015] Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/may/03/david-cameron-tories-supporters-ukip