Art of the Union

I’m trying to get back on track with my goal to draw every...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 21:21:31 -0400

I’m trying to get back on track with my goal to draw every president and eventually have an art show. To date I have drawn Eisenhower, Kennedy, Obama, and now Nixon. His face is one that I’ve always found difficult, and I have drawn it at least 6 times before finally getting a final piece that I am happy to present.

Incidentally, at the time of drawing this portrait there has been heaps of allegations comparing President Obama to Nixon. I’m hard-pressed to find the link. Let’s take into consideration a key difference, being that the bugging of the DNC’s phones was initiated by Nixon and his associates, while President Obama’s alleged scandals were (depending on which one) initiated by rogue employees in agenies out of his control or carried over from past administrations and put into his oversight. Moreover, every Presidential Administration leaves office with it’s signature scandals. George W. Bush had “Lawyergate,” Bill Clinton had his love for women who looked like they were edited out of Reservoir Dogs, Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra, and so on. Even Nixon’s predecessor, Gerald Ford, had to testify in front of Congress about the alleged scandal to pardon Nixon.

A more apt link between Richard Nixon and President Obama would not be in scandals but rather by comparing theaters of war. When Nixon came into office in 1969, he was tasked with ending the very unpopular war that he inherited (sound familiar) in Vietnam. Instead, in 1970 Nixon pointed off into the distance and shouted “What’s that?” While the nations head was turned, he approved the invasion of Cambodia with American and South Vietnamese troops. If you swapped the words “Vietnam,” “Cambodia,” and “American and South Vietnamese troops” with “Iraq,” “Pakistan,” and “drones,” you would have a series of events that could mirror the Obama Administrations approach to the War on Terror.

Reading news recently has been somewhat of a trying experience, and I blame it all on the article...

Wed, 29 May 2013 21:09:00 -0400

Reading news recently has been somewhat of a trying experience, and I blame it all on the article comment sections. I feel like a character in a Cormac McCarthey novel, trudging my way through a trail of misinformed dreck, waiting for a family to take me in and tell me that the road has been wrong all along.

The comment section is a hierarchical tree of superuser badges and favorite commenter awards, all of which can be attained by scrawling such nonsensical junk as “Sarah Palin-in comparison, am I right?” Woah, make sure you sign that gem. Don’t want anyone to steal it. It can be comparable to a whitetrash caste system – the more furniture you have in your yard, the higher up you are. Having 12 couches on your porch will grant you the position of town Brahmin, much like having 12 super user badges will net you 13,000 followers on Huffington Post.

Now, before I quickly derail my intended purpose for writing this, I should get to what inspired this post. It is not to combat all comment section writers, I want to hone my scorn in on a select few. Listen up Baltimore Sun commenters, this PSA is for you:

Maryland’s gun control bill takes effect on Oct. 1.

There you have it. That’s October, the month that comes after September and before November. It’s the 10th month of the year. It rhymes with Shmoctober. Please quit inferring that the bill has taken effect every time you take to your Utz salted keyboard and type “How’s that gun control working out for ya?” on every single article that comes into your line of vision. It is a ridiculous question, and unless you are Professor X strolling through comment boards while your gifted mutants are in study hall, it is an unanswerable question.

This is a city that’s so eloquently nicknamed “Bodymore, Murdaland,” so you can imagine that city news outlets would provide acres of articles for such asinine comments to roam free. Normally I just sit and stomach them, but one finally broke me. It was an article about the fatal shooting of a 1 year old in the Cherry Hill neighborhood. Even the comment calling it the “gun grab” bill is incredibly wrong. A key tenant to the Maryland gun bill is that owners get to keep any gun owned or ordered prior to the Oct. 1 date.

What there is a severe lack of in comment sections is an understanding of what the writers are lobbying for. The least you can do is know when the law of your ire is set to kick in (In this case Oct. 1. Remember, rhymes with Schmoctober). After that date, feel free to say that it’s worthless, try and tie it to President Obama, or you can blame it on GNC being out of Gov. O’Malley’s favorite flavor of Muscle Milk. But until that date comes, you’re just a troll shouting into the wind.

In response to the allegation that his regime has deployed...

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:01:30 -0400

In response to the allegation that his regime has deployed chemical weapons to combat the Free Syrian Army, President Assad responded with “Chemical whos-in-whats-its? No, never heard of them.” He then promptly released the hounds on the remaining reporters.

Well, when I started this drawing it was relevant. I thought...

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:01:18 -0400

Well, when I started this drawing it was relevant. I thought I’d still post it since I haven’t been on here as regularly as I used to be. As stated in my last post, things have been extremely hectic. I’m finally getting settled into my new home in Baltimore and it’s opening up more time for me to start posting here again. As much as I would’ve loved to post regularly for the past few months, sometimes life just doesn’t allow it. I make little-to-no money for the things that you see on this blog, so sometimes it has to take a backseat because my bills won’t wait for me to draw a picture of John Boehner in a diaper (by the way, I would never draw that. Don’t worry). So with that said, I apologize for the long gap and I will be back to posting art and commentary. Thanks for your patience!

I thought it would be a good idea to explain my lack of posts recently. These past few months have...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:00:00 -0400

I thought it would be a good idea to explain my lack of posts recently. These past few months have been incredibly hectic and it’s thrown my art and writing way off course. Just a recap of what has been making my blog so desolate - In November I was laid off due to the economic strains of my previous employer, spent December through March frantically updating my portfolio/learning new skills/applying to jobs to regain employment, and am now making my 2nd cross country move in a year’s time (from Florida back up north to Baltimore).

I am truly appreciative of all of my followers, and ask that you please stick with me during this incredibly busy time. I am currently working on some new art, and once I get settled into my new apartment I will get back into the full swing.

Inspirational work Mitchell. I've followed your blog since beginning my own a while ago, as an aspiring illustrator myself I'd appreciate some feedback or advice from an illustrator who's work is highly politically motivated. I'm currently studying bachelor of illustration that I hope will lead to a masters in journalism. Regards, Sam.

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:10:00 -0400

Thank you so much! As far as advice for illustration, it would be to mainly draw what and how you want. I feel like there’s this thing happening in the illustration field where more times than not art looks like James Jean or Yuko Shimizu work. While trends definitely are a dark part of the art world, I’m definitely much happier that I did my own thing. Of course, that’s not to say that you can’t take bits and pieces from artists who influenced you to make your style.

And for the political/journalism side of my art and writing, I’m just always following the news. The majority of my day is spent listening to podcasts, reading the news, or watching the God-awful cable news programs. It’s key to know what you’re art talking about, especially if you’re going to put it out there for others to see. A misinformed piece of art can reflect badly on how your work is viewed.

I hope this helps. I’m also working on an online class about political art that someone such as yourself might be interested in taking. I will post the link when it is up.

With the Obama Administration’s nomination of John Brennan as...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 20:30:00 -0500

With the Obama Administration’s nomination of John Brennan as CIA Director and Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, drone warfare is being treated with the same caution as a kite-flying contest at a Cub Scout summer jamboree. While drone warfare may be hailed as a new, cost-effective way to wage war, it has many implications that often go unreported. One being the effect drones have on driving up militant group enlistment, another being the heavy psychological toll that they inflict on the inhabitants of drone patrolled regions.

But perhaps the most heated topic when it comes to drones is the civilian casualties that it produces. When politicians and media outlets claim that the drone program has low to no civilian casualties, it should be taken with a grain of salt. As a report conducted by Stanford and NYU states, the CIA declares all adult males killed by drone strikes as militants. The report also goes on to state that out of roughly 3,325 people killed in Pakistan by drones, between 474 - 881 were civilians.

The Stanford/NYU report titled “Living Under Drones” can be found at http://livingunderdrones.org/

I wanted to touch on the drone warfare issue one more time while it’s back in the spotlight, thanks to Rand Paul’s filibuster. If you are unaware, Paul filibustered the nomination of John Brennan as CIA Director to obtain an answer from the Obama Administration about whether they had the right to use drone strikes against U.S. Citizens.

Siding with Rand Paul on any issue can open up a long and dark conspiracy cavern on infowars.com if you aren’t careful, but he was not totally off his meds by asking this question. No matter how unlikely or inconceivable it may seem, historical occurrence’s such as the Kent State massacre can act as an example that even the U.S. Government can muster enough gumption to kill some citizens.

With that said, Rand Paul’s question is not my biggest concern when it comes to drone warfare. Even foreign civilian casualties, which I’ve touched on before (see above) is not my biggest issue. My true fear when it comes to drone’s is that it marks another step forward in the United State’s population being completely disassociated with it’s countries operations.

Our news media is noticeably absent went it comes to covering our war efforts, with Mother Jones’ fixture “We’re Still at War” being the only day-to-day coverage that I can think of. In fact, up until 2009, there was an 18 year ban on news coverage of dead soldiers returning from war zones.

Even more to that point, if the average American is aware of our war efforts, they probably only know of our recent adventures in the Middle East, being left unaware of our ever expanding war efforts into Africa. And yes, the African front has proved to be prime real estate for drone strikes.

Advocates for drone warfare often sight that it will make war cheaper and safer, but is that actually a positive? War inherently is not safe, cheap, or even good. When a nation goes to war, it should be an all in effort and experience, where even those who are not serving at least have some knowledge of what is happening. Drone warfare marks a change of sweeping war under the rug, not requiring the citizenry to be kept aware as the operations of the Government become ever more exclusive.

This Tuesday is scheduled to be the Senate vote for defense...

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 20:48:28 -0500

This Tuesday is scheduled to be the Senate vote for defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, finally one step closer to the ending of this incredible storyline and letting Hagel take the nap that his face has been screaming for since it started.

You are probably familiar with the accusations that have been trotted out against Hagel, everything from the Dan Friedman “Friends of Hamas” joke that went viral in the Senate halls to the idea that Hagel hates Jews (the monster probably didn’t even cry during Schindler’s List). Tactics that don’t even involve Hagel have been used to block Hagel, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham vowing to block the nomination until he receives more information about Benghazi. Don’t worry though, every other embassy attack during 2012 is ok in Graham’s book.

Most of the holdups on Hagel’s nomination have been purely cosmetic, an effort by a handful of Republicans to make sure we know they still exist after the election. But then you get to the real criticism against Hagel, and it seems that he is being punished for being ahead of the curve when it comes to disowning George W. Bush.

The Tea Party movement and new Republican ideology was (supposedly) spawned in part by a party upset with the direction that had been taken under Bush’s lead. And don’t forget that the 2012 Republican National Convention hid Bush in a closet like was a young Harry Potter. And yet, Hagel is being put to task for his tendency to go against the Bush Administration, primarily when it came to the Iraq War.

Fast forward 2009, and the whole Republican party had turned their negative opinions of everything that happened during the Bush Administration into the Tea Party movement. Anti-immigration, anti-government, and anti-spending. Logic would tell you that Hagel would be the “not in the mainstream” wet dream that Republicans are always trying to brew up in their dusty cauldrons.

Unfortunatley for Hagel it seems that he was ahead of the trend. And as with fashion, no one gets credit for predicting a trend, it’s not cool until it’s accepted by groups in the know. Hating Bush 10 years ago only made Hagel the guy in a coffee shop with a handle bar mustache trying too hard.

I’ve been watching the new Netflix series “House of Cards.” A quick synopsis for...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 19:21:32 -0500

I’ve been watching the new Netflix series “House of Cards.” A quick synopsis for those unaware: “House of Cards” is a political thriller/drama based on various characters dealing with life and business in Washington, DC (The main 2 characters being House Majority Whip Frank Underwood and reporter Zoe Barnes.)

To be honest, I love the show and have become completely enthralled with it. But, every time I watch the show the same question rings in my head - “What political world does ‘House of Cards’ exist in?” You see, “House of Cards” is a show populated with handsome men, beautiful women, and all are definitely not left wanting in the coolness category. Juxtapose that with the political world I worked in which consisted of a bunch of dudes eating Cheeze Nips in a small office bathing in their own smells. Sure, everyone was nice, but I feel like I missed out on a party.

Now granted, the political scene of Florida is probably a very different scene than that of Washington, DC. But still, every character looks like they just got off of an L.L. Bean photoshoot and are on their to an Aerie video shoot. Has anyone actually looked at the political elite while watching the news? At best they look like a mannequin pulled out of a Marshall’s store window. On average, they’re like watching a turtle exhibit at the National Aquarium.

Also, I feel like the bravado and intent on display by the characters is a bit of a fairy tale. Main character Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is a calm, cool, and conniving Southern Democrat. He’s what we would’ve gotten if Charles Bronson ran out of death wishes and ran for Congress. His wife, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright), is a supermodel who heads a non-profit. The closest real life example I can think of to this power couple is the Gingrich’s, and the coolest thing they can boast is that their hair hasn’t moved out of place since the 90’s.

Obviously this is just nitpicking, and the show is a great watch. It especially is worth checking out if you are tired of the same dull real life story lines of Washington do nothings that seem to be on a repeat track these days.

Your art is so different from anything I've ever seen before. I really enjoy it.

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 19:04:13 -0500

Thank you! I’ve been going through a bit of a creative slump so things like this really help lift me up.

I don't have a question, just a statement. Love your line work.

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:28:40 -0500

Thank you! I checked out your work, love the colors and the pattern work.

I will be rooting for Baltimore tonight, for multiple reasons....

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 17:33:15 -0500

I will be rooting for Baltimore tonight, for multiple reasons. The main reason being that I’m a Dallas fan, so there are 4 NFC teams that I’m inclined to root against: The Redskins, Giants, Eagles, and Niners. Reason number 2 being that I absolutely hate the Pittsburgh Steelers, so seeing their nemesis win the Superbowl will bring me great joy as I picture all of the terrible towels laying silent in a closet as The Ravens hoist the trophy over their head.

Last night while catching up on the days news, I was introduced to the concept of the end of the...

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:01:12 -0500

Last night while catching up on the days news, I was introduced to the concept of the end of the NFL. The article in question, an interview with Ravens Safety Bernard Pollard, predicts that the end of professional football will come at the hands of disgruntled fans who will grow tired of the games rules and regulations.

Further investigation lead me to read articles predicting that parents will quit letting their kids play football due to new research linking brain damage to the game, eventually drying up the talent pool.

I for one am inclined to brush the doomsayers to the side, if only because people who usually make such bold predictions fail to realize that their opinion is one of a handful. Take for instance professional wrestling. Despite numerous crippling injuries and suicides, the WWE still thrives as a half-naked multi-million dollar toy machine.

There have been many theories on how the NFL can “save” it’s game, whether it be more rules or less tackling and pads (which, as a former rugby player, I can say first hand does not stop bad head injuries).

If I could postulate my own opinion, I believe that the NFL should implement size restrictions on it’s players. Now hear me out. Throughout the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, the NFL had a love affair with it’s fans because it wasn’t watered down with rules as it is today. I believe that the onset of such rules came about as players morphed from larger than average men into striated industrial appliances. An impact from Jack Lambert would hurt, but not nearly as much as one from a modern Universal Soldier like James Harrison.

Just look at a position comparison. Compare linebacker legend Mike Singletary to modern day linebacker Ray Lewis. Singletary, a Hall of Famer, looks like your uncle who works construction. On the opposite end, Lewis looks like a monster who was pulled out of a Universal Studios warehouse.

If the NFL pushed more natural bodied players over performance enhanced monstrosities, and couple that with the new helmet designs that will undoubtedly be developed overtime to help absorb shock, perhaps the NFL would no longer have a need to keep thinking of the best ways to protect the players from each other.

Here’s a quick spot illustration I did for the Wall Street...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 19:27:36 -0500

Here’s a quick spot illustration I did for the Wall Street Journal.

To me, the biggest scandal about the new NRA attack ad is that...

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:06:13 -0500

To me, the biggest scandal about the new NRA attack ad is that the election has been over for 2 months and I’m still saying the words “new” and “attack ad.” Lord help me if I open my mailbox tomorrow and find a piece of campaign mail.

The ad starts out by asking “Are President Obama’s children more important than yours?” As anyone who’s ever seen the movie “First Kid” knows, the answer is yes. We as civilian children didn’t need the combat expertise of Sinbad because we stood a far less chance of being held hostage by Timothy Busfield everytime we snuck out of the house.

This ad also highlights Americans strange view of police authority. We want to outfit our schools like a Riker’s Island inmate housing facility. But, whenever we get pulled over for driving 75 mph in a 45 mph zone while instagramming our steering wheel, we scream that we are being downtrodden by big brother’s muscle.

I’m really confused by Ann Coulter’s career. She is a prominent media figure, but never...

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:40:08 -0500

I’m really confused by Ann Coulter’s career. She is a prominent media figure, but never has anything of worth to say. Imagine if you will, the Mumm-Ra of the political media class. It’s as if whenever she opens her mouth, all I hear is the sound of a shop vac sucking up nails. The things she says are just disgusting, but she’s allowed to have a career because she’s one of the only female talking heads that Republican media can cart out who isn’t thumbing through a pamphlet for the National Institute of Senior Centers.

Saying things like non-whites are “nitwits who deserve lives of misery and joblessness” are especially bold statements coming from someone whose job is to be a contrarian while looking like a piece of chewed gum stretched over a pretzel rod.

Most recently, Coulter acted out in a paycheck induced outrage on Sean Hannity’s show. She went on to suggest that since the New York Journal news published a list of gun owners, then they should publish a list of people who have had abortions so that people would know who would “murder a child.” Despite what your or my opinion is on gun ownership or abortion, this statement is incredibly stupid for the sake of filling empty space. In New York, gun records are public, and obviously abortion records are not. But yet, this haggard saltine cracker will receive yet another paycheck for just saying words, regardless of their validity.

Things I learned this year: Gov. Rick Scott hates everyone who...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:48:00 -0500

Things I learned this year:

Gov. Rick Scott hates everyone who lives in Florida.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is not Joe Peschi’s racist grandmother, despite fooling me in pictures.
Congress’s idea of doing their job is playing I Spy with their genitals, not legislating.
Mitch McConnell’s head is not a thumb sewn on to a torso.
Legislators refer to video games like they are a lost tribal people in the South Pacific.

Things I want to learn next year:

Is Charles Krauthammer a human or a tie-wearing tobacco leaf?
Newt Gingrich’s hair – real or glued on doll hair?
If my suspicion that Harry Reid buried all the bodies of aide’s who didn’t like his garden in a Nevada Desert.
What exciting thing Republicans think will happen once Hillary Clinton testifies on Benghazi, like that Jimmy Hoffa is buried under a Tampa Bay Huddle House.

So a while back I had expressed my utmost faith that our Congressional leaders would reach a deal on...

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:49:02 -0500

So a while back I had expressed my utmost faith that our Congressional leaders would reach a deal on the “fiscal cliff,” stating that surely they aren’t crayon eating morons that need to wear styrofoam suits so they don’t hurt themselves. Well, it looks like Mitch McConnell is in the kitchen whipping up a Crayola salad because the deadline will pass with no deal voted on.

It doesn’t mean much, as a deal could be voted on tomorrow. Also, “fiscal cliff” is just a term that news networks overplay in an effort to boost viewership and sell advertising time so that they can keep bringing you stories about old white men not doing their job. But still, inaction in Congress is becoming too normal. Why didn’t anyone think to rename it the “abortion cliff”? Or we could’ve told Lindsey Graham that every minute he delays a vote, an illegal immigrant gets one step closer to the border. You know, get their attention, because the issues of middle and lower class citizens have been off of their radar for along time.

Congratulations on making it on the radar again! I'm a huge fan of your art and writing.

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:54:40 -0500

Thank you so much! The feed back certainly means a lot.

Hope everyone is having a Merry Bi-Partisan Christmas. May you...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:12:55 -0500

Hope everyone is having a Merry Bi-Partisan Christmas. May you have the strength to survive the inevitable political dialogue that will break out at Christmas dinner. Have the eggnog and rum handy for when your uncle wants to blame Obamacare for killing his business that’s been bleeding money since 2006.