Gaga for Guns

President Obama once got into hot water for stating some people "cling to their guns".  As I take in our national debate about the 2nd Amendment, I wonder how unfair that statement is? I've heard many Americans passionately defend their love of firearms. Do some gun owners have some deep primal need to hold such power in their hands? Is this born out of insecurity, distrust, or a simple need to feel safer? Why do some Americans feel incomplete without guns, almost like Linus feels without his blanket? I keep asking these questions, which inspired some strange drawings...

45 Caliber Cradle?

...embryotic chamber?

...Formula 45?

baby holster?

semi-automatic-stroller?

Happiness in a warm gun?

Pen & Ink on Strathmore drawing paper.

“I’m a Catholic deer hunter. I am happy to be clinging to my guns and my religion.”

~ Paul Ryan

"I happily cling to my guns and my God, even if President Obama thinks
that that is a simpleminded thing in his elitist heart."
~ Rick perry

"We say keep your change, we'll keep our God, our guns, our constitution."
~ Sarah Palin

Thanks for viewing. You can see weekly lists here, here and here.

American Educator

American Educator is published by one of our largest teachers unions, the AFT. These drawings accompanied a story about the highly rated Finnish School system. They attribute their success to being a negotiation society - allowing government, municipalities, employers and unions to all have voice at the table. These party's strive for equality when educating Finnish youth - from the wealthiest to the poorest students. This cooperative attitude leads to a quality education for close to 100% of their students. It's impressive what can be accomplished when everyone is on the same 'track'.

Concerning education, everyone is on the same track.

Various pillars of society lend support to the education system.

Cooperation helps education stay on track.

The editors requested an "on the same track" theme for this story.  So here was my 'train' of thought when submitting ideas:

a few opener illustration ideas

some of the accompanying spot illustration ideas

A special thanks to art director Jennifer Chang, 
who's been assigning me fun projects for years. 

Here are selected illustrations from past issues:

For a story about the harmonious nature of community schools

For an issue about Community Schools.

For an article titled "Filling the Void" - about community schools

For 'The Thinker' column - about the education inequality between wealthier and poorer students.

For 'The Thinker' column - about the education inequality between wealthier and poorer students.

For an article about community schools

Poster for the AFT.

You can view my new illustration website here!

 { A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. }
~ Henry Brooks Adams

Rhymes with Obama...

 

A few weeks ago, I posted a contest to see who could correctly guess the rhyme scheme of the nine images above.  Here's the answer key to this quiz. Congratulations to Daniel Zalkus for correctly naming all nine words! For his efforts, Daniel will receive a custom drawing of his choosing. Please visit again for future contests and fun posts.

 

The original drawing- graphite and charcoal on Strathmore medium drawing paper

It's easy to follow this blog. Just scroll down to the lower right of this post, and click on 'Join this site'. Thanks for viewing.

Emotional Lottery

I'm thrilled to be displaying this piece in the juried "Faces and Figures" exhibit at the Red Hook CAN Gallery, Feb. 1st - 24th.  The drawing was created with sumi ink on a lottery ticket, and is titled "Emotional Lottery".

Emotional lottery

The drawing is part of series of meditations on the lottery. 

You can see more of these pieces here.

You can see my drawing (along with the work of some very talented painters
 and photographers) at the Red Hook CAN Gallery,  Red Hook, N.Y.,
through February 24th.

Thanks for viewing, and always remember, 

there's more than one way to win the lottery; - )