Comments on: Politcal Sketch

Politcal Sketch

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:35:25 -0800

"As he walks past I am struck by the way, from his default gloomy expression, he constantly flashes his rictus grin at people, like a doomed and slightly out of control belisha beacon" - The Guardian's cartoonist Steve Bell on drawing Gordon 'Gordy' Brown (video). He's in the process of producing a number of sketchbooks covering the conference season - Liberal Democrat, Labour 1, Labour 2. And he covered this year's Democrat and Republican conventions and also visited 'Manifest Hope' (video), an art exhibition based around images of Barack Obama. Previously.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:01:31 -0800

I'm told that a Belisha beacon is a tall black and white pole topped by a flashing orange globe, placed on either side of the road at zebra crossings in the UK. (Zebras? who knew?) Performing a rictus grin, as I do know, requires that the mouth be open.

By: hazyjane

hazyjane — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:27:11 -0800

On the one hand, yes, Gordon Brown has a weird, socially uncomfortable rictus grin. But on the other hand, I'm so, so sick of talking about what politicians look like. So I think on balance, meh.

By: athenian

athenian — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:44:07 -0800

I liked these, particularly to see Bell's commentary on the images. If has been in good form recently: The Blairs meet the Royals (flashback), Maggie's back. And if you want to hear more of the man behind the pen, here is Steve giving an audio tour of his and my home city.

By: boosh

boosh — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:00:22 -0800

I think I prefer his descriptions to the cartoons themselves: "In the afternoon session, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, makes a not very good speech. He has massive hands with which he continually makes ill-coordinated gestures to incorrectly punctuate his oration. His facial expressions are edging towards madness His hair is worth a paragraph on its own. It is stiff, furry, slightly spiky, apparently stuck on with glue and probably velvety to the touch. He seems blissfully unconcerned by these image questions, and is even quite happy to pose for a photographer clutching a banana" The Cartoon | The horrible, HORRIBLE truth Steve Bell's caricature seems incredibly tame by comparison. We can only hope that history will accord those photographs the same sort of credit for sabotaging that oleaginous bastard's premiership aspirations as the sea at Brighton got for Kinnock. Gerald Scarfe has got nothing to worry about, though (his most recent caricatures - Brown, Obama etc. - start at 2:25 in that link).

By: CitizenD

CitizenD — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:12:01 -0800

rictus. ructus. rictus rictus rictus. it's a new word for me, and i like it. rictus. rictus. rictus.

By: athenian

athenian — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:20:08 -0800

"oleaginous bastard" Have you met him, or is this just unfocused rage?

By: decagon

decagon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:14:32 -0800

I like his concluding comment on Palin's speech: After a particularly successful passage and her 17th standing ovation, a very nice Republican lady next to me says (knowing I'm English): "Another Margaret Thatcher?". Diplomatically, I say: "It's a bit early to tell," but I have a horrible, sinking feeling she may be right.

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 01:00:45 -0800

More about Steve Bell previously

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:22:49 -0800

'A plumpish face and piggy eyes' - Steve Bell draws the Tories