What's scarier than a politician?

Getting ready for Halloween, everyone?

I did this drawing recently for the New York Press, and it reminded me of what scares me more than anything (especially around voting time): extremist, right-wing, religious fundamentalists. Add Republican to the description, and I'm running for cover. And these folks really get scary when they get a hold of a little power. The current state of the nation frightens me. The only thing offering relief is the growing disapproval of Bush. Sure, I've always hated him, my friends have always hated him, and many many other New Yorkers hate him...but what about outside of New York and the big cities? It's so easy to forget that there are still so many Americans out there who are rallying behind that man. It's unbelievable!

Anyone willing to alter the Constitution forever in favor of prejudice should be STOPPED.

If you are still on the fence about gay marriage, then I recommend a really informative documentary to help you make your decision:
Tying the Knot

Alright, now that I got that out of my system, I thought it would be cool to post the "before" and "after" of my recent illustration assignment. It's about politicians using the internet as their podium, if you will. I did the black and white sketch first, and really loved the energy of the scratchy pencil lines, so I was going to use it as is with color. However, the art director opted to soften the image a bit, which I can understand. I suppose my early version is a bit "fire and brimstone" whereas the art director wanted "enthusiastic". I guess I'm happy with the final result, but it could've had so much more impact and emotion!