Showing posts with label Ann Telnaes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ann Telnaes. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

Meet Sergio Peçanha, Washington Post visual essayist

by Mike Rhode

One of the pleasures of the Washington Post's digital version, besides national treasure Ann Telnaes, is Sergio Peçanha's work, much of which recalls the promise of webcomics that Scott McCloud predicted so many years ago. I was absolutely thrilled to make contact with him on Instagram, and ask him to do an interview. As is our wont, rather than straining to find new words, we'll just lift the Post's biography of him:

Sergio Peçanha is a visual columnist at the Opinions desk of the Washington Post. He uses visual elements like illustrations, cartoons, maps, information graphics and videos to tell stories. Before joining The Post in 2019, he was a graphics editor at The New York Times for more than a decade, where he created visual stories for the International desk and the New York desk. Peçanha graduated in journalism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His work has been recognized multiple times by the Society for News Design and the Malofiej infographics awards, in Spain, including Gold medals

What type of comic work or cartooning do you do? I called it editorial illustration when I reached out to you - is this accurate?

I think I'd say I do visual essays. I use cartoons, photography or any other sort of visual elements, like charts to tell visual stories.  The language I use often borrows from the storytelling style common in children's picture books, but for an adult audience. The idea determines the visual and writing style I use. Sometimes I may not use pictures at all.  (The links in my answers are examples of what I am referring to.)


 How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?


I almost always do pencil sketches. Sometimes I use acrylic, pen and ink, iPad, Photoshop, after effects. I use anything that gets the job done.

How did you come to work for the Washington Post? Are you on contract, or on staff?

I studied journalism in Brazil and have been a visual journalist for more than 20 years. For 11 years, I worked at the graphics desk of the New York Times. I did information graphics, visual stories and multimedia. I came to the Post in 2019 to work doing multimedia, visual stories and graphics at the Opinions desk. But for me, the main reason to come here was to be able to do my column, where I can experiment with visual elements, humor and language. I'm on staff.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

1976, Rio de Janeiro.

Are you in Washington now?  If so, what neighborhood or area do you live in?

I live in Silver Spring, MD.


What is your training and/or education in cartooning?


No training in cartooning. I studied journalism in college and earned a masters degree in illustration a couple of years ago. 

Who are your influences?

Many. Some are... Sempé; David Shrigley; David Hockney; R.O. Blechman; Steinberg; H.M. Bateman; Laura Carlin; Bill Watterson; Glen Baxter; Serge Bloch; Liana Finck; Maira Kalman; Laerte; Chico Caruso; Mariana Massarani; and of course, Ann Telnaes and Michael de Adder, who I can't believe I can call "my colleagues."

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I was born in a lower middle class family in Rio de Janeiro. My path to this point highly is unlikely. So I wouldn't change anything.

What work are you best-known for?

I don't think I'm best known.

What work are you most proud of?

I am proud of Absurd America at the Post and for some of the multimedia storytelling that I helped to develop at the Times.


What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I wanna do a book. Maybe more than one. I have some ideas. But I also need to work on my ADHD.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I freak out and think I am a failure. I always talk to my wife. Also to my shrink, and close co-workers. I fish for ideas, but mostly lament. They are so nice to me, they cheer me up. When I think no one can stand my lamentations anymore, I hide and fail alone for some time. At that point, I think about changing jobs, because the suffering is intense. I become confident that people will realize that I'm a failure and I will be fired. After a lot of that suffering, eventually something happens. It's like delivering a baby, I guess.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

I think AI will do a lot of pasteurized stories and illustrations and most people will be happy about it. Still, there will be space for us — because humans can fail in ways that machines simply can not.

Any thoughts on the Pulitzer recently changing the editorial cartoon category to one that you appear to qualify in?




The Pulitzer is important because it values good work. That said, there is a lot of good work that is essential to journalism in the 21st century that is not eligible for the Pulitzer. For example: multimedia storytelling, photo editing, videos, information graphics... Just like there are Oscars for Best Picture and for Best Makeup, I think the Pulitzer could be expanded  — and I see no reason to extinguish existing categories in that expansion. 

You and Ann Telnaes teamed up on at least one piece - how did that come about?

Imagine that you get to play soccer with Pelé? That's how I felt.

Your recent work on COVID was just a data visualization of the numbers of people who died in the US represented on a map. This seems a little atypical for your work; can you explain why you chose to do it?


At the moment, my job at the Post is divided into two parts. On one side, I do visual storytelling and graphics. The other part is my column, Absurd America. One day I might only do my column. But I'm not there yet.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

I think it's a pretty city, good quality of life and not too cold (although it is still too cold for me).

Least favorite?


It doesn't have a beach and the winter is still pretty cold for me...  Additionally, I think it's bizarre how it is racially divided. But that's not exclusive to DC...  

What monument or museum do you like to take visitors to?

I think the area around the Lincoln Memorial is pleasant.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

La Limeña Grill in Rockville. Peruvian food.
 
 Do you have a website or blog?

Pecanha.org

How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally?

Worked from home for 2 years and loved it. :-)

Monday, May 09, 2022

Ann Telnaes finalist for 2022 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning (CORRECTED)

 My apologies - I misread this statement by the Post.
 
Washington Post Editorial Cartoonist Ann Telnaes was recognized in the category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary for her political cartoons which castigate the powerful, highlight the absurdity of modern politics and champion the powerless. Telnaes' drawings get to the heart of the issues confronting the world today and capture fundamental truths, laying bare the worst- and the best- of us. 
 
 
The actual winner was

How I escaped a Chinese internment camp

Dec 28, 2021
https://www.insider.com/comic-i-escaped-a-chinese-internment-camp-uyghur-2021-12
 

Wednesday, January 05, 2022

PR: WashPost Opinion's Ann Telnaes [CARTOON]: The insurrectionists’ roll call


In a new interactive cartoon for Washington Post Opinions, editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes draws a who's who of those connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol with short text appearing next to each person explaining their role. See the cartoon: https://wapo.st/3JFKbto

 



 

@WashPostPr

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

A Chat with with Bob Scott, the cartoonist creator of "Bear with Me"

 by Mike Rhode

Animator and webcomics artist Bob Scott has nothing to do with the DC-area. In fact, he has only been here as a teenage tourist, as he reveals later on in this interview. However, he's making the rounds to promote his new book, and sent me a very nice email, so why not expand our focus just this once in these odd times? He answered our usual questions, modified somewhat as necessary. First, here's a pocket biography, compiled from Bob's pages at Hermes Press and CTN.

Bob Scott lives in both the world of comic strips and animation. Born in Detroit, Bob began drawing at a young age, copying what he saw in the funny pages. Acceptance and graduation from California Institute of the Arts opened the world of character animation for Bob. He has worked over 35 years in the industry as an animator, character designer, storyboard artist and voice talent. Scott’s animated short 'Late Night with Myron' was part of the 1988 theatrical compilation film entitled 'Outrageous Animation'. His animation has been seen in numerous animated feature films such as Pixar’s 'Toy Story 3' (2010), 'Ratatouille' (2007), 'WALL-E' (2008), 'The Incredibles' (2004),  Dreamworks Animation's 'The Prince of Egypt' (1998), Warner Brothers’ Bugs Bunny in Box Office Bunny (1990), and Turner Animation’s Cat’s Don’t Dance among others. He led the animation team on the Annie Award winning Pixar short 'Your Friend the Ratand' (2007) was part of the small animation crew for the Oscar-nominated 'Day and Night' (2010). He has worked for Jim Davis, co-penciling U.S. Acres and co-directing Garfield: His 9 Lives. Bob has always wanted a comic strip of his own, and so Bear with Me (aka Molly and the Bear) was born and became a syndicated webcomic in 2010. 


What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

I write and draw my own syndicated webcomic Bear with Me. I am also in the animation industry; I’ve been a 2D animator, a computer animator and a story artist.  While animation is my full-time work, comic strips let me be my own artist.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

Both!

I keep Bear with Me as traditional as possible.  It’s a black and white, three to four panel comic strip. It’s the style and form that I grew up with and have never gotten tired of. 

Bear with Me is drawn on Bristol board with a blue pencil and inked with a Windsor Newton brush using black India ink.  I am such an old-school purist, I even hand letter the strip.   Technology rears its head for the rest of the process: I scan the strip into Photoshop, digitally erase the blue pencil, do Sunday color, and make small adjustments as needed. I am like every other artist in this regard, while I try to not be a super-perfectionist, sometimes things just bug me and I can fix them in Photoshop. 

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I was born in Detroit in 1964. I grew up in the suburbs with my parents and brothers. That makes me a true city boy. Right out of Cal Arts, Jim Davis hired me (and Brett Koth) to co-pencil his new strip, U.S.Acres.  Jim ribbed me endlessly for not knowing how to draw a bale of hay.

Cartooning isn’t one of those jobs kids think of when they pick a profession.  How did you end up in cartooning/ animation?

My mom and dad supported my pursuit of the arts 100%.  Mom saw all the names in the TV animation credits and figured lots of people were working on these shows, so why not me? That was a rare and exceptional point of view.  So many people are steered away from the arts. 

As a teen I got the chance to talk with Larry Wright, the in house editorial cartoonist at the Detroit Free Press. (Wright Angles, Kit ‘n’ Carlyle)   He gave me a lot of excellent advice – most notably “Write what you know.”  I think it is important to see and talk to people actually IN the jobs you dream of because that lets you know it is possible, and they can help you map a course out.   

Where do you live now, since it's not in the DMV?

I live in sunny Southern California.  Is it the weather that drew me to LA? The beaches?  Nope.  SoCal is the epicenter of animation.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I was trained as a traditional animator in the character animation program at Cal Arts. Which was great!  I was there in the early 80s, so we learned 2D animation. That means we drew 12 to 24 drawings per second of film, 720 – 1440 drawings per minute of film.  When you do that much drawing, you can’t help but get better. Also, you learn to give your drawings life even when they are not moving. 

Working for Jim Davis taught me the ropes of comic strip production. He was a great guy and an excellent mentor in joke writing.  Also, he knew a lot about hay bales. Handy knowledge.

My education in art is ongoing.  I find the artists I work with are exceptional and so inspiring.  I strive to be better every day and being around amazing artists helps keep me moving forward.

Who are your influences?

I love so many cartoonist’s and animator’s work. Ever since I was a kid, I loved animation. This may be because my  mom propped me in front of cartoons as soon as I could sit up.  She was an excellent mom, by the way. She supported my love of film and drawing 100%.  As a kid, I would race home from school to watch Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and Popeye cartoons. On Sunday nights I was glued to The Wonderful World of Disney. I read the comics in our local paper. We had some obscure ones that I absolutely loved! Quincy by Ted Shearer and Eek and Meek by Howie Schneider. I later discovered Pogo and ate up Doonesbury and Bloom County in high school and college. I also love comedy! 70s and 80s SNL, The Blues Brothers, Abbott and Costello.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I would make some of the projects I loved, like the animated feature Cats Don’t Dance, last years and years because I loved all the people and I loved the style of the film.  It was funny, cartoony animation, my favorite kind.

I do wish that I lived closer to some of my comic strip artist friends.  We speak a very specific language.  Brett Koth (creator of Diamond Lil) and I are two peas in a pod, but we unfortunately live 3000 miles apart. 

What work are you best-known for?

To my fellow animators, I am best known as a 2D animator.  At Pixar, I got on every 2D project going. (The short Your Friend the Rat, Ratatouille end credits, Wall-E end credits, and the short Day and Night.) To anyone else who might follow my webcomic, I would be known for Bear with Me.

What work are you most proud of?

My comic strip! I just love doing it and I feel good about it. I have been drawing Bear with Me (aka Molly and the Bear) for well over ten years.  I sort of rely on the strip to balance out my animation work.  It’s just a really important creative outlet, a place for me to be me.  

Got any big projects coming up?

By golly, I do!  I have a brand new strip compilation book coming out in February June from Hermes Press, titled Bear with Me (it’s been a rough day). It is jammed packed with over 400 strips, peeks at my earliest attempts at making comic art, (yes, those embarrassing strips from when I was 14) and the obligatory “My Process” section.  It is a true labor of love, and Hermes is doing a spectacular job putting it all together.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I’m doing a Bear with Me graphic novel that I cowrote with my wife, Vicki Scott.  She’s an incredible artist and writer! She wrote and drew several Peanuts graphic novels such as It’s Tokyo, Charlie Brown for Boom Studios.  I am also pitching Bear with Me as an animated show.  Wouldn’t that be fun?  But mostly, I would love to keep doing the strip.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I have a lot of tools to get around writer’s block. Sometimes I’ll draw an entirely finished strip and write it afterwards. It’s a challenge but keeps my brain working. And it’s really fun! Sometimes a drawing will spark a strip, sometimes the writing comes first. Occasionally just walking away and coming back is the answer.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

There’s never been a better time for an artist that wants to get there work out there.  Sure, there are fewer newspapers than when I was a kid, but I predict they will still be in business for a long time to come. Webcomics are the new kid on the block and they are here to stay. The creative energy in webcomics is really amazing. People are reinventing comic strips, changing the humor, expanding the formats. There has never been a more exciting time to be a cartoonist!

What cons do you attend?

As an exhibitor, I made the circuit of conventions along the West Coast a few years ago to promote my first compilation book Molly and the Bear.  The conventions for me are full of mixed emotions.  To go to San Diego Comic Con and watch what feels like a million people walk past my book without turning their heads was really depressing, but every once in a while, someone would stop and tell me they follow my strip every day and ask for a signature. Well, that made it all worth-while.  My wife never passes up a chance to travel, so she and I have gone to cons in Germany and France to sign Peanuts comic books that we’ve drawn. I even got to do a book signing in Strasbourg, France for my book Molly and the Bear.  That was really thrilling. 

What's your favorite thing about visiting DC?

 My family and I went to DC when I was about 14. We did the whole monument tour, and I remember seeing the Watergate Hotel.  Everything I knew about Watergate at that age I had learned from Doonesbury.  So, seeing the Watergate hotel was like seeing a celebrity!

Incidentally, I went to Cal Arts with political cartoonist and fellow animator Ann Telnaes. She is tearing it up at the Washington Post.   I love her work! She is the only Pulitzer Prize winner I know.  I tried my hand at political cartoons and I can say with absolute conviction that what she does is much harder than it looks!

What monument or museum do you like to visit?

Seeing the Lincoln Memorial was really terrific. Especially because it was in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. We visited the Smithsonian and that was incredible! I remember seeing Oscar the Grouch. See where I’m going here? My brain is all about movies and cartoons! Anything related to those two things is exciting to me. I have a one track mind.  

How about a favorite restaurant? 

My favorite restaurant in Washington DC?   McDonalds! I was 14. 

Do you have a website or blog?

Yes! You can find Bear with Me on

 GoComics: https://www.gocomics.com/bear-with-me

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bearwithmecomic/

 and Instagram: bobscott_bearwithme 

 How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally?

I have been extremely fortunate that my family and loved ones are all safe and healthy. I am also lucky that the animation industry is humming along at nearly full speed. Vicki and I both have animation jobs and have been working from home. Thank God the technology is there to be able to do that. It has been stressful to see all of this unfold and to see so many people suffering right now.  I am just doing my part by staying home, wearing a mask when I go out and washing my hands like mad. I count our blessings and hope for everyone that it’s over soon.

Friday, December 25, 2020

That darn Telnaes


Ann Telnaes's Sunday Opinion editorial cartoon, "All the Republican rats."

Anne C. Stalfort, Easton, Md.

Aaron Rubin, Rockville

Jack LichtensteinAlexandria

Katherine Murphy, Falls Church

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

The Art of Political Cartooning (with Ann Telnaes and Scott Simon)

The Art of Political Cartooning

Scott Simon, Barry Blitt, Pia Guerra, and Ann Telnaes.

The New Yorker contributor Barry Blitt; cartoonist Pia Guerra; and Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes explore the art of political cartooning with Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday.

Tuesday, November 05, 2019

Off the Record bar has new coasters and artwork

I stopped briefly into the Hay-Adams Hotel bar yesterday and saw a new Trump caricature by Matt Wuerker on the wall of the stairway coming down from the main hotel. I also got a new coaster of Kamala Harris , so I checked with Matt to see what else he'd done with Kevin KAL Kalllaugher and Ann Telnaes.
 
",,,you missed the new Supreme Court!  In the booth behind the bar we've done the current bench. I also did some new coasters-- Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and a new Bernie Sanders. It was just me for this round of coasters.  They needed a quick turn around. The Supremes were evenly divided between the three of us."

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Small Press Expo (SPX) 2019 day 2 in photos

As far as I could tell, SPX was a success again this year, although that varies for individual cartoonists of course. Raina Telgemeier brought in a big crowd of youngsters, but I didn't see a lot of them walking the aisles after waiting on line for her. Actually I never saw her either. Chris Ware also had long lines.

Ann Telnaes and Teresa Roberts Logan (smiling as usual)


Michael Wenthe at Cartozia Tales

John Patrick Green with an advance copy of his new comics series

Jamie Noguchi working on an exciting new project

Drew Weing

Joey Weiser

Matt Bors of The Nib

Carla Speed McNeil

Sarah Boxer, who tabled with her son (not pictured)

Paul Kirchner

Bill Campbell of Rosarium Publishing
And some mid-day crowd shots....






Thursday, January 25, 2018

Ann Telnaes Q&A at Politics and Prose


IMG_20180124_190746_672After she read Trump's ABC, her new book of caricatures about the administration, Ann Telnaes took questions from the audience for about thirty minutes. With her permission, I've transcribed them.

I’ll tell you a little about his book came about. I did not plan to do an ABC book. I had done a lot of sketches in 2016, especially during the primaries and debates, and I originally tried to get a book published of those sketches. My book agent went around, still during the primaries when most people thought Hillary was going to win the presidency (myself included), and couldn’t get any interest. People were already tired of it, and thought Hillary was going to win, so the feedback from publishers was, “We’d like to see a Hillary book.” I thought, “Ok, I can try that – this will be interesting - first female president” – but for some reason, I had this nagging feeling and I just couldn’t come up with something. Of course then the election happened and most of us were surprised, and I thought everybody would be interested in a Trump book. But you’d be amazed at how many publishers didn’t want to do a Trump book – at least an editorial cartooning book.

I put it aside and I happened to take a road trip down to Savannah during the holidays. I had a nine hour drive down and a nine hour drive back. I was driving, because my dog doesn’t, and I didn’t have my hands free to do any sketches. I was thinking about a suggestion a friend had given me, which was to do a political ABC book. Since my hands weren’t free, I put my phone on, and started to recite, “A is for blah, B is for blah...” and I kept doing that all the way down to Savannah and all the way back up. By the time I got back to D.C. I had a book.

Which was amazing, because the hardest thing for me is to let go and let that new thing happen. When you get something in your head – I had a different type of book in my head – but once I let go of it, and I went with what I was thinking, it just came. That was a surprise, a nice surprise. I took a few hours and did some sketching. By chance I was giving a talk at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, and I was talking to James Sturm the co-founder of the college. He looked at my sketches and said, “I’ll put you in touch with Fantagraphics.” I had an email exchange with publisher Gary Groth and it was great. He said, “Yeah, let’s do it” and that’s how the book came to be.

The rhymes were done by the beginning of 2017, and the artwork was finished by May, and I was a little concerned that it wouldn’t hold up. There are some things that obviously aren’t in here, but I’m pretty pleased with it. I’m happy I did it.


Q: How has your image of Trump changed as he’s gone from being the joke candidate to being the actual president? How has your portrayal changed? I know the tie has gotten longer.
IMG_20180124_191508_027
Yes, the tie is wonderful. The tie is the prop that keeps on giving. I’m still playing with that tie.
You know, I didn’t really think of him too much as a joke in the beginning. I had done a couple of Trump cartoons before when he ran earlier that were more joke-like, but when he announced this time, I actually did a cartoon where he was saying, “Me, me, me” all the time, because his run for president was all about him. I think in terms of how he looks physically – to me caricatures are more about who the person is. The more that I listen to him, and the more that I realize that this is all about him, that has developed my caricature.

A difference in the last couple of years is that I’ve gone back to doing colors by hand instead of on the computer. Watercolor is a wonderful medium for accidents. I don’t even know how to use watercolor, but it doesn’t matter.

Q: On your road trip where you composed the book, did you have any ideas that were too angry or obscene to include, and if so, will you share them now?

Probably, but I don’t remember them. Actually, it’s amazing. Except for a couple of letters, I pretty much kept to it. The only one I remember going back and forth on was the “K is for Killing without a new plan,” about Obamacare. At that time, they were just in the middle of trying to kill it and I wasn’t sure if I should say they killed it, or didn’t, so I decided that they’d try to kill it, but they still haven’t killed it yet.

Q: Would you consider doing sequels for other years if he lasts that long? Every day there’s some new crazy story…

Oh god. You’re right. The only thing I find wanting in this book is that there’s other things I want to address. Maybe I can do a counting book.

Obviously I had to make a decision what I was going to do for each letter, and there were certain things I wanted to make sure I got in there, like the separation of powers, and I had to include something about his appearance and his hair, even though that’s kind of silly. People would notice if that wasn’t in there. I wanted to hit specific things. Using “pussy” was deliberate on my part – this is something new. I work for the Washington Post, and I had to ask if I could use that word. I can tell you that they wouldn’t have allowed me to use it in any other situation, but once the President says it, I’m allowed to use it. And now I use it.

Yes, now for another book I could use “shithole countries.”

Q: Since Trump is famously thin-skinned, do you know to what extent he has objected to your cartoons?

Let’s broaden that and say, “Has he reacted to any editorial cartoonists?” Not that I know.  I honestly think it’s because the man doesn’t read. He gets his information from television. We’re not on television and I think that’s the reason he has noticed us. There’s been plenty of work out there that has been hard-hitting against him.

Q: Did Fantagraphics come up with the board book format, or was that something you came into the deal with?

No, actually that was something they had to sell me on. I draw very large, and I tend to want my work printed large. At first I thought it would be a bigger book, but I had a really great designer, Jacob Covey, and he and Gary Groth were both telling me that we needed to do this as a board book. I said, “I don’t know, that’s kind of small,” but when I saw it and held it my hand, I thought, “Yeah, this will work!” I’m really pleased that they convinced me to do it this way because I think it’s perfect.

I draw large. The reason I draw large is because I have an art background. We were encouraged in art school during life drawing classes to draw from the shoulder and not from the wrist. So I’m always doing this [as she makes a big sweeping motion with her arm]. I always feel I draw better larger. It takes more time, but I feel I get a better end product.

Q: The rhyming flows well – was that hard to do?

I’m not a writer. Maybe because I was in the car… I had a lot of time. I said a lot of things over and over, but I’m not a writer. I think because I was raised on Dr. Seuss books that might have helped me a little bit. It’s not perfect, but it worked.

Q: As a journalist, how do you process all the ongoing controversies? Do you ever tune it out?

I have to be honest with you – ever since Trump became President, I just feel the need to draw. I’ve been drawing editorial cartoons for 25 years, and even though I did a lot of cartoons criticizing the Bush administration, and I didn’t agree with their policies, this is a completely different situation for me. It’s a dangerous time. I wake up every morning just wanting to draw. I have to decide what to draw and that is one thing that I’ve made a conscious effort about. There’s a lot of silliness, and with social media, that tends to spiral out of control sometimes, so I try to make sure I’m criticizing actions and policy decisions and not just stupid things he says. Things that have consequences are what I try to do; I don’t know if I’m always successful at that. Personally, I’m having trouble sleeping lately because I’m thinking about it. That is one thing I do. I don’t watch the evening news after the PBS Newshour. I stop, because then my mind is racing for the rest of the evening. But that’s the only personal struggle that I have.

Q: I’ll put you on the spot - where do you see this all ending up?

I think it’s going to go on for a while. I really do. There was a short time right after he became president where I thought “Maybe this is going to be over quickly.” The problem is, and this is what I do my most critical cartoons on, the Republican leadership is the enablers. They are the reason we are still at this point. They have decided that they are going to keep this man in office as long as he is useful to them. And unfortunately, I think that the way Trump operates, and what he responds to, and what he wants out of this… it’s going to be a back-and-forth situation. We’re just going to have to roll along with it. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to take a while.

Q: For a cartoonist, it must be very tempting to hop on the hot-button stuff, the craziness and the complete nuttiness and not the more complicated stuff about the state of the Environmental Protection Agency and political contributions. How do you find a way to make the more complex issues visual?

I take a lot of notes. It’s really a question of what am I going to address today. And make sure I keep the ones that I may go back to later. It is more difficult to do an editorial cartoon about a complicated thing. The EPA is a great example – they’re gutting it. They are gutting it. And people don’t realize the extent of it until they turn their faucets on and they have dirty water. I try to address those things, but when TV is talking about the recent silliness, then that’s what people are paying attention to.

Q: Are there other members of the administration that are iconically recognizable that you can build a cartoon around?

Oh, I love drawing Pence. Pence is one of those examples where I think my cartoon doesn’t really look like him, but it is him. I’ve done Sarah Huckabee – she’s interesting. There’s a lot of good characters in this administration. I drew them in G – grabbing pusy. The KKK guy [in the background] was the last thing I put in the book, because it was right as Charlottesville was happening. The [G-H] spread kept getting more and more people in it and I was so thankful when Scaramucci dropped out. I was like, “Where am I going to put him?” and I just didn’t have to. I stuck Comey in here, because it was the time when he got fired, and everyone said he’s a hero, but they failed to remember that he’s the one that decided to announce that he was reopening an investigation into Hillary. So that’s why I stuck half of him in there.
IMG_20180124_190545_189Q: I wanted to thank you for ending the book on a positive note.

It wasn’t intentional [laughing]. I showed it to a close friend when I first got it, and she said, “You ended it on a positive note. That’s not you.” Z is hard. Zebra or Zen?

Q: Do you now see Trump as wrong, or as evil? If the latter, will that affect your drawing? You draw him as funny-stupid person versus an evil person.

I draw the Republican leadership as evil. I think he’s an opportunist deep down. I think he’s got a lot of faults and he’s an opportunist in the worst sense. He’ll say anything to get what he wants, and he’s got a lot of people around him that are enabling him to do that. And let’s face it – he’s a 71-year-old man. That’s him.

Q: To what extent do you get requests from the editorial board of The Post, or readers, or is it just what you want to do? Do they ever make requests?

No. I come up with the idea and run it by them. They’ve always let me decide what I want to cartoon on. They’ve nixed a few things. Around the time of the Charlottesville protests and killing, I came up with an idea they wouldn’t allow me to do because I think they were concerned about the tenor of the country. I think if I had offered that idea at any other time, it probably would have gone through. Sometimes they have to think about that.

Q: Does The Post have right of first refusal? Or are they your syndicate?

No, I’m not syndicated. I’m exclusive to The Post. I do other work, for The Nib occasionally, but they have the first rights. I did that cartoon for The Nib; they ran it.

Q: Have you been threatened?

By people? Oh yes. All cartoonists get threatened at some point or another. After 9/11 was a difficult time. I did a cartoon about Senator Cruz and I got a lot of threats for that. I think when everyone’s emotions are running high are when you get the most. But mostly we get emails telling us how stupid we are.

Q: Could you talk about becoming a political cartoonist, and then if you have the desire to move out and do other forms of illustration?

Sometimes. [laughs] It depends. I actually started in school for animation. I went to California Institute of the Arts, and studied character animation in the traditional Disney style and I worked for a few years in the animation industry. I had no interest in politics whatsoever. I didn’t read newspapers. I lived in LA – why do you need to read newspapers? One night I was doing a freelance project and I had the television on, and the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 happened right in front of my eyes and I think that woke me up. I became more and more interested in political events, and watching C-SPAN a lot, and I just started doing my own editorial cartoons. Then what finally caused me to decide that I wanted to be an editorial cartoonist was watching the Anita Hill / Clarence Thomas hearings in 1991.

I was a young woman, in my late twenties, and I had dealt with sexual harassment myself and I knew perfectly well it was a problem. To watch a bunch of senators up there, both conservative and liberals, and say that it couldn’t possibly have happened and they didn’t believe Anita Hill made me decide I needed to become an editorial cartoonist. So you can thank those senators; they’re the reason I’m an editorial cartoonist.

Q: What’s your sense of how the #MeToo movement is going to affect the 2018 elections?

Let’s hope it does. Women are mad. I speak to my friends who are my age, and they’re mad, really mad. I hope so because I think it’s about time. It’s funny to hear people to talk about sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. There’s all forms. I’ve dealt with it my entire career. I laugh when I hear people express doubt about it. Every woman has gone through it one way or another. It’s not all rape, but it’s a lot of forms of assault.

I’m going to give a personal example that I’ve never told anywhere. I’m in my fifties. When I had just turned fifty, I was walking down the streets of Washington, D.C. in broad daylight and I had a guy come up from behind and grab me like Trump grabs people. In broad daylight. I’m not a young woman. I was floored. To deal with the police after that? Two female policeman took down everything and did nothing. I was furious. That’s just unacceptable. It was some thirty-something year old guy just thinking he could do it. It’s a problem. And it’s not just for young women, it’s for older women too. There – now I’m really mad.

Q: Is Fantagraphics sending you on a book tour for this?

Yes, I’m going west. I’m going to first start in LA, then to Oakland, then Pixar (where a lot of my old colleagues from CalArts work), and then finish up at Fantagraphics in Seattle in February.

More pictures from the evening can be seen at Bruce Guthrie's site. If you want to see how large her drawings are, original cartoons by Ann can be seen at the Library of Congress in the Drawn to Purpose exhibit or in the Hay-Adams Hotel's Off the Record bar.  An article about the bar and the cartoonists (that I wrote and interviewed Ann for) will be in the upcoming issue of White House History magazine. Ann's previous book, Dick, about Vice President Cheney can be bought online and is highly recommended. Three styles of t-shirts with Ann's cartoons on them can be bought at Amazon.