I've entitled this post "Politically Incorrect" for good reason. Last week, I made a post here and across social media of the latest caricature illustration of current events. The last image was called Dr Trumpenstein, as he was depicted as a mad scientist with the head of Jeff Sessions in a jar. We all know that Jeff Sessions has been stirring up a little stink as of late and of course, Trump has been in the news every day with something new and outrageous. This is pretty typical of our political system today as it has been for many generations here in the US as well as every other nation in the world. Overall, the image received overwhelming positive reviews but there were a few people who took offense or had something negative to say about it. Even a couple of people who unfollowed me on facebook and I'm sure some other social media platforms. I wasn't the first to create an image specifically called Dr Trumpenstein. Simply Google the search term "Dr Trumpenstein" or search twitter with the hashtag "#trumpenstein" and you'll see there were many before me.
The reason for this post is to make a couple of points about the matter. I am not against President Donald Trump or any other politician for that matter. Political cartoons and satire have been around since before this nation was founded and will continue to be for all time, or as long as our nation remains free. When I create political images, it's not because of any political agenda. It has nothing at all to do with political party, race, gender, or nationality. They are just for fun. It's the way things have always been and they always will be. If you look closely at the images provided above, you'll see what I mean. There are a wide range of images here (and these are only a few I've done over the years) depicting black, white, male, female, Republican, Democrat, US citizens, foreign rulers and even Mr Bean posing as President George Washington. Many of these images date back several years when I was doing Photoshop contest work for a site that sadly has closed it's doors called "Freaking News". It was a Photoshop contest website based on current news events with a freaky and funny twist. This is where I got my start in Photo manipulation, caricatures and political satire starting in 2010. I had a lot of fun in those days and met some great artists along the way, many of which will respond to this post as they understand what these images are all about.
Note: There are several images depicted above of former President Barack Obama. There is good reason for this. I have nothing against Obama, or any other politician for that matter. The reason that Obama is featured in many of my images is that he was the most visible figure on the planet for much of the time I've been working in Photoshop, just as President Donald Trump is now. So, it doest matter what party they're from, their race, gender, nationality etc. It's political satire / cartoons. They are simply meant to be absurd so I appreciate the comments both positive and negative. I guess I accomplished what I set out to do if a few peoples' feathers were ruffled. Just know that I have no prejudice when creating these images and they will continue as long as I have the freedom we have as a nation to do so. Expect more in the future no matter who is in office. I hope you understand. Those who do are welcome to check out my online store at https://www.RodneyPikeArt.com/Store and help yourself to these fun and absurd images.
As always, thanks for stopping by and if you have any questions, commission inquiries or feedback, feel free to contact me at rodneywpike@gmail.com.
Have a great day and be inspired!
