Day 198 / A Campaign Fold-In

I decided to break from the flow and do something a little more random last night.

I have gained a massive amount of respect for the artist Al Jaffee.  He is most notable as the guy responsible for the fold-ins on the last page of MAD Magazine.  They are a staple of popular culture, and  even now, at the ripe age of 87, he still creates them for the magazine today.  To spend 55 years creating one of these amazing fold-ins a month makes my blog challenge look like real chump change.

I tried to do one of these a while back on Day 116 but I kind of failed.  I mistakenly drew myself into a corner by rendering my “folded-in” drawing too much I couldn’t disguise it in the “folded-out” mode.  This time I think I was successful but there was a point last night where I thought I may have been in over my head.

I started off thinking I’d do something related to the Quran-burning-guy in Florida because the fold-ins from MAD usually say something about a current event in the news.  Jenny came up with the idea to do a campaign thing for Jesse LaTour.

Jesse La Tour is a friend of ours and he’s currently running for Fullerton City Council.  He is iconic for his long beard and even his campaign posters make use of it.  He is known for spreading art and culture in the area by founding the Fullerton Art Walk and opening one of Fullerton’s only art galleries “The Hibbleton”.

I decided to make use of these factors.   So, what looks like, in Folded-out mode, a bustling street with people at the Fullerton Art Walk turns into, when folded in, a portrait of Jesse La Tour complete with iconic long beard.  Jenny figured out the words for me so that when you folded it in it would form the words “Vote for Jesse La Tour”

If you’re interested I did an interview with Jesse some time ago on Day 117.  Also please do check out this great interactive website taking you through some of Al Jaffee’s AMAZING work.

Thanks!