Thursday, August 25, 2011

Early '90s Politics


This piece appeared in a Sacramento newspaper back when restaurants were dealing with the newly discovered health issue of toxic tobacco air by cordoning off Smoking Areas just a few yards away from where normal human beings dined. The cartoon may seem obvious by today’s standards, but back then it was a shot fired across the bow at pro-tobacco advocates who wanted a more civil discourse about their habit.
 This cartoon is also time-warped for the use of Zip-A-Tone. Transparent sheets of dots in various weights created tones of gray. The #11 Xacto blade was wielded on the flimsy and finicky material to cut the elaborate shapes that were required. Though once the staple of most professional illustrators and cartoonists, this product (along with rub-down letters) became suddenly obsolete as the computer set the new standards of reproduction.
  This artwork is now offered on Ebay, until 9/4 Here’s the link (to paste in browser with rubber cement):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/250880685321?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649