Law School Newspaper Illustrations

So I met this really nice guy at a bar a few months ago. He told me he is a law student- I told him I was an undergraduate Illustration major. He then asked me if I was interested in doing some work for his school's newspaper. Well, Faegans (the bar I frequent) has a night called 'Flip Night'. Basically the bartender flips a coin and if you guess correctly you get a free beer. Long story short- I had been winning a lot this night and have a huge soft spot for Franzikaner Heffeweizens. I answered this law student with an emphatic 'yes!'

I do not regret saying yes, but I did not realize how hard this would be for me. I am not a political/editorial artist really at all. It was hard for me to visualize the articles I had to illustrate. I decided that my Illustrator skills would better suit me for these assignments than my drawing ability. I actually really like the outcome- I think they are clean and to the point. (Which, from what I've learned, that's what you want out of a political cartoon or illustration).

The first Illustration is based on an article on how many of the owners of major oil companies used to be a part of or have connections with the formal KGB. The second Illustration is about how the withdrawal from NATO is in 2014 and how Afghanistan, Pakistan and the USA are trying to fight for how to deal with North Waziristan. The third illustration is based on a paper about how Obama has succeeded in weeding out a lot of terrorists but they have started to adapt to our tactics. The final image is my favorite one and it is about Pakistan's suicide bombers.