The President’s Car

This drawing is called The President’s Car. I made it in 2014 using a mechanical pen and a lot of stippling. That’s a technique I use in nearly all of my drawings to some degree. It’s not the fastest way to work, but I like the texture it creates and the steady rhythm of building up tone with small marks. There’s something about it that feels calm and methodical, even when the subject matter isn’t.

The image shows Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and Lady Bird Johnson, packed tightly into the front seat of a car. It’s not based on any specific event. I’ve always been interested in political figures, both historical and contemporary, and this felt like an interesting combination to draw. Sometimes those drawings are intended to make a point, but this one wasn’t. I just liked the awkwardness of the moment and the tension between the three of them.

The speech bubble that says “NO NOW” wasn’t planned. A lot of the text that ends up in my drawings comes from spontaneous thoughts that appear while I’m working. They usually feel disconnected from whatever’s happening in the image, but somehow still belong there. This one showed up near the end, and it felt right to leave it in.

I shared a colorized version of this drawing around the time I made it, but this is the original version in black and white. It sat in a folder for a while before I came back to it. Compared to the color version, this one feels more direct, and a little less concerned with presentation. I think I like it better that way.