Lisa Benson and the California Drought

Lisa Benson’ s cartoon about California’s drought and water shortage is typical of a good political cartoon. A complex and controversial theme is conveyed in a simple drawing. There also is plenty of sarcasm. 

The lifeguard is a donkey, the symbol of the Democratic Party. A Democratic Governor, State Legislature, and Assembly controlled California, during the years of the latest drought. Lisa Benson, a popular syndicated political cartoonist, is a Republican from California.

 

The Democratic wildlife lifeguard sits in his chair and doesn’t appear concerned about the human prostrate with dehydration. The fish in their own little bowl are in danger from the water evaporating and overheating while the Democratic lifeguard is content to let them “have fun in the warm California sun.”

 

Benson cleverly plays on the words “Calif. Wildlife Guard.“ Is the guard himself wildlife? Or does the guard protect wildlife? Perhaps, the guard is something out of “Baywatch” and is a California wild lifeguard.

 

Most of California’s agriculture is in the Central Valley where the ranchers and farmers are Republicans. Their signs along the 5 Freeway read, “Is growing food for you a waste of water?” or “Your food needs water. Build more dams.”  It’s the word “you” that gives the billboards a confrontational undertone. Sometimes I take the 101 so I don’t have to read their signs. 

 

Droughts cause a shortage of water. Democrats prefer to conserve the commodity and ration. Republicans, ignoring the ecological impact, want to build more dams and increase the supply. 

Texas Billboards

I needed an image of a billboard in Amarillo for a video project I was making. A Google search took me on an interesting adventure.

The billboard went up in June 2018, just outside of Vega TX, near the NM state line.

Then this sign appeared on I-40 in Amarillo.

A barrage of trash talk appeared on social media. Someone posted to tell them to come to Albuquerque where we have intelligence. 

 

Texas Monthly weighed in with:

 

Telling people to get out of the state, though, isn’t the finest expression of traditional Texas values. Regardless of where you stand politically, we can all recognize that friendliness is a key Texas trait. “The Friendly State” has been our official slogan since 1930! (If one insists on a message with some political shade, might we recommend “Bless your heart”?)

 

The billboard controversy ended when Burkett Media (based in Austin) convinced and reimbursed the client to take down the sign. Almost every year I go to Amarillo and then west to Albuquerque. I never got to see either sign.

Oh, here is the image that I used.

 

Here's the composite text graphic on a starry background.

And here is the placement of my graphic.

It was just what I wanted – a nighttime image of a well lit sign. It is on the north  side of I-40, just before the Courtyard by Marriott and the Kabuki Romanza Japanese restaurant. An accurate image adds versimilitude to the video.  

The Cluttered Mess VS. Order And Minimalism

When I'm on the road, sometimes there is a bumper sticker car at a rest stop.

 

The stickers usually include a Peace Symbol, a Rainbow and 

a Coexist sicker.

My dog KT seems to attract them and they want to play with her and talk. I can't talk to them because they often rant incessantly. They often abruptly change the subject and go off on a tangent. KT who has been certified as a therapy dog, seems to like them. The inside of their vehicle is usually a cluttered mess. One day on a walk with KT we passed a house with a bumper sticker car in the driveway. The yard was an accumulation of junk. I think they were hoarders.

Bumper sticker cars in the Saint Louis area often have this combination:

KSHE and Vintage Vinyl sometime are seen as isolated stickers on a car. NRA and NATIVE TEXAN bumper stickers are almost never seen in a hodgepodge cluster. Right wing Republicans want order. 

I have been taking KT to Pupazzo Dog Grooming in Long Beach for 10 years. No other groomer seems to be able to make as nice a Mohawk. KT loves the groomer there. After a few years I saw their van in front of the store.

It is a cluttered mess of images. Each time I see this graphic disaster I think about going someplace else. But the dog loves the entire staff and they do a great job grooming.

Below is a great example of a strong graphic that is definitely minimalist.

Last year I saw this graphic on a construction site in Long Beach.

it was on Pacific Coast Highway about a half mile from where I stay and about a half mile before Pupazzo dog grooming. It was a daily contrast for me. The McCarthy construction graphic wasn't a new idea. The style, called Plakatstil, developed in Germany in the first decade of the 20th century. In the history of graphic communication class that I took two years ago we had to identify 6 or 7 Plakatstil designers and be able to list 4 components that go with the style:

1.   flat colors. 

2.   simplified shapes  

3.   bold fonts. 

4.   narrow focus rather than the busy hodgepodge of Art Nouveau.

Taking well organized survey class where the objectives are clearly outlined has been very helpful.

Here's an example of a 1911 Plakastihl that is similar to the McCarthy poster.

Over the past 12 years, I have taken at the Community College, graphic design, history, art, political science and film study classes. They definitely have changed how I see the world.

Developing Photo Editing Skills

I started using Photoshop in 2008. Color correction of images was one of the first skills I tried to learn. What I thought was good color correction a few years ago makes me sick to look at today. The Lynda.com on line courses on video color correction and creating a look to a movie were very helpful.

Here is scan of an image from a scrapbook that Eberly sent me for a 2015 Christmas video I made for her Dad and Stepmother.

Here is the correction I made.

It's a big improvement. But 5 years ago, I couldn't see that there was too much magenta.

Here is the correction I made today: