The Wayback Machine

The best bad drawing I ever drew

This isn’t a great drawing-but it’s one I’m proud of. You need the story to understand why.

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. The official announcement came from Buckingham Palace at 6:30 PM BST-1:30 PM EST. Within seconds, every major outlet-BBC, CNN, the lot-pushed it out. By the next day, it would be the biggest story in the world.

I was just finishing a cartoon for the Washington Post when the news broke.

I told Jo-Ann Armao-one of my favourite people-that I wanted to pivot and take this on. She didn’t hesitate.

“You better be quick. Your deadline is 5.”

That was it.

I had an idea within 30 minutes. The problem: it required 16 caricatures—and I had two hours to pull it off.

So I did the math.

120 minutes ÷ 17 figures = 7 minutes and 3 seconds per person.

That included 15 prime ministers and one Queen. And the 17th interval was left for colour.

I called Jo-Ann back.

“You’re going to draw that and still hit 5?”

“Yes,” I said. “But if I’m not close by 4:30, I’ll abandon it and you can run the original cartoon.”

She agreed.

I hung up, set a 7-minute timer, and started.

The Queen first. She mattered most.

Seven minutes. Alarm.

Next: Winston Churchill.
Alarm.

Clement Attlee.
Alarm.

Anthony Eden.
Alarm.

Harold Macmillan.
Alarm.

Alec Douglas-Home.
Alarm.

And on it went.

By the time I reached Tony Blair, I’d slipped a bit. I recalculated the remaining time, shaved seconds where I could, and pushed on.

Blair.
Gordon Brown.
David Cameron.
Theresa May.
Boris Johnson.
Liz Truss.

When I finished Truss, I gave myself two minutes to fix the weakest faces and make sure the Queen held the whole thing together.

Then I coloured it-fast, not well.

Signed it. Scanned. Sent it.

Jo-Ann wrote back with one of the best compliments I’ve ever received. I’ll keep that between us.

If you saw the drawing in a gallery, you might pass it by. It’s rough. Rushed. If you had a magnifying glass it’s crap. Thatcher looks like a man in the face. The hands are a joke. The colour looks like it was done by a 5 year old.

But it might be one of my best drawings.