Iqaluit illustrator makes his first political cartoon a whopper

Illustrator Jonathan Wright said he first made Ford a dancing puppet but decided being trapped in a crack pipe bubble was much more fitting. (PHOTO FROM THESTAR.COM)

At first, the image of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford trapped in a crack pipe was considered a little too controversial for the Toronto Star newspaper.

That was until the mayor actually admitted to smoking crack. Then it was bang-on.

“It was really, really great timing how it worked out,” said Apex-based illustrator and Toronto native Jonathan Wright. “I guess I’m a bit of a clairvoyant man.”

Wright, better known for his work in books and animation, said he was just drawing pictures of Ford this weekend after news broke that Ford had been under Toronto police surveillance for months and that police had also recovered the infamous video which shows Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine.

“I sat down to draw Rob Ford, to get a likeness. It’s not always easy to do,” Wright said. “At first, I had him as a doll, a ridiculous dancing puppet.”

But then he did some online research to find out what a crack pipe looks like and when he saw that it usually has a big bubble at the end, an idea clicked.

“I thought how fitting it would be to be trapped inside it, a pipe of his own making.”

Originally the flames below were coming from a cell phone but his wife, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, also an artist and filmmaker, said there were too many elements so he took the phone out.

“I listened to my wife,” he said with pretend exasperation. “It was the right thing to do.”

Wright then sent the finished image to a friend at the Toronto Star but didn’t hear back. When he inquired about it, he was told it was a little over the top.

But then after Ford actually admitted to crack use, editors decided it was perfect, for both their print and online editions.

Wright says he has always admired Aislin’s work in the Montreal Gazette and other political cartoonists for their sharp wit and deep insight into current affairs.

He’s hoping this first political cartoon of his won’t be his last.

Meantime, he has been working as art director for Pinnguaq’s new Qalupalik video game.

Pinnguaq is a Pangnirtung-based tech start-up run by Ryan Oliver.