DRAWN TO PRESIDENTS: Portraits and Satiric Drawings by Drew Friedman

A new exhibit, DRAWN TO PRESIDENTS: Portraits and Satiric drawings by Drew Friedman will open to the public on November 2nd, 2019 and run till Feb 9th, 2020 at the BIlly Ireland CARTOON Library & Museum at Ohio State University.

The exhibit will feature all of the original artwork created for my latest book from Fantagraphics ALL THE PRESIDENTS, as well as presidential-themed original artwork drawn for, among others, SPY, MAD, TIME, NEWSWEEK, THE NEW YORKER, THE NEW REPUBLIC, The NEW YORK OBSERVER, and TOPPS Wacky Packs, plus sketches, rough drawings, magazine tearsheets, and rare presidential-themed ephemera on loan from my collection, books, MAD magazines, trading cards, buttons, record albums, MARX figurines, etc. 

Please Join me for the opening reception on Saturday, November 16th where I'll be in conversation with the great illustrator C.F. Payne at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Books will be for sale and availble for inscription.

https://library.osu.edu/site/cartoons/2019/10/11/new-exhibit-drawn-to-presidents/

the original art created for this New Yorker cover will be on display...

as will this image, the first depiction of George W. Bush on the cover of a national magazine.

 also on display, the current POTUS, painted for ALL THE PRESIDENTS

Drawing President Trump

My latest book, All The Presidents, portraits of all 45 presidents of the United States, inevitably concludes with the current president, Donald J. Trump. I didn't draw the 45 presidents chronologically, but I did save and draw Trump last, mainly because I just wasn't quite sure how to approach him. I've drawn him many times over the years, beginning in the mid-eighties for the satiric monthy SPY when he was still just a NYC real estate developer, and as his fame grew nationally, in publications such as The New York Observer, TIME, MAD, Fortune and others.

I drew some initial Trump sketches for my new book which I rejected for various reasons... too goofy, too silly, too buffoonish, etc. My intention with this book was to try not to overtly editorialize, so I finally rendered this portrait of Trump which concludes the book. Make of the expression what you will.

My Trump pencil sketch:

The finished art:

the book's cover: