COVID-19 Cartoons

Fastest Vaccine in the West
June 2020

There were so many things going on at the time. Originally I had this image in my head of a cowboy with a syringe riding a hand sanitizer bottle. No reason really, just thought it was a funny image. The wild wild west, the idea of the race to get to a vaccine for COVID-19 and also that all came together as this image. 

Another funny thing I came across was that people were desperate for haircuts. I takes me back to a comic of Tin Tin where there was this hair growing potion that the detectives had taken, making their hair grown uncontrollably. Also, the security guard at my Toronto Condo had this ridiculous hairdo, you couldn't even see his face. It was like he had just given up (he was normally very stylish with his hair!)

Then there's the Anti Vaccine group, who after all this race to get to a vaccine, don't want it because they don't want Bill Gates following them around.

Then of course we have Trump citing his own medical opinions on what to take to cure COVID-19.

And last but not least the murder wasps and the social distance hats.

That person under the rock is probably just me counting the days!

The bird on the cloud is a throw back to Asterix and Obelix comics with the famous saying 'These Romans are Crazy!'

The origin of the virus revealed
​June 2020

I don't remember where this idea came from! I think it was all the several theories going around about where the virus originated form. Was it a lab in Wuhan? Was it eating bats in the wet markets? Was it the Pangolin? This strange creature that nobody has ever heard of before.

Anyways, I wanted an excuse to draw this ridiculous scene. All characters were fun to draw except the human.  I just enjoyed working on this one, and it as the first long more detailed piece I worked on for this virus. 

I wasn't too happy with the colours, but not too displeased either. It needed to be this weird tropical unknown locations sort of thing and I think that came across well.

Coronavirus in April 2020

There was definitely some bird/animal theme going on here. 

The one with the bird in the cage is actually inspired by not being able to understand how people can keep birds in cages. That animals was made to fly! It can go anywhere in the world, and you keep it in a cage! And so I think it would be ironic for people who keep birds in cages to complain about not being able to leave their house. 

The birds on the branch were ofcourse inspired by how clean our skies have been since the lockdown and how all sorts of animals have been seen roaming the streets of normally populated areas.

​The Easter Bunny was a pretty simple idea, and I love doing ink wash. It was also funny because for whatever the reason that bunny looks like a real sinister fellow. Also love how the colours on that easter egg contrast the rest of the image.

And of course there is Trump as the Pied Piper leading his followers of the cliff. The leadership in the USA has been so bad during this crisis, and as Trump played the tune of his followers, he lead the whole country into a real terrible situation, or so it seems.

Coronavirus in March 2020

It seems like I was almost producing a new illustration everyday of the week here! The virus had just arrived in Toronto and we had gone into lockdown. It was clear this was taking a sudden toll on the health system and specially the elderly population. Terms like Social Distancing were used more often, and people were hoarding toilet paper of all things. 

In Florida, youngsters flocked to the beaches despite all warnings. Trump was envisioning an Easter with 'packed churches'. We were facing the challenge of staying at home and entertaining and educating our 3 year old son all day long and get work done at the same time.  

The most oft used mantras were 'stay inside' and 'wash your hands!' And there was a heightened sense of paranoia on the streets. People were genuinely scared, they didn't understand what this virus was. It was the invisible enemy. 

I went for black and white as I had planned on doing this on a daily basis.

Valentines Day with Coronavirus looming - February 2020

This was a funny time. We watched form afar as Wuhan was struggling under the virus spread. We even travelled to Spain and came back to Toronto in mid February. Everything was normal then. We did notice a few people at the Amsterdam airport with masks on and thought how crazy and paranoid they must be. Why do they have to wear masks and make the rest of us paranoid too?

In Toronto, everything was normal, we were using the subway everyday, our son was going to school and so on. At this time we had no idea of what was coming.

My mom had sent me some scientist's warning about what was going to happen, and just listening to it sounded so crazy and fictional. We could have never imagined or believe what was to come.

I did this illustration with pen and ink actually, and really enjoyed getting into the details with it, there are some things that you can do with a pen that you can't do with a brush.  I think that a brush would be great for larger strokes, and pen for small curves.

The Coronavirus enters the scene - January 2020

This is the point where we first heard of this 'virus' that was spreading in Wuhan, and at the time it seemed to me that most of the 'fear' being created was through social media and other sources on the phone. Nothing around us physically suggested that there was any threat in Toronto, but there was a growing fear, a fear of this unknown.

This is the first illustration I did on the topic. I like how it turned out, the colours too. Later on down the line, Moneytalk at TD would need an illustration for their article on 'stress and covid' and I would end up using this one.