This is the full-page comic for the November 2023 People’s Pen magazine.  I call it the “Woke Danger” Fold-In.

The editor of People’s Pen requested a comic illustration in the style of the classic 1960’s MAD Magazine “Fold-Ins.”

The project to be made required that the final published piece essentially be two separate illustration which could “link up” together through the folding of the newspaper page.

In order to accomplish this task, I set about a series of thumbnail sketches to conceive of the best way to create shapes which could be interpreted by the reader as different objects, or even body parts in some instances, which could then also serve a purpose as another object after the transformation.

To generate a strong emotional reaction in the viewer required a cultural demonstration which would resonate with readers.  So the core concept I launched with was the idea of the nuclear family… in peril!  The threats I settled on would be rogue AI, a UFO government psyop, and biomedical tampering.

And… Antifa!

Through the process of dozens of small progressively-realized sketches on paper with pencil, I slowly worked out the details on a smaller scale of how the visual trickery would work.  Then as I scaled up the project to a larger size, I refined the imagery using my large scale Wacom stylus input screen.

Moving back to traditional media, I transferred the refined (properly operating) optical puzzle imagery to oversized watercolor board.  Using my preferred method of hand-painting, I delicately inked the linework using black india ink.  I primarily used my Windsor-Newton #4 round sable brush, an expensive, top-notch tool which many people reject due to the high level of dexterity required to achieve a polished line.

Then I water-washed the artwork with several layers to create shadows, light and smoke.  After creating some clever (I hope) text which can be broken down into a different series of words after folding the page, and completing the layout to scale as Mad Magazine’s Al Jaffee would have done, the piece was completed and printed.  And the newspaper page worked great.

This was a complicated design process but a welcome change from the more technical work I often produce for clients, which tends more towards heavy graphic design.

Let’s take back the culture together,

1. James McFarland

This is what it looks like when it is folded: