Blaine MacDonald

Redbubble Swag: Of Kings and Queens, Emperors, Czars and Wannabes

(Graeme is currently enjoying a Summertime respite from his usual duties drawing editorial cartoons. In the meantime, please enjoy this illustration highlight on offer for purchase through Redbubble. Graeme’s daily satire returns on September 1, 2020.)

House of Tudor socks

You may be familiar with my depictions of each King and Queen through English and British history. Whether it’s simply the bizarre pomp, weird clothes, or the complex social impact they had on civilizations for centuries, they represent an intriguing chronology of human history and culture.

The ermine, the crowns, the jewels, sceptres, orbs, funny hats and regalia – how can anyone not appreciate all that wonderful, ostentatious bling. It’s as fantastic to draw as it is to gaze upon. There’s a reason why the crown jewels at the Tower of London can only be viewed from a conveyor belt moving humans along because of the non-stop line of people who want to look at them.

ER mug

While monarchy as a form of government can be applied to many parts of the world through history, and still does today in various forms, it is the constitutional structure in Canada that is of particular interest to me for obvious reasons being a Canadian. The British monarch applies to this country as the rock solid foundation of power and authority abiding by limits prescribed within an established legal framework. It affirms order in times of peace, with good government, to paraphrase the expression that goes as a pretty good slogan among the realm states of the mother country. They have for a thousand years acted on desires to expand their influence and have fended off external challenges by those seeking to expand their own powers. They have had to contend with many rebellions from within and have adapted accordingly, surrendering human control along the way and all the flaws that come with human nature, to codifying a structure of order, justice, rights, and freedoms.

British Monarchs through the ages pandemic mask

But it’s the human faces of the institution that has stirred countless passions among humanity over the centuries from cultish followings of loyalty and devotion, to utter contempt and hatred. It is the longest soap opera of the English speaking world, with big bold leading figures coming and going through the ages providing volumes of dramatic storylines. From the battles: the victories and the losses; the struggles with the church; the politics; the culture, the literature, the art, the architecture, the music and theatre, there is much we owe a debt of gratitude to the royal figures who led Great Britain as these blossomed.

British Monarchy Merch

“To mask, or not to mask. I know the answer.”

While William Shakespeare isn’t exactly British royalty he sure saw the soap opera nature about them. Writing plays about Richard II, Richard III, Henry IV,  Henry V, Henry VI, and even the biggest Henry of them all, Henry VIII.  Incidentally, he also wrote about Roman Emperors, and there’s a design I offer of Julius Caesar.  

England’s King Henrys

Speaking of Henry, how about just King Henry socks. All the Henrys on one sock – ask yourself, has there ever been such a thing? Is there anywhere else on the planet one can find such a product?  Ideal for the British history buff, or for the Henrys in your life, these socks cover Henry I (1100-1135), Henry II (1154-1189), Henry III (1216-1272), Henry IV (1399-1413), Henry V (1413-1422), Henry VI (1422-1453), Henry VII (1495-1509), and Henry VIII (1509-1547.)

 

Thomas Cranmer coasters, you ask? Why not?

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, the boy-king Edward VI and, briefly, bloody Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, bringing about the Church of England. Dude wore colourful robes and funny hats. Unfortunate for him was his belief in the supremacy of Kings and Queens, which didn’t go over well with Queen Mary, a rebel Catholic child of Henry VIII. Under her reign he was dragged to a public square and burned alive. 

Louis XIV t-shirt

Designs on offer are not just restricted to the English monarchy. There is a caricature of Louis XIV, King of France, otherwise known as the Sun King (1643-1715.) It was his long 72 year reign as an absolute monarch clinging to the notion of Divine Right of Kings, his failure to reform state institutions which arguably contributed to social dissent leading years after to the French Revolution. Which Frenchman gained more than any other Frenchman because of the French Revolution? Napoleon Bonaparte, of course, but like all other heroes against the establishment, Oliver Cromwell immediately comes to mind, both eventually fell into the trap as pretenders to the crowd, and both have designs of themselves in the MacKaycartoons Boutique.

Czar Vladimir Putin spiral notebook

Speaking of crown pretenders, they may not be a monarchs, but there are two heads of state who might easily be viewed as such considering things they’ve said or done or enacted. Vladimir Putin, has been ruler of Russia since the days of Bill Clinton.  Putin has overseen numerous changes of his country’s Constitution which may effectively find him ruling like a czar over Russia for many years to come. In case you’re not into him being depicted in all that regalia, there is a standard design of  a suited full-bodied Vladimir Putin.

 

King Donald Trup sticker

Donald Trump is all about golden flourishes on his over the top real estate holdings, so much so that he disparaged the digs handed to him when he won the U.S. Presidency. Accused of trying to rule like a king, he declares his admiration for autocrats and oppressive regimes Of our times that wouldn’t be out of the ordinary from 12th century England. 

Wednesday February 8, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Wednesday February 8, 2012

Longtime Spec cartoonist Blaine dead at 74

One of The Spectator’s most colourful and well-known personalities of recent decades has died.

Blaine, who was the newspaper’s editorial cartoonist for 30 years until his retirement in 1993, had been in poor health in recent years after heart surgery and a stroke and was living at Macassa Lodge. He died at Juravinski Hospital Sunday evening. 

He was born in Glace Bay, N.S., with the name Blaine MacDonald. But as he gained profile in the world of cartooning, adopting a style that was strongly influenced by the great Toronto Star cartoonist Duncan Macpherson, he legally changed his name to Blaine. 

Blaine was anything but bland. He had a black belt in karate, played guitar and sang, liked wearing cowboy boots and jewellery and was remembered for driving motorcycles and a Corvette Stingray monogrammed with a drawing of a butterfly on the hood.

The story goes that he once picked up an injured butterfly by the side of the road, nursed it back to health, and then used the experience of releasing it for inspiration to buy lottery tickets. He matched numbers to the letters of the song Butterflies are Free (B=2, U=21 etc.) and won $15,443 in Lottario. 

But that wasn’t the only thing he won during his life. For his editorial cartooning, Blaine received National Newspaper Awards, a Reuben Award and a Salon of Cartoons Grand Prize. Blaine created a national profile for himself and the paper through the syndication of his work. 

 Roy Carless, a local cartoonist who died in 2009, once described Blaine as “probably the most brilliant caricaturist that I ever met. A lot of artists were jealous of him.” 

Other Blaine admirers included Pierre Trudeau, who wrote to Blaine in May 1969, saying: “I am not sure whether it is more foolhardy for a politician to praise the work of a cartoonist, or to refuse to do so — particularly when the cartoonist holds a black belt in karate. In any case, I freely admit to enjoying your drawings, both the lifelike pencil portraits and the imaginative political caricatures. Keep that pencil sharpened. My fellow politicians and I will keep you well supplied with material.”

But actually it was Blaine who owed thanks to the former prime minister. Trudeau was one of the cartoonist’s favourite subjects and Blaine won a National Newspaper Award by depicting him putting his middle finger into a light socket with one hand and holding an illuminated light bulb with the other. The caption: Finger Power. 

Blaine’s caricatures of Trudeau have a special meaning to The Spec’s current editorial cartoonist, Graeme MacKay. Years ago, as a Grade 10 student with a sketchbook tucked under his arm, MacKay went into The Spec’s newsroom to meet Blaine. 

MacKay says he remembers the five-minute meeting with his hero in such detail that he can still play it like a short movie inside his head. It ends with Blaine grabbing a blue pencil and a piece of paper, and in a matter of seconds drawing a cartoon of Trudeau.

“I thought, ‘This guy is incredible,’” MacKay says. “I still have the drawing.”

Blaine’s wife, Ildiko Horvath, said Blaine was “a very hard worker. Sometimes he would get an idea and draw it and later on think of something else. He’d tear it up and start again and he would come home at 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock when he was finally finished.”

Former MP and cabinet minister Sheila Copps said: “He was an unbelievably talented artist, and a great motorcyclist. He gave me my first ride on a bike, home from my summer job at The Spec. His cartoons really captured the essence of the moment. Several of his cartoons about my time in politics are framed prized possessions.”

Former Mayor Bob Morrow said: “He had a following that would turn to see what he had drawn in the paper before turning to anything else. He was a very nice fellow and a great depicter of the events of the day.”

Jack MacDonald, who died in 2010, used to say he treasured the political cartoons that Blaine drew of him during his time as mayor. His favourite was published after an election win and pictured the new mayor crawling into bed with a big ceremonial chain around his neck and his wife, Jessie, remarking, “You can’t wear that thing to bed.”

MacDonald — who wrote a regular column for The Spec in the 1990s, working out of the same editorial page office as Blaine — once told a reporter: “If you knew him, you knew he was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. If you crossed him, he would be very upset about it. But there was no malice in him. There was humour.”

MacKay says Blaine had a different sense of humour than political cartoonists today. 

“His cartoons weren’t nasty,” he says. “He used more of a whimsical approach. It was kind of a Rich Little kind of humour compared to the more cutting, crass things you see on late-night television.” 

Horvath said recent years had been difficult for Blaine. He couldn’t speak and suffered from partial paralysis. He had been admitted to the Juravinski Hospital because he was having trouble breathing. He died at about 8 p.m. after watching part of the Super Bowl on television.

“You know how some people can predict things? He always used to say that he wanted to live to 74,” she said. “And he did.” 

As well as Horvath, Blaine is survived by a daughter, Tana, and son, Kirk. Visitation will take place Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Bay Gardens Funeral Home, 1010 Botanical Dr., Burlington. The funeral will be held there at 11 a.m. Friday. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

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