The Pope and the Doves

And the power of his legacy

Hello! Normally, I would post a rough sketch prior to working on the finished drawing. But in this case, for several reasons, I jumped right in to the finished.

In part, because news of the pontiff's death only broke earlier today. And I knew that editors across the U.S.—and elsewhere around the world—would be wanting a tribute cartoon for tomorrow's editions.

Also, I honestly didn't know what this drawing was going to be. I had a sense of it, but that was all. Something with doves to capture the message and legacy that Pope Francis leaves behind: that of peace, humility, hope, humanity, love, kindness...

Had I had more time I might have sketched it out in great detail first, but not this time. I was still figuring out what it was going to be as I kept adding all those doves and then added color. It really wasn't until the color came into focus that the overall drawing became to take shape.