The following unexciting video is just me doodling Jacob Zuma. In under two minutes.

Any likeness to Brett Murray’s painting, “The Spear”, is purely coincidental.

My previous edition of JermTV is of me drawing Kim Jong-un holding his rocket.

My infographic cartoon has been receiving some intelligent and insightful comments via the social networks. The kind of constructive discourse that makes one, you know, think deeply and stuff.

Like these:

Hang on.

The Spar, inside which Jessica Leandra tweeted her love for black people, has a waiter?

That Spar must be the greatest Spar in the history of Spars. I can imagine the conversation.

“A table for one, sir?”
“No, thanks. It’s take-away.”
“Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Yes, can you get me a box of full-cream long-life milk and a two-litre bottle of Coke.”
“No problem. And to eat?”
“Please grab me a packet of spaghetti; free-range eggs; a loaf of brown bread; and All Gold tomato sauce. Oh, and some winegums.”

I like how the one commentator (smartly) compares some obscure model to Charlize Theron throwing a tantrum inside a bank. Meanwhile, one commentator unfortunately has no idea what is going on, and another (correctly) believes that models are brainless morons who are exploited by FHM.

But the most enlightened remarks, by far, have to be the following two:

He does have a point. I do indeed read tabloids rapidly; a quick how’s-your-father, if you know what I mean.

After all, that’s what we idiots do.

A mate and I were chatting, recently, about political cartoon topics, and I said that subject matter is mostly reactive instead of proactive. In other words, cartoonists are more likely to give commentary after something has made the news. Which makes sense because readers will probably find themselves scratching their heads, otherwise.

Cartoonists don’t create the news; cartoonists respond to the news. (Unless the president sues a cartoonist. In which case, a cartoonist created the news, and cartoonists will respond to the news of a cartoonist creating the news.)

Choosing a topic, however, is a bit less generalised. Firstly, newspapers have fairly specific target audiences and business models; the Cape Argus and Cape Times, for example, are distributed at different times of the day, around the Western Cape, and lean toward stories relating to the Western Cape, obviously. Die Son is unrefined (which is, if you think about it, superb for cartoonists), while Business Day – which has a sophisticated slant – is well suited to Brandan’s cartoons which are typically more intellectual than, say, mine. (One might argue that he is smarter than me, and I might argue that one is probably right.)

Secondly, drawing for a national newspaper – like I do – has more disadvantages than drawing for a regional newspaper. This is because regional issues are exactly that: regional issues. And their abundance is abundantly abundant. So, when regional issues become part of the national discourse, such as Gauteng’s tolls or shark chumming, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Ironically, drawing for a national newspaper means that topics tend to be fewer.

Thirdly, cartoonists are individuals with varying interests. Headlines that appeal to me might not appeal to another cartoonist. Of course, overlaps occur regularly, which is why numerous cartoonists cover identical topics (and even end up with identical cartoons).

My point is that choosing a topic for a political cartoon is not black and white, and sometimes it is a gamble. Contrary to popular belief, drawing three consecutive Malema cartoons requires a bit of preparation and experience. (Meanwhile, drawing a Kimg Jong-un cartoon requires a bit of communism and a camera.)

So, when you see my mounting grey hair, you will know why.

On Wednesday, when I drew yesterday’s cartoon of Kim Jong-un holding his erect rocket, I filmed most of the process. A few hours of work was subsequently compressed into a two-minute video, which means that, obviously, bits are missing.

Nevertheless, I hope that you like it.

Don’t forget to check out the climax published version.