Pope John Paul II caricature for 'Klap'

This image was based on a pun.
The pronunciation for 'pope' ('paus') and 'peacock' ('pauw') is almost identical in Dutch. Therefore, it was quite natural
to imagine the Pope as a proud peacock who travels the world to spread the Catholic faith.

My first sketches were downright clumsy. I didn't immediately feel how I could successfully shape the idea...

I had drawn the Pope with a bag of chips when he once visited Belgium. "Why else would the Pope visit Belgium? For the Belgian fries, of course!"
I had never finished the drawing, so I could now use his head again. Lots of time saved! :-)

Here it started to come...

This wasn't bad, but it kind of looks like a rodeo cowboy trying to stay in the saddle...

Waving with both hands seemed better for the Pope...

It's good to quickly test the colors first, before starting for real...
(with colored pencils on a reduced photocopy 50 percent)

... to finally paint the illustration with watercolor on sturdy Steinbach paper 250gr/m².

The printed result in the Dutch children's magazine 'Klap'.