How Black America Saw Obama

Artist Mike McQuade combines photographs and graphics to create this compelling illustration of President Barack Obama, published with The Times Opinion article, “How Black America Saw Obama,” January 14, 2017. The article, by Michael Eric Dyson, noted how Obama’s success elated Americans, but then they spent eight years worrying for his life. The image is part of our collection of editorial illustrations being offered for the first time ever to the public as unframed or framed fine-art prints.

Illustrations have played an instrumental role in The Times’s journalistic legacy since December 11, 1861, when we published our first drawings – front page cartoons of James Gordon Bennett, rival publisher of The Herald. Today, The Times commissions thousands of original illustrations from freelance artists around the world. Artists, each with a distinct approach and personality, enhance stories with thought-provoking images that enrich the reading experience.

McQuade is an artist and designer living and working in Richmond, Va. His work has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, American Illustration, The New York Times, Communication Arts, Art Directors Club and Vice Media. Mike’s work can be found in many major publications including The Times, The New Yorker, Wired Magazine, Vanity Fair Magazine, The Atlantic Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, The Guardian and The Baffler. McQuade also creates art and design for clients such as Nike, Penguin Books, Pentagram, Red Wing Shoes, NPR, RXBAR and a number of start-up brands.

McQuade uses thoughtful crops, color, imagery, pattern and repetition to convey a strong design concept. He lets the process lead him and isn’t afraid to start over again or allow a mistake to be the final outcome of a piece.