With all eyes on this year’s election, have you ever wondered what goes into drawing a political cartoon? Fairfield University students found out Wednesday.

Southport artist Sean Kelly, whose work has been featured in the Washington Post and The New York Times and in comedian Stephen Colbert’s book “Midnight Confessions,” showed students the art — and science — of political commentary.

“I like solving problems,” he said. “They should be simple, so you can understand them right away, but there should be some nuance to them.”

Creating a comic book

Kelly said the key to breaking down a complicated political issue is to focus on a single visual element, such as Richard Nixon’s nose, Jimmy Carter’s wide smile or Joe Biden’s famous Ray Ban Aviators. Other common visual cues include a person wearing only a barrel to represent inflation.

“It should be simple, so you can understand it right away. But there should also be some nuance to it. There’s a tradition in editorial and political cartoons of labeling things,” he said. “It’s very, almost metaphorical, that if you can reduce something to a situation or a dynamic that people would be familiar with in their lives.”

Divided times

But in times of deep division, political commentary becomes dangerous.

“Sometimes bad things happen to weird people,” Kelly told the students.

In 2015, Islamist militants killed 12 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French magazine that published satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons led to riots and attacks on embassies around the world. The artist, Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, has faced several assassination attempts.

“Today it’s even more important to be honest and create images that aren’t extreme and sensational,” Kelly said.

WARNING ABOUT THE FUTURE

In the age of social media, Kelly believes memes have become the new political cartoons, which can lead to propaganda and disinformation. Unlike political cartoons, memes are not fact-checked by professional journalists and editors.

But ultimately, Kelly said it’s important to keep things in perspective.

“It’s just a comic book,” he said. “And it’s important to realize that a drawing is not a weapon, but it can make people think.”