Menzies and Fraser Cover Art

I'm generally not much of a political person, so I wasn't aware of the symbolism for this week's Spectator cover until it was explained (very kindly by my editor, I must say) that in the world of Liberal politics 'dry' is code for conservative, and 'wet' is code for "small-l" liberal.

So, with that out of the way, I set out to draw my brief of illustrating Peter Costello's article: Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, hanging out former PM (and now small-l, ex-Liberal) Malcolm Fraser to dry. Thirty or forty years ago, Fraser was seen as a 'dry', but today (he turned 81 this week) he is "dripping wet".

I hope that makes sense. I need a Bex and a lie down.

Here's the thumbnail rough, sketch, final art and published cover: