The sorrowful dominatrix: cartoonists Steve Bell and Martin Rowson on drawing Angela Merkel

With her generous features and a dolorous countenance, the German chancellor has been an artist's dream

Sixteen years is a very long time in politics, and since 2005 we've had Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron (and Nick Clegg), Theresa May and Boris Johnson - while the Germans have just had Angela Merkel. It usually takes time to get the hang of drawing a politician, particularly one from a foreign country, and Merkel was no exception. I'd only just about got a handle on the SPD's Gerhard Schroder when he was replaced by the CDU's first female leader, and my first attempts were a little shaky and somewhat speculative. Was she a Thatcherite? Would she be pro-Bush, like Blair, or continue Schroder's opposition to the war in Iraq? Would she be easy to draw?