BEHIND THE ART: Watch two top Washington cartoonists at work

When Comic Riffs speaks to groups -- be they excitable second-graders, jaundiced journalists or pancake-baiting Rotarians -- nothing gets a reaction quite like the sheer and simple act of drawing. It peels back the curtain a bit on process, but it's more than that. As one cartooning colleague says: "It's as if you've got a magic trick in your back pocket."

And when a gifted artist is waving that ink-dipped wand, this pure trick can be spellbinding.

So it is that we enjoy the opportunity to watch the hand-eye action of two especially talented political cartoonists who draw for Washington newspapers: Ann Telnaes, who contributes her animations to The Post; and Nate Beeler of the Washington Examiner.

The Pulitzer-winning Telnaes shares her sketch-to-animation process for the Opinions section in this new video. In it, she is shown creating this finished animation, a commentary on the media's reaction to Jon Stewart's words from his Mall rally.

ANN TELNAES:

And timed to the midterms, D.C.'s Fox news station interviewed Beeler, another cartoonist who possesses quite the elegant line (and whose original artwork drew the highest bid -- $2,200 -- at Washington's recent "Cartoons & Cocktails" auction). Whether brandishing a brush or an illustration pen, Beeler is able to convey his deft precision for the cameras: