French cartoonist Pierre Wiazemsky (Wiaz) and Otago Daily Times cartoonist Garrick Tremain were in the city as part of a Cartooning for Peace demonstration.
Wiazemsky said he belonged to the "1968 generation", with the student riots shaping his Left-leaning politics and encouraging him to put his ideas down in ink.
Tremain, on the other hand, said he pledged no allegiance to the Left or the Right.
"I am not a Labour or a National man - I am just anti-Government."
Both cartoonists said while they had their favourite politicians to lampoon, they did not vote.
"I have never voted as a cartoonist," said Tremain.
Prime Minister-elect John Key was a difficult man to draw, as was his deputy Bill English, he said.
Wiazemsky said he had no difficulties drawing French President Nicholas Sarkozy for the La Provence newspaper, but found his wife, Carla Bruni, "impossible".
Both men agreed they were doing their jobs right when they were being criticised.
When asked to draw versions of themselves, both started with exaggerated noses, before Wiazemsky added love hearts to complete the picture.
"It is beautiful," he said.
Cartooning for Peace, which features 20 cartoonists from 15 countries, was brought to Wellington by Alliance Francaise, a Paris-based organisation which promotes French language and culture.
A branch of Cartooning for Peace, featuring Tremain and Wiazemsky, was held at the University of Otago yesterday.
