Sunday Mailbag

Q:  I have been looking to your drawings for inspiration, and I have realized that they look very clean and flawless. So my question is do you find yourself making a lot of mistakes when drawing or even sketching? How often do you erase, if at all? What is your tool of choice for erasing? (because I can seriously never tell so it must be damn good).

A: Of course I make a lot of mistakes when I sketch, and I do plenty of erasing. The sketches I post for the “Sketch o’the Week” are usually ones I have “tightened up” a bit, meaning I erase some of the stray lines and use some bolder, stronger lines to make it more defined and less “sketchy”. Also, when I scan them in I play with the values in PhotoShop to strength the lines. That doesn’t mean I don’t have many stray lines or don’t do any erasing. That’s what a sketch is all about… exploring and experimenting.

Here are a couple of raw sketches and studies I did recently for my “Secret Agent Man” print:

As you can see, plenty sketchy and loose. These studies were redrawn as more involved sketches, then transferred to bristol board for final artwork.

As for erasers, I like to use kneadable erasers and occasionally white, plastic ones. I hate pink pearls and gum erasers.

Thanks to Rachel Rivera for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here!