Tall Tale Radio Interview
January 24th, 2012
I had the pleasure of being a guest on the excellent comics podcast Tall Tale Radio with Tom Racine. The show is up on the TTR website now. Tom and I talk about the NCS, the new online comics divisional award, the MAD, MAD, SCAD weekend I attended back in November, my book and a few other stories. Check it out here!
On the Drawing Board- 1/23/12
January 23rd, 2012Actually I’m on vacation! But, there’s still work either in progress or waiting for me when I get back:
- Book Illustration- Doing a ten page/cover job for a book pitch. Don’t worry, I’m getting paid for it whether the book get’s picked up or not.
- Warner Bros. Video Box Artwork- a spot illustration that is being used for product packaging.
- NCS Reuben Brochure Art- My usual artwork for the cover of the Reuben Brochure.
Here’s my latest Marlin workplace poster illustration, pencil roughs and finals. There were some changes to the patient’s expressions asked for, as you can see from the end result. As always, clicky to embiggen:
The pencil sketch
The revised and final art
Tags: freelance illustration
Sunday Mailbag
January 22nd, 2012
Q: I’d like to do freelance illustration and cartooning for a career, but I hate marketing and invoicing and dealing with the business side of things. I just want to draw. How do you handle all that business stuff?
A: There is supposedly a scientific reason for a highly creative person not liking (or in some cases being any good at) the business side of art. Most people have heard of the concept of “right-brained” and “left-brained” people. As the theory goes, people who’s brains are left-side dominant are more analytical and logical, and are generally better at math and other structured concepts. Those who are ride-side dominant are more creative and artistic. Obviously we all use both sides of the brain, so to say either are mutually exclusive is silly, but it does seem to be true that many artistic people don’t get along with math or business. That said, I know of many terrific illustrators that are also exceptionally good at the business side of it, so take that theory with a grain of salt.
Being a professional freelancer takes more that just the artistic skills. You need to have great communication skills to work with art directors and clients, the ability to manage your time and meet deadlines, strong marketing senses and the ability to handle the contracts, invoicing, paperwork and other business things that are part of being a freelancer. I know many very talented artists who can’t make a living freelancing because the don’t have those other parts of the whole that make one a professional. That’s not an indictment of their talent as an artist or cartoonist, but being able to create that work within the demands of the marketplace is necessary if you want to make a career out of illustration. Some artists just don’t have that skill set.
One solution is to find a business manager or rep to handle that end of things. That’s really ideal if you just won’t or can’t do any of the business stuff. I know a few successful illustrators who would not be able to function without that rep. Of course you have to give up a percentage of your fees for that service, but a good rep easily makes up for that in more work and in building solid relationships with clients. I’ve never had a rep, and good ones are hard to find.
Another solution is to get your spouse involved if he/she is willing or able to do so. I also know of a few “spouse teams” where the non-artist husband or wife acts as the manager for the other. It takes a pretty special spouse to do that… I’ve got one of those myself! The Lovely Anna helps me out enormously with paperwork and other business tasks that free up my time to do the artwork.
Finally, as always, there’s an app for that. Actually there are many computer programs that help with the business end of things, from accounting to time management to marketing. I use Intuit QuickBooks to do all my invoicing, accounts payable and all the money stuff. I have a small to-do program called Things that I use to manage my time, setting goals for various tasks and deadline reminders. I know there are some programs out there dedicated to the freelance professional that incorporate several elements together in one place. Mac Freelance is one I know of. I am sure there are others but as I have never used any I am unable to recommend one. That might be something to look into, though.
The reality is there is an art side of being a professional illustrator, and a non-art side. Both are important, and both need to be handled competently for to succeed in the tough world of freelancing.
Thanks to John Larson 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!
Secret Agent Man Prints Sold Out!
January 20th, 2012
My signed/numbered limited edition print “Secret Agent Man” has sold out completely, so that’s that. I have deleted the high resolution color file, and the original inked artwork was sold months ago, so the 250 numbered prints out there in the hands of the rubes lucky folks who purchased them are all that there will ever be. Thanks to everybody who bought one, and to those who helped spread the word about it!
This worked out pretty well, although I think I may do a smaller number or prints next time. There definitely will be a next time. For San Diego Comic Con 2012 I will have another limited edition print in a similar vein but with different subject matter, which while there I will sell for cheap with the purchase of a copy of The Mad Art of Caricature!, and separately as well for an inflated, outrageous price. Likely I will have some left over again and they will get offered for sale here. Some of you who are not my mom might even buy one!
Tags: 007, James Bond, print, Secret Agent Man
Pre-Order “Team Cul de Sac” Book!
January 19th, 2012
Team Cul de Sac is the brainchild of Chris Sparks, who has worked tirelessly to organize this fundraising program for Parkinson’s research. It’s a part of TeamFox, the Michael J Fox Foundation’s fundraising arm, which in the last year alone raised almost 4 million dollars for research. The fundraiser revolves around the brilliant comic strip Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson, an incredibly talented cartoonist who happens to have Parkinson’s. Oh, and he just won the Reuben for “Cartoonist of the Year” from the National Cartoonists Society last May.
Chris and Team Cul de Sac invited professional cartoonists, illustrators, artists and animators to donate original art made especially for a book, published by Andrews & McMeel, about Parkinson’s awareness, and the response was pretty outstanding. You will find the work of some of the biggest names in cartooning in those pages. Part of the profits from the direct sales of the book will benefit the Michael J Fox Foundation, and the original art will be auctioned as part of the fundraiser with all of auction money going to MJFF.
Chris and his company, Sparking Design, just announced that the Team Cul de Sac book is now available for pre-order directly from the publisher. You can order a “Regular Edition” copy, signed by Chris, for $35.50, and a limited edition of 150 “Author Signed and Numbered” copy signed by Chris for $65.50, both prices include shipping AND the Regular Edition includes a $5 donation to the afore mentioned Michael J. Fox Foundation, while the Author Signed and Numbered version includes a $20 donation to same. No word if copies signed by Richard will be available. By the way, Richard recently went on a hiatus from his strip to receive and recover from treatment for Parkinson’s… this book is needed now more than ever. The book is set to be released June 5th, 2012.
Incidentally, the book will also be available on Amazon, but only buying directly from the publisher will result in a donations to the MJFF. Amazon doesn’t really need your money, but Parkinson’s research does—so follow this link to pre-order.
Here is my meager contribution to the book:
Brief Thoughts on SOPA and PIPA
January 19th, 2012The internet is abuzz with righteous indignation over the proposed “anti-piracy” legislation currently under consideration by congress, namely the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). I won’t bother to describe the bills—if you don’t know about them by now then welcome to your first time on the internet!
As a creative professional, I hate online piracy and copyright infringement, but I am not willing to kill the patient to cure the disease. These bills are going to be largely ineffective at best, and at worst very damaging to legitimate websites because they allow too much room for abuse. Internet piracy IS a huge problem, and it would be nice if something real could be done about it, but these bills are not the answer. I could go on, but Neil Gaiman and company say it better here than I could:
January 17, 2012
An open letter to Washington from Artists and Creators
We, the undersigned, are musicians, actors, directors, authors, and producers. We make our livelihoods with the artistic works we create. We are also Internet users.
We are writing to express our serious concerns regarding the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
As creative professionals, we experience copyright infringement on a very personal level. Commercial piracy is deeply unfair and pervasive leaks of unreleased films and music regularly interfere with the integrity of our creations. We are grateful for the measures policymakers have enacted to protect our works.
We, along with the rest of society, have benefited immensely from a free and open Internet. It allows us to connect with our fans and reach new audiences. Using social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can communicate directly with millions of fans and interact with them in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.
We fear that the broad new enforcement powers provided under SOPA and PIPA could be easily abused against legitimate services like those upon which we depend. These bills would allow entire websites to be blocked without due process, causing collateral damage to the legitimate users of the same services – artists and creators like us who would be censored as a result.
We are deeply concerned that PIPA and SOPA’s impact on piracy will be negligible compared to the potential damage that would be caused to legitimate Internet services. Online piracy is harmful and it needs to be addressed, but not at the expense of censoring creativity, stifling innovation or preventing the creation of new, lawful digital distribution methods.
We urge Congress to exercise extreme caution and ensure that the free and open Internet, upon which so many artists rely to promote and distribute their work, does not become collateral damage in the process.
Respectfully,
Aziz Ansari
Kevin Devine, Musician
Barry Eisler, Author
Neil Gaiman, Author
Lloyd Kaufman, Filmmaker
Zoë Keating, Musician
The Lonely Island
Daniel Lorca, Musician (Nada Surf)
Erin McKeown, Musician
Benjamin Goldwasser, MGMT
Andrew VanWyngarden, MGMT
Samantha Murphy, Musician
OK Go
Amanda Palmer, Musician (The Dresden Dolls)
Quiet Company
Trent Reznor
Adam Savage, Special Effects Artist (MythBusters)
Hank Shocklee, Music Producer (Public Enemy, The Bomb Squad)
Johnny Stimson, Musician
Sketch o’the Week
January 18th, 2012
This week’s SotW subject is Saturday Night Live alumni Chris Farley. I did a few studies of various late, portly comedians as part of a project I worked on… maybe another one will show up next week Wednesday.
Tags: caricature, Chris Farley, sketch
Books on Parade
January 17th, 2012
Michael Cavna of the Washington Post‘s Comic Riffs blog on cartoons, comics and culture posted his list of the Top 12 Books of 2011 That Made Us Smile… and The Mad Art of Caricature! tops the list! Thanks, Michael!
A Little Tundra in the Desert
January 16th, 2012Anybody wanting to learn how to earn a living in comics in the 21st century would be well served to attend this if they can:
Comics Seminar to be Held in Las Vegas February 25th & 26th
How to make money with comics
Chad Carpenter, the cartoonist behind the popular newspaper comic strip Tundra, and Bill Kellogg, Tundra’s marketing director who has managed to get Tundra in over 500 newspapers in less than six years, are hosting a seminar in Las Vegas on how to make money with comics. They hosted this seminar for the first time just over a year ago and it went over extremely well. Now, due to popular request, and the fact that they are from Alaska and it gets really cold there in February, they are going to do it again.
This is a “must-attend” event for anyone who would like to learn how to make more money with comics. The seminar takes place in Las Vegas this February 25th & 26th at the Tuscany Hotel & Casino and is open to amateur and syndicated cartoonists alike. There will be fourteen speakers over two days, sharing their knowledge on how to make money in different areas of cartooning. Topics include: How to get syndicated, self-syndicating, web comics, producing & marketing products, licensing, animation, building a Facebook following, and much more. There will be social get-togethers each night too with free beer, wine and snacks so attendees will have plenty of time to talk one-on-one with the speakers and other guests.
This Years’ speakers are:
- Chad Carpenter & Bill Kellogg – (Tundra Comics)
- Jack Newcombe – (President of Creator’s Syndicate)
- Tom Gammill – (The Simpsons)
- Mell Lazarus – (Momma and Miss Peach)
- Rob Tornoe – (Editorial and Sports cartoonist. Editor and Publisher of Punchline magazine)
- Adrian Raeside (The Other Coast, and writer for children’s shows such as Kid vs. Kat)
- Mark Parisi & Lynn Reznik – (Off the Mark)
- Mason Mastroianni – (B.C. Cartoonist and Emmy Award winning animator)
- Mick Mastroianni – (Writer for B.C., Wizard of Id and Dogs of C Kennel)
- John Read – (Publisher of Stay Tooned magazine)
- Daniele Corsetto – (Girls With Slingshots – web comic)
- Debbra Abeyta – (Newspaper pagination with Vertis)
The cost for the seminar is $375 and it is open to cartoonists and aspiring cartoonists of all ages. More information is available by going to the Tundra Comics web site at www.tundracomics.com and clicking the Las Vegas link.
For questions or more information, please contact Bill Kellogg at 907-441-6882 or bill@tundracomics.com.
Tags: cartooning, seminar
