Have to cheat on “Sketch o’The Week” this week because I am swamped playing catch-up in the studio. This is from an old sketchbook, circa 1999. They are quick studies of cartooning legend Jeff MacNelly, of Shoe and multiple pulitzer prize winning editorial cartooning fame. He was a speaker at my very first National Cartoonist Society Reuben weekend in San Antonio in 1999, and I did these studies during his presentation. I’ve always been in awe at MacNelly’s immense talent, and it was a thrill to get to hear him speak. I remember at the time he was talking about how he was beginning to do more and more of his work on the computer, and that he thought it would be very soon that he and many other cartoonists would eschew paper and pen completely for digital. He seemed completely willing to give up the traditional tools to do the work on the computer, even if it meant he would never produce another piece of physical original art.

Sadly he never got the chance to see his prediction come true. He died of Lymphoma only a year later. As you can see he signed in my sketchbook, so I was lucky to get to meet him.

I received this project right before I left on vacation and had to kick it out in extremely short order. The concept is a story about studio executives and anonymous comments made by directors and other movie makers about the good and bad things they do (mostly bad).

The job was for an L.A. based movie industry magazine, and it was to be in black and white… partly their choice and partly due to the time constraints. One full page and three spots with caricatures of specific studio execs. Since it was in black and white, I thought it would be fun to do a vintage 50′s movie poster concept for the main image. Here’s the initial idea:

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I hate coming back from Hawai’i. It’s not that I hate coming home… by the end of the week I miss my kids, I’m usually bored with sun and surf and ready to get back to business. It’s the trip home that sucks. Any rest I got on vacation is negated by 11 hours of flying and a 4 hour time change loss. I’m more tired right now than when I left for vacation.

But I digress. I wanted to pimp once more for the National Caricaturist Network‘s Mini-Con in St. Louis in March. This Saturday is the deadline to get the guaranteed room rate, and also for the organizers to reach their room booking requirements from the hotel. Therefore if you are thinking about attending, now’s the time.

This is going to be a great show, easily the closest thing to the full NCN convention ever put on in the midwest. I’ll be doing a keynote address including a ton of samples of my work from live caricature to illustration to MAD, detailing a MAD job from beginning to end and other general silliness. There will be a lot of time for questions and answers and I’ll have a large collection of original MAD artwork on display including rough drafts, pencils and preliminary sketches.

On Tuesday I will be doing a 3 hour workshop on inking with dip pen and brush.  We will be drawing and inking a caricature illustration. I’ll be providing the reference materials. The inking supplies and board you can either buy from me for cost ($17.00 total) or bring your own stuff. We’ll be using various techniques in both pen and brush, as well as some wash work.

You do not have to be a caricaturist to get a lot out of this event. I am hoping well see a fair number of cartoonists there as well. The other workshops and seminars will be very educational, including one on digital coloring by world class digital artist Court Jones. We also spend a lot of time just drawing each other and the sheer amount of artwork and the intense creativity is a real energizer.

Please spread the word and if anyone is “on the fence” then take the plunge and come to the St. Louis Mini Con.

Q: How thoroughly do you “picture” the final illustration in your mind before you begin work on it? Are you able to formulate a mental image of the final scene before you start and strive to replicate it, or is most of the image worked out on paper and in sketches?

A: Good question. There are several stages to any illustration job, and each incorporates a mental “image” of different degrees.

When I get a new assignment I get an initial idea that forms pretty completely in my head of what the final could look like. I think most artists have that first flash, and it’s second nature to grab onto it and believe that’s the right and only solution. I’ve found that to be a big mistake, and always force myself to come up with and explore at least two different ideas with an open mind. Often that first one still ends up being the winner, but just the mental exercise of trying to think things out from a different angle will either lead to a better idea or make the first idea stronger. In this concept stage the sketches and thinking done on paper is as or more important that the mental visual imagery.

Once I have the final idea, I visualize it as completely as possible to the final. Even here, however, it’s a slippery slope to trust completely to your mental image. Doing a quick value or color study can really make the final art that much more effective and complete. I confess I seldom do that, but if I’m working outside my comfort zone with some kind of different technique or look, I will do experimental studies to see what is working and what is not.

Michaelangelo has several quotes attributed to him that basically say he sees the figure in the marble, and simply chips away what is not part of it. That’s romantic but also untrue. He did a lot of sketches and both small and full size sculptures prior to his final work in block stone. Art is a process and even the most brilliant of artists like Michelangelo need to follow the process to achieve their goals. We mortals must do the same.

Thanks to Howard Wright from Grand Rapids, MI 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!

The view at lunch from “The Sea House” in Napili

Another annual trip to Maui in the books. We’ll be having our yearly going-away lunch on the ocean at Kimo’s in Lahaina, staring wistfully out at the whales frolicking in the sea and contemplating our return to real life.

Finding the time, money and needed help for just the two of us to get away alone one week a year is not easy. However I can say for certain that it is very important to your marriage and your sanity to find some selfish alone time with your spouse. The trappings, responsibilities and aggravation of everyday life eats away at you over time, and even the most stalwart of parents and workers need a break. It’s especially important to find that alone time to strengthen the connection with your spouse and enjoy each other’s company the way you did before work, kids and life were as demanding of your time and attentions as they inevitably become.

I know a few couples who don’t vacation well together. I feel very sorry for those people. There is no one I would rather share Hawai’i with than The Lovely Anna… and that includes Salma Hayek and Carla Guigino. Really.

I hear the cold snap is over in Minnesota, and it will be a relatively balmy 29 degrees today compared to the below zero temperatures of the past week. Oh, goody.

Fellow caricaturist Mike Giblin posted a query on the NCN Forum the other day asking about how one goes about working on licensed property art… like Disney or Looney Tunes or similar. I wrote a long response based on my limited personal experience and what I’ve heard of that side of cartooning from some experienced artists. I thought I’d share it here:

About licensed property artwork:

The only licensed property work I ever did was when I drew “Married with Children” and “The Coneheads” comics way back in the day, and that was different than your traditional licensing for merchandise. However I do know an artist named David Mowder who recently spoke at an NCS event I attended. He works in the licensing section for Hallmark, which does a ton of licensed work in their “keepsakes” division… ornaments, mini-sculptures, plush dolls and of course greeting cards from licensed properties like Disney, WB, Simpsons, etc. His talk was very interesting and informative, and I paid attention. I also have ome friends who used to work for a company who did sticker books and other merchandise from licensed properties. So I am a bit familiar with the process.

Let’s start with the basics. What is licensed property art? Licensing is an agreement between two parties, one the owner of copyrighted characters and the other a manufacturer of some kind of product that wants to use the licensed characters on their wares. Just for sake of ease, let’s use Disney as an example. Disney owns Mickey Mouse, et al. Acme Calendar Co. wants to make a Mickey Mouse and friends calendar. They contact Disney’s licensing people an make an agreement whereby Disney grants them permission to use their copyrighted characters on their calendar. The financial terms could be an upfront fee plus a percentage of gross revenues, or whatever they agree to. Licensing deals expire after a certain amount of time, and/or could be capped by a limit on number of sold or manufactured products, or any number of other arrangements. They can vary greatly. (more…)

Last week in San Fransisco Apple held it’s annual übergeekfest, the Macworld Conference and Expo. Macheads slobber and salivate for months leading up to this show, speculating about what new geeky goodness Steve Jobs will announce is about to hit the market (and consumer wallets) that year. Third party vendors who make Mac compatible hardware and software products also show off their newest innovations at the expo. Usually there is a dearth of new toys and gadgets, many of which are super high on the “tech envy” meter.

That’s all fine and well, but how many of these new toys are ready for the real world… that being the one outside the techie, geek and ‘early adopter’ realm? After reading up on what was the hottest buzz in the show last week, here are some of the new toys either already here or coming soon that might or might not be on my shortlist… and why:

The Macbook Air

This super-light, super-slim notebook computer was the worst kept secret of the show. Everyone knew it was coming, but Apple still had some surprises despite the spoilers. It is unbelievably thin and light, comes with either a traditional hard drive or a flash-based drive, has a flip open port with USB and mini-DVI monitor connectors and a full iSight camera. No DVD drive, but Apple has a slim add on for $99, or you can use special software to commandeer the DVD drive of a willing computer nearby over a wifi network. Using this wifi drive sharing, you can load software onto the Macbook Air just like it was connected to the notebook albeit limited to the speed of the wifi connection.

I guess I can understand the appeal of having such a thin, light notebook if you are a traveling businessman needing to do writing, e-mail, spreadsheets, internet and other basic computer work when on the road. Personally a few extra pounds in my shoulder bag is worth having an uncompromised, full service notebook like a MacBook Pro on hand. This notebook offers nothing you cannot already get for less money via a standard Macbook… ifn fact other than the light weight and thin form factor, the Macbook Air offers less in terms of flexibility, hard drive size and computing power than a MacBook. If your shoulder can’t handle a bag with a 7 lb notebook in it, then get up off your ass from in front of your monitor and go to the gym once or twice a week.

The appeal here is simply the portability and nothing else. If I spent ages on airplanes flying coach and didn’t need desktop level computing power and features, I would consider one as it is a little tight with a regular notebook (especially my monster 17″ Macbook Pro) in those seats… particularly when the passenger in the seat in front of you jams his seat back as far as possible from takeoff to touchdown, which for me is every single *$#@& time. Weirdly, the Macbook Air does one major disservice to the very road warriors it is catering to… it does not have a user replaceable battery. You can get the battery replaced via an Apple service center, but that means you cannot bring a second battery along on the really long roadtrips where AC access is limited.

This definitely is not for me. (more…)

This is just a goofy doodle I did working up some concepts for a spot illustration job. It reminds me a little of a piece Hermann Mejia did in MAD a while back with Spartans on a game show of some kind. Then again it also reminds me a little of a Wally Wood drawing… except not as good.

The latest issue of MAD (and presumably several DC comic books this month as well) has a special advertising insert similar to the one done several months ago for Ball Park Franks. The concept is the same… kind of a mini MAD with “articles” pertaining to the ad subject. Unlike the Ball Park ad, this one does not advertise a product as much as a group of people… NYC sketch comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U’ Know“.

The “WKUK” had a sketch comedy television show on the FUSE Network in 2007, and has moved to the Independent Film Channel for season two. IFC is uncensored so, unlike on FUSE, their sketches air intact and unedited. Their material can be very adult and racy, so no doubt they and their fans are glad of the change.

The ads are an interesting study in the differences between comic art and live action television. Our assignments were to illustrate one of the WKUK’s most popular skits. That involved the editors working out a scaled down script, and we illustrators drawing it out in MAD form. What I found most interesting was how the comedy of a live skit could be transfered to the comic page, and what needed to be considered to make it work best.

Here is a YouTube clip of the skit I illustrated, called “Sexy Fawn”. It’s the FUSE version, so the language has been bleeped out, but I don’t know what they bother since they leave in the first sound of each word and it’s totally obvious what they are saying. Warning- the skit is more than a little racy and inappropriate for under 18 or those with a low tolerance for blue humor.

Now here are some panels from my MAD version-

The MAD version was ‘cleaned up’ considerably, replacing words like “sex” with “mate” and of course eliminating the profanity. There was no getting around the concept, though. The ridiculous “deer” outfit, complete with slutty clear pumps, is the funniest thing about this sketch, so I really made sure it was clearly a bad deer suit. I also tried to capture the odd movements the “deer” was making.

All in all a very different project with some unique challenges.