For the last few NCS Reubens the awards program has kicked off with a short video… often featuring Jeff Keane (The Family Circus) in drag. This year featured not one, not two but THREE videos. The first features Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus and current NCS President), Jerry Scott (Baby Blues, Zits), Bill Hinds (Tank McNamara, Cleats), Mark Tatulli (Lio, Heart of the City), Sean Parkes (humorous illustrator) and Tom Gammill (screenwriter and The Doozies):

The second is a video by the incomparable Tom Gammill, detailing his quest to find a good seat at the Reuben dinner. It also features Jenny Robb (OSU Billy Ireleand Cartoon Library), Cathy Guisewite (Cathy), Kim Scott (wife of Jerry Scott), Sally and Mell Lazarus (Momma and Miss Peach), Jennie Schulz and Stephan Pastis again.

The last video is the story of how Tom ended up being emcee of the Reubens, and features Jeff and Melinda Keane, and segues into footage from the actual award ceremony.

Funny stuff. Mark actually did sing “Oh, What a beautiful Mornin’” from Oklahoma at the Friday night Karaoke party to set up that gag.

This week’s sketch is a quick study of teen star Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana. I did this last week in my sketchbook as a prelude to one I did of her for a recent job.

Click image for a closer look…

Here’s what’s cooking on the drawing board right now:

• Workplace Poster Illustration- My usual monthly assignment. As promised the final of the last poster in posted above.
• Movie Poster- This keeps getting put on hold but I should be finishing it up this week. It’s a poster for a documentary film by the director of Super Capers, the movie I did some animated illustration for. I also did several character designs for some CGI animated segments in the film and storyboarded those scenes.
• Animated TV Show Pilot- A political humor show I am doing more character designs for and storyboards. This is currently on hold, however as the creator is making some changes to the production teams.
• MAD animated show for Cartoon Network/WB Animation- This assignment will be keeping me hopping for the next 6 months. I have permission to say I am doing “some artwork” for one of the recurring segments on the show that is debuting this fall on the Cartoon Network, but can’t get more specific. Fun stuff, though.
• Odds and Ends- a couple of illustrations for a popular comedian/ventriloquist, some caricatures for a client overseas and some art for an upcoming iPad game.

High-resolution images of the stamps are available for media use only by emailing mark.r.saunders@usps.gov

From the US Postal Service:

‘Sunday Funnies’ Comic Strips Get Stamp of Approval

What:

First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony of the Sunday Funnies 44-cent Commemorative First-Class stamps. The event is free and open to the public.

When:
10:30 a.m., Friday, July 16, 2010

Where:
The Ohio State University
Performance Hall at the Ohio Union
1739 High Street
Columbus, OH 43210-1393

Who:

• Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee
• Curator and professor The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Lucy Shelton Caswell
• USPS President, Mailing and Shipping Services Robert F. Bernstock

Honored guests available for interviews:

• Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker
• Garfield creator Jim Davis
• Dennis the Menace artists Marcus Hamilton and Ron Ferdinand
• Archie Comics newspaper strip writer Craig Goldman
• Calvin and Hobbes Editor Lee Salem

Background:

The Sunday Funnies pane of 20 stamps honors five of the nation’s most beloved comic strips: Archie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. The strips, as well as their characters, may have changed over the years, yet each nevertheless remains an enduring classic.

Offering an idealized portrait of American adolescence, Archie existed only in comic-book form before debuting in newspapers in 1946. A typical small-town teenager with a knack for goofing things up, 17-year-old Archie Andrews is often torn between haughty brunette Veronica Lodge and sweet, blonde Betty Cooper.

A military strip with universal appeal, Beetle Bailey first appeared in September 1950. Possibly the laziest man in the army, Private Beetle Bailey is an expert at sleeping and avoiding work. His chronic indolence antagonizes Sergeant Orville P. Snorkel, who is tough on his men but calls them “my boys.”

Dennis the Menace follows the antics of Dennis Mitchell, a good-hearted but mischievous little boy who is perpetually “five-ana-half” years old. His curiosity tests the patience of his loving parents and neighbors, guaranteeing that their lives are anything but dull. The comic debuted in March 1951 as a single-panel gag.

Garfield first waddled onto the comics page in June 1978. Self-centered and cynical, the crabby tabby hates Mondays and loves lasagna. He lives with Jon Arbuckle, a bumbling bachelor with a fatally flawed fashion sense, and Odie, a dopey-but-devoted dog.

Calvin and Hobbes explores the fantasy life of six-year-old Calvin and his tiger pal, Hobbes. The inseparable friends ponder the mysteries of the world and test the fortitude of Calvin’s parents, who never know where their son’s imagination will take him. The strip ran from November 1985 to December 1995.

# # #

Q: I live in St. Louis and I used to frequent Union Station quite a bit. I would always make a point to stop at your caricature stand and watch the artist. I was wondering if you may go over the types of materials that you use at your stands?

A: For those readers who may not know I own several caricature concession operations in a few different states including at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka, MO. I used to own a stand at St. Louis Union Station in downtown St. Louis but sold the business to my manager at the end of 2009. Likewise I used to have operations at Underground Atlanta in Atlanta, GA and briefly at Riverwalk in New Orleans, LA, but both those operations are closed.I also own operations at Six Flags New England in Agawam, MA, Valleyfair theme park in Shakopee, MN and Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America, Bloomington, MN.

Here are the materials we use to do live caricatures in the theme parks/retail centers:

Drawing

I use two different kinds of pencils. Both are “clutch” type leadholders, meaning that they have a claw-like end that grasps the lead. The main one is the Caran D’Ache Fixpencil 3, which is a 3mm leadholder. Most leadholders are 2mm, and the thicker lead is a must for bold lines. These were discontinued for a while but now they seem to be back in production. I use a 6B 3mm lead in it which is also made by Caran D’ache. The other pencil is a Creatacolor 5mm leadholder, which I use with either 4B or 6B leads for big, thick lines in the hair, outside of the face, body, etc. There are a few different body types for that pencil, but all work well.

We also wrap our pencils in something called pre-wrap, or sports wrap. It’s the foam wrap you use for wrapping an ankle or similar prior to takling it up in athletics. You can get it at most drugstores. It’s great for cushioning your hand and wicking moisture away from it when drawing. Prevents callouses and blisters as well.

We use a No. 8 blending stomp for shading, and sand one end down to make it a bigger surface area. It helps to soak the stomp in water for 20 minutes or so and allow it to dry for a few days in the sun to loosen up the binding glue and make it softer.

Color

The airbrush we use is either an Iwata HP-SBS (eclipse) or an Iwata HP-SB Plus. Both are good all purpose brushes with a side feed for easy bottle exchange. The latter is a little finer but also more temperamental. I recommend the HP-SBS for beginners.

We use a set of 13 side-feed airbrush bottles, each with a different color. Iwata makes their own side feed bottles which are usable but not ideal. I have custom hardware specially made by a precision machinist and make my own 1 oz. bottles for my operations. No, I won’t sell any to anyone who does not work with us, sorry. They are expensive to make and I have to spend a lot getting them machined, so I don’t want to run out of them too quickly.

Obviously you need an airsource, so a compressor or tank is necessary. There are a lot of choices depending on if you need it to be silent, have a power source, etc. At the parks it’s noisy already and we have sound boxes or separate rooms from which we run air hoses, so a sturdy tool compressor from Home Depot works great for just a couple of hundred dollars. In the malls we need quiet, and we have a permanent power source so I use silent compressors. Jun-Air is by far the best but they are immensely expensive. If you have no power and need silence, a compressed air tank is the way to go. I’ve never used one but a good airbrush retailer can set you up. Coast Airbrush or Bear Air are a good places on-line to find supplies.

For paint we use Media Com-Art paints, both opaque and transparent colors. They are water based and non-toxic. There is a wide selection of colors, but our palette includes Iron Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Toludene Red, Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Black, Lime Green, Hansa Yellow, Transparent Ultramarine Blue, Transparent Violet and Transparent Royal Blue.

Paper

Finally for paper we use a 67lb vellum bristol in bright white, 12 x 16 inches. We specially order the paper and have it cut to that size. Paper Plus carries similar stock and there are a lot of those about.

Thanks to Chris Grant 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!

It’s a busy day in the Richmond household today as my daughter, The Dramatic Victoria, graduates with honors from Eastview High School. She has taken home many honors during her high school years, including being in the National Honor Society and National German Honor Society, winning the Presidential Academic Award, lettering in academics and choir, selection to Minnesota All-State Choir, superior ratings in vocal music performance, parts in all the fantastic musicals put on by Eastview, selection to the Lake Conference choir and the highly regarded Eastview Chamber Choir.

Despite all that she is looking forward to saying goodbye to high school and will be attending college at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, which is nationally renown for it’s music program. Victoria sings like an angel (as do I with the difference that she can do it with other people around and for some reason I sing like a frog when within earshot of anyone) and she was awarded the top music scholarship at Concordia, where she will major in vocal music education and possibly minor in German language.

We are enormously proud of her, and congratulate her on her many achievements and those yet to come. We love you, Victoria!

MAD #504 officially goes on sale on June 15th, but MAD must have released a sneak peek as these pages by the great Sergio Aragonés popped up on the internet yesterday on various Twilight fan websites:

Click for a closer look…

Click for a closer look…

Surprisingly most of the Twilight fans loved it, judging by the comments I read. I guess they don’t take their beloved books/movies/cult too seriously after all.

I have a short piece in #504 that was quite a lot of work to pull off… definitely outside my comfort zone. I’ll share once the issue hits comic book stores, which will probably be next week sometime.

An updated tribute from a previous post a few years ago:

Today is a sad anniversary. Eighteen years ago today MAD founder and longtime publisher William M. Gaines passed away at the age of 70.

Working for MAD is great. The people and staff there really respect the tradition and history of the magazine. However I will always feel that I missed out on something special in that I never met or knew Bill Gaines. I started for MAD about 9 years after Bill’s passing. While MAD has of course continued since his death a chapter of it’s history closed on June 3rd, 1992. In his time as publisher I’ve heard that nearly every page of original art for the magazine passed over Bill’s desk, usually eliciting chuckles and guffaws from him to the delight of the creators. Bill never saw a single drawing of mine, and there are many artists now at MAD that he never knew or saw the work of. I know times change, things move on and people pass… but Bill Gaines was such a big part of the heart and soul of MAD that I feel I missed out on something very important. I wish I’d had the chance to see Bill laugh at something I had drawn for his magazine. I’d like to think he would have.

Even though I never met him, I’ve heard so many stories, both in print and in person from those that knew him best, that I feel almost like I had. Throughout all the tales, the important things about him seem consistent… he cared deeply about the magazine and especially the artists, writers and staff who created it.

I’m not going to write a mini-bio on him here, as many people have done this far better than I ever could. The definitive Gaines bio is “The MAD World of William M. Gaines” by long-time MAD scribe Frank Jacobs, an excellent read that follows Gaines’s life from a child, the son of Max Gaines who is considered by some the founder of the modern American comic book, on through the senate hearings on comic books and their supposed subversive effects on children, and up to 1972. That’s missing the last 20 years of his life but the earlier parts are well covered.

Perhaps the better read to get a sense of Bill Gaines the MAD publisher is “Good Days and MAD” by another longtime MAD scribe and a very close friend of Gaines, Dick DeBartolo. Dick’s book is funny and full of wonderful stories of the crazy stuff that Bill used to do and that was done to him. Some of my favorites in the book are the story of how Bill filled the watercooler at MAD with white wine and sat back laughing while the staff got plastered… or the one when he played a gag on a young MAD mail room staffer, having other staff members convince him that Bill had an evil twin brother who came around now and again and to stay out of his way. Bill would come in some days as himself and be very nice to this young man. Then he would come in with a fake scar and mustache as part of his disguise as the twin brother and terrorize the kid. He kept it up for months. Probably my all time favorite is the time Dick pulled some strings and took Bill, a huge Statue of Liberty buff, up into the statue after hours with access to the closed off torch observation deck. Unfortunately for Bill, he was too fat to squeeze through the tiny opening through the statue’s elbow to get to the torch, so he never got to get up there! Talk about irony. Pick up the book if you can find it. What Dick writes about Bill’s death will break your heart.

And then there were the MAD trips. Gaines famously took contributors on these lavish vacations to exotic locales every once and awhile, and when you get into the company of one of these longtime MAD guys it’s easy to get them talking about these incredible trips they took. Once The Lovely Anna and I took a trip to Paris and spent an evening with MAD artist Rick Tulka and his wife Brenda at their flat in the city. He took out a video tape he had of the last MAD trip that he was just a new artist during… a cruise. On that tape was a joke they played on Gaines, who was at the time in poor health and spent most of the trip in his large cabin. The joke started with Duck Edwing and his wife “dropping in” to visit him in his cabin. Then about every ten seconds or so another person would just “drop by” and come on in. Pretty soon there were over 150 people in the cabin, and it was packed wall to wall with MAD people, ship staff, maids vacuuming, maintenance workers, towel delivery and other random passengers. Gaines was laughing so hard on the tape I was surprised he could breath. Rick couldn’t stop grinning as it played.

I think that was the very definition of Bill Gaines… laughing at life and enjoying it to the fullest. I think everybody wishes that at the end of their days they could look back and say they did the same. I know I hope to.

Click image for a closer look…

Yikes. How can my being gone from the studio for one week result in three weeks worth of work to catch up on??? And I even worked on a job the first few days I was in New Jersey for the Reubens… oh well. It’s a good problem to have these days, even if it means life is about to become very complicated. Sadly this means another cop out on the Sketch o’the Week. This week will have to be a rough of a recent job… this being one of those workplace poster illustrations. I’ll post the finishes sometime soon.

On the way home from New Jersey today with The Lovely Anna from the Reuben Awards. Great time as always, but life must now return to normal… or at least what passes for normal around here.