Kind of on the quiet side for a change…

• Illustration for Sports Illustrated for Kids- A two page feature with assorted athlete caricatures. SI for Kids is one of the publications I’ve always wanted to do work for, so this is exciting.
• 100 plus new caricatures for the “Bobble Rep” app- The updated app with the 112th congress should be available sometime in Feb… unless Apple bans it of course.
• Marlin Workplace poster- My usual monthly assignment
• Jeff Dunham Project- I have some final art to wrap up on this

That’s pretty much it, other than some overdue personal work for a few people. The good news is that the light workload has allowed me to (finally) finish the next “How to Draw Caricatures” tutorial on drawing mouths, which I will post on Thursday… so don’t forget to come back and check that out.

The MAD show on Cartoon Network is still in reruns but as I’ve done some work on a few new segments there will be new shows on soon. In the meantime, I see the CN website has a series of parody posters for the various shows/movies they’ve lampooned available for download, including a bunch based on my artwork:

You can find the full set of high resolution posters for download here.

Jeff and I backstage after his show in Duluth, MN

Since this summer I’ve been working on several illustration projects for world famous comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. Yesterday The Lovely Anna and my two youngest kids The Effervescent Gabrielle and Number One Son Thomas met my college student daughter The Dramatic Victoria and her boyfriend Pat in Duluth where we caught Jeff’s touring show. It was great fun and fantastic to finally meet Jeff after all the communicating we’ve been doing on our projects. A very funny show by a very funny guy.

Sorry I can’t be more specific about the work I’m doing for him, but it has been some fun and interesting stuff.

Q: Finding clients and jobs seem to be the biggest challenge for freelancers. Of all your freelance marketing efforts, what seems to be the most effective for you these days, and has that changed over the years?

A: Things have definitely changed over the last decade when in comes to how clients are finding illustrators for jobs. Back in the late 1990′s, printed sourcebooks like the Directory of Illustration and Workbook were arguably still the primary place art directors went to find illustrators. These sourcebooks are big printed volumes with glossy pages of ads by individual illustrators and representatives of illustrators showcasing the styles of said illustrators. They were a convenient place for art directors to go to browse for a style and look that fit their particular project’s needs, and copies were mailed free to tens of thousands of illustration buyers by the sourcebook publishers. However, I think the printed sourcebook is fast being replaced by web based resources that allow for easier, faster and more specific search results.

I’ve never had a great deal of success with on-line illustration “sourcebooks”. I’ve advertised in the iSpot in the past, as well as a local Twin Cities on-line illustration resource and only gotten a smattering of jobs from them, many of the “looking for a cheap option” variety. Just in the last year I have seen a dramatic jump in the number of jobs that have come directly from these types of resources… jobs from good clients with solid budgets. In fact in the last month I’ve gotten three big projects from three different clients exclusively from my on-line portfolios.

I think two things are happening that are increasing the effectiveness of these online illustration resources:

• Art directors are finding that the constantly improving keyword search engines of these sites are making it easy to find the exact kind of style any project they are working on demands- The sheer size of the printed sourcebooks are staggering… I can only imagine how time consuming it must be for art directors to flip through these monsters trying to find that one style they are looking for. No question, online resources like The iSpot make this much easier. You can search for subject matter, styles, techniques… almost any manner of category and come up with a page of results in thumbnail form allowing quick comparisons and browsing to find the right looks instantly. That’s a lot more efficient than paging through telephone directory sized printed volumes. An art director looking for an illustrator to do a cartoony-style caricature of a politician for an article can search for “caricature, politics, humorous, cartoon, line and color” and get a number of “hits” for their quick perusal. That’s efficient.
• Online resources are now being populated by top professionals so an art director’s confidence in finding the right illustrator for the job is high- Up until the last few years a lot of the top pros were not to be found on web-based resources. The perception was that serious illustrators stuck with the traditional sourcebooks, which were more expensive to participate in and seemingly more selective (they were NOT the latter to be sure, but definitely were the former) and online sources were populated more by startups/younger talents and cheapskates. I’m not sure if that perception was ever fair or accurate, but I do know that in the past my participation in those online resources netted only calls from small clients with low budgets, and printed sourcebooks were the ones that got me calls from bigger magazines/more legitimate clients with larger budgets. Now you find the likes of Mark Fredrickson, C.F. Payne and other big names on places like The iSpot, and I think that is making art directors understand they are searching pools of top professionals with these online resources. The recent surge of more well known and higher budgeted jobs I’ve gotten demonstrates this to me.

Of course no marketing effort is effective unless you are presenting your work properly, and online resources need constant attention. Unlike printed sourcebooks, you can’t just turn in your page and wait for the phone to start ringing. You need to constantly upload new pieces to your online portfolio, refine your keywords and keep your presence active.

Not being stupid, traditional printed sourcebooks are getting in on the internet surge. The Directory of Illustration in particular has a strong online presence, and advertisers in the Directory are also on their website. It might now be long before the printed sourcebook is a thing of the past.

Right now I find that a combination of online, printed sourcebook and direct mailing efforts are still best, but the online resources are on the outside lane and moving up fast.

Thanks to Grant Jonen 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 your questions and I’ll try and answer them here!

The Daily Cartoonist reported today about an auction of Superman memorabilia set for January 22nd that includes a lot of rare stuff like the above costume, reportedly worn by George Reeves in the 1950′s TV show. That costume is estimated to go for about $120,000.

I wonder if I’d get anything for my superman costume, circa 2006??

This guy is all over the news and internet. Ted Williams (not the late baseball legend) was homeless and destitute until a video on YouTube of him doing his radio announcer voice for a handout caught fire, and now he’s famous. The world loves a redemption story, but it’s more likely this will end badly… addiction and self-destructive behavior is not something you are able to cast away no matter how much good fortune suddenly comes your way. In fact, it’s usually the slow crawl back from “hitting bottom” that ends up sticking and the sudden miraculous break ends up getting squandered. He says he’s been clean for 2 years so maybe he’s really hit bottom and is on his way up, and this miraculous break will be his reward. I hope it all works out for him.

Every year the National Cartoonists Society gets together for a weekend of fun, seminars and speakers culminating in the Reuben Awards dinner. Known as the Oscars of cartooning, the Reuben Awards honors the “Cartoonist of the Year” with the coveted “Reuben” and also recognizes many other cartoonists for excellence in a variety of categories.

It’s that time of year again, and entries for consideration for the various divisions are due on February 6th.

It’s important to understand these awards are for excellence in professional cartooning as a whole, not for NCS members only. You do not have to be a member to be considered for a divisional award. The only criteria for entry is that the work is professionally published (i.e. not self published) in 2010. Actually they include the final month of the previous year as well, so the work must be documented as published between December 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2010.

Here’s the rundown of the what, where and when from the National Cartoonists Society website, including links to the entry form and bio sheet:

It’s time to prepare your entry for the National Cartoonists Society
Division Awards.

Below, you will see the list of the juries which will judge the categories, the jury chair and the address to which you will send your
entry.

Please remember only recent work can be considered. This means work published between the dates of December 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Please submit published tear sheets when possible and document when and where the work was published. Members of the National Cartoonists Society and nonmembers may submit.

Each entry must be accompanied by a completed ENTRY FORM and a BIO SHEET.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL SUBMISSIONS TO BE PRINTED AND MAILED. NO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS PLEASE.

The winners will be announced at the 65th Annual Reuben Awards Dinner on May 28, 2011.

Cartoonists are invited to submit their work (or the work of anyone else) no later than February 6, 2011, for consideration for one or more of the following Division Awards:

TELEVISION ANIMATION
Submit one or more samples in VHS or DVD format of aired or exhibited
work that was released in the year 2010 to: Rob Smith, Jr., NCS
Florida Chapter, PO Box 540103, Orlando, FL 32854-0103
(ncs@robsmithjr.com)

FEATURE ANIMATION
Submit one or more samples in VHS or DVD format of aired or exhibited
work that was released in the year 2010 to: David Folkman, NCS Los
Angeles Chapter, 6171 W. Century Blvd. #160, Los Angeles, CA 90045
(folkmanart@aol.com)

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION
Submit 6 samples of published work to: Adrian Sinnott, NCS Long Island
Chapter, 27 East 24th Street, Huntington Station, NY 11746-3701
(acsinnott@adriansinnott.com)

GAG CARTOONS
Submit 12 samples of published work to: Mike Edholm, NCS North Central
Chapter, 2108 Sandstone Road, Lincoln, NE 08512 (medholm1@mac.com)

GREETING CARDS
Submit 6 samples of published work to: Ron Evry, NCS DC Chapter, 2880
Cedar Crest Court, Woodbridge, VA 22192-3119 (revry@panix.com)

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS
Submit 12 samples of published work to: Polly Keener, NCS Great Lakes
Chapter, 400 W. Fairlawn Blvd., Akron, OH 44313-4510
(pollytoon@aol.com)

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS
Submit 12 samples of published work to: Doug Bratton, NCS Metro
Chapter, 17 Crestmont Drive, Dover, NJ 07801 (bratcartoonist1@aol.com)

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION
Submit 6 samples of published work to: Patricia Storms, NCS Canadian
Chapter, 65 Bernice Crescent, Toronto, Ontario CANADA M6N 1W7
(gpstorms@rogers.com)

BOOK ILLUSTRATION
Send up to 6 samples of published work to: Jack Pittman, NCS Southeast
Chapter, 1740 Brooks Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27607-6618
(jack@jackpittman.net)

EDITORIAL CARTOONS
Submit 12-20 samples of published work to: Brian Walker, NCS
Connecticut Chapter, 34 Old Forge Rd., Wilton, CT 06897-3707
(hiandlois1@aol.com)

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION
Submit 4 samples of published and marketed work to: Graham Nolan, NCS
Upstate NY Chapter, 162 Godfrey Terrace, East Aurora, NY 14052
(gnolan@sunshinestatecomics.com)

COMIC BOOKS
Submit 3 samples of published work to: David Coulson, NCS Pennsylvania
Chapter, 6425 Wilkins Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(ndavid.coulson@gmail.com)

GRAPHIC NOVELS
Submit book published in 2010 to: Mike Lynch, NCS National
Representative, 61 Nutes Road, Milton, NH 03851-4800
(mike@mikelynchcartoons.com)

Once again: Each entry must be accompanied by a completed ENTRY FORM
and a BIO SHEET. ALL SUBMISSIONS TO BE PRINTED AND MAILED. NO EMAIL
SUBMISSIONS PLEASE.

The submission deadline is February 6, 2010.

Click for a closer look!

… according to the DC Universe blog The Source, Wood’s artwork from the classic at oft-reprinted Batman parody “Batboy and Rubin” will be used as the basis of an episode of  the animated show “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”. Written by Paul Dini, the episode is entitled “Bat-Mite Presents: Batman’s Strangest Cases!”. See image above, where Wood’s artwork is readily recognizable.

Q: For some time I have been looking for instruction on caricature art. The online courses strike me as a bit sketchy (ok,..shame on me). Could you give me a lead or some direction on how I can learn this art form?

A: There are a lot of different ways to learn to do caricature. Some work better for one person than another, so there is no “right way” to learn the art form. Here are some of the things I recommend for anyone wanting to learn how to draw caricatures:

Books

There is no definitive book on how to draw caricatures out there, but there are a lot of very helpful ones with great information and instruction. Here’s a list of a few I recommend:

• How to Draw Caricatures- Lenn Redman
• Cartooning the Head and Figure- Jack Hamm
• A Caricaturists Handbook- Jim Van Der Kyle
• Let’s Toon Caricatures- Keelan Parham

There are a lot of others but I’ve got no experience with them so I can’t recommend them one way or another. Hopefully I will add my book to that list this summer.

Videos

Caricaturist and animator Jim Van Der Kyle has had a series of instructional videos on drawing caricatures for years that I always recommend for anyone wanting to get started with caricature, especially those interested in doing live caricature drawing. You can find Jim’s videos for sale here.

Theme Parks

If you REALLY want to learn how to draw caricatures the best way is to get a job as a caricaturist at a theme park. It’s like boot camp for caricaturists, where you draw along side many other artists of varying skills and experience. By the end of a summer of drawing at a theme park you will have a pretty good grasp of caricature. That’s a big time investment, but there is nothing better.

On-Line courses

Since I’ve never taken any of these types of caricature instruction courses I can’t recommend any. Sorry.

Most of all look at and study the work of other caricaturists to help you develop your eye for exaggeration and capturing likenesses. Oh, and draw, draw, draw.

Thanks to Michael McGilvray 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 your questions and I’ll try and answer them here!

Wally Wood was arguably one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century. His work for MAD and the E.C. Science Fiction titles as well as for other comics titles like Daredevil are examples of the mastery of graphic storytelling, drawing and inking. Wood also had a reputation as a guy who didn’t mind doing some riské work… in fact a lot of his sketches and personal work were sexually graphic. He was a master of drawing the sexy female… with or without clothes.

One of the more famous “blue” pieces he did was called the Disneyland Memorial Orgy, (fair warning if you click on this link… this ain’t Walt’s idea of a Disney illustration) a two-page image full of Disney characters engaging in various sex and drug acts first published in 1967 in the counter-culture magazine The Realist. The illustration was a satire of Disney’s growing copyright and money-making machine, and it became so popular that The Realist publisher Paul Krassner printed it as a poster. Interestingly Disney did not sue, and insiders have said it was because they did not want to bring further attention to it fighting what would probably have been a losing battle in court. However Disney did sue a third party years later when that party pirated the image and tried to sell it as a black light poster (groovy!). The “Disneyland Memorial Orgy” poster by Wallace Wood is one of the most famous / infamous counter-culture illustrations ever.

The reason I’m bringing this all up? The New York Museum of Sex is putting up an exhibit of cartoon and comic illustration called “Comic Stripped” which will examine the history and nature of sex in comics form from “Tijuiana Bibles” to the underground comics work of artists like R. Crumb to the cartoons of Playboy and similar publications. Wood’s “Disneyland Memorial Orgy” is one of the centerpieces of this exhibit… although I can’t seem to find confirmation that it will be the original artwork in the show and not just one of the late 60′s prints. Every time I try pop up windows keep appearing trying to get me to click on links for live chat room sex or Viagra.

In showcasing the coquettish to the most sexually explicit “dirty drawings,” Comics Stripped will examine the history and cultural significance of the images, icons and illustrators that have entertained, educated (as well as equally misinformed) on the basics of sex and created a realm of sexual fantasy unlimited by the constraints of reality for generations.- The Museum of Sex, New York

I’d go to the show just to see the Wood piece but I don’t live in New York City and The Lovely Anna would kill me anyway. The show opens January 13th, 2011.

Thanks to the Comic’s Alliance for the heads up.

Too busy to do much of a post today. Instead, here is another of the spot illustrations done for Penthouse‘s new column by Dave Navarro…

Finished art- click for a closer look…

The rough pencil sketch

The printed illustration should be in this month’s issue of the magazine.