Can you tell I’m busy? Nothing but flashbacks on the blog this week as I’m desperately trying to wrap up several things before heading out the the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards this weekend, and today is no exception. Here’s an old sketch of ageless rock goddess Gwen Stefani, which appears on the last page of my book. Done in pencil with digital grays. READ MORE
–Originally posted 4/21/07 I was thinking the other day about how much the internet has changed the dynamics of freelancing, in terms of how illustrators communicate, conduct and deliver jobs and market their work. For the most part it’s been an invaluable tool, but there is a dark side to it. The easy access and instant communication of the internet often leads to being contacted for jobs that aren’t really jobs. I used to have the same problem when I drew at the theme parks. A few times each summer someone would approach me at the park and ask me to draw something for them… READ MORE
Every once and awhile MAD would chose to do a parody of some show that was a real head-scratcher… not the show but the fact that MAD decided it was parody worthy. This is an example from MAD #478, the June 2007 issue. “Dog the Bounty Hunter” was a reality show on A&E that, while it ran for eight seasons, was a far cry from a household name. I’m still not sure why it was picked for a MAD parody subject, but I thought the same thing of the two dozen HGTV shows we spoofed. Anyway, I drew the four page parody written by Dennis… READ MORE
Q: I heard a great tip from Lynn Johnston that she uses toys for references. I always thought that was such a great tip. You can use toys from different angles and can give your more depth than looking at a photo and…some toys can be cheap. I recently bought a farm animal toy pack from Walmart for $3 and a matchbox truck for $1! My question is…do you use toys for references? If so, any examples you can give us when you did? A: Toys and props are great for references, especially these days where they are often VERY accurate to the real thing…… READ MORE
I did the cover illustration for this week’s Commercial Observer featuring New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City major Bill De Blasio. The newspaper was out on Wednesday in the New York City area. The art and the article are also on their website. Everyone on the paper was pleased with the art, and it got a lot of attention in NYC (it even got featured on NY1 morning news)… …but the editors really made me reign in the caricatures, which was kind of disappointing. This was the original sketch: As you can see the final is a lot more portrait-like. C’est la… READ MORE
In all the years I’ve done freelance illustration, this piece is the only one I ever asked to be credited under a pseudonym. I did a fair amount of work for Penthouse magazine, back when there was a Penthouse Magazine, but never did anything “blue”. The art director called me up one day in about 2008 or so and wanted me to do the art for a humorous feature article, and possibly more art for future features. I immediately told him that if the art they wanted needed to include overt pornographic images I was not interested. He assured me they had a lot of… READ MORE
I’m going to continue with my Rock n’ Roll series with some members of the 27 Club, including multiple Grammy winner Amy Winehouse. As always, the original is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
The Columbus Dispatch has a nice article on the “Artistically MAD: Seven Decades of Satire” exhibit that just got started at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum ten days ago. I’m definitely planning on making the trek to Ohio sometime this summer to see the show. The exhibit hangs through October 21st. READ MORE
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