Not sure the world is not more than a bit better off right now. Of course the reviews of successor Kim Jong Un are not very encouraging… although his name is funnier. The above from MAD #473. READ MORE
I am finding that the Amazon.com search engine is not a very well-functioning tool. At the very least it seems to be doing a disservice to customers looking for real results for search terms. According to Amazon, the results of a search for any terms or phrase are weighted by relevance of the search, sales on Amazon thus far and a few other factors. After listing my book on Amazon early last month, it is currently sitting at #85 in results for a search of “How to Draw Caricatures”. That means the Amazon search engine thinks that 84 other books are more relevant to someone… READ MORE
The 28th addition of the Directory of Illustration is out and has been arriving on the desks of prospective buyers of illustration for the last few week. Above is my page in this year’s addition. The Directory is a large sourcebook of illustrators, containing the purchased advertisements of over five hundred artists. I get many inquiries about marketing one’s self as a freelancer, and especially about efforts like the Directory. My basic feeling on it is that, while expensive (about $2400 for a single page), it is a worthwhile addition to other forms of direct marketing for many. One thing I’ve found true is that… READ MORE
My daughter The Dramatic Victoria showed me this: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm3rIGEnmYc&sns=em[/youtube] Priceless. READ MORE
Q: Do you do personal commissions? I’d really like to get a caricature done of my wife for a Christmas present. If you do, what does it entail and how much does it cost? A: Many years ago I stopped doing personal commissions for a number of reasons. First, I didn’t have the time. I am usually swamped with publication work and it’s hard to squeeze in personal commission jobs around the edges. If I were to take them on, it would be at the expense of publication jobs. The second reason is that I’d have to charge an outrageous fee to do personal commissions.… READ MORE
Over on MAD‘s official blog, The Idiotical, the editors have announced that you can now purchase select MAD books for download on the Kindle Fire. Can the magazine itself be far behind? READ MORE
One thing I have always had to fight against with respect to my professional work is my tendency to visualize a single solution to an illustration project and just run with it. While that is the least time-consuming way to go about things, it is also just plain lazy. It is always advisable to force yourself to come up with a few other ideas, if for no other reason than to explore the concept and exercise your conceptual skills. The magic number I always adhere to is three… I want to come up with three different ideas for an illustration that communicate the message and… READ MORE
My apologies to all for the extended hiatus. It’s a long story involving FTP permissions, security and other client son the same servers I was on… it would be extremely boring to go into it. Suffice it to say it’s all ironed out and the MAD Blog is back in action. By way of an apology, here is a fantastic link to the fantastic blog of fantastic illustrator Drew Friedman, where he fantastically recaps his fantastic interview with the fantastic Jack Davis. This message has been brought to you by The MAD Blog’s Adjective of the Day: ITCHY Thank you. READ MORE
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