General
June 27th, 2008 | Posted in General
The Lovely Anna and I are currently in The Big Apple visiting our good friends Ed and Heather Steckley and in general just hanging out and relaxing… at least I will be as soon as I recover from the three all nighters I pulled to finish the “Super Capers” movie job. I spent Wednesday afternoon and night working in Ed’s studio on the final images for the final scene. Deadlines conquered…. AGAIN. Now its time to party! Despite my being a little bleary eyed we managed to spend yesterday afternoon traveling to Long Island to attend the annual NCS “Bunny Bash”, which is always a… READ MORE
June 26th, 2008 | Posted in General
Hard to believe it’s been two years already since the first post on The MAD Blog. Thanks to leap year and a (very) few multiple post days, this is post #791. Just when trying to come up with something new to write about or when writing a post begins to seem like a chore, I get another e-mail from someone telling me how much they love the blog and how much they get out of it, and they thank me for doing it. As I’ve said before, it’s a kind of therapy for me to put down the drawing pen and write for a little… READ MORE
June 24th, 2008 | Posted in General
Every once and awhile a freelancer finds themselves working on a project that is a long way out of their usual type of work. This year that project for me has been working on “Super Capers“, a super-hero comedy by writer/director Ray Griggs. The great thing about working “outside the box” is that it is challenging and fresh. This job has certainly been that. What would a cartoonist have to do with a motion picture production? Good question. That’s exactly what I wondered. Ray had his own ideas, and he wanted some comic book/MAD Magazine cartoon imagery to go along with his live action film.… READ MORE
June 20th, 2008 | Posted in General
The National Cartoonists Society and the National Cartoonist Society Foundation has been working with “Broadside” (Naval Times) cartoonist Jeff Bacon and the USO on a great program that brings cartoonists from various areas to military hospitals and medical centers for them to meet, talk with and draw for U.S. veterans who are convalescing from injuries sustained in defense of our nation. It’s an inspired and inspiring program, and many cartoonists have visited injured veterans in many U.S. military hospitals around the country. This fall the NCS and the USO are sponsoring their first cartoonist trip outside the U.S. for this purpose. Organized by Jeff and… READ MORE
June 17th, 2008 | Posted in General
“That’s IT! No more workout advice from Carrot Top…” As part of my Father’s Day I went to the movies to see “The Incredible Hulk“, a film I was hesitant to buy all the way into. I had heard some of the bad press about star Edward Norton‘s displeasure with script changes and non-changes, was unsure of some of the acting choices and in general didn’t much like the look of the new Hulk. I was pleasantly surprised in many ways. It was no “Iron Man“, but I enjoyed the film quite a bit. This review will contain no plot spoilers, although the plot isn’t… READ MORE
June 6th, 2008 | Posted in General
For years I’ve been using an easy trick to create a layer in PhotoShop containing my scanned, inked line art that remains intact as I color “beneath it” sort of like an animation cell. It’s a simple thing to do: Scan line art as grayscale image Duplicate background layer containing inked art, rename “Inks” Set layer mode to “Multiply” On background layer, press “Command” + “A” to select and then “Delete” to delete line art on that layer Convert to RGB or CMYK Finished. Because “Multiply” mode means that whatever is on that layer in “multiplied” with what is below it, all the black lines… READ MORE
June 5th, 2008 | Posted in General
Yes. Sorry folks. I’m just too swamped to write a real post. The good news is that my next “Drawing Caricatures” tutorial article is in the works and will appear a little later this month. READ MORE
June 3rd, 2008 | Posted in General
Today is a sad anniversary. Sixteen 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 its history closed on June 3rd, 1992. In his time as publisher I’ve heard that nearly every page of… READ MORE
