General
April 27th, 2008 | Posted in General
Q: After working overseas as an illustrator for a while, I made the mistake of moving back home to Scotland. In short, there was no work. At all. So, like any plucky young cartoonist, I hung up my brushes and moved on to other work (editing magazines.). Now I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, and I’m finding it hard to draw again (it’s been a little over 18 months now). Any tips on getting my skills back to a decent level? A: That’s really impossible to answer as it’s very different for everybody. I can only tell you what I would… READ MORE
April 24th, 2008 | Posted in General
I use WordPress blog software for The MAD Blog, and while the only other software I’ve tried is Blogger I like WordPress a lot. It’s easy to use and maintain, and the extensive number of free plug in programs allows for a lot of flexibility to get the blog to do what I want it to do. The MAD blog is self hosted, meaning it’s not a WordPress.com based blog, so when updates to WordPress are released there is always a little anxiety when I finally take the plunge and do the update. A blog’s “theme”, meaning the format and look of the blog itself,… READ MORE
April 21st, 2008 | Posted in General
I’ve been at my theme park operation at Six Flags New England since Friday. I’ll be returning tomorrow afternoon. It’s always a big job getting these things up and running… especially this one. Fortunately I’ve got good people taking care of things. I’ve been trying to work with the rookie artists and tweak the details all weekend. Here’s some pics of some of the various locations we have in this park doing caricatures, airbrush t-shirts and airbrush tattoos: Our busiest caricature location in the Harbor area Airbrush T-Shirts, hats and other apparel Temporary Airbrush Tattoos- one of three locations. This one is in the DC… READ MORE
April 17th, 2008 | Posted in General
MAD #488 was a fairly significant issue for a number of reasons… the first time they did an all concept issue, The missing Dick DeBartolo credit, etc. One major significant item that slipped a little under the radar was the return of former regular MAD cover artist Roberto Parada, who contributed to the magazine for the first time since he did the cover of MAD #437 in March of 2003. That’s a stretch of 5 years and 51 issues. His issue #488 piece (see below) was part of the “MOMA: The Museum of Monkey Art” catalogue parody. Roberto’s fantastic oil paintings had been gracing the… READ MORE
April 14th, 2008 | Posted in General
I’m finally seeing daylight for the first time in a while… until my phone rings that is. Here’s a cover job I did for Scholastic that is seeing print right about now: Initial pencil rough on layout Final Pencil Finished illustration. Click for closer look Here are a few others on the board right now which I will share fully when appropriate- Political Novelty Product Job– Hopefully the final art for this will be done this week. Lot’s of revisions which can sometimes be typical with a product or ad job. I have no idea when they might be released but I would guess very… READ MORE
April 13th, 2008 | Posted in General
Q: I’m thinking about doing some caricaturing at a local festival. I purchased a 10 x 10 outdoor booth but I’m not sure how to set it up. I do most of my art at home, so working on-location is somewhat of a mystery to me. Can you give any suggestions for my setup? I’m planning on doing pencil and ink (no color) drawings. A: There are several important elements you need to create a good, approachable retail caricature setup. These apply to any kind of retail operation from a multiple artist building at a major theme park to a one artist booth at the… READ MORE
April 8th, 2008 | Posted in General
I’m just wrapping up in New England and will be back home tonight. No time for a real post today, so here’s a video link or two you might enjoy: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhgzIM-9lfA[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaIR9dAZRR0[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_O0xYCy1cg[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO2jcwgIi8o[/youtube] READ MORE
April 5th, 2008 | Posted in General
I’ll be in Springfield, Mass. for the next several days getting our Six Flags New England theme park operations up and running for the season opener next Saturday, but thanks to the magic of scheduled posting The MAD Blog will continue to grind on. I mentioned a few posts ago that this summer is going to be comic book geek nirvana at the movie theater. In multiplexes this spring and summer: The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2, Iron Man, Speed Racer and The X-Files 2 (okay, those last two are not strictly comic book movies, but close enough). Most of these look pretty… READ MORE
