General
October 19th, 2006 | Posted in General
Drawing for MAD isn’t exactly doing Batman for DC or Spider-Man for Marvel, so I am hardly on anybody’s short list of special guests at comic book conventions. In fact, the few times I have appeared at them, the typical exchange usually goes: “What do you draw?” “I draw for MAD Magazine” “Oh… can you do a sketch for me?” “Sure, I could draw your caricature… or a picture of Alfred E. Neuman, or…” “Draw a sexy Batgirl with big boobs!!” I go to the Minnesota FallCon every year, but not many other places. Every once and a while I get a gracious invitation to… READ MORE
October 18th, 2006 | Posted in General
Yesterday’s blog post reminded me I have yet to tell people the story of the “Me Gallery” and how it came about. Firstly, if you haven’t yet visited the Me Gallery, take a minute (or several hours) to check it out. It is a huge collection, 192 pieces and counting, of caricatures of me by artists from all over the world. For anyone interested in caricature, it is a very unique study of the infinite diversity the art of caricature can demonstrate via the depiction of a single subject by multiple artists. It originated many years ago as a bit of a joke, but has… READ MORE
October 17th, 2006 | Posted in General
MAD illustrator great and all around terrific guy Rick Tulka brought this to my attention a few days ago. It was done by a fellow caricaturist and NCN member Paul Moyse, and shows the steps of a color airbrushed caricature with me as the subject. I got the final for my “Me Gallery” a while back from Paul, and I had seen this on his website, but did not know he uploaded it for the world to see on YouTube. It’s cool and I thank Paul for the drawing, but what I really wanted to do was post using a nifty new feature with my… READ MORE
October 16th, 2006 | Posted in General
I guess I lied about not blogging while on vacation… but layovers and long flights need to be good for something, right? A few weeks ago I had, and wrote about a major hard drive meltdown on my Dell Precision Workstation PC in the midst of several imminent deadlines. This incident forced me to run out to the local Apple store and buy a Mac Pro. Having used a PC almost exclusively since the days of the 286 Tandy, I was a little apprehensive about switching to a Mac. Not because I did not believe they were good computers, but just because the PC was… READ MORE
October 14th, 2006 | Posted in General
I’m leaving today with Anna and my four kids for our annual trip to Disney World. About ten years ago I did a bizarre but good paying job for a CD-ROM game company called Parody Interactive, and with 4 young kids Anna and I decided to invest the money I earned on the job into a timeshare in Orlando. We’ve been every year since. We have a picture of our kids standing in front of Cinderella’s fountain in the Magic Kingdom every year for a decade… an annual tradition. The fountain looks the same in every picture, but my youngest was 6 months old in… READ MORE
October 12th, 2006 | Posted in General
Ah’d ratha be golfin’ Any conversation about the greatest and most influential cartoonists of the last half century must, at some point, include the name Jack Davis. From the notorious E.C. horror comics of the 1950’s to MAD Magazine to TIME and TV Guide covers, record covers, movie posters, advertising, animation design and even US postage stamps, Davis’s art has entertained, amazed and inspired generations. On Oct. 21st the Comic Art Professional Society will be honoring the legendary master cartoonist with a special award for lifetime achievement. I would be hard pressed to think of a more worthy recipient. John Burton “Jack” Davis Jr. was… READ MORE
October 11th, 2006 | Posted in General
On Sept. 23rd I wrote this post about the passing one year earlier of my friend and mentor, caricaturist and illustrator Gary Fasen. A few weeks ago a fellow caricaturist and former Gary disciple Paul Roustan contacted me about a documentary he was putting together about Gary’s life and work. He had me tape some comments on Gary and send them to him for inclusion. Paul did a really outstanding job on the video, which features many of the artists Gary influenced personally and professionally. The documentary turned out great and he has uploaded it to YouTube. It’s 30 minutes, but will give anyone interested… READ MORE
October 11th, 2006 | Posted in General
The last of this year’s NCS North Central Chapter meeting took place at a chapter brunch at my house. We had several members still in town over, and Dave Phipps did his radio show live from my studio. As usual my wife Anna went all out and made enough food to feed three times the people who attended. It was all delicious, of course. Michael Jantze hangs out in the foyer Michael and I in the Studio Iowa cartoonist Bucky Jones and St. Cloud’s Dave Phipps Dave prepares for his radio show In addition to being a full time freelance cartoonist, Dave does a one… READ MORE
