General
July 13th, 2006 | Posted in General
Last night I went to see “Superman Returns” again with a good friend, this time at the local Imax, where 20 minutes of the footage was in 3-D. First off, I have mixed feelings about the 3-D moments in the film. In some respects the depth of field made the 3-D scenes even more dynamic. The plane crash scene was especially cool in 3-D, as were parts of the half-ship rescue. Maybe it was just me, but the scenes seemed darker, and the focus was fuzzy enough to make the action harder to follow. Those are probably necessary evils with the technology, but I still… READ MORE
July 11th, 2006 | Posted in General
I work out of a studio in my home, and people often ask me how that “works for me”. The quick answer is that it works fine but presents it’s own challenges. I am never away from the office, and that makes it difficult to relax with the family, especially if I have a number of projects going at once. It always seems like work is beckoning me down to the basement. That one just takes some getting used to. On the other hand, I don’t have to waste time traveling to and from the studio, unless you count the stairs. I can also work… READ MORE
July 8th, 2006 | Posted in General
This review contains spoilers! I finally found the time to see Superman Returns while visiting the St. Louis area. It’s always interesting seeing a film that I have already drawn a parody of for MAD, which as I mentioned earlier I had done. I also mentioned I would rather wait and see the film before drawing the parody. No exceptions here. Overall I liked the movie. I’ve heard mixed reviews of the film from various sources, many complaining that it drags in many places and is boring. It’s not bang-bang action from moment one, but I hardly thought it dragged or was boring. I don’t… READ MORE
July 6th, 2006 | Posted in General
This is a bit I have borrowed (okay, stolen) from Mark Evanier’s News from Me. Whenever Mark is too busy with work to??ᬨ‚Ćwrite in his blog, he posts a picture of a Campbell’s Soup can. This apparently is the universal symbol for “can’t talk now, too busy”. The bane of this blog will be freelance job deadlines, which leap seemingly out of nowhere and wreak havoc until I have chased them down and beaten them into submission. I’m on a trip starting today for my park in St. Louis, so technically this isn’t a deadline but a lack of internet access and time preventing a… READ MORE
July 6th, 2006 | Posted in General
After nearly 20 years of drawing caricatures at theme parks and running the show daily out there every summer full time, I went into theme park ‘semi-retirement’ a few years ago. Between my increasing frequency of doing MAD jobs and my other clients and freelance projects, it was becoming impossible to devote the kind of time and attention needed to run one of these operations properly. The last 5 seasons or so I have had a manager out at my park in Minnesota, and my role has been regulated to just the business end of things, teaching the new artists the techniques we use and… READ MORE
July 5th, 2006 | Posted in General
I was contacted a few years ago by an energetic young naval officer by the name of Daniel Kinske, who wanted to commission me to do an illustration for a book he was working on. The story behind this book, and the unique and terrific end result is a worth a look. “Memories of a Munchkin” is an autobiography of a gentleman named Mienhardt Raabe, assisted by Lt. Dan (can’t resisit calling him that!). Mr. Raabe is one of the last surviving cast members of the Wizard of Oz, specifically of the Munchkins. He played the munchkin coroner. Lt. Dan met Mr. Raabe and decided… READ MORE
July 4th, 2006 | Posted in General
Freelance illustration is an interesting career. You never know where the next job might come from. In the last year I have done lots of the usual (magazine feature illustrations, posters), the unusual (caricatures used to make coffee mugs of sports celebrities for stadium giveaways) and the downright bizarre (cartoon designs for a series of toys featuring various characters in trench coats that open them up to “flash” you, showing various gag elements as opposed to their privates). Right now I am in the middle of a very unique job for The American Museum of Tort Law in Kansas City, MO. The museum has exhibits… READ MORE
July 3rd, 2006 | Posted in General
It’s been a month or so since the event, but I thought I’d give a belated report on this year’s Rueben Awards. I am fortunate to be a member of the National Cartoonist Society, a 60 year old, terrific organization of professional cartoonists. Each year they have a weekend event called the Reuben Awards, named after first president Rube Goldberg, which is described as the “Oscars” of cartooning. The Reubens are usually well attended and always a great deal of fun. It’s been held on Memorial Day weekend for the last several years, in different locals from NYC to Cancun, San Francisco to Boca Raton… READ MORE
