Mailbag
October 31st, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I saw you make a snarky remark on Twitter about the “Inktober” online initiative and I’m wondering, why do you hate Inktober? It seems to me you should support something like that, being a cartoonist who works with traditional pen and ink a lot. A: You mean this tweet?: I have to admit I’ve been a bit of a smartass the last couple of years about Inktober, but I certainly do not hate it. I’ve made fun of it now and then mainly because I usually spend a hundred plus hours a month every month dipping pen nibs and brushes into ink doing inked art,… READ MORE
October 24th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Why the switch to a newsletter from your blog? I’ve made your blog a daily stop for a long time, and while I’ve subscribed to your newsletter I’ll miss visiting here to see what you’ve posted today. There’s a kind of cool connection knowing you’ve posted THAT DAY, rather than reading a newsletter you probably put together over a few days. It’s more of a personal connection, if you understand that. Anyway I’ll miss the blog. A: I addressed that pretty thoroughly (I think) in my announcement on Friday. The short version is I’m not reaching a growing audience via the blog or socials… READ MORE
October 17th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You have been drawing Alfred E Neuman for decades. His frontal face is 100% fixed more or less. Every time you need to make a new drawing, how do you draw his face? Do you draw it base on memory, use a reference or just copy/paste his face from past drawings? A: When I first started with MAD I was told not to try and put my own spin on Alfred by exaggerating him, or to draw him in a three-quarter or profile view. Alfred was to be drawn at either the straight on angle or the “back of the head” angle. I was… READ MORE
September 26th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What are your thoughts on The Walt Disney Company’s barrage of lawsuits on Friday? A: Here’s a link to another story about this issue. For those tl;dr folks here’s the brief version: Earlier this year the heirs/estates of several artists and writers who created Marvel characters like Spider-Man, Thor, etc. filed lawsuits against Disney (owners of Marvel) claiming copyrights to the characters should revert back to them after a 60 year time limit under the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Disney recently filed countersuits saying the characters were created under a “work for hire” arrangement, and therefore the copyright claims are invalid. My thoughts?… READ MORE
September 19th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: For most of its history MAD had a circulation of 8 issues a year. Then, when DC Comics took over, the number of issues went from 8 issues to a monthly magazine until issue #499. From #500 it was 4 issues for awhile and ultimately went up to 6 issues a year. Do you think the quality of MAD Magazine went down when it was a monthly issue? Do you think it should have remained at 8 issues a year. How was the general response to MAD being issued out 4 times a year.. and ultimately coming out 6 times a year? How many issues a… READ MORE
September 12th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you ever create non-cartoon/caricature drawings such as portraits or landscapes? If so, how do you manage to shift gears so drastically? A: Very seldom these days. The art college I went to had no cartooning classes. Occasionally in one of my illustration classes I would be able to get away with doing a cartoon image for a certain project, but that was mostly frowned upon. I was trained in classic drawing and painting instead. This actually helped my cartooning (in my opinion) as it forced me to develop my drawing skills, and when I then turned back to cartooning I think my skills… READ MORE
September 5th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: As you’ve been revisiting your old work, have you had any OH SH*T moments when you saw something you’d overlooked. I don’t mean things that you look back on and see how you might have done them better, but genuine oversights like “I forgot to give that guy feet”? A: I have been trying to think of any really “OMG I can’t believe that got by me” sort of things but nothing really egregious comes to mind. I notice a LOT of times where I missed coloring something, so someone’s hand is the green of what’s behind it or whatever, but I’ve can’t recall ever giving… READ MORE
August 29th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: If a client just has a low budget, do you sometimes offer to draw with a “lower” quality? I mean, are you maybe accepting a lower wage, if you can in return reduce the amount of work like maybe fewer sketches or less worked out coloring? A: No. I would not intentionally do something with less effort or lesser quality in order to justify accepting a lower rate. If what a client wants me to do and what they are offering to pay for it don’t equate, I just won’t accept the job. My name is still on the art, and I don’t want… READ MORE
