Mailbag
December 8th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What your experiences in mailing original artwork… you know good ol’ snail mail.¬¨‚Ć Any carriers to avoid? Any horror stories? Advice? A: I’m pretty paranoid about mailing originals, so I have had very few issues with doing so. The most important thing is how you package it. Basically, you have to box it up anticipating it will be dropped, thrown, stepped on and otherwise carelessly treated from the beginning to end of the journey. If you package it securely enough that none of those things will damage the artwork, you will be alright. I used to (briefly) work in a UPS warehouse, so I… READ MORE
December 1st, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Hey Tom! Not sure if you’ve covered this ever on your blog but here it goes. As we all know people come in all shapes and sizes. Now let’s say a lady is a little on the heavy side. Hopefully as she’s getting her caricature, she’ll know it’ll be somewhat exaggerated. But how do you find a balance on a “sensitive” person, so you’re not offending the person? In the case above, you don’t want to make the lady disgustingly fat and all that. But you don’t want to just ignore the fact that “she” is on the heavier side. It doesn’t have to… READ MORE
November 10th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What are your thoughts on the new Wacom Companion (the new Cintiq/tablet mashup)? Any plans to get one? A: When I was at the Stanley Awards in Australia a week or so ago I got a chance to play around with one of the hybrid Android tablet Cintiqs, which was brought to the conference by Jason Chatfield. Jason, incidentally, did a comprehensive review of that device on his blog and on YouTube which is well worth watching. I was not impressed. I thought there was significant lag with linework, and I just didn’t like the feel of it. Now, I was using it in… READ MORE
November 3rd, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Did you ever consider doing anything else for a living besides illustration? A: Yes, I’ve always wanted to be an independently wealthy, idle , international playboy. I couldn’t ever find a place to turn in an application for the job, though, so I went with cartooning. Actually I can honestly say I never wanted to be anything else besides an artist. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t spend most of my free time drawing nor ever thinking about being anything but an artist. I never even daydreamed about being an athlete or a rock star or anything like that. Comics, cartooning and… READ MORE
October 27th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I have a question about the art of book writing. I own your book “The Mad Art of Caricature” and I love it, but I would like to know how you went to produce it. I understand that you use Photoshop for your work and you incorporated it in the book to show examples, but did the publisher you go through to produce it give you a set template? For example, did the publisher tell you where to place the page numbers and headings you see on each page, or was that part of your design for each individual page? I’m using Illustrator for… READ MORE
October 20th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: A few posts ago you mentioned how sometimes art directors ask you to ape the look of another illustrator and how you either talk them out of it or decline the job. Are there illustrators out there who routinely do ape the look of other artists? A: Oh, yes. I know of several illustrators who have built their entire careers around mimicking the style of other illustrators. Originally this question included the website of an artist that does just that, but I removed the reference. I don’t like bashing other people as a rule, so do not expect me to name names. What people… READ MORE
October 13th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve been meaning to ask you about how and at what point during a project do you normally send your roughs to MAD for approval. And since your originals are “twice-size’ how do you scan your work? Just curious. A: The process goes this way: Sam Viviano, MAD’s Maddest Art Director, calls me to give me a heads up that I will be doing the art for a parody of some TV show or movie. This gives me a chance to go see the film or to get some episodes of the show to watch so I can familiarize myself with the subject. Yes,… READ MORE
October 6th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Hi Tom, please don’t get me wrong. We love your work but doesn’t it get a bit mechanical/ boring/ task like to do same kind of work day in and day out? I know you have chosen your favorite field of profession but since most of the work is almost same style/type do you ever give a thought about say becoming a painter/ artist as in painting exhibition? Does it ever crosses your mind that you (illustrators) have to deal in volumes to make a good living while say an abstract/contemporary art painter puts in less than half the time earns a lot more,… READ MORE
