Mailbag
April 21st, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: After reading about your fourth printing of the book (congratulations!) I was wondering if you could dispense any advice about self-publishing art books and how to do it successfully. What’s the secret? A: I appreciate the thought but I am hardly an expert in self publishing. I’ve only done one book, and some very unique circumstances came together to make that book work out pretty well. I’d be happy to share what I have learned along the way, but the formula that worked for my book is very specific. First off, there’s a post I wrote some time ago about why I self-published the… READ MORE
April 14th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve seen you occasionally write that you do not do personal commissions because you don’t like having to deal with the subjects of your caricatures thinking their caricatures don’t look like them, and asking you to make them slimmer or to ignore features they don’t like… my question is did you really have a lot of problems with that when you did do personal commissions (your caricatures are not particularly mean-spirited, and I think your likenesses are usually spot on), and do you ever have problems with celebrities you draw in MAD not liking your caricatures of them? A: In all fairness, the reason… READ MORE
April 7th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you alter your approach in any way when your subject is effectively “pre-caricatured”, like, for example, UK Energy Minister John Hayes? A: I guess that depends on what you mean by “pre-caricatured”. I would take that to mean one of the following: The subject has so many obvious features to exaggerate that a caricature is almost superfluous. The subject has been caricatured by others so often that their caricature has become a clich?¬©. Some specific caricature you have seen of the subject influences your own caricature. Based on your example, I would assume you mean the first one, but I’ll answer all three… READ MORE
March 31st, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What is the best way to make up a funny expression for a caricature when all you have is a single photo reference with the person having a bland expression? A: Before I answer that, I have to point out that you really can’t make up an expression for someone and still call it a true caricature. A person’s expressions are as individual as their nose or any physical feature. People smile differently, cry differently, scowl differently… their features react to and express emotions in very unique and individual ways. If you are trying to do a good caricature of someone conveying a certain… READ MORE
March 24th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you every been congratulated on a caricature of a celebrity, say Denzel Washington, Mick Jagger or Lindsay Lohan, only the actual caricature in question was someone entirely different (Larry Fishburn, Steve Tyler or Liz Taylor respectively)? A: Yes, that’s happened a few times, mostly with regard to caricatures I have hanging up as samples on the walls of my theme park caricature booths. I recounted one particularly funny story about a mistaken caricature subject here. The other I remember was this one: Granted, not the best caricature of Mick Jagger ever (it’s 15 years old now), but it was constantly being referred to… READ MORE
March 17th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is it possible to get your book, The Mad Art of Caricature, in Spanish? A: I’ve gotten this question several times asking about getting the book in Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, etc. The folks who ask are always so nice so I hate saying this, but I am afraid the answer is no, not as long as it is self published. I have looked into the feasibility of doing a foreign language edition of the book, and what I have found is that¬¨‚ĆI cannot do it myself, simply because the complexity of the endeavor makes it too expensive and unwieldy to do a translation. I… READ MORE
March 10th, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Are you ever so swamped with deadlines that you spend all weekend basically working around the clock with barely any time to eat, catching only power naps for sleep, drinking copious amounts of caffeine, furiously trying to catch up, and have absolutely no time whatsoever to do your usual Sunday Mailbag question and answer post? A: Yes Thanks to A.E. Neuman of New York, NYA for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here… except for today! READ MORE
March 3rd, 2013 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you ever find yourself “taking revenge” on a personality or celebrity you find particularly annoying? For example, being so fed up with constantly hearing about the shenanigans of Snooki or a Kardashian, your only option is to skewer them through caricature (although admittedly your drawings don’t seem to come across as mean-spirited). A: I will certainly channel my feelings about a subject into the caricature, so if I dislike them or find them annoying that will play into my drawing. Sometimes if I really despise someone I will “go after them” in my drawing… not so much in their exaggerations but in the… READ MORE
