Mailbag
May 6th, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you have any tips on how to change a person’s expression and retain a likeness. Say you have photo of someone smiling but they want a surprised or angry look. Any advice? A: In the case of a single image of a subject, I would require the subject (assuming it’s the subject asking for the changed expression, like in¬¨‚Ć a gift caricature) to give me a reference showing the kind of expression they are asking for. Even though faces, for the most part, follow somewhat similar patterns when making an expression like “surprise” or “anger”, you cannot pretend you really know what a… READ MORE
April 29th, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I work a 40 hour week, 50 weeks a year, and have been since 1978. I see actual retirement in the next ten years. As a artist and freelancer, what does retirement look like for you? No plan at all, freelance part time, or continue present pace until last breath is exhaled? A: Freelancer artists face the same challenges to retirement that any self-employed person does. You have no employer who is providing a pension plan for you, so sou simply have to plan ahead for it . . .¬¨‚Ć and the younger you are when you do it, the better. Social Security is… READ MORE
April 22nd, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I am contemplating a resurrection of my own cartooning talents that I abandoned years ago, and am considering the art of caricature as part of that. Do you think it would be beneficial to study real life portraiture first, then go into caricature? I think if you could master a good portrait, caricature would be easier to accomplish. Would you show a sample of one of your portraits that you have done? I, along with most of the visitors to your site, would be quite interested in seeing one. A: No question that having a strong grasp of realistic drawing will only help an… READ MORE
April 15th, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Uh oh… looks like the mailbag is empty! Well, it’s not really completely empty, but the only ones I’ve got right now are either repeats of previous questions or of the “can you teach me how to cross-hatch?” or “how do you exaggerate people in caricature?” which aren’t really questions so much as they are requests for long and involved tutorials, and are needing a lot more time than I can give for this weekly feature. A good Sunday Mailbag question can certainly involve an image or two and a somewhat long answer, but anything like a tutorial is a different matter. It’s entirely possible… READ MORE
April 8th, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What do you think about MAD’s finally attempting a real online presence with their website and new app? IMO they have sorely neglected this, and it may be too little too late. A: In the last several years I’ve often heard comments about how lousy MAD‘s website was, how they didn’t have anything worth looking at online and how behind the times they were. This usually came from people who didn’t buy or read the magazine, by the way. To say that MAD was “behind the times” is totally inaccurate. In fact, MAD was far ahead of it’s time in terms of the web.… READ MORE
April 1st, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: It seems to me that a freelancer needs to be a jack-of-all-trades these days, doing many different kinds of work. You do magazine illustration, advertising, and lately character design for animation. Have you ever done any other kinds of graphic design work? A: Your observation that a freelancer has to wear many different hats is quite accurate, insofar as the more you are able to do the wider your range of potential clients and jobs, and the more opportunities you have. That said, this is more of a case of finding different applications for the same type of artwork as opposed to doing totally… READ MORE
March 25th, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Taxes… Even though I have been a full time caricature artist for over 12 years, this is a major area that I have regretfully been lazy in researching and acquiring the proper knowledge base that I should probably have….¬¨‚Ć Like a lot of caricature artist I make the majority of my living as an independent contractor, I also do some freelance on the side but very little… I do not have a CPA and I am not incorporated, as a result I probably pay too much…. Would you happen to have any tax advise you would like to share with a fellow caricature artist?… READ MORE
March 18th, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: If I send you something in the mail, with you autograph it for me? A: First off, I will never get used to anyone asking for my autograph. That said, the answer to your question is: probably, but it depends. It used to be that I would only very occasionally get something forwarded to me from MAD or sent directly to me from a fan asking for an autograph, and I would be happy to sign whatever and send it back (most kindly thought ahead and included a self addressed and stamped return envelope). These were always very specific and obviously came from a… READ MORE
