Mailbag
September 12th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Any idea when your caricature book will be finished and made available to all us who can’t wait to get a copy? A: Unfortunately work on the book has ground to a screeching halt in the last 6 months as I have been increasingly busy with work, including on the MAD cartoon. I am determined to have it done in time for the San Diego Comic Con next July, so we’ll shoot for that time as a release date. There, now I’ve set MY OWN DEADLINE. I’ll try not to blow it. A lot will depend on if a book publisher decides to pick… READ MORE
September 5th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Uh oh! Looks like the mailbag is empty! I guess after 200 some odd answered questions people are running out of stuff to think of asking. When (or if) I get some fresh questions concerning cartooning, illustration, freelancing, MAD Magazine or other similar subjects I’ll be happy to answer them as best I can. E-mail me your questions and I’ll try and answer them here! READ MORE
August 29th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: So I really want to pursue my passion for caricature and cartooning. I want to give it a go but Sunday is my only day off so live gigs are hard to come by. I look on E Lance and Solo Gig but seems like a lot of professionals are on there. So my questions are, should I capture what is going on in local news and submit my work to the A.D. Of the local papers, without contacting them first? Undercut everyone on E Lance? And last, I need to create a portfolio and needed to know what to include. Should it be… READ MORE
August 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You seem to straddle the divide between traditional and digital illustration, with one foot firmly entrenched in the age old techniques of drawing and inking and the other in the modern techniques of digital color and painting. One thing I’m concerned about is the eventual disappearance of any form of original art once the digital world takes complete control. What’s your take on that? A: It’s funny how things come full circle. Way back in the day before I was a working illustrator, artists didn’t even think about stuff like the resale value of their original art, especially for magazine or advertising illustration. They… READ MORE
August 15th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When you’re drawing, do you usually have anything on in the background (music, TV, movies)? A: That’s a question that has a lot of different answers from a lot of different artists, which I find fascinating. Everyone seems to have their own idea of what kind of environment they need to focus their concentration, creativity and work flow. I know a lot of artists that have the TV going in the background playing either some specific station or DVDs of movies. That is one thing I cannot do… any visual distractions really mess up my ability to focus on my work. It seems to… READ MORE
August 8th, 2010 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: When you’re doing a piece for MAD, where do you get your reference material? Does the movie company send you a variety of production stills? Do you just do an image search online? A: That process has changed a lot over the years, even in the relatively short time I have been with the magazine. Back in the old days when MAD sold close to (and once over) 2 million copies of each issue movie studios actually lobbied MAD to do a parody of their films. Not with bribe money of course, but by by sending them the press kits and even inviting their… READ MORE
August 1st, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you have your work displayed throughout you home, or has your family tried to limit it to just certain areas? A: That’s an interesting question… what kind of art hangs in the home of an artist? There’s an old adage that goes “a plumber’s home always has leaky pipes” or “a carpenter’s home always has crooked doors”, meaning that when you do something for a living your house is the last place that same work gets done in. That is certainly true with me, as I have almost none of my own artwork on the walls of our home. I did a pencil… READ MORE
July 18th, 2010 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: Why all the secrecy involving the MAD TV show and especially the magazine? I don’t see why you can’t at least say what movie [or TV show or other subject] you are working on for MAD… it’s not like they have any competition out there that might ‘scoop’ them is it? As for the animated TV show, when can we expect to hear some details?? A: Sorry if it seems like there is a Maxwell Smart “Cone of Silence” paranoia surrounding things I post about sometimes. It’s not just MAD you know… almost all the publications I do work with do not want me… READ MORE
