Mailbag
May 9th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Great art you posted the other day for the upcoming NCS Reuben awards. I was wondering what the requirements are to become a member of the NCS? A: Thanks for the kind words about the Reuben illustration. The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists that started in 1946. You can read all about the history of the NCS here. The requirement for membership, at least as a regular member, is that you are a professional cartoonist i.e. you make a living drawing cartoons. That encompasses a large gamut from syndicated cartoonists to animators, comic book artists, illustrators, gag cartoonists, greeting card… READ MORE
May 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is there a trick to caricaturing beautiful women? I find it incredibly difficult, as I know many do. But I’ve found it hasn’t gotten any easier as my overall drawing skills have improved, which is frustrating. A: The following answer was a not-so-long-ago post here on The MAD Blog… But this is something many caricaturists struggle with and deserves another look: One of the most common problems I hear about from other caricaturists is that women are harder to draw than men. Many struggle to make their caricatures of women look feminine, and often feel their female subjects look like “drag queens”. I think… READ MORE
April 25th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Just wondering… can a famous person take legal action against a caricature artist for using their likeness or name? I would like to post some caricature work on my blog, but I don’t know if someone could come after me legally for it. Have you ever had problems? A: Great question, and one that I get a lot. A few years ago a college of mine in California got a call from Jay Leno‘s people because he was using a caricature of Leno in his L.A. yellow pages ad. He was asked not to do that, and although I believe he had the legal… READ MORE
April 18th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How can one produce a caricature of someone that exaggerates their features without insulting them?¬¨‚Ć Various sites I’ve seen, including yours, exhibits a lot of great likenesses that don’t look offensive (since they’re not of me) so how can I assure myself the “subject” will have as much fun as all of us? A: The only 100% correct answer to that question (at least the second part) is “you can’t.” The old adage “you can’t please all of the people all of the time” is definitely in play when it comes to drawing caricatures, especially where live caricature is concerned. I have seen the… READ MORE
April 11th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you ever had a client that wanted things done in a certain way that looked bad? Did you try to educate them, refuse to do the project, or just complete it as they asked even if you thought it looked bad? A: Yes, certainly. There have been many times where I disagreed with the art director/client’s idea of what would result in the best solution for their project. There are basically three kinds of art directors: The “do whatever you want” ones- These are the ones that tell you what the project is and then let you do whatever you want without direction.… READ MORE
April 4th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
I’m taking this Sunday off from the usual mailbag question and answer silliness. Happy Easter! READ MORE
March 21st, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Norman Rockwell writes in his book Norman Rockwell, artist and illustrator )by Norman Rockwell & Thomas S. Buechner) how people would constantly write in to the Saturday Evening Post about the mistakes he made in his references. Do you get any of that kind of feedback? If so what is the biggest mistake you have made, if any? A: I believe you are talking about “bloopers” like drawing six fingers on a hand or something similar, as opposed to mistakes in perspective or similar mechanical flaws… because if it’s the latter this will be a very long post. Oh, I’ve made my share of… READ MORE
March 14th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When you draw crowd scenes, are all of the people who make up the people in the crowd faces you doodle out of your imagination, or do you often fit in friends/family/random people you see on the street? A: I often talk here about how much I’ve learned working for the folks at MAD, and especially from MAD art director Sam Viviano. I can’t even begin to list all of the important things he’s taught me over the years in art directing what I turn in for the magazine. However one particular bit of wisdom he imparted on me early on when I was… READ MORE
