Mailbag
March 7th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I was wondering what you could share on the importance of style in caricatures. Your work for MAD, differs greatly from say, Stephen Silver’s more cartoony style, David Cowles’ more abstract work, and Jason Seiler’s paintings. Are all styles equally in demand in publishing? Is having a unique style that sets you apart, key in getting work? Is the likeness/exaggeration often an area of contention between the artist and client? A: One of the great things about caricature is that as an artform it can include virtually any style of drawings or rendering and still be instantly recognizable as a caricature. Whether a caricature… READ MORE
February 28th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: This question is concerning line weight with multi-panel illustrations. It’s probably an illustration 101 concern, and I know you touch on it a bit in your inking tutorial, but maybe you wouldn’t mind fielding it for me anyways. Do you illustrate the entire composition on one page or do you pencil and ink the panels separately and then put them together after (example: Two and a Half Wits for MAD)? How important is it to maintain the same average line thickness, with regard to depth, in each panel? A: I always rough out, draw and ink the entire page of a comic book style… READ MORE
February 21st, 2010 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: Love reading the blog and getting a little insight into how caricature and MAD Magazine works. One thing I’ve always wondered: when you’re working on a MAD movie or TV show parody, what do you get from the writer? Is it a script, with just words? Does it include sketches? Are you responsible for all the sight gags, or are some of them laid out for you? Who decides the panel layout and what happens in each panel? A: Everything starts with the writer, but there are a lot of hands involved in a MAD parody before the final results are printed in the… READ MORE
February 14th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I have a technical question for you; What rules do you use for shading your caricatures? I checked several of your examples and in many of them it is not clear to me where did you place your light source. It seems, for instance, that you imply primary and secondary sources… Moreover, do you have suggestions on where to place the light source for typical poses? In particular, with profile caricatures I have lots of problems… A: I am not sure if you mean live caricatures or just caricatures in general, but both have the same answer: the light source is placed where it… READ MORE
February 7th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Uh oh! Looks like the mailbag is empty! When 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
January 31st, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: During the last 15 years what caricature or drawing skill have you developed the most? A: All of them. I debated whether to use this question, as that is really the only answer. I don’t know what else to tell you. As an artist, unless you completely focus on only one thing to the exclusion of all else (faces for example), you are going to improve your overall drawing skills with constant work and practice. It’s gratifying to be able to look at work I did 15, 10, 5 or even just a few years ago and see glaring faults that today would never… READ MORE
January 24th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: My question is what advice would you give to someone who would like to branch out more into the world of freelance illustration and cartooning? I have many years in the world of theme park caricatures and hope to eventually branch out more, or at least supplement my income a little bit on the side.. 🙂 A: I get this one a lot from other theme park artists I know and have worked with. Drawing live caricatures is challenging and a good way to earn a modest or even very good living (if you find the right situation) but it gets old to see… READ MORE
January 17th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: My question is about the placement of the people you draw in a humorous illustration. I know you have to deal with art directors that probably help a little, but how do you decide where to place the people, props, etc? And is there a way to learn how to get to the “placement” decision faster and at the same time relaying the message you are trying to make to the viewer? Is there a book or coarse that will help, or just keep looking at the art of other artist like yourself? A: Composition is one of those things that is difficult to… READ MORE
