Mailbag
September 20th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
I get asked some questions a lot, so occasionally I will repost a mailbag question from some time ago that is of that nature. Since we spent this weekend in New York City and saw more Times Square caricaturist thievery, this often asked question seemed appropriate: Q: I recently saw a display for some caricaturists at the Sydney Easter Show that showed the caricature of you done by Mort Drucker. They were using it as a sample of work. I know your work itself is also always being used to promote others (placed on their displays meant to make potential customers think they did it… READ MORE
September 13th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You’re making a living with your artistic skills. From that vantage point, what art skills would you hope would be taught to students (12-15 years old) with similar cartooning / illustration aspirations for their livelihood? A: At the age you cite there is no specific set of skills or instruction that I feel would be of direct benefit to an aspiring cartoonist/illustrator. At that point it’s all about being exposed to as much art, illustration and inspiration as possible and to experiment with various mediums… and of course to draw. As a teenager an artist is still very much a blank canvas and is… READ MORE
September 6th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How do you envisage the future for caricature? Do you see it moving a lot more towards manipulating photographs or do you think there will always be a place for the conventional hand-drawn approach? A: One of the beautiful things about caricature is that it is a very personal thing. An artist’s caricature of a subject is his or her personal interpretation of that individual… every caricature has a little bit of the artist in it. It’s impossible to completely disassociate yourself from the caricature you draw, because without your personal observations and interpretations it’s not a caricature, it’s a portrait. Given that there… READ MORE
August 30th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
I really get a lot out of your “How to Draw Caricatures” tutorials. They are the best instruction I’ve found anywhere. It’s been so long since your last one. When will we see a new one? A: I am sorry about the length of time in between those tutorials. The blog is something I do just for fun and it has to take a backseat to paying jobs and projects. When will the long promised tutorial on “Noses” be posted? How about… tomorrow! It’s all done except for a few doodles so I will do those and post that tutorial Monday. Thanks to Grant Jonen… READ MORE
August 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I want to ask you about the bane of my life – speech bubbles. I create cartoons for a fanzine over here in the UK and have just recently splashed out on an imac and adobe photoshop, is there a facility within photoshop to create speech bubbles and to insert text within them if not is there a software package you recommend? A: I really don’t deal much with speech bubbles, but I feel your pain. Speech bubbles and especially lettering drive me crazy as well. With MAD, I am one of the few artists who still draws the speech boxes into the art:… READ MORE
August 16th, 2009 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: Now that MAD has gone to quarterly, how much has that affected your freelance workload? A: While I have many other clients sadly there is no question that without the MAD work I am far less busy than I used to be when they were 12 issues a year. For example, I was notified about the move to quarterly in February while I was working on the art for the “Watchmen” parody. At that same time the previous year (2008) I was doing the art for MAD‘s parody of “Heroes”. At this point of the year (mid August) in 2008 after finishing “Heroes” I… READ MORE
August 9th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I thoroughly enjoy your blog and was wondering if you could shed some light on some of your favorite drawing tools (e.g. type of pencils, drawing software, etc.)? A: I get this question every so often so once I year I do an updated answer. Here is 2009’s version: In the Studio For doing my publication work I use a lot of different tools and materials. While most of what I do these days is digital I do occasionally, when the job calls for it, pull out the old paints and such. Here are the tools I like to use in the studio: Paper… READ MORE
August 2nd, 2009 | 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
