Mailbag
June 1st, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Whenever work gets slow, I always think about trying to get an artist’s rep to circulate my work around. Have you ever used one, and if so, what do you think of them? A: Reps are great if you can get a good one. I’ve heard horror stories about bad ones, so you need to be careful. I’ve never had a real rep, although I am a part of Cagle Cartoons’ small stable of custom illustrators, and have gotten a few jobs from them over the years. For those who may not know what a “rep” is, the term is short for “representative” and… READ MORE
May 18th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: With everything that you’re doing – the job, the family trips here and there, the professional trips, keeping up the Blog – who’s taking care of such mundane chores as mowing your grass, fixing the plumbing, taking the car in for service, waxing the turtle, etc? Is The Lovely Anna responsible for all that? Are there multiple copies of you running around behind the scenes? Do you hire out a lot? A: Well I have to admit that I don’t do much around the house. The Lovely Anna is in charge of the household stuff, and while she will ask me to do some… READ MORE
May 11th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Hey, Tom, I’m a daily reader of your blog and would like to hear you talk about getting started, i.e. your first steps into the cartooning field. A: I can certainly tell the story of how I got started in cartoning but it wouldn’t apply much to today’s market. Circumstances change with time and what was true then is no longer true now, just as breaking into the cartooning field in the 60’s was different than it was when I did it in the late 80’s. I went to college at a small art school called the School of Associated Arts in St. Paul,… READ MORE
May 4th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When is your birthday, what do you want for your birthday and how will you celebrate your birthday? A: What a timely question! My birthday is, in fact, TODAY! I’m 42 and feel no older than 68, give or take a torn rotator cuff or two. What do I want for my birthday? I’d like world peace, The Lord of the Rings, The Extended Versions to finally come out on Blu-Ray and a World Series title for my Minnesota Twins. Of the three, “world peace” is looking the most likely right now and that isn’t saying much. How am I going to celebrate? The… READ MORE
April 20th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What kinds of things do you do to get new work? Online portfolio sites? Sending out postcards? Or have you hit that point where you get most of your work from the work you’ve done before? I’m always interested in how people maintain and grow their client base. A: Honestly I get most of my work through either word of mouth from one art director to another, from an art director seeing one of my pieces in another publication and looking me up or from previous clients calling to do new projects. I do not do any active pursuit of new work other than… READ MORE
April 6th, 2008 | 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
March 30th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I was wondering what is a wash (in inking), and how do you do it? I know that it makes the ink turn grey, or maybe something like that. A: Washes are areas of gray created by watered down ink that you “wash” into an inked drawing to add values of gray and turn it into a more “inked painting”. Washes can be used either as flat areas of specific values or as a more painted grayscale set of values like a monochrome watercolor painting. Washes are more easily accomplished via the computer these days, and I often will use the computer to add… READ MORE
March 23rd, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I just read a story about Mark Cuban banning bloggers from the sports room, which of course set off crazy debates throughout the Internet about the worth (or lack of) of blogging. I know your great blog isn’t a “reporter’s blog” but what’s your take? You’ve been pretty consistent with daily updates, and you’ve added google ads and a MAD store and such… So has your blog become an important addition to your business/career (through branding and additional financial ops) or is it more of a hobby and personal fun outlet? A: Ah. Blogging. One of the most bizarre and diverse facets of the… READ MORE
