Mailbag
September 30th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: My question is about how you go about getting your ideas for an assignment or a piece. I assume your clients offer different amount of direction, where do you get your concepts when you have a bit more freedom? Also, do you see the end image in your imagination before putting it down on paper? Have you ever been stymied? A: I always tell people that illustration is communication, and my job as an illustrator is to communicate an idea, message or subject to the viewer through an image inthe same way the writer of whatever article I am illustration is doing with words.… READ MORE
September 23rd, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Uh oh! Looks like the mailbag is empty! only the second time in well over a year… 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
September 16th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing
Q: I’m curious how much money can a cartoonist or a digital artist could make? Could they make as much as 6 figures, or not that much? A: The short answer is there is no definitive answer. There is a limit to your income because there is a limit to the time you can spend working. The freelancer is only one person, and therefore can only produce so much work. The ways to make more money are: Get as much work as humanly possible to do Get more money for the volume of work you can produce Hire assistants to do some of the work… READ MORE
September 9th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing
Q: What are the first, and most crucial, steps in setting yourself up as a freelancer? What bookkeeping measures or programs do you suggest? How difficult is dealing with taxes? If you were starting out today, what would your “to-do” list look like? Thanks! A: The absolutely most important first step is setting up your identity. What I mean by that is creating a professional image though the organization and presentation of your work and yourself as an illustrator. All the peripheral stuff like book keeping, taxes, etc. are just paperwork. They are important in their own right, but only if you are getting work… READ MORE
September 2nd, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I read your blog post about drawing at a camp for mentally disabled people. I was wondering how do you handle drawing people with obvious physical and mental handicaps? Some subjects, like those with Downs syndrome or Multiple Sclerosis have very obvious physical traits. Do you ignore them? Gloss over them? Exaggerate them? What about people with disfigurements from accidents or such? How do you handle that? A: Great question. It’s natural to be concerned about how to treat such matters when doing live caricatures. The artist is concerned about the sensitivity of the subject, what they are thinking (or their parents) and how… READ MORE
August 26th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When you do those MAD crowd scenes adding the extra’s with the celebrities- have you used people you meet (your mailman, barber, your kids sport coaches, neighbor etc.) as those extra’s in the crowd? I would think it would be fun to tell/hint to those people “hey check out the new MAD I added you in a scene.” A: Yes, I often add people I know into the parodies I do. One of the first and most valuable lessons I learned from the folks at MAD, from Sam Viviano and Nick Meglin in particular, was that I needed to create cohesion in my “art… READ MORE
August 19th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing
Q: I am currently developing a couple of different portfolios to shop around to different companies. Each portfolio I am working on basically “caters” to that specific company I am going to send it to. I have done some freelance work in the past, as a matter of fact, as I speak, I am developing and illustrating characters for a board game expansion due out in September, but, as I develop my portfolio and ready myself to send it out to the different companies I am targeting, what advice can you give me to make a better impression on the companies I am sending them… READ MORE
August 12th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing
Q: Have you ever turned down an assignment for MAD, and if so, why? A: Only once. Several years ago I was driving to Massachusetts to open my theme park operation at Six Flags New England for the first time. I received a call from MAD to do a parody of a movie called “Panic Room” starring Jodie Foster and Forrest Whitaker. Much as I would have loved to do it, I was about to spend almost two weeks setting up and working at the theme park, plus the drive home to Minnesota from Massachusetts. The deadline was too tight, so I had to turn… READ MORE
