General
March 28th, 2017 | Posted in General
Wow, MAD is running a special deal right now where buying a 2 or 3 year print subscription will get you a FREE copy of the Inside MAD hardcover (U.S. subscribers only). Inside MAD is a pretty awesome book full of celebrity essays about what MAD meant to them and their careers (and work from the pages of MAD that is associated with that celebrity) as well as the favorite features and articles of many members of the Usual Gang of Idiots! Judd Apatow wrote the forward, and I did the art for an exclusive two page spread to accompany that forward: This book retails… READ MORE
March 26th, 2017 | Posted in General
Q: You use a line art and color technique for a lot of your work. What method do you use to get the lines on their own layer in Photoshop (assuming you ink and scan rather than create the lines digitally)? A: For years I used the “multiply” method, which is simply putting your scanned lines, white paper and all, on its own layer and then setting that layer mode to “multiply”. Everything on that layer then gets “multiplied” with what is below it, sort of like printing the linework on a piece of clear acetate. White is inert so it becomes invisible. That works… READ MORE
March 12th, 2017 | Posted in General
Q: In your training seminars have you found everyone is teachable/learnable? Do you ever have a student who will NEVER get it? A: Not in any of my workshops (so far), but yes, I have run across many people, some artists of good ability, who just don’t “get” caricature, and maybe might never be able to draw them competently. Drawing and drawing caricatures are two separate things. Everyone is teachable to some degree. If you study and practice drawing hard enough, you will improve your skills. That doesn’t mean anyone can become a great artist, it just means anyone can improve their ability to draw… READ MORE
March 7th, 2017 | Posted in General
We might be seeing this guy a lot this week. Deadlines looming… READ MORE
March 5th, 2017 | Posted in General
Q: I’m a party and event caricaturist, but I’d love to get my work into publication. I know you got started doing theme park caricatures when you were in college, but when did you switch over to being a freelancer, and how did you do it? A: I like to say I exploded onto the freelance scene over the course of 15 years or so. That’s a gag, of course. You do not burst into the industry, you gradually build a clientele through marketing, hard work, and professionalism. My freelance path reads like a textbook guide for how to start small and slowly build a… READ MORE
February 28th, 2017 | Posted in General
The last Sunday Mailbag question about realistic or “serious” artwork reminded me of this: Back when I was in art college I had this illustration instructor who was a real old school guy. Seemed to really hate cartooning and comics, and thought if you didn’t draw like Burnie Fuchs you were never going to make a living as a commercial artist (he drew like Bernie Fuchs… big surprise). During class while we all worked on our latest assignment he would sit and work on some spot illustration he was doing of a boat or lawn furniture or some other product that was going to be… READ MORE
February 26th, 2017 | Posted in General
Q: Did you ever illustrate something serious? A: I am not sure if the “serious” in your question is asking if I’ve ever done a job where had to do a realistic style of art, or if I have ever done any jobs where the subject matter was “serious”. If it’s the former, only once. I don’t remember ever being hired to do anything of a realistic nature except this one time, when Minnesota Twins magazine asked me to do a realistic portrait of Kirby Puckett for their cover. The art director at the time was an old college chum of mine, and he remembered… READ MORE
February 24th, 2017 | Posted in General
The National Cartoonists Society announced the 2017 Reuben Awards Weekend speaker lineup today, along with the artwork I did for the brochure. L to R, top row: Mike Richardson, Brian Walker, David Silverman, Tom Gammill. Second row: Brian Basset, Jason Chatfield, Nick Galifianakis, (Reuben emcee), Lynda Barry, Matt Groening. Front row, VIZ characters, Bill Plympton. In case you are wondering, hipsters, craft beer, coffee, food trucks, roses, tiny plastic horses, and naked bike riding are all Portland “things”. Great speaker lineup! READ MORE
