Mailbag
April 16th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I draw caricatures at weddings all the time. Recently I was hired to draw at a wedding by the mother of the bride. She was a really nice lady and I had a great time drawing at the event, but I ran into a bit of a dilemma when it came time to draw her. Physically, her most defining feature was that she had no neck or jaw line. Her head looked like is had sort of melted onto her shoulders. She was obviously a bit self conscious about it, so I did a drawing that played down her lack of a neck but… READ MORE
April 2nd, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Whoops… looks like I have run out of mailbag questions. Well, I have been asked and answered over 500 of them since starting this blog. It’s entirely possible that people have run out of questions. There are only so many questions people might have about freelancing, illustration, MAD, etc. So maybe this feature has run its course. I guess that’s up to you. So, if you have 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 19th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: It is essential, that your customers like your drawings. But whom else do you want to like your art (yourself, family, friends …)? A: Everyone has an opinion, but fortunately we can decide which ones actually matter. One of the things I try and teach rookie theme park artists is that the opinions of your customers are only important insofar as they are happy with the drawing and they purchase it. Beyond that, you should not take their opinion of your actual art with anything but a grain of salt. Many people are “visually illiterate” and cannot tell the difference between a good caricature… READ MORE
February 19th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You make your primary living as a magazine illustrator, yes? Now that magazines are going away, are you finding you get less work than you used to get? A: Magazines are going away? Didn’t they say that about radio when TV came around? Magazines are not “going away”, they are just morphing into a more niche or focused market model. It’s true the internet and its seemingly unlimited content has changed the way the world consumes media, but there are still plenty of magazines around, and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I would also take issue with the idea I am primarily a… READ MORE
February 12th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Has a director ever asked Mad Magazine to do a parody of their movie? Or have you guys only ever picked films to do parodies on of your own volition? A: Back in the day movie studios were rumored to have sent MAD press kits and other promotional stuff to try and get them to do a parody of their films, but no one has ever told me of a specific example. Knowing the people behind the magazine the way I do, any efforts of that kind from the movie studios were wasted. They spoof what they want to spoof. The choice as to… READ MORE
February 5th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When drawing live caricatures sometimes people urge another person to get a caricature drawn. But this other person sometimes does not want to be drawn. Some say just “I don’t like caricatures” or “I’m already a caricature myself”. What are the most funny/interesting answers you’ve heard in your career? And do you think it is a good idea to try to persuade the other person? A: No one has a funny answer to that. It’s all variations of “I’m already a caricature” or “why would I do that?” I hate it when someone pushes a reluctant person into the chair to get drawn for… READ MORE
January 29th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you have any tips/suggestions for drawing 3 or more people in a caricature…especially when there’s a baby/toddler involved? I often struggle with letting the kid “take over” the whole drawing (by letting his/her face be larger than everyone else’s). A: Composition is always very important with live caricature, and it gets trickier the more faces are in a single drawing. Even with a single subject, composition can degrade or ruin an otherwise good drawing. Here’s some tips for good composition for various numbers of subjects: One Person- It’s common for a live caricaturist to just start drawing the face without thinking of its… READ MORE
January 22nd, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
In this Sunday mailbag I’m answering multiple frequently asked questions about my caricature workshops. Q: What can I expect to learn at your workshop? A: We start out going over my general approach to a caricature, how I look at the face and techniques to help see the caricature elements of a subject and how to make decisions on exaggerating them. We dissect and draw about 30 different subjects that vary in age, race, gender and physical attributes while going over both the specific of each face and general lessons in drawing and caricaturing features like the eyes, nose, mouth, hair, etc. I draw along… READ MORE
