Mailbag
January 15th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What utensils do you use for your inking?…brush?, crow crill pen? feather? ….all of the above, none of the above …etc. Also, what pencil do you use and how do you erase the pencil after inking. A: Welcome to my every-year-or-so answer to the perpetual question “What kind of ______ do you use?”… Updated to January 2017 accuracy. 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… READ MORE
January 8th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Does an aspiring caricaturist need to do theme parks to earn a living doing caricatures? How does one find work as a freelance caricaturist? A: That’s two questions. Let’s start with the first one. No, you do not need to work in a theme park to earn a living as a caricaturist. In fact it’s tough to earn a living as a theme park caricaturist unless you own your own operation or work at a place that is insanely busy year around because of the nature of the business. Theme parks take around 40% of the gross sales as their “rent”, which is ridiculously… READ MORE
December 18th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you ever had to draw someone who has been in showbiz for most of their adult life, and had to draw a young version of them, and an older version of them (think Stevie Nicks, Madonna, Mike Patton, etc)? Can you essentially pull it off by the drawing same face with a few extra wrinkles, or does a person’s facial structure change in a more nuanced way? (Jowls, bigger noses, etc.) A: Yes, I have had to draw different aged version of subjects many times. The first example that comes to mind for me is probably Ed O’Neil and Christina Applegate, both whole… READ MORE
December 11th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you ever considered posting the reference pictures you use for your Sketch of the Week caricatures? Often I know of the folks you are sketching, but I learn more when I see why you chose to push here or pull there based on the reference picture(s) used. Just a thought. A: Some people have asked if I would do that. I suppose I could, but I often don’t base the caricature on a single photo, and the SotW isn’t really meant as a teaching tool. It’s just a sketch I do for fun and sometimes put in the store for sale. Posting the… READ MORE
December 4th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You seem to constantly be traveling… when do you get any work done? A: I know, it seems like I am never at home, doesn’t it? Comic Cons, the occasional speaking engagement, the NCS Reubens, etc… it also seems to me like I’m never home. It’s a challenge to juggle everything, that’s for sure. I try very hard to get work done to a point where I either do not need to bring any with me, or need just a little bit of time on a trip to do some work to keep from falling too far behind. For example, I had to pull… READ MORE
November 20th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Are you going to make an update of your poster of the presidents of the U.S.? A: No. I still have a lot of those left over that did not sell. I’m not going to print it all over again just to add one more face. I thought about looking into making a sticker or something to put on the ones already printed, but as they didn’t really sell all that well that seems like a waste of time and money. Thanks to Dominick Zeillinger for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine,… READ MORE
November 13th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You put a lot of effort into your caricatures of people, and they’re brilliant. Your animals are also brilliant. How much effort do you put into animal caricatures? A horse is a horse I guess, but there are many breeds of dogs to get right. How hard is it to do them all in your style? And what happens when you have to draw an animal you’ve never done before? A sloth? Or a horseshoe crab? Or a giant weta? A: Thanks for the kind words! I’m not sure “caricature” is a term you can strictly apply to an exaggerated drawing of something other… READ MORE
November 6th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Ever had to do a convincing “bad” drawing–either for a tutorial or something like a child’s drawing? Every time I see a “bad” drawing done on purpose by a good artist, it always looks too… er… “good”… there’s good structure, good linework… it’s almost like the artist doesn’t know how to do a bad drawing anymore. How might you approach doing such a drawing? A: Some people would say I don’t need any special approach to do a bad drawing… I just let my natural talent take over! But, if I ever need to do something really, purposefully bad for some reason… a gag… READ MORE
